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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Ambitious, deeply layered, and well worth every second I spent on it.
Trying too hard, I think what she was trying to say got lost and the family were very odd aloof people. Disappointing
This book did not go in the direction I anticipated, like not even close. I thought it would be mostly about social workers, or civilians engaging in social work, immigration assistance, legal advice/work. Instead, this was a road trip novel--the titular children hinted at the border crisis (and her friends two missing daughters), but I think was really about her own children who run off about halfway through the book. The transition from mother's voice to runaway 10 y/o's was a little jarring, and his voice was a little...too precocious.
The familial relationships were fun, charming, almost idealized--the pleasantness of a 10 y/o and a 5 y/o in the backseat during an extended road trip verged on the unbelievable; this felt like a 3 week trip to go from New York to New Mexico: drive a few hours, find a charming nook, get a hotel/AirBnB, venture, read, smoke, eat, buy some trinkets (or some boots for the family), drive all day the next day.
Other minor quibbles--the judgment of the mom in the diner feeding a baby fries with ketchup and mayo. Seemed a little on-the-nose, an almost cliched depiction of an easily hateable person to whom you cannot relate--but then mom tries the fries and kinda likes them so who knows.
And, how we were told the sisters were found dead--very anticlimatic. I guess after your own kids disappear and have a brush with death, someone else's kids take a back seat.
It feels like her other books--a weird mix of fiction and non-, multi-media (really enjoyed how the polaroids were woven into the narrative, then revealed at the end of the book)
She wrote this in English, right? I know she is Mexican, went to school in South Africa and India, lives in NY now. I've recently heard a couple of quality interviews with her--the latest on Bookworm: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/bookworm/valeria-luiselli-lost-children-archive.
Sorry this is not so much a review as it is a collection of ideas related to my assessment of the book. But I did like it quite a bit.
The familial relationships were fun, charming, almost idealized--the pleasantness of a 10 y/o and a 5 y/o in the backseat during an extended road trip verged on the unbelievable; this felt like a 3 week trip to go from New York to New Mexico: drive a few hours, find a charming nook, get a hotel/AirBnB, venture, read, smoke, eat, buy some trinkets (or some boots for the family), drive all day the next day.
Other minor quibbles--the judgment of the mom in the diner feeding a baby fries with ketchup and mayo. Seemed a little on-the-nose, an almost cliched depiction of an easily hateable person to whom you cannot relate--but then mom tries the fries and kinda likes them so who knows.
And, how we were told the sisters were found dead--very anticlimatic. I guess after your own kids disappear and have a brush with death, someone else's kids take a back seat.
It feels like her other books--a weird mix of fiction and non-, multi-media (really enjoyed how the polaroids were woven into the narrative, then revealed at the end of the book)
She wrote this in English, right? I know she is Mexican, went to school in South Africa and India, lives in NY now. I've recently heard a couple of quality interviews with her--the latest on Bookworm: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/bookworm/valeria-luiselli-lost-children-archive.
Sorry this is not so much a review as it is a collection of ideas related to my assessment of the book. But I did like it quite a bit.
It's clear why all the reviewers and editorial boards like this book - it's clever, it's relevant, and it's engaging. The meta narratives at times felt too much to me on citations to books etc. The very intentional parallel converging stories were well done.
This felt overly referential and pretentious. The kids didn't feel realistic and the parents weren't fleshed out. I feel like we got information about their actions but not who they are, if that makes sense. The native narrative and immigration conversation were jumbled and felt like plot devices.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
TL;DR - This is my first Valeria Luiselli book. Everybody was reading this a few years ago and as usual I’m the last😊. My first fiction read of 2024 and I’m ready to put it on the top 10 reads of this year. Loved it !
About the book: Mom and her 4 year old daughter, and dad and his 10 year old son are a family. The daughter and son are from different parents, so a second marriage to both parents. It’s not all great in this new marriage but as the dad wants go the Southwest to document about Geronimo, she decides she will too as she would also like to find two missing girls who have crossed the border from Mexico. Both mom and dad have professional jobs of collecting sounds, documenting sounds, although one is a Documentarian and the other is a Documentarist, I honestly didn’t get the difference but am letting it go. The first half of the book is from the mom’s perspective and the second half from that of the son.
How I felt: you know what they say about Echoes ? The son’s portion felt like hearing the same story but from his POV. It’s got portions of what I’ve already read but it’s not the same. There is a lot experimental writing : pictures, a book within a book, reports of missing/dead migrant children.. it’s not confusing though but definitely some reader hard work. Not a fast book either, if I read fast I missed it 😊 Despite the heavy topics, it also has funny moments, especially the things discussed in the
car. I read the last 50 pages at the library, something I’m enjoying doing these days and I cried softly to not be seen🥹🥹
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated