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kenziebecky's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
kimco_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
joseph_c's review against another edition
3.0
This was an awesome book. It was light and easy to read. Instead of chapters it is divided into "myths" about Edward Bloom. This format makes it a refreshing, original read, and also makes it easy to find a place to stop if I had to. It was fantastic, and interesting, though if you expect something like the movie, it was very different, and took on a slightly more serious tone sometimes. There was one difference between the book and the movie that knocked off a star. This difference presented itself during the second to last "myth." I would say what it is, but, you know... "Spoilers!"
Anyways, I recommend this to fans of the movies, or anyone looking for a nice fresh read.
Anyways, I recommend this to fans of the movies, or anyone looking for a nice fresh read.
jessicamcculloch's review against another edition
3.0
Good quick read for people who are struggling through a book, or don't have the greatest attention spans. (Both of which were me this weekend)
casspro's review against another edition
4.0
One part fairy tale, one part folklore, one part family tradition. It's hard to categorize Big Fish. A good book? A great story? There's something very magical happening here. I suggest you get it on it as well.
categj's review against another edition
3.0
A quick read — well-written with short chapters.
This little book was a bittersweet story about a father/son relationship and death. Sad, whimsical, and funny with lots of bad Dad jokes. I especially liked the one about Jesus watching the Pearly Gates while St. Peter took a break. I won't share it here — you will have to read the book to see what I mean.
The story was narrated by the son {William Bloom), who told the stories of his Dad's (Edward Bloom) life — from birth to his last days. William tells these fantastic, anecdotal missives that he has heard from his dad all his life as he is waiting for Edward to die.
Edward Bloom's life is mythical in proportion and his corny jokes are legendary, or so his son is told. In the retelling of his father's story, William searches for a deeper understanding of his dad before the inevitable happens.
I liked the chronology of the book. Edward's life is told in a linear fashion — short, fantastical fairytale-like pieces, while the story of his death is written in four parts, each from the same day but all slightly different.
I loved the ending.
This little book was a bittersweet story about a father/son relationship and death. Sad, whimsical, and funny with lots of bad Dad jokes. I especially liked the one about Jesus watching the Pearly Gates while St. Peter took a break. I won't share it here — you will have to read the book to see what I mean.
The story was narrated by the son {William Bloom), who told the stories of his Dad's (Edward Bloom) life — from birth to his last days. William tells these fantastic, anecdotal missives that he has heard from his dad all his life as he is waiting for Edward to die.
Edward Bloom's life is mythical in proportion and his corny jokes are legendary, or so his son is told. In the retelling of his father's story, William searches for a deeper understanding of his dad before the inevitable happens.
I liked the chronology of the book. Edward's life is told in a linear fashion — short, fantastical fairytale-like pieces, while the story of his death is written in four parts, each from the same day but all slightly different.
I loved the ending.
tinymo's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
patvulaj's review against another edition
3.0
I was looking for quick read to help get me out of a recent reading rut and Big Fish definitely helped activate my reading brain again. The chapters were short, stand alone stories about the main character with a present day story playing over top of that. The short stories really helped build up this character, while still leaving them a bit of a mystery.
madeleinegeorge's review against another edition
4.0
The spiritual inspiration for my Favorite Movie Of All Time, I now have my very own signed copy from Flyleaf, NC with a lovely note from Wallace as we both head into our London years.
Big Fish asks the questions we periodically, if reluctantly, must answer. What does it mean to miss a father you never truly knew? Is a life-time of grieving an absence really supplanted by the acute mourning for a presence? When one is consumed in the life-saving practice of a storied life, how do we protect that Truth from being consumed by what is real? Reaching for the soul and finding only fiction, how can we be convinced that reality has a place for us?
The bones of this story comprise the skeleton upon which I built my understanding of myself, wrote into being the compass by which I navigate my own incomprehensibilities, the strangerhood I find in myself. If I could, I would take another way home. But it remains Big Fish , as ever.
Essentials:
“It was as though he lived in a state of constant aspiration; getting there, wherever it was, wasn’t the important thing: it was the battle, and the battle after that, and the war was never ending.”
“Everything he did was without parallel. At home, the magic of his absence yielded to the ordinariness of his presence. [...] So he was not a good candidate for death. [...] He became just a man, a man without a job, without a story to tell, a man, I realized, I didn’t know.”
“Remembering a man’s stories makes him immortal, did you know that?”
“Beneath one facade there’s another facade and then another, and beneath that the aching dark place, his life, something that neither of us understands.”
“Regardless of how much he loved his wife, his son, he could only stand so much love.”
“We all have stories, just as you do. [...] Lots of stories, big and small. They all add up. Over a lifetime it all adds up. That’s why we’re here. We’re part of him, of who he is, just as he is a part of us. You still don’t understand, do you?”
Big Fish asks the questions we periodically, if reluctantly, must answer. What does it mean to miss a father you never truly knew? Is a life-time of grieving an absence really supplanted by the acute mourning for a presence? When one is consumed in the life-saving practice of a storied life, how do we protect that Truth from being consumed by what is real? Reaching for the soul and finding only fiction, how can we be convinced that reality has a place for us?
The bones of this story comprise the skeleton upon which I built my understanding of myself, wrote into being the compass by which I navigate my own incomprehensibilities, the strangerhood I find in myself. If I could, I would take another way home. But it remains Big Fish , as ever.
Essentials:
“It was as though he lived in a state of constant aspiration; getting there, wherever it was, wasn’t the important thing: it was the battle, and the battle after that, and the war was never ending.”
“Everything he did was without parallel. At home, the magic of his absence yielded to the ordinariness of his presence. [...] So he was not a good candidate for death. [...] He became just a man, a man without a job, without a story to tell, a man, I realized, I didn’t know.”
“Remembering a man’s stories makes him immortal, did you know that?”
“Beneath one facade there’s another facade and then another, and beneath that the aching dark place, his life, something that neither of us understands.”
“Regardless of how much he loved his wife, his son, he could only stand so much love.”
“We all have stories, just as you do. [...] Lots of stories, big and small. They all add up. Over a lifetime it all adds up. That’s why we’re here. We’re part of him, of who he is, just as he is a part of us. You still don’t understand, do you?”