On the Jellicoe Road (1 Viewer)

[justbek]

I love all marchetta's books, but on the jellicoe road for me was the most like meaningful.. it was so sad and there was more substance and layers, the characters seemed more complex than her typical european schoolgirl genre.. even though i LOVE saving francesca and looking for alibrandi.. they're some of my all time fav books.
With this one, I found it more-so required you to think, than just blindly be lead.. if you get what i mean.. lol it was kinda frustrating yet exciting when you pieced together all the little bits and realised the mysteries held within the story.

 

[Rinni]

<3<3<3<3<3
Omg I loved this book. Read it in two days and am about to start it again.
It's soooo diff from her other books and possilby more awesome (in my opinion). Both LFA and SF are on my fav books list so that says alot to me lol.
PS Jonah Griggs = Awesome

 

[timeless]

yeah i borrowed jellicoe road way before the holidays started and just put it on the back burner. i read it today, and i gotta say, this is probably melina's best book. i mean, i adored looking for alibrandi when i first read it in year 5 but jellicoe road really takes it to another level. tho i have to say, saving francesca was like alibrandi redux.

 

[timeless]

I just borrowed this from the library after watching this thread for so long and my verdict is:

boooooooooooooring. I can barely scrape past page 30 or so. I'm not a reader who needs everything spelled out to me but I need to know the premise and it has to have some sort of coherence for me to latch on. I don't think Ill be getting much further. That stupid war thing that is going is just that...stupid. Maybe I'm missing something....

Looking for ALibrandi is still the best. Still funny after 50 re-reads and Saving Franscesca is still good for light-hearted reading.

the problem with jellicoe road is the vague incoherence. if you can't get past it, then skip everything thats in italics and just read taylor's story. then you can go back if you want and read the other story. i mean, hell, this sure beats the 19th cent. goth novels in coherence.

 

[swanny87]

Hey,
I just read On the Jellicoe Road twice in the last couple of days. I've been a fan o Melina Marchetta for ages and was glad when this book was realised. I have to say that I absolutely love it!! I didn't like it at first cause i wasn't really into it and i became confused easily but then i tried to work out who the characters from the flashbacks were in Taylor's time. From then on everything fell into place & I was totally hooked.
Fantastic job Melina!!

 

[amy236]

loved it loved it loved it. i am a massive melina fan, as well as a john marsden fan so it appealed to me on all fronts.. i'm also from the area where its set, in the riverina, and i go to school in one of the towns she visited when researching it, so maybe i'm a bit biased, but i have to say i related a lot... to the setting anyway. i loved that it was different to her usual thing, and i think she pulled it off.. i'm actually re-reading it at the moment, i've read it a few times now but everytime i re-read it i find something new.

 

[K.]

Horrible book. Marchetta needs to realise she's pulled the girl-in-highschool story line too many times. Saving Francesca was so-so, but this was horrible to read.

 

[*Lozzie*]

the first bit i really couldnt follow but then it seemed to turn a courner and i couldnt put it down when i read it again i will like it more cause i will be able to pick up on so many other things but all in all a really good book two thumbs up

 

[kkkkaitlyn]

its an awsome book
though it does take a while to get into it
i had to re read first chapters to understand wat was goin on
but yes a very good read

 

[xdemi101]

oh my what a book.

like others i agree it took a while to get into. (it started off a little confusing) but once i got into it i couldnt put it down.

i stayed up till 3am reading that first night
but i didnt finish it.

for some reason the entire day flew by like a blurr, i could not do anything without finishing that book. its like something took over me. i wasnt hungry and i didnt want to watch tv. i only wanted to read that book.

after i finished i felt much better. but i was scared because melina has written the book so well that i could relate to the characters so well, and found me feeling like taylor - as if i had some connection to those 5 kids 22 years back.

(wierd i know)

this was a while ago, now; just last night, i again stayed up late reading it. the 2nd time you read it you pick up on what you missed out on.. and you have a knowledge of what happens at the end.. but it doesnt ruin the book.. it makes it better.

yes, i cried AGAIN

this has to be my favourite book ever!!

 

[glitter burns]

I thought it was rather predicable and felt a little contrived.

