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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
"There are an infinite number of universes, all existing side by side, or so the scientists say. All existing concurrently. But we have only this universe in which to live; we can't have all the other universes. Of all the glorious universes we could possibly have, this is the universe we are stuck with."
This is a very in-depth look at a family. It's generations and generations going far back into the settling days and the building of the first huge estate of a railroad and forest tycoon.
But this is also a story told by a 14 year old boy, with little life experiences and still so much to learn. It's a bit of mystery, as he tries to understand where he has come from and all the sins of the fathers, but this isn't written as a mystery - this is a story about a family and what it took to survive.
This is a very in-depth look at a family. It's generations and generations going far back into the settling days and the building of the first huge estate of a railroad and forest tycoon.
But this is also a story told by a 14 year old boy, with little life experiences and still so much to learn. It's a bit of mystery, as he tries to understand where he has come from and all the sins of the fathers, but this isn't written as a mystery - this is a story about a family and what it took to survive.
This book was so complex and engaging in its descriptions of complicated family dynamics, forgiveness, and inter generational trauma. This book was an excellent and eerie read on love, commitment, and the secrets families hold.
Argh. I really feel like I should like this book more than I do, but I don't. I think its two-fold: first, the narrator did not convince me from the start that he is a 14 year old boy. By the end, you understand more clearly why perhaps that is, but at the beginning, it's distracting and made me lose my trust of the author. And the other aspect is that I really disliked how the author handled the whole idea of ghosts and spirits- it's like he could not make up his own mind whether he wanted to treat them as a layer of magic realism, or as a real component of the narrative, and as a result, I as a reader was left confused and unclear. There are good things about this book- the historical-fiction-feel, the interweaving of timber and conservation history, some of the conversational flow. But many of his characters and plot trajectories feel over-wrought, melodramatic, and not believable. I just couldn't quite buy into the world Stein created here, and this book just didn't feel right or convincing to me as a result.
DNF. The book starts with an interesting beginning, yet the story develops poorly. I did not even know what is about into the middle of the book....
I am not going to lie, this book was just okay. I was not over the moon about it, there was maybe one time in the whole time I read the book that I could not put it down. It had many times where it was very slow and very hard to read. But overall, it was not horrible. I actually enjoyed it. I enjoyed the basics of the story, of Trevor coming to bring his parents back together and ending up unraveling a family history that is pretty sinister. And I mean can we just say that Aunt Serena needed to be seen at the loony bin?
I am hovering between three and four stars so I'm thinking three and a half. This book is so different than The Art of Racing in the Rain, which I loved. Something fell short for me even though I love a good old house, spirits and dysfunctional family story. Still worth the read.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a “blind date” book, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story and the writing! It wasn’t life changing for me, but definitely a good read!
A Sudden Light is a modern novel about a boy named Trevor who is forced across the country with his father to deal with an old and crumbling estate. Clever Trevor meets his grandfather and strange Aunt Serena and he is instantly amazed at the grand estate that his father never mentioned to him.
Trevor digs into the past to find out the history of the estate and why it's so important to either A. Develop it, or B. Let it crumble to the ground and become one with nature. There is a ghost, Ben, who "haunts" the estate who tries to convince Trevor to do the latter.
It's a coming-of-age story for Trevor - he is forced to make difficult decisions that will impact his entire future. Stein's writing is poetic and beautiful. The reader is able to feel exactly like Trevor and feel the mysteriousness of the Estate. Overall I really enjoyed this "read" (I actually listened to the audiobook which was really good) and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a modern writer with the talent of description.
Trevor digs into the past to find out the history of the estate and why it's so important to either A. Develop it, or B. Let it crumble to the ground and become one with nature. There is a ghost, Ben, who "haunts" the estate who tries to convince Trevor to do the latter.
It's a coming-of-age story for Trevor - he is forced to make difficult decisions that will impact his entire future. Stein's writing is poetic and beautiful. The reader is able to feel exactly like Trevor and feel the mysteriousness of the Estate. Overall I really enjoyed this "read" (I actually listened to the audiobook which was really good) and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a modern writer with the talent of description.
DNF. I'll give it a second star for some early 20th century queer representation, but that's it, I literally could not trudge myself past page 210. It was a ghost story with all telling and no showing, with weird intermittent social commentary that was clearly from the author and had no place in the story, and some bizarre aunt fetishizing that added nothing. It was on my shelf and I'm committed to giving the books I own a shot, but I simply could not get through it.
mysterious
medium-paced