Temples of Delight by Barbara Trapido

Temples of Delight Reviews

• 
  Patty

  As I have mentioned before, I read the Book Brahmin questions and answers at shelf-awareness.com. Recently, Maria Semple was the subject because she has a new book coming out. Her book sounds good and I purchased it for the library.
  
  The one answer that caught my attention was what she said to the question about her "Top Five Authors". It was Jonathan Franzen, Philip Roth, James Salter, Edward St. Aubyn and Barbara Trapido. I definitely know the first two, the third sounds familiar and I don't know the last two authors at all. I focused on the only woman author and decided to learn more about her. Our library has two books by Barbara Trapido and I randomly started with Temples of Delight.
  
  This book was a very pleasant surprise. Alice misses her childhood friend, Jem, and survives some odd people and events before even coming close to finding her. On the surface, Alice's life is fairly normal, but coincidence and serendipity take over her story near the end of the book. It is hard to explain because it all seemed plausible while reading and now I just marvel about how very strange it all was. I have never read a book before with such a weird plot line. Weird was not bad, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.
  
  I am not sure to whom I would recommend this book. Various reviews say it is joyful, quirky, witty, painful and pleasurable at the same time, even mysterious. I checked NoveList Plus for suggestions and I believe they were way off base. So, I suggest this book to those who are open to unusual plots, to folk who have a childhood friend they have lost and to lovers of British fiction.
• 
  Misha

  I totally enjoyed this one. And like another reader mentioned, there is one scene in this that will have you snorting with laughter!
  But essentially, it begins with a story many can relate to--did you ever have a friend who shook your world up, and made life brighter and more interesting? In this case, that friend disappears, but life takes some very unexpected turns for Alice, the main protagonist. There are lots of allusions to "The Magic Flute" which I didn't get, but you needn't. This book, like all the Trapido I have read, is smart (need I also say British) fun.
  
  From my BookList Book Group Buzz blog post from 2009:
  
  Jem was a joyful mystery to Alice. She was something to give thanks for. She had first appeared in the classroom, not at the beginning of term like a normal person, but mid-term on a Wednesday. She had appeared, ‘like a dropped acorn’, halfway through the term, halfway through the week, halfway through the Silent Reading Hour. Suddenly there she was in the doorway, almost as tall as the doorway itself. …
  
  It was all so delightful and so thoroughly unscheduled. Jem’s coming. It had all happened so quickly. In the blinking of an eye. Everything had changed. Alice knew at once, on that very first day, that she loved Jem and esteemed her above all others. And that, because of Jem, her whole life–even the Silent Reading Hour–would never be boring again.” (pages 3, 10, Penguin Books, UK edition)
  
  Have you ever had a friend who changed the world for you, who opened it up, made it sparkle? Barbara Trapido’s Temples of Delight opens with the entrance of just such a person into Alice Pilling’s life. When Jem McCrail enters Alice’s school, everyone takes notice, but few are prepared. Even Alice is unprepared what their friendship will mean for her life. Jem comes in full of vivacity and vinegar, spinning tales and throwing out references that keeps Alice’s head spinning with mystery and possibility. And just as suddenly as Jem enters Alice’s life, she disappears.
  
  Because of Jem, Alice’s life is anything but ordinary. Echoes of the opera The Magic Flute, that Jem loved, begin erupting in Alice’s life, as she goes in search of the friend that got away.
  Barbara Trapido’s novels are decidedly British, so while I have reveled in them, I have wondered if others would take to them or not. Her characters are touching, wacky, witty, and exasperating, and her plots are cleverly coincidental with a flair for the dramatic. There are allusions to literature, art and music that often fly over my own head, but that lend a certain delectable freight to her work. For me, her writing is as enchanting as Jem McCrail is for Alice Pilling–mysterious, fun, exciting, surprising and over all too soon.
  
  If you like a little drama, a little romance, a little wit and magic, then delve into Trapido’s world. Start with Brother of the More Famous Jack, followed by its sequel The Traveling Hornplayer. Or start with Temples of Delight. And let me know what you think. Or if you hear rumors of anything new from this fabulous, under-the-radar author.
  
  
  https://www.booklistreader.com/2009/0...
  
  
• 
  Kip

  This novel contains a moment in which I actually had to slam the book shut and run around the room because it was too, too good -- unexpected, hilarious, and perfect. The italic ending is a little draggy, but this book will forever hold a place in my heart for that perfect scene.
• 
  Lauren Albert

  Take a more modern Pippi Longstocking, throw in a bit of Roald Dahl, and some bits of a bodice ripping romance and a little bit of Christian fiction and you've got Temples of Delight. A strange and sometimes delightful concoction. I could have done without the bodice ripping and Christian fiction half but it was fun reading and showed how a friend can transform your world.
• 
  Jeanne

  I whipped through this wonderful story in two days. The book's protagonist, Alice, is deeply affected by an adolescent friendship with Jem who appears and then disappears in a shroud of mystery. This friendship colors Alice's whole life and the story is as much about her own search for self as her search for her long lost friend. The "romance" that appears at the end of the book didn't completely convince me, but for the most part I loved the book. It also made me realize that I very much need a "mystery" (and I don't read mysteries) or an unknown that will only be revealed in the act of continued reading to really capture me.
• 
  Dominic Carlin

  you might think that this is another of those chick lit romance novels I’m always reading
  
  But you’d be wrong!
  
  No. I found this book somewhat randomly from a Vogue list of “7 literary classics from Normal People” that pocket recommended.
  
  Is this a classic? Haven’t lots of people normally rated and reviewed classics?
  
  Whatever. The first third of this was an absolute delight. It got a bit meandering after that, but there were still enough outrageously funny lines peppered through to make me laugh
• 
  Colin

  Barbara Trapido has an authorial voice quite unlike any other writer I know; her mix of farcical comedy, profound seriousness, sparkling dialogue and innocent but multifaceted characters is instantly recognisable. Temples of Delight, with a plot loosely based on The Magic Flute (allusions to which reappear throughout the book) is in equal parts a joyful coming of age romp, an anatomy of friendship, an unlikely love story, a clear-eyed study of male desire and power and of female autonomy. In the last quarter the pace slackens somewhat and the balance of the book tips more towards theological and philosophical considerations, resulting in a change of balance that jars somewhat against the previous 250 pages or so.
• 
  Camille Marsella

  Took me a while to get into it but a very enjoyable read which made me chuckle a few times!
• 
  Peter

  A five-star book in the first half, then maybe three stars for the last half, so four overall. The beginning of the book is perfect and priceless - the friendship between Alice and Jem had me alternately howling with laughter and crying. The rest of the novel didn't quite hold up for me, especially towards the last quarter or so, which I found full of coincidences and some weird deus-ex-machina moments by a character I never quite bought. Still, it's a rollicking good read overall, so I'd recommend it. The first half of this is the best of the three of Barbara Trapido's I've read so far, but overall I think Noah's Ark is ultimately my favorite. It mines similar themes but does so a bit more consistently throughout.
• 
  Andréa Lechner

  This is one of my favourite novels, one I would take with me to a desert island. I read it for the first time in the early nineties, and three or four more times since. I love the characters, the friendship between the two girls, and the humour. I remember laughing out loud throughout it. Although it has a sad ending, it still feels uplifting and extraordinarily inspiring. I would recommend it wholeheartedly.
• 
  Andrea

  Well-written and perfectly readable but overall I found the plot disjointed, so I finished this book feeling quite disappointed. Nothing like the same experience I had reading
  Brother of the More Famous Jack, which sits happily on my Favorites shelf.
• 
  Nazan Abdullah

  By 'I'm finished' I mean 'I'm done'
  
  I feel bad for thinking this way but I was hoping to at least give this book 3 stars but I did not even peak at that.
  
  There was just too much unnecessary information and when I read it my brain felt like it was being set on fire.
  
• 
  Hattie

  Loved this book for about the first half, where it was a wonderfully quirky school/coming of age story - then it descended into a combination of utter chaos and promotional material for Catholicism. At times it honestly felt like it was being made up as it went along.
• 
  Lyn

  A disappointing badly conceived novel by an author I thought I admired! The story of a schoolgirl friendship
• 
  Nazia Mushtaq

  I see others commenting so good about it , so i was excited ..
  but to my expectations, it failed badly ..
  after a few chapters, i decided not to continue ..
  
