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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
The writing was choppy and by the time I cared about the story, it was just about over. I did feel emotional about it, . I have tried to read The Book Thief 3 times with no success so perhaps Zusak's writing just isn't for me.
Spoiler
but in the way any book about a mother leaving her children would make me emotional
Bridge of Clay is Markus Zusak’s, author of The Book Thief, most recent novel. Marketed as a young adult novel, this story is a very smart look at five brothers, their mother and father, and a few of their close friends and neighbors.
Bridge of Clay reveals its story through bits and pieces of their history, present, and future over time. The characters are viewed as caricatures of themselves, and the descriptions that fill these pages are not common descriptors. Zusak is able to give emotion and energy to characters in a unique and sometimes grotesque way.
I loved Penny’s character. Her passion for everything she does is clear throughout the story, and she brings her a-game whether she is good at what she does or not. I love passionate people, and it felt good to see her struggling and succeeding through the eyes of the boys.
Clay’s role in the story felt choppy and constantly unsure of itself. Given the context of trauma, this makes sense, as the narrative of a person surviving trauma is often very halting and not always rooted in reality. His story, however, was perhaps my least favorite of the over-arching narrative. I definitely developed empathy for him and the experiences he faced, but I don’t think I liked him and I didn’t find his story overly intriguing.
I can see many readers not enjoying it as the writing style is far out there and there’s not a lot of action moments, rather much of the plot is relived through the course of the book from a perspective of one of the boys. This felt fine for me to read, but I didn’t fall in love with the story, and I definitely couldn’t find myself rereading this.
Bridge of Clay reveals its story through bits and pieces of their history, present, and future over time. The characters are viewed as caricatures of themselves, and the descriptions that fill these pages are not common descriptors. Zusak is able to give emotion and energy to characters in a unique and sometimes grotesque way.
I loved Penny’s character. Her passion for everything she does is clear throughout the story, and she brings her a-game whether she is good at what she does or not. I love passionate people, and it felt good to see her struggling and succeeding through the eyes of the boys.
Clay’s role in the story felt choppy and constantly unsure of itself. Given the context of trauma, this makes sense, as the narrative of a person surviving trauma is often very halting and not always rooted in reality. His story, however, was perhaps my least favorite of the over-arching narrative. I definitely developed empathy for him and the experiences he faced, but I don’t think I liked him and I didn’t find his story overly intriguing.
I can see many readers not enjoying it as the writing style is far out there and there’s not a lot of action moments, rather much of the plot is relived through the course of the book from a perspective of one of the boys. This felt fine for me to read, but I didn’t fall in love with the story, and I definitely couldn’t find myself rereading this.
Took a while to get into but was a beautiful story about a young family and their unconventional love for one another
I haven't got a single clue what I was supposed to be understanding in this book. The writing style was so hard to get into and I lost interest pretty quickly.
After their mother died and their father left, the Dunbar boys were left to fend for themselves. Eventually, we learn that there is much more to the story than they know and they have to come to terms with their grief in order to move forward.
Ok, so this had elements that I liked, but I had a hard time following the story through all the jumps back and forth in time and I could not keep the brothers straight as individual characters. I loved the references to Homer, especially all the pets’ names. However, this book is heavy on metaphor and light on plot, so at times I had no idea what was going on.
I did love the ending, so if you can make it that far, I do think it’s worth it.
Ok, so this had elements that I liked, but I had a hard time following the story through all the jumps back and forth in time and I could not keep the brothers straight as individual characters. I loved the references to Homer, especially all the pets’ names. However, this book is heavy on metaphor and light on plot, so at times I had no idea what was going on.
I did love the ending, so if you can make it that far, I do think it’s worth it.
There were some wonderful passages but I think overall there was something missing or not quite right. The family histories are the strongest sections and nearly made me cry but the nonlinear timeline was confusing and it committed one of my all time pet peeves in writing. But I still love Zusak and I'm glad I read this one. ♥️
„Es war zwar seine Geschichte, doch es war nicht an ihm, sie zu erzählen. Er würde sie nicht schreiben; es war schwer genug sie, zu leben und zu sein.“
3.5/ 5
Konnte zumindest öfters etwas weinen und ich fand die Geschichte als solche gut, aber etwas langweilig bzw. In die Länge gezogen (es sind 630 Seiten) und ab und zu war mir das ganze zu metaphorisch, weswegen gewisse Dinge etwas schwer zu verstehen waren. Definitiv nicht zu vergleichen mit Die Bücherdiebin.
Fav quotes:
„Und das machte die Sache so schwer: Das Herz aus Farbe inmitten all des Graus. Im Nachhinein betrachtet, war das Weggehen für sie weniger eine Befreiung als ein Zurücklassen.“
„Filme und pappigen Popcorn sind nicht verantwortlich für das Ende, oder? Nein, es war mehr eine Kompilation: die Greatest Hits von zwei Menschen, die den Weg so weit wie möglich zusammen gegangen waren, eine Musik, die allmählich verklang.“
3.5/ 5
Konnte zumindest öfters etwas weinen und ich fand die Geschichte als solche gut, aber etwas langweilig bzw. In die Länge gezogen (es sind 630 Seiten) und ab und zu war mir das ganze zu metaphorisch, weswegen gewisse Dinge etwas schwer zu verstehen waren. Definitiv nicht zu vergleichen mit Die Bücherdiebin.
Fav quotes:
„Und das machte die Sache so schwer: Das Herz aus Farbe inmitten all des Graus. Im Nachhinein betrachtet, war das Weggehen für sie weniger eine Befreiung als ein Zurücklassen.“
„Filme und pappigen Popcorn sind nicht verantwortlich für das Ende, oder? Nein, es war mehr eine Kompilation: die Greatest Hits von zwei Menschen, die den Weg so weit wie möglich zusammen gegangen waren, eine Musik, die allmählich verklang.“