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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
I have tried three times to finish this book and finally had to conclude that I couldn't do it. Starts off really intriguing, then disintegrates into a completely different, and totally uncompelling, plot line.
Meandering yet masterful, this book had me captivated from start to finish. The characters' joy and pain were palpable. This is the first of Ondaatje's books I've read and it will stay with me for a long time.
bring back tangents!!!!!! I recommend this book to fans of boring and overly descriptive french novels and girls who liked east of eden in high school. listened on audiobook while doing a lot of Nothing over winter break and it was awesome
12/26 So far, this story line reminds me a lot of Kim Barnes' A Country Called Home, which I read recently and enjoyed. I read Anil's Ghost and did not enjoy it and suspect I won't like this one, either, but we'll see.
12/28 This book sucks. It's like the guy had a couple of different story ideas and couldn't be bothered to flesh any of them out and develop them into a novel. I don't know why the publisher thought it would be a good idea to string these things together and try to pass it off as a book, but that's what happened. If I could, I would give this book zero stars.
12/28 This book sucks. It's like the guy had a couple of different story ideas and couldn't be bothered to flesh any of them out and develop them into a novel. I don't know why the publisher thought it would be a good idea to string these things together and try to pass it off as a book, but that's what happened. If I could, I would give this book zero stars.
Well, I am sure people really love these types of stories, but I gotta say, I really don't love stories for a story's sake. I like some movement in my stories, and that has been mentioned in other reviews here. While BEAUTIFULLY written, I just didn't FEEL it. It didn't get me in the feels and that is what I am looking for in a story.
I loved this book but might have to listen to it again. Its three stories in one, each very different yet interwoven. It is a story of sisters and childhood, memories and family, tragedy and heartbreak. Not quite sad, perhaps melancholy, regretful and definitely introspective.
The story of the sisters is difficult and heart breaking. At some point in the book there is shift to a French writer named Lucien. The French part of the book and the language add a level of complexity to the book that makes it especially lyrical and heart warming, yet at the same time heart breaking. It reminds me of Provence and how i imagine it used to be, in a much less complicated, more natural world, yet horrifyingly real and difficult in its naturalness and beauty before the war and ugliness after.
The ending is quite abrupt and left me feeling bereft for all the characters. To me this was an unsettling way to end the book.
The story of the sisters is difficult and heart breaking. At some point in the book there is shift to a French writer named Lucien. The French part of the book and the language add a level of complexity to the book that makes it especially lyrical and heart warming, yet at the same time heart breaking. It reminds me of Provence and how i imagine it used to be, in a much less complicated, more natural world, yet horrifyingly real and difficult in its naturalness and beauty before the war and ugliness after.
The ending is quite abrupt and left me feeling bereft for all the characters. To me this was an unsettling way to end the book.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
boring
This is the first Michael Ondaatje book that I didn't enjoy..at all. I can't quite put my finger on what didn't work this time -- perhaps a sense of disconnect precisely when the opposite was needed -- but I was happy to put it down.
First two thirds are phenomenal and I found the end dragged a little.