Clearly an excellent writer. But I don't care one whit about any of the (pathetic) characters, not even Patrick Melrose himself. I've given it a go, but think my life's too short for this set. ( )

This book definitely made an impression. I enjoyed St Aubyn's writing style and the characters were intriguing in a car crash sort of way. I am actually reading the combined first 4 Patrick Melrose novels, but I don't tend to read series all together (or at all, normally.) I didn't want to have the entire book sitting on my "reading" shelf for however long it takes me to get through all four of them.

That being said, I anticipate giving future novels higher ratings, as it really does seem like these are up my alley. Stay tuned I guess! ( )

Six obnoxious upper-class English people get together for dinner at the chateau of the Melrose's, in the South of France; on the periphery is five-year-old Patrick Melrose, the confused and cowed victim of his father's breathtaking cruelty.

That's pretty much it. There's nothing in this novel to get excited about, and no character to really identify with. Not even Patrick, whom the author makes clear is just as much a bully as his father, given the chance.

The Melrose novels have a huge reputation, but I doubt that I'll bother, on the evidence of this one. ( )

St. Aubyn has been on my list for awhile to try, and I am glad I finally did . . .but this initial book in the series was hard to stomach. Apparently semi-autobiographical, this story revolves around Patrick at the age of 5. His father is a horrible human being with a sadistic streak and his mother is a drunk. This book gives us little peeks into how a boy perceives his own life. It also sets the stage for future books by introducing adult friends of Patricks' parents and painting a picture of wealth and upper crust society.

The writing was strong, but the storytelling didn't quite rise the book up to four stars for me. However, I was intrigued enough that I will probably give the second book in the series a try.

Dark and reminded me in a certain way of Nabokov. ( )

Yikes not exactly a feel good book but I am interested enough to read the next of St. Aubyn's novels. ( )