Tatsächlich Liebe in Notting Hill

Zucker und purer Kitsch (im positiven Sinne). Aber wunderschön und romantisch 😍 Lass dich auf eine Welt ein, die von Liebesfilmen nur so übersät ist.

I bought this book a few months ago but did not start reading it right away. I just put it in my book shelve and it stayed there for quite a time. But why did I pick up this book just now? That is easy to explain: Recently, Notting Hill and especially the movie Notting Hill became something really special in my life. I do not want to give any details about it because this is not a blog about me and my private life but it is about the books I am reading. It just has a special meaning to me and that was why I suddenly wanted to read this book. It is chick lit and many people might not like it but I do. It is easy to read, romantic and funny. Once in a while I just need something like that. So I started reading this book which talks a lot about movies, especially chick flicks which I love for the same reasons given above, and of course, it takes part in Notting Hill, my most favourite area in London. In the beginning, I did not really get into the story. The first chapters were a bit boring story wise. What kept me reading were the descriptions of Notting Hill and all the movies mentioned. Scarlett, the main character, wants to proof that life can be just as it is in movies and who does not want to live like in a movie? Who does not dream of a perfect and romantic happy ending in real life just as you can usually find it in chick flicks? After a while I really got into the story and it became really interesting to see Scarlett and the developments between her and the two men in her life while she is just proofing that real life can be like a movie. The story has everything: Love, some family drama, traveling, London, Notting Hill and of course, movies. That is why I really liked it after the first chapters. And it stays compelling until the very end. You totally start feeling with Scarlett trying to figure out who is her man in the end. Does she want the organised, stable but also a bit boring David who she is supposed to marry or will she decide for the exciting, charming and funny Sean, her neighbour in Notting Hill who might end up being just a romance in the end and might not make her happy in the long run? I am not going to tell you who she is going to choose or if she chooses one at all in the end but what I am going to tell you is that the ending of this book is as dramatic as it could be and just reminded me of all chick flick movies that I have seen so far. The ending is one that you definitely would expect from a book about movies… I can highly recommend this book to you if you like chick lit novels and chick flick movies. If you want something funny and romantic, this is totally the book you should read. It is crazy once in a while but it never gets boring. Read more of my reviews here: http://booksaroundtheworld.wordpress.com

Anfangs schleppend. Dann ganz nett. schöner Schreibstil. Aber etwas schlecht nachvollziehbares verhalten der Protagonistin. Story zum Ende hin irgendwie etwas blöd.

I really wanted to like this book. I love Sophie Kinsella and Katie Fforde, and I hoped it would be of a similar ilk. However, it suffers from several significant flaws. Here are a few that particularly irritated me. First, the entire concept is weak (and kind of weird). It's cool to like movies, but why would you want to prove that they are realistic? They're not. That's the whole point. It reminded me of a particular paper I wrote in college-- the thesis was weak, so the rest of the paper didn't have anywhere to go. Second, the movie references. I enjoyed noting the small moments at first (the orange juice!), but it got old, especially since the author relies heavily on only a handful of movies, and also overexplains almost every reference. I picked up this book and chose to read it-- I'm probably familiar with most, if not all, of the movies you're talking about. Don't condescend to me. Also, she missed one of the best possible references (when Sean nicknames her "Red", like Cary Grant to Katharine Hepburn's character in The Philadelphia Story). The best writing advice I ever got would strongly apply here: show, not tell. (Ok, with this plot device, you can tell a little! Just not this much.) Third, the protagonist is underdeveloped. Things I know about her: she loves movies, she's engaged to a man she says she loves but clearly only tolerates, she has a knack for telling fairly boring stories in an interesting way. She's misunderstood re: the movie thing, but she's also pretty clueless about the fact that she's obsessed, and even gets mad when anyone alludes to it. I get why she's frustrated, but also, come on, girl. They're not wrong. She also displays a lack of critical thinking on more than one occasion. Her lack of self-awareness also leads her to be quite unfair to her (admittedly dickish, but still) fiance. Overall, she doesn't have much of a personality. I guess so that any woman who feels so inclined can plug herself right into the story (ie Twilight, most One Direction songs). On that note, the actual love story is lacking, because I don't really know what they like about each other. Sean seems immediately willing to go across Britain with her, even though he's just met her and had a negative impression-- so is this love at first sight? If so, it's not explained at all. If he's such a stand-up guy, why do her parents both distrust him? There's no reason for that, as far as I can tell. And the whole thing with her dad being like, "ooh, he uses his head to his best advantage" was so confusing, I had to read it three times, and I still didn't really get what he was trying to say. And why is the fact that he didn't read that Love Letters book such a big deal? He didn't read it, so he's not romantic. Never mind that he's got Austen, he's gone to France with you because you invited him, he was about to take you to NYC to hunt for your mother. Good Lord, woman, what is it going to take? Oh, and David. What a jerk. Definitely a controlling asshole, and signs of abuse in his language and behavior. But then I'm supposed to believe he's a good guy? Yes, Scarlett treats him badly, no doubt. But she shouldn't dump him for another guy. She should dump him because he's the worst. I gave this book two stars instead of one because I did finish it, and the writing isn't bad. I did enjoy the style. I just wish the author had given herself better material (and characters!) to work with-- I didn't really like anyone but Oscar and... what's her name, Sean's sister. Pity they're such minor characters. Edit: nope. Can't do it. One star. Verdict: library, but only if you must. I bought it, and I wish I could get my money back, because I will not read it again.

