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3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
I have history with Isabel Allende, beginning with The House of the Spirits, a book I first read when it came out in paperback. I was on my honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta and it was a wonderful place to read it and a wonderful story. I've since read many of her books and I always find something to love in them.
In theory, Ripper is a thriller, a bit of suspense, a crime novel. In reality, Ripper is the story of a sprawling network of family, friends, and acquaintances in San Francisco, particularly in the North Beach neighborhood (one of my favorite places in the city, and not just because of the City Lights bookstore, although that doesn't hurt it). If you need your crime novels to follow a standard trajectory of crime, detection, and capture, this book probably won't work for you, but if you approach it as a character-driven novel you'll enjoy yourself.
I really liked this book, even though it contains few of the elements of magical realism that have made Ms. Allende's novels famous. I loved getting to know these characters, their backstories, their current stories, and the thread of danger that interlaces their lives in this moment. From a teenager who runs an online role-playing game devoted to solving serial crime to Indiana - an unconventional healer, to Ryan - an Afghan war vet and amputee and his comrade in arms - the dog, Attila, I wanted to know everything about them all and Ms. Allende delivered. She also captures all the things I love about San Francisco and its flavors - the character of the various neighborhoods that make the city wonderful - without dwelling on (nor ignoring) its huge negatives, Ripper is a love note to the city, to family of all kinds, and will keep you reading long into the night.
In theory, Ripper is a thriller, a bit of suspense, a crime novel. In reality, Ripper is the story of a sprawling network of family, friends, and acquaintances in San Francisco, particularly in the North Beach neighborhood (one of my favorite places in the city, and not just because of the City Lights bookstore, although that doesn't hurt it). If you need your crime novels to follow a standard trajectory of crime, detection, and capture, this book probably won't work for you, but if you approach it as a character-driven novel you'll enjoy yourself.
I really liked this book, even though it contains few of the elements of magical realism that have made Ms. Allende's novels famous. I loved getting to know these characters, their backstories, their current stories, and the thread of danger that interlaces their lives in this moment. From a teenager who runs an online role-playing game devoted to solving serial crime to Indiana - an unconventional healer, to Ryan - an Afghan war vet and amputee and his comrade in arms - the dog, Attila, I wanted to know everything about them all and Ms. Allende delivered. She also captures all the things I love about San Francisco and its flavors - the character of the various neighborhoods that make the city wonderful - without dwelling on (nor ignoring) its huge negatives, Ripper is a love note to the city, to family of all kinds, and will keep you reading long into the night.
Lejos de la calidad de los primeros libros de Isabel, pero fácil de leer...
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
So many descriptions and unnecessary explanations. The story didn't start until about a quarter of the way, which is past the 100 page mark and by that time my interest had waned significantly. I kept pushing, but just not worth it to me.
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
In my youth, I had loved a number of South American authors and subsequently found Isabel Allende but unfortunately her writing did not appeal to me. I had picked up this book when initally published 2014/2015 and it had sat on my bookshelves since then, surviving several cullings. At first when I started reading it, I really enjoyed the back stories of the characters even though they were all aggressively stereotypical and thought, oh I had just read the wrong books but as I continued to read it evolved into an exercise in absurdity. The joy of a mystery or thriller is a resolution to a PLAUSIBLE conflict but the story devolved into a feeble attempt to include various characters. On the one hand I am glad I have now cleared a little space on the other hand, I do feel I wasted my time. I do not recommend.
Read this on a flight from Madrid to DFW. Would not recommend. But it was better than reading in-flight magazines for 14 hours.
I don't think I can recommend this book to any students. There were many characters. It seemed that the Ripper club had information that the reader wasn't privy to. I would have enjoyed learning more about Bob because he seemed to do the right thing while he was portrayed as someone who shouldn't always do the right thing.
What made him change?
What made him change?
There were some fantastic and creative and well done things about this book. There was also some awkward plodding, unmoving emotional choices, and weird transphobia.