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There are currently 18 member reviews
for The Weight of Ink
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Paula B. (Albuquerque, NM)
Good story with mystery, and ancient transcripts to entertain.
The author succeeds in putting a human face on the fascinating cultural events of 17th century England and Europe. This entertaining story piqued my already active interest in ancient manuscripts, philosophy and the changing thought of this period of history. The story develops much like a British murder mystery with well developed surprises along the way. The answers to the mysteries are satisfyingly developed in a 21st century academic setting. Research in ancient manuscripts is closely related to genealogical research which has been a very interesting pastime for me.The juxtaposition of the two time periods emphasize the immense cultural shift in our world, something we can only try to imagine.
The book is ultimately about love, all kinds of love; romantic, fraternal, intellectual, paternal, carnal, but this is not a romance in any sense of the word. Many of the love connections are not fully developed, but they do add texture to the story.
This book was a fun read and a good story, maybe two stories. I recommend it to readers who are interested in the changes in culture and can be tantalized by discoveries by artifacts from the past.
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Jan B. (Sulphur, OK)
Too Long
I am not afraid of thick books, it usually means big plot and I'm okay with hanging in to the very end. This became a laborious, tedious journey and I was extremely tired of the whole book by the time I closed it for the final time. Although it had some redeming story line it did not have enough to keep the enthusiasm going for the entire story. I usually enjoy historical novels.
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Sue Z. (Cornelius, NC)
The Weight of Ink
It is very obvious that a great deal of careful research was done by the author, into both the renewal of England"s Jewish community and the Restoration of the monarchy in the late 1650s. Sadly the story that she set during these momentous times, along with an adjacent story set in modern times does not work. The characters, particularly those in the year 2000, are not believable. Nor is the ending which relies heavily on silly coincidences. The book is too long and much tighter editing would have helped greatly as the author is fond of flowery similes and pretentious and often precious descriptions.
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Mary S. (Hilton Head Island, SC)
Not Worth The Read
Seldom will I not complete reading a book, however after plowing through 200 pages of this 500 page book, I decided to put it aside. The subject matter of the book, history, feminism, Jewish culture is appealing. The story gets lost in the flowery prose, long sentences and poorly edited manuscript. Before publication, I strongly suggest that the book length be edited to about 300 pages and extraneous material that does nothing to add to the essence of the work be eliminated. Sorry for the harsh words, but I felt I must be honest-- not fit for publication in its current form.
