Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Breathtakingly pleasing read December 1, 2007
I am an ardent admirer of Kate Atkinson's work, but must confess to being a little reluctant to read a collection of short stories as I most love her ability to expand and deliver storylines form the smallest intrigue within her novels. I should not have been so reticent to read this work however as the stories beautifully collide with characters, themes and much more. Never before have I been lead to re-read a book immediately after finishing it the first time, but this I have done with Not the End of the World with great relish. Not only would I wholeheartedly reccommend this book to anyone but I have just bought copies for many friends and relations for Xmas!
Such a good read... December 13, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I loved this book: read it in the space of twenty-four hours, and then went back to dip into all my favourite bits again, and make some more connections. People who have not enjoyed this book should brush up on their Greek myths, and on the short story as a genre, rather than blame Kate Atkinson!
Beautifully crafted, satisfyingly interwoven, wittily plotted...need I say more?
 Simply Brilliant March 7, 2006
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is one of my all time favourite books. While many of the stories have little substance or even a proper ending, the entire book is masterfully told.I particuarly like the way that, unlike other short story books, the characters are all connected in one way or another. Subtle details in one story will give you alternative insights and opinions of characters in another. The greek mythology is simply hilarious, and creates the sense that the book is set in its own haphazard, unpredictable world. If you enjoy the weird and wonderful, then I definitely reccomend this masterpiece to you. However, a sense of humour is required.
 Read it for the storytelling not the story September 1, 2004
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
I have read much of Kate Atkinsons other stories and as with this book I found that the real pleasure to be had is in the telling rather than the story itself. Her language and sense of humour are wonderful, her metaphors and descriptions are original and stick in the mind long after you have finished reading them.However the only drawback I would say is you do get the feeling often that she has come up with a wonderful idea for a story, started off writing, got halfway through and then not known how to finish it (and it was highlighted here in the short stories where presumably she had to get in, tell the story and get out again in as few pages as possible!!) If you can suspend the need to have a neatly tied up ending and can just enjoy the way the story was told these short stories are an interesting way to pass a few minutes without demanding too much headspace to follow a plot and I would say go for this. If you hate stories that just hang at the end, or suddenly take a turn for the absurd then best opt for something else!
 Not the end of the world - just a major disaster. July 29, 2004
12 out of 28 found this review helpful
The excellent reviews on the cover and inside made better reading than the book itself but the Latin introductions to each piece - pretentious, moi? - would be very useful to any ancient Romans that read it.The "stories" are dire: odd characters put together with a few things happening but no sense of plot, coherent narrative or depth of character. Pointless, and without any sense of direction or purpose, the pieces just faded away because the author was too lazy to think of an ending, or - just as likely - got bored with them. I did, too. The publishers of this rubbish should be ashamed of cashing in on Kate Atkinson's name and publishing third rate dross like this. Possibly the worst collection of "short stories" by a published author that I have read.
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