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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I gotta tell you I didn't enjoy reading this very much, and it was VERY rocky, stylistically, from the get go. It's a 150 page book but it felt like it took me forever to get through it. It doesn't feel like a novel. Lóri was okay but I thought Ulisses was insufferable and self-righteous and condescending.
That isn't the point though. I give this 4 stars because there are quality ruminations of life and joy and pleasure that you can easily join in on and apply to your own daily existence. It's nothing we've not heard before--basically, life can blow your mind if you let it.
And in the case of this book, Lóri and Ulisses can only be together once Lóri learns how to have a "joyous relationship 'with the mightiness of life'", which she and everyone else on earth occasionally finds utterly terrifying. She learns to accept and be comfortable with her existence, now and then falling into "states of grace" where words and smiles can't begin to convey the joy she feels, and she does not question it or see it as a means to an end:
"The state of grace she was in wasn't used for anything. It was as if it came just to let you know you really existed. In this state, besides tranquil happiness that would shine from people remembered and from things, there was a lucidity that Lóri was only describing as light in weight because in grace everything was so, so light. It was a lucidity of someone who's no longer guessing: who, without effort, knows. . . Lóri emerged from that state of grace with a smooth face, her eyes open and thoughtful and, though she hadn't smiled, it was as if her whole body had just emerged from a gentle smile. And had emerged a better creature than had gone in." p. 119-121
But like... why was she drinking the seawater at the beach
That isn't the point though. I give this 4 stars because there are quality ruminations of life and joy and pleasure that you can easily join in on and apply to your own daily existence. It's nothing we've not heard before--basically, life can blow your mind if you let it.
And in the case of this book, Lóri and Ulisses can only be together once Lóri learns how to have a "joyous relationship 'with the mightiness of life'", which she and everyone else on earth occasionally finds utterly terrifying. She learns to accept and be comfortable with her existence, now and then falling into "states of grace" where words and smiles can't begin to convey the joy she feels, and she does not question it or see it as a means to an end:
"The state of grace she was in wasn't used for anything. It was as if it came just to let you know you really existed. In this state, besides tranquil happiness that would shine from people remembered and from things, there was a lucidity that Lóri was only describing as light in weight because in grace everything was so, so light. It was a lucidity of someone who's no longer guessing: who, without effort, knows. . . Lóri emerged from that state of grace with a smooth face, her eyes open and thoughtful and, though she hadn't smiled, it was as if her whole body had just emerged from a gentle smile. And had emerged a better creature than had gone in." p. 119-121
But like... why was she drinking the seawater at the beach
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Perhaps the most authentic and humane slow burn to ever exist? Lóri’s journey in learning to let herself feel all the good and bad that life has to offer so she can love Ulisses fully is so raw and beautiful. Just divine
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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