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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
lots of fun wheeling-dealing, running from the law, taking the law into your own hands, succeeding wildly, failing horribly, and living to tell the tale here. not crazy about the penultimate chapter, but otherwise, it was a great read.
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-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
This masterful work of fiction weaves together magical realism and historical fiction with ease as it tells the story of a young orphan who learns to fly.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Another great book from Auster although I think I liked The Music of Chance a little bit more. I found the way the Master treated Walt at the beginning uncomfortable to read, and I am pleased this was questioned later in the book. An unusual topic as always but a great page turner, just the thing to be reading whilst I waited for my husband in the hospital having a knee operation
Four stars, until the end, when it went on a breakneck downhill trajectory into moral certitude as well as dependent on a circular narrative arc. Hurry up, boys, we have to tidy this thing up, let's go.
Is this more a problem with me, rather than stories? That at the 3/4 or 7/8 point, the authors run out of paper and start getting nervous?
In any case, it was enjoyable, but in a translucent, visible-skeleton kind of way.
Is this more a problem with me, rather than stories? That at the 3/4 or 7/8 point, the authors run out of paper and start getting nervous?
In any case, it was enjoyable, but in a translucent, visible-skeleton kind of way.
This was a great read. Set in the 1920's, it's the story of Walt the Wonder Boy. As a child he was sold off by his uncle to Master Ydhudi. So the adventure begins of learning the levitation craft and along the way meeting an unusual characters. It reminds me of a Roald Dahl book for grown ups.
I'm a big fan of Paul Auster. Even when his novels aren't completely flawless, there is so much to take from them that they make for wholly worthwhile reading. Mr. Vertigo is no exception to this and Auster takes us on quite an adventure of a ragamuffin boy being taken in and tested so that he might fly for the world and cause wonder amongst all who behold him. There's a sense of magic here and with that, of course, is always suspension of disbelief, but there is also a sense of a lifetime portrayed and Auster manages to show the grief and pain of hatred and racism, the feeling of loss of love and life, and losing those you care about all in the mix with such lively memorable characters that one finds immensely likable It's kind of amazing that he could do this all so well and keep the novel just shy of 300 pages but that's exactly what he does. It's a contained sort of epic but nonetheless quite intriguing and heartfelt throughout. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
pg. 87 "Kansas is an illusion," He said one morning as he scraped away at his invisible beard, "a stopping place on the road to reality."
pg. 128 "You get drunk on the world, boy." Drunk on the mystery of the world."
pg. 293 "You must learn to stop being yourself. That's where it begins, and everything else follows from that. You must let yourself evaporate...The Emptiness inside your body grows lighter than the air around you. Little by little, you weigh less than nothing. You shut your eyes; you spread your arms; you let yourself evaporate. And then, little by little, you lift yourself off the ground"
pg. 87 "Kansas is an illusion," He said one morning as he scraped away at his invisible beard, "a stopping place on the road to reality."
pg. 128 "You get drunk on the world, boy." Drunk on the mystery of the world."
pg. 293 "You must learn to stop being yourself. That's where it begins, and everything else follows from that. You must let yourself evaporate...The Emptiness inside your body grows lighter than the air around you. Little by little, you weigh less than nothing. You shut your eyes; you spread your arms; you let yourself evaporate. And then, little by little, you lift yourself off the ground"
Hasta el momento, creo que esta es una de las novelas más extrañas que he leído de Paul Auster. Cuesta un poco adentrarse en la historia, ya que comienza con un niño que aprende a volar, algo bastante inverosímil, pero a medida que la trama avanza, ese hecho se acaba tomando como una circunstancia bastante normal. Aun así, a pesar de esas trazas de fantasía, el libro contiene ese tono bastante pesimista y oscuro tan característico de Auster, donde se mezclan los momentos felices con otros francamente horribles. A pesar de esta combinación tan bizarra, una vez más, la narrativa funciona bastante bien, y pronto te ves atrapado por la historia tan singular de Walt y coges cariño a todos los personajes que le rodean (aunque he de decir que el niño sufre un poco de Síndrome de Estocolmo, porque no es ni medio normal que quiera tanto al que esencialmente le secuestró y le hizo pasar por muchas penurias solo para que «aprendiera a volar»). No creo que sea mi libro favorito de Auster ni de lejos, pero sí que es una lectura entretenida y me alegro mucho de haberle dado una oportunidad ✨.
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes