≡ PDF Sweet Caress The Many Lives of Amory Clay William Boyd 9781632863324 Books

Sweet Caress The Many Lives of Amory Clay William Boyd 9781632863324 Books

Download As PDF : Sweet Caress The Many Lives of Amory Clay William Boyd 9781632863324 Books

Sweet Caress The Many Lives of Amory Clay William Boyd 9781632863324 Books

Life's journey is seldom a straight line from birth to death. The journey is often complicated, with many forks in the road. Boyd's novel, written as a memoir and subtitled The Many Lives of Amory Clay, proves this point. Amory believes she knows where she wants her life to lead, but the path to her destination is a series of detours--some lead forward, some distract her, some are dead ends. Each experience, good, bad or indifferent, shapes and defines the person she will become at the end. In her memoir, Amory captures the essence of these experiences as she reflects on her life. "How did drastic changes happen? Time is a racehorse, eating up the furlongs as it gallops towad the finish line." (p. 226)


Tags : Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay [William Boyd] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. When Amory Clay was born, in the decade before the Great War, her disappointed father gave her an androgynous name and announced the birth of a son. But this daughter was not one to let others define her; Amory became a woman who accepted no limits to what that could mean,William Boyd,Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay,Bloomsbury USA,1632863324,Documentary photography,History, Modern;20th century;Fiction.,War photographers;Fiction.,Women,Women photographers,Women photographers;Fiction.,World War, 1939-1945,BOYD, WILLIAM - PROSE & CRITICISM,ENGLISH HISTORICAL FICTION,FICTION Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction Literary,Fiction-Historical,GENERAL,General Adult,Great BritainBritish Isles,Historical,Historical - General,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),United States

Sweet Caress The Many Lives of Amory Clay William Boyd 9781632863324 Books Reviews

I am a big fan of William Boyd and I have loved everything he has written. However, I was never able to really like Amory. But the story is beautifully told even though it reads like a memoir, not a novel. I presume that was always the intention. The four stars are for how well-written the book is, not necessarily for the story, which I would give three stars.
It stands to reason that an author would get better with every book. But not in this case. I read ANY HUMAN HEART (written quite a while ago) and loved, loved it. I was completely absorbed in the journey of the main character, even though he was very flawed. This book felt so different even though it is also written like a diary. Something, and I'm not even sure what, fell flat for me.

Perhaps the first mistake was the jumping back and forth in time; the present and the past. Because in the present, all the character does is talk about the past, so it feels pointless that the story isn't simply written as it happens. We gain nothing from the POV of the present; no insight into the character's personality.

Amory Clay felt abrasive to me, and I don't know why. She seemed to breeze through her love affairs as if she was brushing her teeth. I didn't get any real feeling of passion there, although she told us she was in love. And strangely it even felt that way about her photography. I felt her ambition but not her passion. I can't even quite put my finger on it, but there was a blandness about many parts of this story that made you stop caring about the characters. So unlike ANY HUMAN HEART, where I was totally invested. Dare I say that William Boyd should not write from a woman's point of view? These are the only two books I have read of his so I can't as yet judge, but there was something missing.

I also was too aware of the meticulous research he had done for the book. Too many exact names and dates and facts and products that the protagonist slipped into the narrative, but it felt forced somehow and not genuine. She never lights a cigarette, she lights a Pall Mall. Once, fine, but over and over.

I did love the parts of the book that took place in Berlin. Now, that alone would have made an incredible story...after that it lacked intrigue for me.

The author's writing style changed too, not for the better in my opinion. However, I am not put off as I thought AHH is a masterpiece so I will read his other books.
An exploration of the life of a woman who becomes a professional photographer through the 20th century until the late 1970s and her experiences in the second world war and the Vietnam war. It is a lovely balance between her present life on a small island in the West of Scotland and her pst life and adventures up until that date. The book is is well paced and keeps the reader eager to know what happens next. By today's standard there is an awful lot of smoking and drinking going on! I guess that is the reality of the period and does help to set the scene very well.
Boyd writes so well you'd swear the author is a woman here. I could not put this down. Beautifully crafted. Easy to read. As Muggeridge once famously said, 'The easier it is to read, the harder it is to write". Is this novel true? Who cares? How could the reader not just love Amory Clay, she is so wonderfully portrayed. The character portrayal is perfect. Highly recommended, but then, those of us who love Boyd's writing expect no less.
This narrative about a fictitious woman photographer, whose life spans most of the twentieth century, is well worth while, with its mixture of fact and fiction and its focus on a woman who does something which for many years was not considered a woman's proper work.
I Loved this novel, written as an autobiography, complete with photos that blended in perfectly with the times developing in the storyline. I'd love to know how William Boyd created the photos. It is a thoughtful novel with well-developed characters and realistic responses to the historical events into which they are placed. Amory Clay, the fictitious writer of the story is a liberated women who delves deeply into issues such as death & dying, love & abandonment. I think you will find this is a novel difficult to put down. It has enriched my life.
Finished Sweet Caress the many lives of Amory Clay by William Boyd and gave it 5 stars. How does Boyd keep writing these really good books? The many characters are interesting and even the most minor is fully drawn. They are anything but cutouts and remain somewhat unknown, like real people. I would love to meet most of them. There is only one of Amory's lives that I wasn't fully engaged with but that it a small defect. Query to self shall I read Boyd's James Bond ?
Life's journey is seldom a straight line from birth to death. The journey is often complicated, with many forks in the road. Boyd's novel, written as a memoir and subtitled The Many Lives of Amory Clay, proves this point. Amory believes she knows where she wants her life to lead, but the path to her destination is a series of detours--some lead forward, some distract her, some are dead ends. Each experience, good, bad or indifferent, shapes and defines the person she will become at the end. In her memoir, Amory captures the essence of these experiences as she reflects on her life. "How did drastic changes happen? Time is a racehorse, eating up the furlongs as it gallops towad the finish line." (p. 226)