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Most reviewed: Homecoming

28.01.08 Anna Richardson

Bernhard Schlink’s Homecoming (Weidenfeld) was the most reviewed title on last weekend’s literary pages (25th to 27th January). A "long-awaited follow-up" to any surprise bestseller--in this case the widely lauded The Reader--always draws literary editors’ attention, and the inevitable comparisons to the predecessor.

Tibor Fischer, in the Sunday Telegraph, admitted that he wasn’t a fan of The Reader in the first place. "I found it fake and hollow and, intriguingly, most novelists I knew felt the same: they simply didn’t buy it,” he explained. “I am pleased to say that Schlink’s latest novel has a narrator I can believe.”

Fischer found that “Schlink has put together a clever package and skilfully guides the reader through modern German history”, but added: “I can see book groups discussing this one with gusto, but a novel for me should be for enjoyment, not discussion.”

The Daily Mail’s John Harding found The Reader "a gripping literary read" and by comparison Homecoming "less cohesive, more of a ramble". However, he conceded that its inspiration by Homer’s Odyssey might excuse this: “That’s in the nature of odysseys. It’s only on reaching the end that you become fully aware how worthwhile the journey has been”.

Reviewing in the Financial Times, Henry Hitchings believed Homecoming would "not be to all people’s stomachs". He wrote that it is "skilfully paced", but that the Homeric parallels feel "contrived". He concluded: "Schlink has created a morally literate work. But Homecoming, while in parts intriguing, is too solemn about its seriousness."

The Sunday Times' Peter Parker, agreed that the book felt "far too calculating” but that “for all its faults, Homecoming is not actually a bad novel... It is, however, unlikely to satisfy anyone who admired The Reader.”

 

Most reviewed (25th to 27th January)

Homecoming by Bernhard Schlink (Weidenfeld 9780297844686 £14.99)
"A fine but elusive novel" Guardian
"A huge improvement on The Reader" Sunday Telegraph
"The new novel is less cohesive" Daily Mail
"Will not be to all people’s stomachs” Financial Times
"The book appears far too calculating" Sunday Times

Counterknowledge by Damian Thompson
(Atlantic 9781843546757 £12.99)
"If Thompson feels his ears burning over the coming months it will be because of thousands of readers are shouting at him from their armchairs. A polemicist can ask for nothing more" Daily Telegraph
"Wonderfully clear-sighted and intellectually exciting polemic" Mail on Sunday
“Compellingly original, and riddled with conflict” Sunday Times

The Second Plane by Martin Amis
(Cape 9780224076104 £12.99)
“Well-sustained and important volume” Independent on Sunday
“The writings here add nothing to his reputation” Guardian
“Not just wilfully ignorant, a triumph of style over knowledge, but . . . at its heart disturbingly bigoted” Sunday Times

The New Black by Darian Leader
(Hamish Hamilton 9780241143179 £17.99)
“Leader has grown into a fine writer” Independent
“Trying too hard to be contemporary” Financial Times
“Leader has nothing particularly original to say about depression” Sunday Times

Media Anna Richardson Bernhard Schlink

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