Rezension PiMi: Scarlett ist verrückt, Film-verrückt um genau zu sein. Wann immer es passt, oder eben auch nicht, träumt sie sich nach Hollywood zu Johnny Depp, Will Smith und Hugh Grant. Ihr Umfeld, allen voran ihr Freund David ist ziemlich genervt von Scarletts Tagträumen und ihrer Filmbessesenheit. Um Abstand zu gewinnen und sich ihrer Gefühle bewusst zu werden nimmt Scarlett einen Job als Housesitter in Notting Hill an. Wo auch sonst, schließlich ist Notting Hill Schauplatz und Titel einer ihrer Lieblingsfilme und vielleicht findet sie ja da ihre Lovestory. Scarlett findet direkt neue Freunde und natürlich auch einen potentiellen Traummann, der sich erst mal allerdings nicht als solcher zeigt. Wer hat sich nicht nach einem Film schon einmal an den Schauplatz gewünscht. Dorthin wo die Schauspieler sich verliebten oder wo es besonders emotional zuging. Und wer hat nicht schon einmal Dinge getan, die die Protagonisten getan haben, wie z.B. tanzen, singen oder schreiben? Gerade in meiner Jugend ging es mir auch oft so, dass ich genauso sein wollte, wie die Person im Film (zum Glück hat sich das mit der Zeit gelegt:)). Aber Scarlett ist kaum zu toppen.d Trotz ihres doch schon nicht mehr jugendlichen Alters, kauft sie Bilder, die Julia Roberts in einem Film kaufte. Sie macht Dirty Dancing Tanzkurse, hört nachts Radio wie in Schlaflos in Seattle und führt Tagebuch nur weil Bridget Jones dies auch getan hat. Sie übertreibt maßlos und mich würde dieses Verhalten genauso nerven wie ihre Freunde. Im Buch wird von allen Blödsinnigen Dingen die Scarlett getan hat, dann die Housesittinggeschichte vertieft („Liebe braucht keine Ferien“ ihr erinnert Euch?). Mir kamen manche Dialoge und Szenen sehr erzwungen und an den Haaren herbei gezogen vor. Denn so viele Zufälle wie sie Scarlett erlebt, passieren dann wohl doch eher in einem Film. Es werden Gespräche genauso geführt wie in „Harry und Sally“ und Scarlett wird mit Sean, den sie in Notting Hill kennengelernt hat zu einer Hochzeit von wildfremden Leuten eingeladen (wegen „4 Hochzeiten und ein Todesfall“). Alles etwas naja, zu gewollt. Ich habe das Buch gekauft, weil ich die Idee nett fand. Ich mag Liebes-Kitsch-Schnulzen Filme, wie „Tatsächlich…Liebe“, „Notting Hill“ und „Bridget Jones“. Ich muss aber sagen, dass mir nach gefühlten 500 „nachgestellten“ und „erzwungenen“ Filmszenen das ganze doch etwas auf die Nerven ging. Nach der Hälfte wurde es dann aber zum Glück besser, das echte Leben von Scarlett tritt mehr in den Vordergrund und ihr eigener Film kann beginnen. Wird sie sich für Sean (Typ Brad Pitt/ Hugh Grant - Daniel Cleaver) entscheiden oder für David (Typ Colin Firth- Mark Darcy) und wird sie ihre Mutter finden? Gegen Ende wird es noch mal richtig romantisch und süß und auch ein bisschen kitschig. Wer Kitsch nicht mag der sollte besser die Finger von dem Buch lassen :). Wenn man aber genau in so einer Stimmung ist, dann wird auch das Ende gefallen. Fazit: Für Happy-End Typen, die Liebesfilme mögen genau das Richtige, wenn man den holprigen Beginn erst einmal überstanden hat.