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sjmerrill's review against another edition
5.0
Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. I didn’t want it to end.
bookmarkie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mercourier's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn't tell you why I kept listening to this book. I figured out what it was leading up to all along. I found the character's a little bit insipid and wondered why they weren't telling their stories to each other if they wanted understanding so badly.
bianca89279's review against another edition
4.0
Brass is a simple, yet very well executed novel, mostly focusing on the mother-daughter relationships, the American dream for Albanian immigrants and life in a small, dying small town in Connecticut.
The novel is told via alternate timelines and points of view, one for Luljeta, almost eighteen years old and the other one for her mother, Elsie, when she was the same age.
Genetic destiny has a way of showing up, so there's repeating patterns and mistakes. Derailing one's life is relatively easy when lacking material advantages and support networks.
For me, it was also interesting to read about the Albanian immigrants, especially since I'd never come across them in any books. Albania is one of those small, forgotten Eastern European countries that you never hear about and I say this as someone born in a similar country, but at least people know two, maybe three things about it, if they're over 40 and into world politics.
I was impressed with this novel, so I'll keep my eyes open for Aliu's next novel.
The novel is told via alternate timelines and points of view, one for Luljeta, almost eighteen years old and the other one for her mother, Elsie, when she was the same age.
Genetic destiny has a way of showing up, so there's repeating patterns and mistakes. Derailing one's life is relatively easy when lacking material advantages and support networks.
For me, it was also interesting to read about the Albanian immigrants, especially since I'd never come across them in any books. Albania is one of those small, forgotten Eastern European countries that you never hear about and I say this as someone born in a similar country, but at least people know two, maybe three things about it, if they're over 40 and into world politics.
I was impressed with this novel, so I'll keep my eyes open for Aliu's next novel.
stlkatiek's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Dual-timeline story about a mother and daughter, and I actually enjoyed both of their stories.
timshel's review against another edition
5.0
There's a strong possibility you haven't heard of Xhenet Aliu... yet. She published a little known collection four years ago, Domesticated Wild Things and Other Stories. Personally, I think it is one of the best, most well-rounded collections I've had the pleasure of reading (see my review here). Her stories were dark, yet hopeful, poetic, still simple, specific and universal—so much of what I love. So I was excited when I learned Aliu would soon publish her first novel, Brass.
Naturally, I was a little concerned if Aliu's style—so incredibly effective in short form—could be stretched out over three hundred pages. It does and it doesn't. There's a punch to Aliu's shorter stories that I looked forward to in Brass, but it never came. That's okay. Honestly, there aren't too many novels that have packed that punch, nor need to. Novels are a much more subtle form of writing and it takes an extremely dedicated and talented novelist to surprise a reader and to adequately manipulate their emotions over the length of a novel (Kazuo Ishiguro, I'm talking about you). In every other way, Brass is every bit as powerful as the stories in Aliu's collection. First and foremost, the language is simple, yet always somehow evokes higher emotions—excitement, dread, sympathy:
For anyone who has read my reviews long enough, you know voice and character development are what matter most to me, as a reader. This is perhaps what I love most about Aliu's writing. She is adept at crafting a wonderful, memorable voice and in providing characters who are extremely realistic, yet never boring. The characters in Aliu's story are incredibly real. I felt as though I were prying into their private lives. Brass uses alternating viewpoints. The first is Elsie's. Hers is written in the first person and takes place during the 1980s. The second is Luljeta's, Elsie's daughter. Her story occurs in recent years and is written in the second person. I, like many readers, am not a big fan of second person narratives, but in this case it's done well and is only occasionally noticeable. What purpose does the second-person narration serve? I'm not sure. In a story where both mother and daughter live similar lives in like environments, it's difficult at time to keep their stories straight and these perspective do perhaps aid in differentiating the two. Also, I think what it does initially is to help the reader feel closer to Luljeta. Although her mother's story begins the novel and is vitally important, Brass is really Luljeta's story. As Elsie's story builds and becomes more interesting than Luljeta's in middle chapters, the reader has already grown close to Luljeta, so her mother's story does not surpass her own.
Brass possesses so much honesty—it's incredibly believable but that doesn't keep it from being interesting and beautiful. Aliu is a master of taking the everyday world and finding a story in its darkest most-well-lit places. She doesn't need to reshape or glamorize what she finds, she merely looks at it from a different perspective and is able to put it into words with great skill. Aliu is such a terrific writer and Brass is just the story that will introduce many new readers to her work.
Naturally, I was a little concerned if Aliu's style—so incredibly effective in short form—could be stretched out over three hundred pages. It does and it doesn't. There's a punch to Aliu's shorter stories that I looked forward to in Brass, but it never came. That's okay. Honestly, there aren't too many novels that have packed that punch, nor need to. Novels are a much more subtle form of writing and it takes an extremely dedicated and talented novelist to surprise a reader and to adequately manipulate their emotions over the length of a novel (Kazuo Ishiguro, I'm talking about you). In every other way, Brass is every bit as powerful as the stories in Aliu's collection. First and foremost, the language is simple, yet always somehow evokes higher emotions—excitement, dread, sympathy:
”... Isn't that what you want?”
