Book Challenge - Hemingway's Chair

Now that I am taking part in the Book challenge (see earlier post) I feel as though I should be reviewing the books that I am reading.

So...I have finished one - Hemingway's Chair. I have been reading it during work breaks as it is the only way I can get myself to read something that perhaps I am not that keen on as if I have nothing else to read then I HAVE to read what I have got. Of course, if I get into it, then I read it at home too (usually just before bed so that I end up turning the lights out too late!).

Anyway - I am not sure that I enjoyed Hemingway's Chair. It was an intriguing read, that's for sure, if I hadn't liked it at all then I would not have even finished it!

Michael Palin tells the fictional story of an assistant postmaster with a bit of a fixation on Hemingway and if you are expecting a bit of a funny story from Michael Palin then you are looking in the wrong place as this little book is not humourous at all.

Instead we get to see what happens when the Post Office management is replaced and the assistant gets involved in all sorts of shenanigans, revealing the depth of his connection with Hemingway. I wont give away any detail, but the ending of the story was somewhat strange, the whole build up to the conclusion of the story seemed a bit contrived to me, which is why I didn't really enjoy the book.

If nothing else, the story does show that Palin himself knows quite a bit about Hemingway, in fact, he wrote another book - Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure - which is a travelogue following in the footsteps of Hemingway. (I haven't read this, but get the feeling that I would enjoy this more than the book that I have just read!)