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zoerezek's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A somewhat heavy story, a lost young man with a complicated family running away from himself/running towards himself, holding the door open for himself. His new life made me feel the isolation and the weight of his problems sitting on his chest. He meets an artist and his wife, and that just becomes another complicated set of relationships he can’t escape. Well written, it was a one day read of a trip into Prague for a series of tragic complex relationships. Not in love with the story, but I would definitely read more of his work.
rachael77's review
3.0
Good read
I enjoyed reading this book. It was worth the time to read this. If you want to be entertained by a good story than this is the story for you.
I enjoyed reading this book. It was worth the time to read this. If you want to be entertained by a good story than this is the story for you.
jesselyn's review
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. For the first 80 pages I believed there was hope. Salesses's prose is lovely and there were so many lines I underlined and wanted to copy down. I'm a fan of lyrical novels and usually prefer beautiful, thoughtful writing to fast-paced plots but even for me this book was slow. And so bleak I found myself dreading picking it back up. If I hadn't been reading this for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge there is no way I'd have persevered. The author's note mentioned that he spent a decade writing it and I'm not surprised. The novel has a tortured quality to it. If Salesses writes another novel, I would give it a try because I really did enjoy his prose but I would never recommend this book.
imabrunette23's review against another edition
3.0
Weird book, but once I got interested, it got better
kiramke's review against another edition
2.0
I've come across dozens of novels about young American men floundering for identity in Prague, and when I read them it's with deep reservations. These are the very people I avoided at all cost in their bookstore and bagel shop, with their trust funds and Lit degrees, treating a whole nation like the backdrop for their personal success story. Of course there's the draw, the backstory of someone I gave directions to, bought a book from, carefully shepherded out of a bar they were too drunk to realize they weren't welcome in.
This particular book is so amazingly typical with every trope of this specific genre, but it's also something else. The story is centered in Tee's inner life, and could really take place anywhere. That aspect is interesting, sometimes well-written, and kept me reading. The story of Prague feels like an overlay of every expat, and frankly I'd rather hear stories from the very real people of Karlín who lost so much, or the people who suffered in the floods of '97 and '99, or the astounding tale of the evacuated zoo, or the scientists and activists working to revitalize the Vltava and restore the floodplain to stop these ever-increasing "100-year floods."
Where does that leave me? I know, there's no zealot like a convert, but I still feel protective of Czechs' opportunities to tell their own stories. So as a 20-something American man's coming of age, this is quite good; as a book of Prague, it's depressingly familiar.
This particular book is so amazingly typical with every trope of this specific genre, but it's also something else. The story is centered in Tee's inner life, and could really take place anywhere. That aspect is interesting, sometimes well-written, and kept me reading. The story of Prague feels like an overlay of every expat, and frankly I'd rather hear stories from the very real people of Karlín who lost so much, or the people who suffered in the floods of '97 and '99, or the astounding tale of the evacuated zoo, or the scientists and activists working to revitalize the Vltava and restore the floodplain to stop these ever-increasing "100-year floods."
Where does that leave me? I know, there's no zealot like a convert, but I still feel protective of Czechs' opportunities to tell their own stories. So as a 20-something American man's coming of age, this is quite good; as a book of Prague, it's depressingly familiar.
mazza57's review against another edition
3.0
Lots of threads to this tale which at first are difficult to untangle but overall a good read
graciefl's review against another edition
5.0
Much like the flood Tee experiences in the novel, Salesses prose flows throughout the book, pulling the reader further into the depths of Tee's story and his emotional journey. Salesses is able to completely engulf the reader in the repeated retellings, making the numerous stories feel like their own series of folk legends.
kyleblackwood's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75