I couldn't make my head move up and down in agreement, so I just rested it against his chest, listening to his heart in case it was giving anything away. It sounded like it was beating uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, the droning pulse of a dirge, and that made me feel a little better. That dread was the same kind I felt the first time I saw Bashkim, the same kind I felt when I listened to the best minor-key ballads, and that inspired the kind of love that was easier to nurture than kudzu. It didn't even need light to grow.
For anyone who has read my reviews long enough, you know voice and character development are what matter most to me, as a reader. This is perhaps what I love most about Aliu's writing. She is adept at crafting a wonderful, memorable voice and in providing characters who are extremely realistic, yet never boring. The characters in Aliu's story are incredibly real. I felt as though I were prying into their private lives. Brass uses alternating viewpoints. The first is Elsie's. Hers is written in the first person and takes place during the 1980s. The second is Luljeta's, Elsie's daughter. Her story occurs in recent years and is written in the second person. I, like many readers, am not a big fan of second person narratives, but in this case it's done well and is only occasionally noticeable. What purpose does the second-person narration serve? I'm not sure. In a story where both mother and daughter live similar lives in like environments, it's difficult at time to keep their stories straight and these perspective do perhaps aid in differentiating the two. Also, I think what it does initially is to help the reader feel closer to Luljeta. Although her mother's story begins the novel and is vitally important, Brass is really Luljeta's story. As Elsie's story builds and becomes more interesting than Luljeta's in middle chapters, the reader has already grown close to Luljeta, so her mother's story does not surpass her own.
Brass possesses so much honesty—it's incredibly believable but that doesn't keep it from being interesting and beautiful. Aliu is a master of taking the everyday world and finding a story in its darkest most-well-lit places. She doesn't need to reshape or glamorize what she finds, she merely looks at it from a different perspective and is able to put it into words with great skill. Aliu is such a terrific writer and Brass is just the story that will introduce many new readers to her work.
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Brass tells the story of two working class women from Waterbury, Connecticut. Waterbury was once prosperous town but is now down-on-its-luck following the closure of its many brass mills. Elsie is a waitress who begins a relationship with Bashkim, an Albanian immigrant with big dreams who’s working as a line cook. Elsie unexpectedly falls pregnant and their relationship is further complicated by the fact the Bashkim has a wife back in Albania. Seventeen years later their daughter Luljeta receives a rejection letter from her first choice college, her first ever school suspension and decides to find out more about her father, since her mother doesn’t talk about him. I liked the fact this was grit-lit, a genre I was previously unfamiliar with. I also liked the fact that this focused on the experience of immigrants from Albania, rather than the more usual areas of Africa, Asia or Central America. Reading the two interspersed coming of age narratives was fascinating, observing the similarities and differences between mother and daughter, not to mention the complicated relationship between the two of them.
melissadeemcdaniel's review against another edition
5.0
With the opening pages of “Brass”, I fell in love with Elsie. This sassy teenager is saving her waitress wages in a change jar to buy a “wicked coupe” that is going to take her the heck out of town. But it is impossibly hard to be 18 and be the "most beautiful girl" a man has ever seen. Loving Elsie made the heartbreak of her late pregnancy all the harder to read. An then, of course, I fell in love with Luljeta…. Brass is a heartbreakingly lovely book. What an astounding start to 2018.
kem1883's review against another edition
3.0
A well-written coming of age story from both a mother and daughter's POV. Aliu's use of the second person POV for Luljeta's chapters didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book, but I'm not sure why it was used. First person POV would likely have been just as effective, but that's a quibble. I really enjoyed getting this glimpse into the experience of Albanian immigrants. It provided a lot of depth to the narrative. Definitely recommended.
barrynorton's review against another edition
5.0
I wanted to read something more on the Albanian immigrant experience after Statovci (an Albanian Finn). This didn't disappoint: an American tale both about and written by an Albanian/Lithuanian American.
Glad to have a signed copy, which I'd been neglecting, from the wonderful Parnassus Books, whom one should always trust.
My only niggle was the alternating second-person narrative from the third-generation character, which really clashed with an imagined dialogue with her mother at the point of her birth. Apart from this stylistic choice though, the writing was rich and engaging.
Glad to have a signed copy, which I'd been neglecting, from the wonderful Parnassus Books, whom one should always trust.
My only niggle was the alternating second-person narrative from the third-generation character, which really clashed with an imagined dialogue with her mother at the point of her birth. Apart from this stylistic choice though, the writing was rich and engaging.