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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
like sunny and the rules of magic and the raven cycle combined into one. the last book i’ll finish this summer as the last day dawns. it was something.
This book has so many moments of simple magic. The characters are so ordinary but the moments of their lives that Markus Zusak has captured, have been so incredibly described you almost feel shy to be looking in on such personal moments. Honestly, the story is so recreate-able yet not, because Zusak captures the dynamics of family, of individuals, of grief and love in all its shapes and forms so well. It's a slow story but it's worth reading.
A decade in the making, Zusak returns with a phenomenal, heartbreaking novel about family, love and loss, and the want - if not the need - to rebuild.
Few books have touched me so deeply as Bridge of Clay. It's pure joy, bitter and sweet, heart wrenching and poetic, all in one. More than anything, it is love, loyalty, and family... always family.
By god we waited a long time for this book. I remember being in grade nine and checking Markus Zusak's website and thinking to myself that Bridge of Clay was really taking forever. Little did I know.
Thoughts on the book:
Zusak did the things where the chapters aren't sequential, time-wise, and it worked-ish. I've seen it done much better, to be honest (see Wolf's Cassandra or Fuentez's the Death of Artemio Cruz). The trick is in having present-day scenes that make the reader curious but not upset or frustrated, and Zusak erred on the side of frustration. There's a lot of "here's some words that they keep repeating that are significant", where you don't learn the significance until the end of the book. Later references to earlier events aren't actually very touching or significant if you don't know what the earlier event was. There's a lot you can do with the past/present technique, in getting passages to speak to each other, and it just wasn't employed to its full potential.
The Book Thief was kept pretty simple, in terms of characters; this book is too big. You don't need to go intensely into everyone's backstories--it just makes things too long and disconnected. Focus on central characters and narratives that tie together to make it a neat book. Penny's backstory was fantastic, but Michael and Abbey's could have been easily cut, for example. Many other passages could have been taken out or compressed.
I also recall really liking Markus Zusak's style of writing and narration when I was younger, but as I've aged, I think I've started valuing efficiency over poetry. Yes, the shape of his sentences is beautiful, but if it gets in the way of the clarity of the communication, then maybe it should be toned down. Which isn't to say that I don't appreciate the poetry of his writing sometimes--it's remarkably colourful, and I loved the nods to Homer. Just at some points, it was too much for me. A personal preference.
On the flip side, I loved a lot of things about the book as well. Zusak, as always, paints characters beautifully. And goddamn is he good at making me cry. Animals were great. And maybe it's a good thing after all that the book took forever to come out, because I only read the Iliad and Odyssey this year, and definitely loved the book better for having done so. If a ruthless enough editor had cut stuff out and restitched the presentation of events, it would have been perfect.
Thoughts on the book:
Zusak did the things where the chapters aren't sequential, time-wise, and it worked-ish. I've seen it done much better, to be honest (see Wolf's Cassandra or Fuentez's the Death of Artemio Cruz). The trick is in having present-day scenes that make the reader curious but not upset or frustrated, and Zusak erred on the side of frustration. There's a lot of "here's some words that they keep repeating that are significant", where you don't learn the significance until the end of the book. Later references to earlier events aren't actually very touching or significant if you don't know what the earlier event was. There's a lot you can do with the past/present technique, in getting passages to speak to each other, and it just wasn't employed to its full potential.
The Book Thief was kept pretty simple, in terms of characters; this book is too big. You don't need to go intensely into everyone's backstories--it just makes things too long and disconnected. Focus on central characters and narratives that tie together to make it a neat book. Penny's backstory was fantastic, but Michael and Abbey's could have been easily cut, for example. Many other passages could have been taken out or compressed.
I also recall really liking Markus Zusak's style of writing and narration when I was younger, but as I've aged, I think I've started valuing efficiency over poetry. Yes, the shape of his sentences is beautiful, but if it gets in the way of the clarity of the communication, then maybe it should be toned down. Which isn't to say that I don't appreciate the poetry of his writing sometimes--it's remarkably colourful, and I loved the nods to Homer. Just at some points, it was too much for me. A personal preference.
