Reviews - Terras Baixas | The StoryGraph

Terras Baixas by Cássio de Arantes Leite, Joseph O'Neill

292 reviews for:

Reviews on Amazon for this seem very mixed, but you can put me in the thumbs-up camp. Its view of New York from an outsider's point of view seemed very believable, and the sense of an immigrant world going on in its shadows - drawn to its possibilities while keeping a distance from its less-pretty traits - was nicely drawn. And then there are the various tangents leading you off into discussions of something-or-other that seems to catch the author's fancy. What's not to like?

maglicco's review against another edition

5.0

Achingly beautiful prose, intensely emotional plot lines, intellectually satisfying conclusion. It took me a long time to finish this book. In my winter muddle, I had trouble embracing the protagonist's "New York confusion." Like cricket, this novel is complex and rewarding; when it's over, a lot of time has passed and you're not sure you understand what happened, but you know who won and who lost.

nobodyatall's review against another edition

2.0

Started off promisingly, and the first third was really good. But then it started getting excessively verbose and self important like the author just wanted to say lots of his important thoughts without caring how they derailed the story and spoilt it.
The first half has a really know nice feeling to it. Then it got annoyingly smug. it also seemed to have lots of unnecessary details added just incase the reader was too stupid to pick up on what was also more subtly implied by the writing.
I'm annoyed with this book, that it was so promising and then such a let down.

pnew22's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this book. While Cricket is the focal point, the underlying subjects are relationships, reflecting on different cultures, living abroad, etc.