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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
medium-paced
It is early in the year to be proclaiming a favorite book of the year, but I think this might be it. The book is composed of parallel lines of stories about something while following another story within the story that is at the same existing in our world. It is lyrical and ruminative, a slow tell full of meandering and small details told from different points of view while observing the soundscape that we often fail to observe.
Read if you: enjoy the alchemizing intimacy of mundane experiences shared on long road trips, relish stories about what it means to be a family together and apart, liked the use of vignettes in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath", or binged the British TV/film series, "The Trip" and its subsequent sequels in Italy, Spain, and Greece.
Valeria Luiselli is evidently one of those people who is just staggeringly intelligent. Her intelligence oozes out every fibre of this book whether it is in the way she phrases sentences or exposes the nuances of every day life. This is a person who observes and then is able to think with great precision about what she observes. The prose in this book is truly searing, almost perfectly crafted. The book takes quite an unexpected turn but it is above all a very beautifully crafted work. However this book is not without its flaws and at times feels almost academic in stature and can be quite stiff at points as a result. For me I am still undecided as to whether the second half feels a bit contrived in the way it unfolds but that being said it all ties itself up.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
a gorgeously written (though sometimes overworked) story about the migration of children and a family slowly falling apart. weaved into it are interesting takes on the way relationships — familial and romantic — work.
i found that the link between the various subject matter needs a little more work, and that the book needed more time in the edit room. but otherwise, i quite enjoyed this piece. i suggest to read the audiobook to get the whole experience.
i found that the link between the various subject matter needs a little more work, and that the book needed more time in the edit room. but otherwise, i quite enjoyed this piece. i suggest to read the audiobook to get the whole experience.
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
The different perspectives were woven together so well. I think this book made me feel like a young child again, or at least remember what it was like. It all felt so sad but it was different through a child’s eyes. I really liked the music referenced in this, it was especially unusual to hear AJJ mentioned anywhere and that made me feel right at home. The more I think about it, the more I miss it and want there to be more of it.
Right now I'm a little less than halfway through Valeria Luiselli's novel Lost Children Archive. It's about a family of four that sets off on a summer road trip from New York to the borderlands of the desert Southwest. Both parents are audio documentarians, but their interests (and maybe their lives) are now diverging. He's working on a project about Geronimo and the Apaches; she's searching for two "lost children" during an immigration crisis. We'll see what twists and turns await as the family meanders toward Arizona. I'm eager and apprehensive.
The reviews I've seen for Lost Children Archive have been mixed, reminding me in a way of people's responses to Terrence Malick's mostly (but maybe not totally) unrelated film The Tree of Life. In both cases, it seems you either rave about the artistry or you find the whole thing a confusing waste of time. So far, I'm in the considerably smaller liking-but-not-sure-I'm-raving camp, which is in line with my reaction to Luiselli's earlier novel The Story of My Teeth.
The reviews I've seen for Lost Children Archive have been mixed, reminding me in a way of people's responses to Terrence Malick's mostly (but maybe not totally) unrelated film The Tree of Life. In both cases, it seems you either rave about the artistry or you find the whole thing a confusing waste of time. So far, I'm in the considerably smaller liking-but-not-sure-I'm-raving camp, which is in line with my reaction to Luiselli's earlier novel The Story of My Teeth.