Sarah Kells Book Review Feb 19

Misery Loves Company by Sylvia Brownrigg
The Old Romantic Louise Dean

Before I even finished the first paragraph of this review, I was already interested in not only the book it was describing, but the review itself.  The diction used by Sylvia Brownrigg is intriguing and catches the reader's interest.  Phrases such as "spectacularly savage," "squat, tittering woman," and "chilly Astrid" are sprinkled throughout, drawing readers into the review and causing them to want to read on.
Brownrigg also uses many well placed quotes throughout this review, allowing the review to be read smoothly without awkward breaks, while allowing the reader to see a bit into the actual book.
This review hits upon what I imagine is one of the most important techniques in The Old Romantic -gender roles.  It is about a man with two sons who has divorced his first wife and is in the process of divorcing his second.  Throughout the review, I got a feeling that the main character felt superior to women, based upon Brownrigg's descriptions and the quotes chosen, but I felt as though the book ended with the women acheiving a higher level of respect in his eyes than in the beginning.
This book review did not bring to mind any previous books that I have read or any previous book reviews I have read, but the very descriptive diction did make me think of some of Conrad's writing style in Heart of Darkness.  I do not believe that the plots of the books are similar, except perhaps with the male/female ideas seen in both, but both Brownrigg and Conrad use a lot of description and very advanced diction.
The imagery seen in this review was unpleasant and dark at times, but near the end, the tone became much more upbeat and happy.  Brownrigg says that this book contains "vivid evocation of love and marriage," which seems to go against what she has said previously, but it makes the book seem more positive than it had before.  This was possibly the only problem that I had with this review - Brownrigg sometimes changes the way that she is writing and seems to contradict things that she has said before.  This was very minimal, though, and did not really change my opinion of the review.
Overall, this review was terrific and I am most likely going to read The Old Romantic as soon as I can.