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London Transports (1995)

London Transports (1995)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Rating
3.56 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
0440212359 (ISBN13: 9780440212355)
Language
English
Publisher
dell

About book London Transports (1995)

I didn't realize this was a book of short stories until I started. It's a great premise, take a tube line (or "metro" if you're in DC, but in London it's the tube--and not one mention of "mind the gap.") and make up a story of characters either traveling through, or meeting there, or getting on or off. Binchy died in 2012 and I've read many of her books during the 1980s--in fact, I tend to get the characters mixed up or in the books when she references her other books, I think, perhaps I've read this before. She's great at describing feelings in a few paragraphs so that you don't really need to know the physical description as much as the emotional stress. This was written in 1978 and you'd think reading it that men have to be the worse creatures on the planet--girls are doing their bidding without a ring on their finger, they get beaten up, they get left, they are left when other girls get pregnant. The last story is the only one where a girl gets the upper hand, to an attorney no less! But I hope in the last 30-35 years so many women have to go through this. Except for the lack of computers and cell phones (and one reference to gloves) I think the stories have aged well. I really liked the one about the woman shoplifting, but of course her strategies wouldn't work now with all the sensors.

This was one of the first books I read by Maeve Binchy. I bought it after I'd visited London. I was hungry for more of London. London Transports is a series of short stories, each story's title is also the name of a London Tube stations. My favorite story is King's Cross - a story about a young woman who gets a job as the assistant to an aspiring woman manager. The young woman named Eve helps her "boss" Sara Gray to reinvent first her office space, then her image, and ultimately transforms her personal life and professional life, ousting her lazy male counterpart and dumping her loser boyfriend. Eve then moves on to help the next woman in her quiet quest to empower women. This book is a joy to read. Binchy wrote stories in different formats, tones, and styles. She used 1st person, 3rd person, a series of letters. Some stories are humorous, sweet, bittersweet, heart-wrenching, but overall engaging.

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Présentation de l'éditeurQu'ont en commun Julia, une vierge de vingt-neuf ans surprise dans un sex-shop, Olive, une directrice d'hôtel un peu trop proche de ses clients réguliers, et May venue seule à Londres dans le plus grand des secrets? Tout comme Helen, Margaret, Jane, Vera et les autres héroïnes. Que Maeve Binchy a réunies, elles révèlent chacune un versant de la vie au féminin, un aspect du destin auquel une femme peut être confrontée au cours de son existence. Elle s'attarde à des thèmes qui lui sont chers et qui animent toute son oeuvre: la sexualité féminine, la peur du qu'en dira-t-on, l'esprit provincial, l'attrait irrésistible qu'exercent les grandes cités. Toutes les héroïnes y viennent ou y vivent, et toutes empruntent son célèbre métro aux noms de stations évocateurs.
—Panthère Rousse

Ummm...did you know I was an anglophile? :) Do I need say more?This book is a collection of short stories by this gal, Maeve Binchy, who I believe is from Dublin. So all the characters use phrases like ‘rubbish’ and ‘bloody.’ And they call the television the ‘telly’. What is this bloody rubbish on the telly?? :)It’s such a good book! There’s about 17 little snippets from the lives of different English women at particular moments. It’s like a Sex and the City where the women refer to their boyfriends as 'blokes' and take the 'underground' to get places. But themes are all universal anyways, so it’s completely relatable and loveable. Ranging from the common female vs. her anxiety to abortion and lesbianism, this book is such a nice, welcome treat from the novel-type.It's humourous, and thought-provoking. How many of us have stared at strangers and made up exciting imaginary lives for them?I highly recommend and am looking forward to reading Tara Road!
—Melissa

Maeve Binchy is one of my newest finds, recommended by friend Barbara Gobus who knew exactly what I needed to read at this moment. I wanted into the Eclipse Used Bookstore in Bellingham and found a stack of Maeve Binchy's just waiting for me for a very reasonable price."London Transports" may not be the most intriguing title but give it a chance. This would be a great summer reading book if you're off on holiday and don't want to lug along a tomb with a complex plot.Twenty two vignettes, each just long enough to enjoy in several reading sessions, are so complete in character development and relationship details, you are certain to know them. Or someone like them.Put this book on your list or buy it tomorrow. It's a good read and you won't be sorry.Perhaps geared to a woman's point of view but often the men are created with equal veracity.
—C.J. Prince

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