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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
The structure of this book is a large part of what makes this book so unique and special. It’s a story about a family going on a road trip, the parents being professionals seeking out sounds for projects and the children along for the ride. The mother’s (or wife’s—we never know their names except for their relational titles and eventually family nick names) story is about migrant children: she has taken up going to immigration court to volunteer to translate in NYC and now is pursuing the story of children, alone, at the border.
This book is heartbreaking. This book is also really creative. It is not directly about children migrants, but puts together a beautiful/tragic, shifting narrative. A lot of the little descriptions, especially of the family’s kids, are so creative and sweet and I found myself smiling.
I started reading this before all of the American Dirt conversation came to my attention, but since then this book has been on the list of books to read instead of AD. Valeria Luisellj is a clearly talented and creative writer, and I’m excited to read more from her.
This book is heartbreaking. This book is also really creative. It is not directly about children migrants, but puts together a beautiful/tragic, shifting narrative. A lot of the little descriptions, especially of the family’s kids, are so creative and sweet and I found myself smiling.
I started reading this before all of the American Dirt conversation came to my attention, but since then this book has been on the list of books to read instead of AD. Valeria Luisellj is a clearly talented and creative writer, and I’m excited to read more from her.
Some books challenge our expectations of what a novel is or what it should be. "Lost Children Archive" is a case in point. Ostensibly a "road novel", it shows us a family (a husband, a wife and their respective son and daughter from previous marriages) on a road trip between New York and Arizona. The couple met when they were working on a documentary project on the various languages of New York. However, their latest projects seem to be pulling them apart: the husband becomes obsessed with the last of the Apaches whereas the wife is planning a sound documentary on children detained at the border. It is clear that the family is breaking up, but this internal division becomes itself a symbol of families of migrants forcibly split apart.
In classic "post-modern" fashion, the narrative teases out links between the various strands of the story; sways between realism and fantasy/magical realism; and incorporates into the story such unlikely items as inventories of the contents of the boxes accompanying the family on the trip.
Much as I appreciate the work's originality and admire its complexity, I must admit that finishing this book was a challenge to me. Its best parts were brilliant, but there were points when I started asking myself whether the novel was being too clever for its own good. So I'll go for three stars on this - I don't doubt it's a very good (and very topical) novel, and others have rightly extolled its virtues. However, I can't say I really enjoyed it...
In classic "post-modern" fashion, the narrative teases out links between the various strands of the story; sways between realism and fantasy/magical realism; and incorporates into the story such unlikely items as inventories of the contents of the boxes accompanying the family on the trip.
Much as I appreciate the work's originality and admire its complexity, I must admit that finishing this book was a challenge to me. Its best parts were brilliant, but there were points when I started asking myself whether the novel was being too clever for its own good. So I'll go for three stars on this - I don't doubt it's a very good (and very topical) novel, and others have rightly extolled its virtues. However, I can't say I really enjoyed it...
Love the writing style of the first half in particular. The switch in POVs kind of feels like it is two different books mashed into one… both have their merits but I preferred the first half, and had some potential qualms about the second. Really beautifully observed and put together.
Un libro extremadamente intrigante que me dejó pensando en él hasta una semana después de que lo acabé. La premisa es simple: una familia apunto de separarse se embarca en un último road-trip de Nueva York a Arizona. Durante el viaje, se van desarrollando temas como la migración de mexicanos y centroamericanos o el genocidio a los apaches. Al lado de los distintos paisajes físicos y culturales americanos, aparecen problemáticas de dicho país (en ese aspecto me recordó a Y Tu Mamá También, el filme de Alfonso Cuarón).
El libro es narrado mayoritariamente por la madre de la familia, pero hay un punto en el que se relata desde la perspectiva del niño. La trama en esa parte es engancharte, pero el narrador no me pudo convencer, no me pareció como si una persona de 10 años estuviera hablando. La parte de la mamá es fenomenal.
Me parece que la autora tiene bastante información en el tema de la migración (de hecho, escribió un libro de no-ficción al respecto que me pareció muy bueno: Tell Me How It Ends). Esas partes en particular son fenomenales. No obstante, me parece que toca muchos tópicos (que sí son urgentes) pero no profundiza en ninguno. Me hubiera gustado que el libro sea más largo.
Finalmente, la reflexión que me llevo concierne a la pregunta central del texto: ¿Qué tanto se puede hacer arte con el sufrimiento ajeno? ¿Dónde está la frontera entre lo que se debe y lo que no? Aunque Luiselli no lo pregunta directamente, creo que esa fue la cuestión más recurrente de Desierto Sonoro.
El libro es narrado mayoritariamente por la madre de la familia, pero hay un punto en el que se relata desde la perspectiva del niño. La trama en esa parte es engancharte, pero el narrador no me pudo convencer, no me pareció como si una persona de 10 años estuviera hablando. La parte de la mamá es fenomenal.
Me parece que la autora tiene bastante información en el tema de la migración (de hecho, escribió un libro de no-ficción al respecto que me pareció muy bueno: Tell Me How It Ends). Esas partes en particular son fenomenales. No obstante, me parece que toca muchos tópicos (que sí son urgentes) pero no profundiza en ninguno. Me hubiera gustado que el libro sea más largo.
Finalmente, la reflexión que me llevo concierne a la pregunta central del texto: ¿Qué tanto se puede hacer arte con el sufrimiento ajeno? ¿Dónde está la frontera entre lo que se debe y lo que no? Aunque Luiselli no lo pregunta directamente, creo que esa fue la cuestión más recurrente de Desierto Sonoro.
I was listening on audiobook and it was beautiful but not holding my attention. It feels like a longer version of the author’s novel “Tell me How it Ends”. I made it to where it switches narrators to the young boy traveling with his family. Definitely a striking portrayal of a marriage in crisis with moving commentary on immigration and family separation. I would give this a try in book form later!
There was some promise in the beginning, but it all fell apart. Felt like I was on an endless road trip that wasn't going anywhere. I tried, I really did, and then I skimmed the last bit, looked through the pictures, and I'll be excited to return this book to the library. A frustrating, esoteric read where I admit the author is brilliant, but she's not speaking in any kind of literary language that resonates with me.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is unbeatable. Please read this to the end.