  *Yawn*
• 
  Megan

  The only tolerable character in this—and to be fair, she was marvelous—was only in the first 1/4 of the book. Everyone else I hated. So sad when the book started so promisingly.
• 
  Vansa

  Read as part of a Litsy challenge-which was that you would share your TBR, and one of your friends on Litsy would pick 5 books that you would read this year-just a way to get one to tackle an ever-growing TBR! One of my favourite books is 'Brother of the more famous Jack' by the same author-I probably read it nearly once in 3 months, because it's so delightful.
  Temples of delight isn't as good as that, but I enjoyed reading it, and raced through it. As nuanced as ever about class differences, and how they manifest themselves, and the awkwardness and difficulties of being a teenager, this was a moving read. It's a pitch-perfect depiction of female friendship-the sort you have where you have a friend whom you think is wonderful, and who introduces you to new experiences, and just seems so much more worldly than you are. The protagonist, Alice, is trying to find her place in her new school, and wants to be more than a properly turned out lady who would make a perfect wife-as her mother wants her to be. The new student in her school, Jem ( that's her nickname and is based on one of my favourite short stories )is quite the rebel and ALice is captivated by her ( as so easily happens when you're that age). Jem suddenly leaves school, however, and the book follows the rest of Alice's life, as she navigates professional difficulties, and complicated affairs of the heart-all very realistically depicted. There really are no villains here, only people who seem to think they know better than Alice, how she should lead her life. Trapido captures romantic confusion very well-it can be so difficult to know if you're really in love, or merely going along with someone you deeply like. THe theme of 'The Magic FLute', weaves through this book-Jem's favourite opera, and in Trapido's typical whimsical style, there's an introduction of a romantic interest in the last third of the book, that really should not work because it's quite sudden, but she writes so skillfully, that I found myself tearing up, and makes it seem completely plausible. Will they really be happy together, though? Is this a happy ending? Trapido leaves you feeling unsure, but also exhilarated by this ending.
• 
  J Katz

  loved beginning of the book but when the friend was pregnant and dying and you just knew the main character was going to be asked to take the baby I thought- oh no Beaches! The two main characters in their girlhood along with families or lack of families but made up families was excellent. One friend Flora experiences horrific childhood but is resentful forever when her friend's family takes them to dinner and dad dies eating shellfish- yes, scenes like this make book worth the read. On the other hand, the Beaches thing- this book is about opera and you just can't criticize the turn toward soap opera villian/lover/husband and eventual ending that includes a nunnery and priest- Sarastro!
• 
  Sarah

  Either I have completely misunderstood this book or it is the most bizarre book I have ever read, I would give it 0 stars if I could. It also contains very casual references and themes to women being raped but belittled and described as being 'forced' and that if you're a women who has sex you get 'fucked' by the man. Firstly how Roland was going to stop in a forest and force himself on her because he had decided he had waited long enough, then she awoke to find Matthews hand inside her blouse, then Giovanni implying that it's not rape if she wasn't physically harmed, I could go on... and I would not recommend.
• 
  Suju

  I'd give this book more like 3 1/2 stars if I could. I adored Trapido's book "The Brother of the More Famous Jack" and at times this book was equally delightful but it was inconsistent. There was - intentionally, I believe - more melodrama than in the previous book and while it made sense in terms of themes and characters, it didn't always work for me. That said, the book is worth reading for some hilarious scenes and some truly memorable characters and the very specific, British, bohemian world (wish there had been more of it!) Trapido so perfectly creates.
• 
  Ntorita

  Είδα να το διαβάζει η Μαριάν στο Normal people, με τράβηξε και το εξώφυλλο, ε δεν ήθελα και πολύ να το αποκτήσω κι εγώ. Ευτυχώς το περιεχόμενο ήταν πολύ καλό και αυτό με έκανε να νρέπομαι λιγότερο για τον τρόπο που το επέλεξα. Αν και απευθύνεται σε μικρότερες ηλικίες κατάφερε να κρατήσει το ενδιαφέρον μου, να με κάνει να γελάσω δυνατά ειδικά σε ένα συγκεκριμένο περιστατικό αλλά και να συγκινηθώ στο τέλος.
• 
  Carla

  Adored this novel, my favorite Trapido so far (but I have many to go.). The plot is Mozartian, with a mix of laughter and disappointment, light and dark. There's some wonderful plotting, too (something I found wanting in the author's Noah's Ark) with an ending that made me smile. All in all, a treat. On to my next Barbara Trapido, Juggling.
• 
  Bronwyn

  Part of a favourite series, although re-reading as an ebook I’m slightly less charmed than when I first read it soon after it was published. Perhaps I’m less susceptible to the fantasy world of the characters than I was and the fault is in me. Barbara Trapido is a fantastic writer and one of my all time favourite authors.
• 
  Emily Nelson

  This was such a strange, yet somehow delightful book. I found Alice a charming and relatable character, although some of the other characters felt much less realistic. I liked Giovanni, and David, though. And I felt that the plot definitely picked up speed towards the end. The first third or so really dragged, in my opinion. I also found the heavy catholicism took away from the story some.