A God in Ruins: A Novel

Teddy, when you first meet him, is the most adorable and scrumptious little boy. So sweet, so in love with nature. Then World War II comes and he becomes a pilot, and a Wing Commander. His parents, his sisters, his child, his wife and hiss children's children all play a large part in the plot, and time keeps skipping back and forth as the viewpoint also shifts from one character to another. Interesting ending is the best part of the book.

a worthwhile read and even better if you have read Life After Life, the characters are familiar but the story has a very different perspective this time, focusing more on Teddy's life, his participation in WWII and his life before, after and around. She weaves all over with the narrative and you need to pay attention, but as ever, her characters are rich and real, likeable and unlikeable and I did not want to put it down.

Kate Atkinson is my favorite living author. A God in Ruins is not quite up to the level of Behind the Scenes at the Museum, which I consider the best novel published in the last 30 years, or even the Jackson Brody novels, but it certainly deserves 5 stars. Many of the characters in the novel are continuations of the characters in Life After Life but the novel is more realistic and less innovative than Life After Life. Atkinson writes often about dark subjects, such as the devastation of World Wars I and II, but subject matter is leavened with both wit and humour. Her characters are complex and they change with the passage of time but the changes are realistic and believable.

This book starts slowly. Perseverance is rewarded as the story really picks up after about the first quarter of the book. You do not need to have read (as I hadn't) 'Life After Life' before reading this. It stands on its own as a great commentary on the fall not only of a man, but of a country and an ideal. Incredibly touching narrative, with some characters who are difficult to understand or like at first, but who can grow on the reader throughout the book. I would urge people who finish the book to put it down and reflect on the ending at least overnight, before re-reading the ending. It is a powerful statement by the author that transcends the narrative and comments on the nature of fiction itself and things that we might take for granted. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Wonderful read. It is a follow-on or partner book with Life after Life--many of the same characters--but it stands alone as a moving story about the sacrifices British men and women made during World War II [historically accurate tales of RAF bombing missions] and, as today's society and culture evolve, the wonderment of survivors at what they were saving. The book raises questions about the moral ground of bombing civilians (both sides did it--did the B ritish have the high ground in retaliating?) and whether the sacrifices of so many young lives were worth it--or put another way, is the society that came out of the war be deemed worthy by those who died fighting for it.

Kate Atkinson is one of my all time favorite authors I have read absolutely everything she has published and enjoyed them all immensely. This novel sees her skills as a storyteller further developed and although the twist at the end felt a bit of a let down, I wasn't too upset about it. A beautiful follow-up to life after life which I consider her masterpiece.

Read this after reading and loving Life After Life. I read Kate Atkinson because she makes me think - about life, about the meaning of love; about death. Also great perspective on World War II from a RAF pilot. The sacrifices that were made, the in-humaneness of war and what it leads "civilized" nations to - she hits them all. It really seems as though she was there; which would fit right in with Life After Life.

The perfect companion to Life After Life. The novels takes the reader backward and forward in time tracing the life of the brother of the central character in the previous novel. His experiences as a pilot in WWII are at the core of this book. You do not have to have read Life After Life to enjoy this novel. But you should certainly read both of them and perhaps start with the earlier one first.

A beautiful work, but it should be read after you read her earlier work, Life after Life. The two are companion pieces, about war, family, the difficulties of living and making sense of it all, and, throughout, keeping hope. The book spans the years 1920-1980, but its heart lies in the Battle of Britain during World War II.
I strongly recommend these two books by an eminent writer.

A brilliant read. Atkinson never fails her readers but A God in Ruins is truly one of her best. I laughed in places, smiled in others and also shed some tears. And I fell in love. We cannot control our destiny but Atkinson can and she does so with a twist that leaves one thinking...

Atkinson steps back in time and creates life as it was then so beautifully helping the reader to understand all the changes that were taking place in peoples' lives and in the world around them. Her realistic descriptions of the planes and the raids are both exciting and chilling. But it is our relationship with the main character that is so poignant. Life is fragile and often relies on chance and in his quiet way he knew this and tried his best to use his time wisely even if his relationships were not always so simple. A God in Ruins maybe but a book filled with love, hope, kindness, so many qualities that make us humane.

This book suprised me positively. Although it jumped in different time levels and visited many peoples' minds, the story holds very well. I loved how the process of aging was described through the eyes of various ages. The war was in the story, but this is not a war story. It is a lovely book of love, aging and how those are visible in one's life.

This novel is wonderful. It is almost as great as Life After Life which is high praise indeed. There is a central character who is truly unlikeable and I have to admit that I am just shallow enough to allow this to influence my rating. Reading both of these volumes this summer saved me from the tedium of all the underwhelming books that came before in lately disappointing new fiction.

The categories above don't begin to explain what's right about this book. Read it for the feeling of England and its beautiful literature. Read it for the extraordinary descriptions of what it must have been like to be in a bomber in WWII. For the honesty of the characters who are obnoxious or stubborn. The nostalgia and kindness are entirely earned. I started just enjoying the patterns of animal words. This is a novel for writers, readers, and dare I say it, teachers of literature.

Very clever, never read a book quite like it. One of the members of our book club had to clarify a lot of the book for us. We became so interested
in the writer that we picked on her first book as our next selection.

Great follow up story to her Life After Life....as the author calls it, it is 'a companion work' as it is the story of Ursula's brother, Teddy, and his 'life' before, during, and after WWII. She writes beautifully about war, about fiction, about love and about the price we pay for love. A book with much to uncover and discuss, I feel it would be a great book group selection- well told, scenes set with precision and clarity, characters you would like to know...... and an anding that will leave you smiling and crying and nodding in approval.

Kate writes in her stle that changes venue and people around a lot. This is a wonderful book to read about the main character through various stages of his life. She is such a strong writer, and if you you read Life after Life you will find this novel equally entertaining.

This is a fantastic companion piece to Life After Life. I was predisposed to like it, because I love Kate Atkinson and Life After Life has become one of my favorite books. A God in Ruins was heartbreaking and heartbreakingly beautiful. The characters are perfectly flawed and relatable, especially if you have already read Life After Life. If not, plan to read both because you will fall in love with the Todd family as you fall in love with the writing of Atkinson.

A great read! What at first seemed a disjointed presentation of plot and characters, came together magnificently as the read progressed to a wonderful surprise ending. This is the stuff that "fiction" is made of, I think the author would agree. This book was my introduction to Kate Atkinson, and I look forward to reading more from her.

I didn't read Life After Life since several reviews said this stood on its own. Maybe if I had read it, I would have liked this more. Many people have summarized the story so I won't bore you with that. I just didn't find the book that interesting. The jumping around didn't bother me. The end left me disappointed.

Did not like her using the same characters as her first book. It was hard meeting Ursula and Sylvie again as almost different people. There were interesting parts but I was hoping for a separate book or some sort of continuation and wondering how She did it. Instead I got a mixed up version for me. I did like the main character, the grandchildren and the reconciliation between Viola and Oliver

Atkinson's skilful portrait of a man and his people, his time and place in history is so very very good. Literate and complex, riveting and satisfying, the novel presents the reader with the powerfully imagined world of Britain during the bombing campaign of WW II and its legacy. A richly rewarding reading experience.

Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite authors of all time, and she has outdone herself with this companion novel to Life After Life. I really couldn't put this book down, and it is one of those things that remains in your mind long after you've read it. I would recommend this to almost anyone, and especially someone interested in the particular impact of WWII on the British psyche, which I think Atkinson really manages to reach in a number of her novels.

A companion novel to Life After Life, this novel is beautifully written but incredibly sad and tragic. The nature of Life After Life at least had a kernel of hope, but this novel is much more depressing and heartbreaking. Teddy Todd is a beautiful character which makes you mourn for him even more.

This book has so much hidden beauty. I loved reading it and was moved several times by the passages on the sacrifices of war...

"Their names written on water. Or scorched into the earth. Or atomized into the air. Legion."

Atkinson's revisiting of the characters from Life After Life let's us see the "what if" of her characters. If Teddy lives; if there are other children to carry the family thread.
The switching of time and place is done in this book, too. It still works.

This exquisitely written book is a great testament to the ultimate sacrifice given by all who have fought and/or died in the history of warfare. It is a delicately woven, intricate meditation on the gift and beauty of life itself. Read carefully! The last few pages of the novel completely recast the rest of the book.

Good writing & characters
Very readable.
A bit irritated by her last-minute literary trick, where she reverts to Life After Life, her previous novel, but she writes well enough to get away with it. Without that trick I might have been tempted to give her five stars, but she is "too clever by half!"