Saaame.
It was technically better than her earlier works - except for the first chapter which was not properly set-up and didn't hook me (or anyone, apparently).
But that was it. Most of the characters seemed... flat, or at best, a stereotype and IDK, just huge aspects of the novels just seemed a bit silly.
Maybe I'm just getting too old for her books, I seem to be in a minority here.

 

[nichhhole]

hmm..
i must admit.. this book was far from one of my favourites...

it's very different.. [esp the setting..]
and the attempt to make it into a mystery type book [ie with the 4 people, and one of them going missing.. or whatever.. sorry its been a while since i read..]
and then the final link between them..
i dont know.. i just dont think she did it that well [or maybe because i'm into the style of her other books?]

i got a bit annoyed with all the names of those 4 people and trying to remember the links.. and then how one of them has their name changed??

i do like the ending tho.. haha well the last line[post office..].. and some of the twists.. [ie trainstation..] [sorry dont want to spoil it for others.]

i much prefer alibrandi and francessca tho...

 

[starbuck]

it holds even more significance than the first or second time i read it

i have to agree. i liked it the first time around but it Jellicoe was a much better read the second or even third time around. It's definatly easier to understand and the links between the two stories and how one affects the other is much more obvious. Even if you don't read it more than once, don't let the first chapter put you off. It has all the good bits of Marchetta's last books but the setting and flashbacks help to keep it interesting.

 

[nichhhole]

i have to agree. i liked it the first time around but it Jellicoe was a much better read the second or even third time around. .

i gave it away after the first read.
it was such a bad book that i was ashamed to have it on my bookshelf.

stuff reading it for the 2nd/3rd time... it takes a very special book for me to read twice...and this book is hardly special.

 

[ilovejellicoerd]

READ THIS THE HISTORY OF THE BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD DEPENDS ON THIS!! now i no that it may seem starnge that a stranger is asking you to completely trust her but please do!! jellicoe road is being so terribly underestimated which is a huge let down for me who has A HUGE OBBSESSION with it. everthing in it is perfect and if you want it to go faster or sumthing then get it out on audio cd cos thats wat i did. i couldnt get it out of my head and still cant its like a wonderful disease!!! i forced my frinds to read it and every single one of then have come to school when they have read it screaming "OMG OMG IM ABOUT TO FAINT IT WAS SO FANTASTIC" in fact most of us just cant put it into words so we just scream!!its just so intence and beautiful. my friends and i are always rehearsing our favourite quotes and actually have a huge list of them at the moment. oh goodness just talking about it is making me get butterflys i love it i loveit i love it please read it or you will have missed out on one hell of a journey one that i don think i will ever grow old of dreaming about!!!

 

[offwithhercardi]

i adore this book, i read it all in one go. and then i read it again and again and again and again. saving francesa is good too.

 

[Hello2U2]

I absolutely LOVED IT!!! i even venture into saying it was better than the other two!!!!!!

i read it quite a while ago when it first was in the library, but i do remember me not putting it down at all because it was THAT GOOD

 

[nerdsforever]

Its a really good book!!! it seems confusing in the begginign but thats what makes you want to keep reading. In the end, you'll get the whole story. There is a lot of development in characters, mystery and plot development in this book. Probably one of Melina Marchetta's best

 

[jude.harlowe]

Personally, I loved it. It was stylistically and technically better than anything she's written previously and has a beautiful plot-- it just draws you inorexobly in and by the end I was so caught up with the characters I couldn't put it down. The concept of the microcosm of Tate, Webb, Narnie, Fitz and Jude twenty years earlier is so true to life and I love the parallels with Taylor and Jonah-- who's such an honest, vulnerable character. In fact, every single character within Jellicoe is fundamentally flawed and suffering--such a convincing portrayal of teenage angst and confusion I've yet to recollect.
My favourite parts:
-The Tree
-Raffys swim
-The Hermits confession
-The train ride
-Narnie and Jude
-Webb and the photograph

It's just a gut-wrenchingly poignant story and so beautifully told.

 

[agua.fuego]

Thought it was AMAZING, definitely one of her best. I liked it because it didn't really go in the same way the others did. It was really well done.