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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Some vignettes were really tough to get through, but overall a beautifully heartbreaking book that I never want to read again
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel very indifferent to this book. Neither love nor hate. If I never read this book, my life would be exactly the same as it will now that I have. And I can't think of any reason why I'd recommend it to anyone.
I should have known from the title that it was trying too hard to be deep and thought provoking. A terribly dramatic title for a shallow book. I found each character's story borderline cliche, and far from thought provoking. I kept hearing myself describe the book as "just fine." But that's truly what it was.....
The book takes place in the 70s, but it could just as well be last year. I guess that's interesting, in a way- the cyclical nature of life and the world? But it would have been nice to see it more true to the time in some way.
I'm glad I listened on book tape versus reading it, as the characters all seem to be written in the same voice and tone. At least the audiobook is read to me with different accents and by different people, so it helped me differentiate the characters.
And I can't forget to mention the metaphorical descriptions of completely pointless things. It reminded me of Ishmael- Its as if the author is attempting to be a great author so bad that he took it too far? Analogies and comparisons to describe sounds, usually. There's truly no need to put that sort of detail into describing everyday sounds like cars or animals or trees. But not well, it was too much detail, too in depth for an inconsequential sound that added nothing to the story.
The reader should be plenty intelligent enough to know what leaves or bees sound like, but thanks.
Maybe he should have put that sort of depth into the characters' emotions and thoughts instead.
One thing I did take away is that I cannot wait to look up more on Mr. Tightrope.
I should have known from the title that it was trying too hard to be deep and thought provoking. A terribly dramatic title for a shallow book. I found each character's story borderline cliche, and far from thought provoking. I kept hearing myself describe the book as "just fine." But that's truly what it was.....
The book takes place in the 70s, but it could just as well be last year. I guess that's interesting, in a way- the cyclical nature of life and the world? But it would have been nice to see it more true to the time in some way.
I'm glad I listened on book tape versus reading it, as the characters all seem to be written in the same voice and tone. At least the audiobook is read to me with different accents and by different people, so it helped me differentiate the characters.
And I can't forget to mention the metaphorical descriptions of completely pointless things. It reminded me of Ishmael- Its as if the author is attempting to be a great author so bad that he took it too far? Analogies and comparisons to describe sounds, usually. There's truly no need to put that sort of detail into describing everyday sounds like cars or animals or trees. But not well, it was too much detail, too in depth for an inconsequential sound that added nothing to the story.
The reader should be plenty intelligent enough to know what leaves or bees sound like, but thanks.
Maybe he should have put that sort of depth into the characters' emotions and thoughts instead.
One thing I did take away is that I cannot wait to look up more on Mr. Tightrope.
“People think they know the mystery of living in your skin. They don’t. There’s no one who knows except the person who carts it around her own self.”
A little ironic to have this quote in a book by an Irish man who writes from the first-person perspective of three Black women and chooses to incorporate lots of racial slurs. The story was sometimes sweet but that was incredibly distracting and poor taste IMO.
A little ironic to have this quote in a book by an Irish man who writes from the first-person perspective of three Black women and chooses to incorporate lots of racial slurs. The story was sometimes sweet but that was incredibly distracting and poor taste IMO.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
eally beautiful character writing. Fairly tragic, and I'm not sure about where Dave Eggers' "funny" on the back jacket comes from. It's a great nod to period-specific New York without being a 'New York book'.
The Philippe Petit tightrope walk is so incredibly done - I'm going to have to watch Man on a Wire in the coming week.
The Philippe Petit tightrope walk is so incredibly done - I'm going to have to watch Man on a Wire in the coming week.
I struggled to finish this choppy feeling tour de force, which resembled short stories lopped together. Interesting to read the reviews on Goodreads that either loved it or were highly critical.
I read this book for my neighborhood book group. It's a unique novel that revolves loosely around an event in NYC - the day in 1974 when a tightrope walker walked between the World Trade Center buildings.
The novel is told in separate stories about various people. At first, the stories all seem completely separate, but as the novel progresses, the different people intersect each other's lives, often in unexpected ways.
It's a complex novel, and not everyone in my group liked it at first, but most people enjoyed it more the longer they read. It's satisfying as the different story lines come together, although some of them are quite sad. And all of us enjoyed the opportunity to see life from so many different perspectives, some of them vastly different from our own experiences (a devoted holy man, mothers who lost their sons in the Vietnam War, a prostitute, etc.)
This was a great book for a book group - it provided lots of topics for discussion.
The novel is told in separate stories about various people. At first, the stories all seem completely separate, but as the novel progresses, the different people intersect each other's lives, often in unexpected ways.
It's a complex novel, and not everyone in my group liked it at first, but most people enjoyed it more the longer they read. It's satisfying as the different story lines come together, although some of them are quite sad. And all of us enjoyed the opportunity to see life from so many different perspectives, some of them vastly different from our own experiences (a devoted holy man, mothers who lost their sons in the Vietnam War, a prostitute, etc.)
This was a great book for a book group - it provided lots of topics for discussion.
Took me a little bit to get into it, but a beautifully written, character driven book. I love stories like this one.