You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I am reviewing an Advanced Readers Copy that I got at a librarian event.
This is amazing but somewhat dense writing. Came across words that I had never heard or seen before, and I am a well-educated librarian who reads constantly. Was impressed at her ability to bring together references from all different areas of life and literature and weave them into the story. I am sure there are many, many I missed, but I am trained as an archivist, a rather obscure profession, and was shocked and amazed to see references related to my profession. She even makes references to people I know personally, so my guess is that the references to other fields are also researched and correct, not just something she pulled out of her novelist mind.
The story has an otherworldly quality to it, and even though nothing absolutely horrible happens to it, it is quite melancholy throughout, so not a great vacation read. I hated the chapter towards the end of the book that was one extremely long run-on, stream-of-consciousness sentence. I understand why she used this literary device, but it is very difficult for the reader with nowhere for the eye to rest. Maybe it works better in an audio book. Also, it was frustrating because I was anxious about and quickly wanted to rush ahead, but was didn't want to skip this part because I thought it might actually discuss what happened.
That is my main criticism of the book. The author uses too many tricks and devices that interrupt the story and can make it seem a bit too precious at times. But I am glad I have discovered Valeria Luiselli, and I will be following her works from now on. She is supposed to come to my city to give a talk at some point, and I hope that ends up eventually happening despite the current pandemic. I will definitely be there if I am not scheduled for something else!
This is amazing but somewhat dense writing. Came across words that I had never heard or seen before, and I am a well-educated librarian who reads constantly. Was impressed at her ability to bring together references from all different areas of life and literature and weave them into the story. I am sure there are many, many I missed, but I am trained as an archivist, a rather obscure profession, and was shocked and amazed to see references related to my profession. She even makes references to people I know personally, so my guess is that the references to other fields are also researched and correct, not just something she pulled out of her novelist mind.
The story has an otherworldly quality to it, and even though nothing absolutely horrible happens to it, it is quite melancholy throughout, so not a great vacation read. I hated the chapter towards the end of the book that was one extremely long run-on, stream-of-consciousness sentence. I understand why she used this literary device, but it is very difficult for the reader with nowhere for the eye to rest. Maybe it works better in an audio book. Also, it was frustrating because I was anxious about
Spoiler
what happened to the kids who were wandering around this deserted area by themselvesThat is my main criticism of the book. The author uses too many tricks and devices that interrupt the story and can make it seem a bit too precious at times. But I am glad I have discovered Valeria Luiselli, and I will be following her works from now on. She is supposed to come to my city to give a talk at some point, and I hope that ends up eventually happening despite the current pandemic. I will definitely be there if I am not scheduled for something else!
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Excruciating and important.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Very strange
This was a confusing and odd story. I never really became invested but for some reason felt compelled finish it. I was hoping it would have a satisfying ending. It didn't.
This was a confusing and odd story. I never really became invested but for some reason felt compelled finish it. I was hoping it would have a satisfying ending. It didn't.
dark
emotional
medium-paced
I read it really slowly because it was written in a strange way and it was very slow pace, but I liked it. It was like a poem, a very sad one about immigrants, and family in general. The way it was written is also very strange, she talking about her children calling them the boy and the girl, her husband by the father.
So what does it mean, Ma, to document stuff?
Perhaps I should say that documenting is when you add thing plus light, light minus thing, photograph after photograph; or when you add sound, plus silence, minus sound, minus silence. What you have, in the end, are all the moments that didn't form part of the actual experience. A sequence of interruptions, holes, missing parts...because experience, plus a document of the experience, is experience minus one.
...the kind of hopelessness that seems like it will never get repaired no matter what, because you're trapped in a circle, and all circles are endless, they go on forever, round and round this round endless desert...
I feel like this book goes on forever, in endless circles round and round.
Update 7/21/2020 (revisited for a book club): after finishing this book and seeing it as a whole, I appreciate all the layers and the ideas that Luiselli was trying to convey.
A marriage is ending. When something is coming to an end, there should be documentation for prosperity and remembrance. The 1st-person mother is thinking about this, as a chapter in her life--her young marriage--is ending. She and her husband are in the document/archive business--that's how they met; they are setting off so he can start a new project, and he plans to leave the marriage. She is also concerned about the border crisis--the undocumented people being deported; families ripped apart.
This is very ruminative and thoughtful. It got on my nerves until I finished the book and could see it as a whole and let's say I appreciate it. For literary fiction readers.