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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Formally audacious and full of allusions both literary and musical (David Bowie’s Space Oddity is a recurring motif), the book has three central threads. One is the main plot: a family on the verge of breaking apart is setting out on a road trip. The purpose of the trip is twofold, thus providing the other main threads of the novel. The unnamed father is pursuing a sound project exploring the geography around the final stand of Geronimo and the Apache band, the last surviving free Indians. The unnamed mother is consumed with the news of the child refugee crisis unfolding at the US-Mexico border, and she has her own creative project and personal mission in the Southwest to fulfill. The unnamed children, a 10 year old boy and 5 year old daughter, are not biologically related but they are siblings through and through.
If you, like me, love to read literary fiction at its apex, you will love this novel. It is structurally unique and complex, but not at all difficult to read. It lends itself to deep analysis and re-reading to pick up the allusions and the various motifs throughout the book. At times, this novel literally took my breath away and by the last 50 pages, I had to set it down and walk away to calm myself and process my tears. At novel’s end, I was exhilarated at the virtuosity of this novel.
If you, like me, love to read literary fiction at its apex, you will love this novel. It is structurally unique and complex, but not at all difficult to read. It lends itself to deep analysis and re-reading to pick up the allusions and the various motifs throughout the book. At times, this novel literally took my breath away and by the last 50 pages, I had to set it down and walk away to calm myself and process my tears. At novel’s end, I was exhilarated at the virtuosity of this novel.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was so beautiful. the way the relationships were described: beyond realistic, poignant and stunning. the connections made between the two sisters who were lost and the two siblings in the story was brilliant yet heartbreaking & i loved how original the prose, structure and story was!! would recommend to many. great start to 2022 :)
amazing writing! although there’s so much symbolism it can get confusing at times
This may be the best novel I have ever read. It’s layered: emotional yet intellectual, specific yet universal, comical, tragic, tense, expansive. I flagged so many passages as I read — so much of this book touched my heart.
He disfrutado tanto esta novela, su hermosa prosa, los momentos desgarradores, la relación de hermanos. Me siento feliz de haberla leído por fin.
This is a fascinating, ambitious, heady, and moving book. I think it falls apart a little at the end (endings are so hard), but it's so full of ideas and clearly defined characters that it's easy to forgive that.
Audio is the same - they make some really great choices that help translate the text, which has images, documents, etc. into audio format, and the performances are wonderful.
Audio is the same - they make some really great choices that help translate the text, which has images, documents, etc. into audio format, and the performances are wonderful.
I don't think I would have picked up Lost Children Archive if it had not been longlisted for Women's Prize for Fiction. I am at two minds when it comes to this book. It is at times too literary, at times beautiful. We are following the family of four, first focusing on the relationship between a married couple and then between siblings. The family is heading towards Arizona, the parents working with documenting sounds. The mother is captivated by the situation of children refugees and the father is interested at documenting the memories of Apaches. Their relationship is breaking down and the children are starting to sense that. As I said, I feel that this is a bit too experimental to me and it feels fragmentary instead of really getting to know the characters and understanding them. The second part narrated by the boy doesn't really work as it doesn't feel like it is narrated by a child. All in all, mixed bag. It is highly experimental and ambitious but left me feeling cold at several occasions.
Such a beautiful collection of sounds and sights. Listen to the audiobook, if you are able to. This book made me think more deeply about the ways in which I document my life and reminded me that I should try to capture sounds as well as images, even when they seem random. I am forever changed as a result of this story. I’ll be thinking about echoes, recordings, long drives, and family units in a new way.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40245130-lost-children-archive
At times overly academic, but overall a really well-done read. Major credit goes out to Professor Carpio for explaining this book's complexity and how Luiselli intentionally creates flawed characters to intercept the reader's empathy and self-projection so as to better focus on the stories of "lost" children. I would absolutely recommend reading this book alongside [b:The Undocumented Americans|41880092|The Undocumented Americans|Karla Cornejo Villavicencio|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581615133l/41880092._SY75_.jpg|55079158] because both strive to archive the migrant experience but have vastly different takes and styles of doing so. This book was just so SMART. One of my hum10 favorites so far.