Reviews - Lanark : una vida en 4 libros

246 reviews for:

Lanark : una vida en 4 libros

Alasdair Gray

4.05 AVERAGE

yjb1778's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is an almost perfect book for me. It is massive yet still satisfying. It is coherent but wildly imaginative. The book plays with structure in the disorder of the numbered books, introductions, and not-quite-epilogue epilogue AND in the construction of the typography on the page. The plagiarism revelations, the potent tragedy of Thaws earthly life and the whimsical, magical hell of the after life make this one of the most unique and filling reads of my life.

jamierobertson's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ffs_jessie's review against another edition

4.0

A wild ride unlike anything I've ever read.

mediocre's review against another edition

5.0

I like this book, although I find its overall tone to be bleak and grim, even in its more magical and strange moments. I suppose it's because this book comes at the right moment in my life, just after having visited Glasgow (and Scotland) for the first time.

But more importantly, I reckon it's because the stranger sequences and sudden turns of events echo the kinds of dreams I have. So to me, reading this book is like reading about things happening in my personal dream world, with generous helpings of Kafka and Joyce mixed in at times. This is the first book I read that does this so precisely, so eerily awkward and personal.