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mk4_naka's review against another edition
5.0
Heartbreaking in all of the right ways. That's all I can say.
book_concierge's review against another edition
2.0
Audio book narrated by Robert Fass
2.5**
Goldman found the love of his life in a decades younger grad student (not his student) from Mexico. He gave his heart to the brilliant, witty, exuberant Aura, and they were looking forward to starting a family when she was tragically killed during a beach holiday. This unexpected tragedy affected Francisco and Aura’s mother in ways no one expected. Francisco was completely bereft and lost in his grief. Eventually he wrote this “novel” – a barely fictionalized story of Aura and of their love.
I had such high hopes for this book. Everything I had read about it and what I was told by others who had read it (and whose opinion I trust) led me to believe this would be a wonderful testament to an enduring love that ended tragically. I was able to go hear the author speak when he was on the book tour, and was touched by his sincerity and emotion.
So what went wrong for me with this book? At first I thought it was the fault of the narrator. Fass does not have the right voice for this book. His tone is not “round” enough to tell the story of the Mexican Aura Estrada. Yes, I know the narrator of the book is Francisco, who was born and raised in the United States, but I’d heard the author read excerpts from the book, and Fass doesn’t sound like what I remembered Goldman sounding like. Still, I really do not think I can blame Fass and the audio version for my lackluster reaction. I have the text as well, and looking through it, reading sections on my own … I just don’t find the “heart” I was expecting.
I will say that the section where Goldman relates that final day at the beach is absolutely riveting. My heart breaks for Aura and Francisco, and all their friends and family, even for the “bystanders” who witnessed the events and tried to help, or shied away in horror. I wish the immediacy and emotion of these chapters had been present earlier and throughout the book.
2.5**
Goldman found the love of his life in a decades younger grad student (not his student) from Mexico. He gave his heart to the brilliant, witty, exuberant Aura, and they were looking forward to starting a family when she was tragically killed during a beach holiday. This unexpected tragedy affected Francisco and Aura’s mother in ways no one expected. Francisco was completely bereft and lost in his grief. Eventually he wrote this “novel” – a barely fictionalized story of Aura and of their love.
I had such high hopes for this book. Everything I had read about it and what I was told by others who had read it (and whose opinion I trust) led me to believe this would be a wonderful testament to an enduring love that ended tragically. I was able to go hear the author speak when he was on the book tour, and was touched by his sincerity and emotion.
So what went wrong for me with this book? At first I thought it was the fault of the narrator. Fass does not have the right voice for this book. His tone is not “round” enough to tell the story of the Mexican Aura Estrada. Yes, I know the narrator of the book is Francisco, who was born and raised in the United States, but I’d heard the author read excerpts from the book, and Fass doesn’t sound like what I remembered Goldman sounding like. Still, I really do not think I can blame Fass and the audio version for my lackluster reaction. I have the text as well, and looking through it, reading sections on my own … I just don’t find the “heart” I was expecting.
I will say that the section where Goldman relates that final day at the beach is absolutely riveting. My heart breaks for Aura and Francisco, and all their friends and family, even for the “bystanders” who witnessed the events and tried to help, or shied away in horror. I wish the immediacy and emotion of these chapters had been present earlier and throughout the book.
janneyf's review against another edition
2.0
This book is hard to read (very sad), and I must say, I don't think I gave it a fair read since I read only one third of the book. I may go back to it at some point.
jenniferdinsmore's review against another edition
1.0
Nope. Just couldn't do it. I know this has received many good reviews but I could barely get past the first few chapters. I know it is about a real event but I found the lack of linear plot and stream of conscious narrative off-putting. Just not for me.
lyrareadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I had such high hopes for this book and this is less a review than an expression of my impressions. After the wonderful reviews I'd read, it was like a carrot I dangled in front of me, my reward for getting through some difficulties. Instead, it mostly reminded me of everything I dislike about academia. I admire how Francisco Goldman wrote what is essentially a memoir as a piece of fiction. Structurally, this makes perfect sense because of the speculative nature of many chapters. He writes in and around and through the massive hole in his life that is his deceased wife. There is a lot to unpack about memory and forgetting, which would likely be done in exactly the sort of academic program that produced, confounded and angered Aura. There is much to like and admire, but somehow this story lacked the personal connection I had hoped to find.
giovannigf's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
5.0
moogen's review against another edition
2.0
An intensely personal meditation on grief... but as I read recently a meditation is just a way of saying a book has no story. I read to the end because it was well written. But there was nothing making me turn the pages. And I didn't especially like the main characters. Their relationship didn't play true. Sometimes it seemed unhealthy, even a bit creepy. I was relieved to get to the last page.
msievers's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting meditation on his wife's life, legacy, and how he is surviving after the untimely death of his wife and the snuffing out of his dreams of a family.
pustulio's review against another edition
4.0
Es un libro bastante triste y melancólico. Y que puede tocar fibras sensibles, más aquellos que han perdido a algún amor. Es casi todas la etapas por las que pasó el autor dentro de la desgracia de perder a su esposa.
Aunque ya sabes como termina, sigue siendo triste ver el desenlace de la historia.
Aunque ya sabes como termina, sigue siendo triste ver el desenlace de la historia.