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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
A solid read, the world created within the cinema feels so real and full of character. A surrealist imagining of cinemas I have been in. The characters are grotesque parodies of people you may know. The tone of this was amazing and I think the grittiness was captured perfectly.
I was really looking forward to reading this one, and I absolutely enjoyed it as well. Vignettes of a time gone by, of a place you don't know, though it could be any place at all in the world, since it is set in a dilapidated cinema hall - a recollection of how it used to be - and how it also is in some parts of the world, where the multiplex culture hasn't seeped in.
However, having said this, "Children of Paradise" is for me about life and fiction merging beautifully, through a medium we all can relate to - that of illusions, of what we see on the screen, of how that becomes life for those couple of hours, and we get a chance to escape all drudgery, till we realize that the lives on-screen are also pretty much the same.
"Children of Paradise" is an homage to cinema, to the yesteryears perhaps, and also to the people who live on the margins - on the sidelines, watching it all go by, as though their lives are cinematic too - almost fictional, and sometimes way too real. The chapters started with movies that I guess Grudova has loved over time, or as a reference to the protagonist, or in some way connected to the plot, which I could not fathom.
Having said all of this, "Children of Paradise" is simply about the people who inhabit the space "Paradise Cinema" - the ones who were banished to Earth, each searching for their own share of paradise - each of them not wanting to let go, each trying so hard to form their own realities, in a world of smoke and screen.
However, having said this, "Children of Paradise" is for me about life and fiction merging beautifully, through a medium we all can relate to - that of illusions, of what we see on the screen, of how that becomes life for those couple of hours, and we get a chance to escape all drudgery, till we realize that the lives on-screen are also pretty much the same.
"Children of Paradise" is an homage to cinema, to the yesteryears perhaps, and also to the people who live on the margins - on the sidelines, watching it all go by, as though their lives are cinematic too - almost fictional, and sometimes way too real. The chapters started with movies that I guess Grudova has loved over time, or as a reference to the protagonist, or in some way connected to the plot, which I could not fathom.
Having said all of this, "Children of Paradise" is simply about the people who inhabit the space "Paradise Cinema" - the ones who were banished to Earth, each searching for their own share of paradise - each of them not wanting to let go, each trying so hard to form their own realities, in a world of smoke and screen.
In Camilla Grudova’s Children of Paradise a group of oddballs work in an indie cinema, getting up to mischief and high jinks. Until it is taken over by a chain and life unravels. Brilliant gothic camp in a style all of its own.
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes