Salamander Paperback – August 6, 2002

It was probably a better book than I rated it. It just wasn;t my type of book -it kept losing my interest. Although parts of the book were fascinating. I loved the counts unusual house. I love the idea of a book that never ends. Nicholas Flood was cool ... and Pica. The story was well written. The characters interesting. I just don;t know why I had a difficult time finishing itFor some reason it just didn;t all come together for me

Fabulous book, one of my childhood favourites that I was delighted to track down again. But DO NOT BUY THE KINDLE EDITION! The formatting is completely messed up. Go with the paperback edition and enjoy a really beautiful book about books.

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Wharton takes elements from Borges and Calvino and blends it with some well researched and fascinating history. Like a previous reviewer wrote, it's such a compelling universe with such well developed characters that I didn't want it to end. But Wharton knows how to tell a story and he does it very well. It reminded me in many ways of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, minus several thousand pages and several dollars. It's selling for pennis here, so there's no reason at all not to buy it.

Why is this Kindle Book so expensive?!?! $18.99 ??!!?? That is ridiculous. Sounds very interesting but too expensive for my budget.

The book opens during the siege of Quebec in 1759, just before the town is about to be taken by the British. A French count meets a beautiful girl in a bombed out bookshop, and she tells him the story of one of the books in the shop...The rest of the book is the story of Nicholas Flood, who is brought from London to the Balkans by an eccentric Count, who wants him to create books that will fit in with his castle. The castle is designed so that all of the rooms are in perpetual motion, moving like a giant clockwork toy. Flood's first commission is to make a book without end. However, he falls in love with the Count's daughter, and when they are discovered, Flood is imprisoned, and the daughter is banished.Giving away more would spoil the surprises in the plot, which not surprisingly, is driven by Flood's desire to find the Count's daughter once more, despite the obstacles that are put in his way. In the process of doing this, he creates another magical book.This is a historical novel that will appeal to you if you liked "Perfume", "The Name of the Rose" "An Instance of the Fingerpost" or the Thomas Pargeter novels, or "A Case of Curiosities". The only thing that stops it getting five stars is that I felt it pulled its punches a bit - there are enough materials in here for a much bigger novel, and once you are immersed in the world that Wharton creates, you don't want to leave. If every character's backstory was described as lovingly as the French aristocrat in the first chapter, there would have been a lot more to the book, and I would have enjoyed it even more.I felt that once Wharton had created so many interesting characters and situations, he would do a lot more with them, especially as he sends them all over the world (Venice, London, China). Having said that, other readers may prefer the fact that the novel is not that long, and the story is certainly satisfying. No loose ends or anything like that.

A very touching story that will capture you emotionally. At the end, you will understand that madness and love are not so different after all!

This is certainly a beautifully written book, but the premise that it is about the pleasure of books and why we read them is somewhat misleading. It is really a story of people, and their incredibly complex lives, and in that it loses its way a little. The characters are only hinted at, whereas I like to know more about them, and their adventures drift into the fantastic, whilst attempting to stay grounded in the real world.Somehow it doesn't get there. Sure it is lovely to read, with beautiful prose, but it was a struggle to finish. I like books that grab my attention, and hold it to the end.

$16.99 for the Kindle Edition of this book?! Little much, dontcha think? Gotta love the greedy publishers.

This is a beautifully crafted old school fairy tale within a fairy tale within a fairy tale. It begins in 1759 with a soldier dismounting his horse in some unidentified historical war and happening upon a young woman in the burning ruins of a book shop. She begins to tell him a story. It is about a Count who following the death of his son retreats to his castle - which sits on the boundary of two countries. In order to avoid taxes, it needs to not be a house with any rooms so he turns it into a huge clockwork palace where rooms move about and into each other. The Count is obsessed with riddles and puzzles and wants to create a never ending book. He hires a printer from London Nicholas Flood who comes to live in the castle. He falls in love with the Count's daughter. The remainder of the book weaves the story of the printer and the daughter with little sub-fairy tales of the people they meet on their travels. It reminded me a bit of the structure of the Count of Monte Cristo (tales within tales) - not least because it features an abbe. The author in the note at the end cites Borges The Book of Sand as an inspiration and you can see why. The book is filled with literary references, references to printing and books. It's more of an adult book than Alice In Wonderland and more original. The first part set in the Castle was almost perfect and I had the unusual experience of enjoying a book so much from the outset that I was worried that the rest of it wouldn't live up to the first part. It is fair to say that the first part is the best bit but it doesn't detract from the whole work. Highly recommend this to anyone interested in books, stories and reading generally. A lovely, gentle and original read.

The first chapter of this book is wonderfully and promisingly fantastical, then something goes horribly wrong - very disappointing. :(

There are parts of the novel I really enjoy but I dislike the author's choice of not creating chapters and at times mish mash of characters and time lines. I will give it a second read in a month or two hopefully with better understanding