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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book, just really loved it. The characters were all very interesting and the overlap of the pieces of their lives was brilliantly done.
I adore books set up like this: several characters living separate lives with no apparent connection, and over the course of the novel you get to watch how they come together.
This book is about three lonely, lost souls trying to find their place in the world. Noah, Joyce and an unnamed bookstore owner are all misfits who are connected in ways they do not realize and whose lives have a lot of parallels to each other, even if they are not conscious of each other. All three of them were raised by a single parent and they all have, for one reason or another, distanced themselves from their families and are making their way in the world alone. They all are searching for meaning in their lives and, in that vein, all have a fascination with their roots and ancestry. All of them have a strong connection to maps and/or travel guides. They all have a fascination with trash or discarded objects in one way or another. The bookstore owner sells used books, even ones that others have thrown away, Noah majors in archaeology with a fascination for the archeaology of trash, and Joyce becomes a trash-diving treasure hunter as part of her quest to become an cyber-pirate.
The three story lines, although they intersect only tangentially, flow beautifully and the language is very lyrical (which is very interesting given that this book was translated from French and translations usually are a bit stilted). Of the three, my favorite character was Noah. He is so sweet and earnest and was a bit more focused and in control of his destiny than the other two. Although I adore books, bookstores and used bookstores in particular, I found it a little hard to relate to the bookstore owner because he is never identified by name and the author (perhaps deliberately) keeps the reader more distant from him. Joyce is a very interesting character but not quite as empathetic as Noah.
Overall, this was an excellent first novel by Nicholas Dickner. He has a real flair for character development and for seamlessly incorporating quirky traits and elements into the story (the archaeology of trash being only one example). I will look forward to reading future books by him.
The three story lines, although they intersect only tangentially, flow beautifully and the language is very lyrical (which is very interesting given that this book was translated from French and translations usually are a bit stilted). Of the three, my favorite character was Noah. He is so sweet and earnest and was a bit more focused and in control of his destiny than the other two. Although I adore books, bookstores and used bookstores in particular, I found it a little hard to relate to the bookstore owner because he is never identified by name and the author (perhaps deliberately) keeps the reader more distant from him. Joyce is a very interesting character but not quite as empathetic as Noah.
Overall, this was an excellent first novel by Nicholas Dickner. He has a real flair for character development and for seamlessly incorporating quirky traits and elements into the story (the archaeology of trash being only one example). I will look forward to reading future books by him.
adventurous
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Un roman à la prose remarquable qui après un départ emportant m'a tout de même laissé un peu sur ma faim. Après avoir mis en place des personnages forts et plusieurs pistes intéressantes, Dickner cantonne le roman entre trois histoires où l'on suit les personnages dans de petites histoires du quotidien sans véritable connexion ou objectif commun. Le thème de la mer supporte la narration en filigrane et de façon assez sympathique; j'ai bien apprécié le clin d'oeil au déluge vers la fin. Ceci dit, la promesse que nous fait le roman de grandes aventures au cercle arctique, de mystérieux compas qui ne pointent pas vers le nord et de pirates des temps modernes tombe un peu à plat.
Somme toute une histoire sans prétention et une lecture très agréable avec plusieurs références justes sur la vie montréalaise de la fin du 20e siècle.
Somme toute une histoire sans prétention et une lecture très agréable avec plusieurs références justes sur la vie montréalaise de la fin du 20e siècle.
Didn't expect to enjoy this as much as i did, although part of that bias was from Coupland saying never to trust anything that's been involved with Canada Reads. (Lies! Canada Reads continues to be a pretty good measure of a book in my experience so far, as awful as the experience was for DC.) It's a little like a Canadian version of Cloud Atlas, and still enjoyable if not as complex.