On the flip side, I loved a lot of things about the book as well. Zusak, as always, paints characters beautifully. And goddamn is he good at making me cry. Animals were great. And maybe it's a good thing after all that the book took forever to come out, because I only read the Iliad and Odyssey this year, and definitely loved the book better for having done so. If a ruthless enough editor had cut stuff out and restitched the presentation of events, it would have been perfect.
Тя се засмя и Клей усети дъха ѝ и се замисли за онази топлина, която хората сякаш излъчваха отвътре и как тя можеше да те връхлети изведнъж и да изчезне без следа, а после отново да те облъхне… и нямаше нищо трайно…
Чувствам Австралия от Зюсаковите страници като свой дом. Горещ и прашен, с кухня с пълна мивка с мръсни чаши от кафе и чинии от различни сервизи, с мазни пържени картофи, купени от улицата, много оранжеви залези и цяла група братя с окървавени ръце, които не съм знаела, че искам, но от които се нуждая – такъв дом. Мостът на Клей си заслужаваше цялото чакане. И само заради Зюсак бих живяла още един живот чакайки, за да ме отведе у дома с прекрасния си език и болезнените сюжети.
I'd received Bridge of Clay as a gift from a friend. Out of all the things I've ever received, this one truly felt like a gift.
The book encompassed a series of emotions for me. I think it was written with an intent of leaving you with what it made you feel rather than what the story told you. I felt like I was reading something historic and truly felt like a part of 'the tides of the Dunbar Past'
This is the second book I'd read by Markus Zusak, the first one being the infamous Book Thief. This book was so different from the book thief, I am impressed by the range of the author.
When I'd started the book I had expected to be appalled by the boyish ways of the Dunbar boys, but by the end of the book I fell in love with all the characters.
I cried in so many parts of the book, I was genuinely surprised. The parts that made me cry weren't necessarily sad, they just made you feel.... Things.
When I finished reading the book I felt a strange sense of loss. I wanted to keep reading the book, again and again because it made my heart feel so full.
I am glad I read this book, and I would gladly recommend it to everybody!
The book encompassed a series of emotions for me. I think it was written with an intent of leaving you with what it made you feel rather than what the story told you. I felt like I was reading something historic and truly felt like a part of 'the tides of the Dunbar Past'
This is the second book I'd read by Markus Zusak, the first one being the infamous Book Thief. This book was so different from the book thief, I am impressed by the range of the author.
When I'd started the book I had expected to be appalled by the boyish ways of the Dunbar boys, but by the end of the book I fell in love with all the characters.
I cried in so many parts of the book, I was genuinely surprised. The parts that made me cry weren't necessarily sad, they just made you feel.... Things.
When I finished reading the book I felt a strange sense of loss. I wanted to keep reading the book, again and again because it made my heart feel so full.
I am glad I read this book, and I would gladly recommend it to everybody!
'How boys and brothers love'
It's a gripping story that sucks you into the lives of five very different boys; It's about Clay and Matthew and Rory and Henry and Tommy and their mother who was something else and their father who was a murderer. And of course, there's no story without Achilles.
My favorite part has to be the fifth one, Stories.
For a first Zusak reading experience, this one really lived up to the hype and surpassed it.
It's a gripping story that sucks you into the lives of five very different boys; It's about Clay and Matthew and Rory and Henry and Tommy and their mother who was something else and their father who was a murderer. And of course, there's no story without Achilles.
My favorite part has to be the fifth one, Stories.
For a first Zusak reading experience, this one really lived up to the hype and surpassed it.
I was so excited to read this book. I could not wait to read it and then I was surprised to find that I was struggling to get into it once I started. It was nothing like I expected it to be but not in a bad way. Although it did take me at least a hundred pages to start to get what was going on, I was sure of it’s genius by the end. This book explores grief in such a real way from the story to its structure. It reads almost like a poem approaching and backing away from emotion in the most curious and confusing way until finally it crashes headlong into it in the most beautiful way. This book works backwards and in so doing sheds light on the process of grief and mourning. This was definitely an interesting read.
As always, Zusak's writing is beautiful and by the end of the book I was able to enjoy the story the way he tells it. The beginning was hard to get through. I think I will enjoy it so much more the second time around.