Yet another great book of this very wonderful writer.

An anti-war, any war (even if you're on the "right" side) book.

And with her words: "… in the end, become itself sabage as we attacked the very people – the old, the young, women – that civilization is supposed to defend.” *

I loved the Jackson Brodie books, with their ridiculously intertwined characters and the wry humor. I truly enjoy the way Kate Atkinson writes . I enjoyed Life After Life, and wanted to read more about the sweet, kind son Teddy. But be warned. As much as I wanted Teddy to have a life worthy of his innate decency and goodness , most of the book is taken up with this appallingly awful, selfish and willfully miserable daughter and the way she misunderstands and treats him. She is truly one of the most annoying characters I have ever read and the last chapter doesn't make up for this. On the other hand I never thought I'd want to know what flying a bomber in World War II was like but that part of the book will stay with me forever

The writing is seamless, as we have come to expect with this fantastic author. I enjoyed the extension it gave to the companion book, giving details about the character who begs to be heard. I am not a fan of aircraft and war but enjoyed the storyline as it pertained to the character. Breaks new ground with a version (to my mind more integrated and sophisticated) of writing fiction, that was explored in the previous book.

This was disappointing after Life after Life. It jumped around a great deal in time in a disorderly fashion and it was often hard to work out the point of view and which character was speaking. The ending was abrupt and quite honestly I don't know if I really understood it. I am a great kate Atkinson fan but I felt let down by this book.

Life continues for Teddy, a character in Life After Life. Everyone has aged and via many backstories, Teddies life is made more clear. He is cherished by his grandchildren, if not by his daughter. The descriptions about the air corps in WWII are very vivid.

I loved this book, the characters, the story, the development of the story - forward and backward. I was totally immersed while reading it and continued to think about it long after finishing. I would hope there would be a third book - maybe a prequel - to the story begun in Life after Life. Thank you Kate Atkinson.

This novel is a terrific follow-up to "Life after Life". Both Novels combine to give us moving and highly-personal takes of a family before, during, and after the Second World War. My only qualm is the very ending, when "A God in Ruin" follows the antics of one of it least interesting charactes. The actual ending was very moving, akin to the last few pages of another recent and great novel "Beautiful Ruins".

Excellent characterisation, evokes times and relationships very well. Jumping around in time within chapters is sometimes disconcerting but deliberately part of the plot. Kate is very good at giving bits of information out at a time, each bit relevant to the character or situation.

I really liked this book. The main characters are well developed and the historical sections add a great deal of depth to the story.
The author beautifully brings to life the willingness for total self-sacrifice of the Royal Air Force bombardiers while not letting the reader forget the total destruction the bombs wrought. And she creates a post-war future that resonates with the struggles of those who survived and the generations that followed. By focusing on one family, the shattering results are made clear. But there is humor as well as heartbreak in the novel and it works it's magic from the beginning to the end.

It was somewhat difficult to initially get into the book, the characters and time frames shift constantly, but after adjusting to the writing style I very much enjoyed the way the stories were told. I thought the characters were very well developed, very real, and you can get more involved as the book is written as if you are listening in on the characters' thoughts rather than observing a story unfold.

My main problem is with this style of writing. To me, it is like reading a writer's outline on which an actual story would be based.

There are endless paragraphs describing character interrelations and motivations that are devoid of any dialog. Consequently, instead of learning something about the characters through their interactions with each other, the outline does that for us.

I am one-third through this book and, other than some superficial quirks, have learned very little of substance about the characters (and there are many).

I will try to finish but, it will be difficult.

Although Kate Atkinson is a brilliant writer, I am not a fan of the time warps in the story. However, the development of the characters is so keen that it is easy to like some, sympathize with some, and dislike some. The best part for me is the rendering of historical settings.

The author has a talent for getting inside the heads of people. Told with humor and about mistakes made in life. Helps us understand more what it was being a pilot in a war and the slim chances of survival.

This was a great novel,carefully constructed and intriguing. The story of foamy and the effects of war is exceptional. It reveals many of the details of aging and the effects of death on people . Maybe a little overbearing but in almost all respects this is a great novel.

Very interesting read. Not familiar with this author until I read this. I thought she wrote "silly , shallow women's stories". Not shallow, silly or only for women. Is well-written and excellently developed.