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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
Well, alright then. I think I'll just sit and finish my tea while I get over the biggest plot twist ever. I didn't see the ending coming, but not only that, having the characters in exactly the same position and psychoanalysing WHY I didn't see it was both incredibly clever and uncomfortable. Not dissimilar to Lolita I imagine, and equally disturbing for entirely different reasons. Pacing was good, characters more than a little bit deplorable in places but very human, and the plot was intriguing enough to make me willing to suffer them. The use of voice and narration was masterful, and I'm not sure I've read many other books that could have pulled it all off quite so effectively and dramatically. However clever it was, however, I didn't e joy reading it very much. It's definitely crossing over into Literary fiction in some respects.
Very unique and quirky book, probably for that reason it won't appeal to everyone. The author has been very clever with the plot, and all storylines feed together perfectly - nothing is overlooked or dropped without proper closure. It's a very tidy and well thought out book.
I do not normally like child narrators but actually with this book I was left wishing there could have been a bit more Louis in it, and his voice gets less and less from about the half way point.
You do need to suspend reality a bit for this book, but if you can do that I think you will find it an enjoyable read.
I do not normally like child narrators but actually with this book I was left wishing there could have been a bit more Louis in it, and his voice gets less and less from about the half way point.
You do need to suspend reality a bit for this book, but if you can do that I think you will find it an enjoyable read.
Pošto sam se sad setila da svoje misli o pročitanim knjigama u 2018. prikupim u jednu svesku, prisećam se januarskih knjiga i shvatih da sam precenila ovu. Stoga, 3 zvezdice je i više nego dovoljno za mlak kraj priče koja je imala potencijala.
This book was good but pretty odd. Disturbing and sad.
Louis Drax is a nine year old, accident prone, odd but smart child. After a terrible accident he is left in a coma and questions regarding what actually happened are numerous.
The book switches between points of view from Louis and the current doctor treating him. I found the writing, especially from Louis' perspective, to be odd; but it does all come together at the end. A very interesting story-line.
Louis Drax is a nine year old, accident prone, odd but smart child. After a terrible accident he is left in a coma and questions regarding what actually happened are numerous.
The book switches between points of view from Louis and the current doctor treating him. I found the writing, especially from Louis' perspective, to be odd; but it does all come together at the end. A very interesting story-line.
Louis Drax has never been an ordinary boy. At nine years old, he has had many many accidents already, some bigger, other smaller. But the biggest is the one where this story starts. When he is out for a picnic with his parents for his ninth birthday, Louis falls off a cliff into a ravine. He survives, but ends up in a very deep coma. The boy is transferred to the hospital of Dr Pascal Dannachet, who tries to bring him back to consciousness. But things do not go as planned, and will we ever find out what happened to cause his accident?
The book uses a first person perspective and switches between Louis (in his coma) and Dr Dannachet. We get a clear insight in both their minds and their struggles, whilst still being held at bay on the topic of the circumstances of the accident. The boy walks the fine line between consciousness and coma, and has a gift to cross over. Meanwhile his mother has a very different talent.
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax is a thrilling novel full of twists and turns. It is very hard to attach to any of the main characters, except for Louis perhaps, because of the many moral lines they tiptoe around. Everything is solved in the end, but maybe that is why the final chapters are a bit too happy ending-y.
The book uses a first person perspective and switches between Louis (in his coma) and Dr Dannachet. We get a clear insight in both their minds and their struggles, whilst still being held at bay on the topic of the circumstances of the accident. The boy walks the fine line between consciousness and coma, and has a gift to cross over. Meanwhile his mother has a very different talent.
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax is a thrilling novel full of twists and turns. It is very hard to attach to any of the main characters, except for Louis perhaps, because of the many moral lines they tiptoe around. Everything is solved in the end, but maybe that is why the final chapters are a bit too happy ending-y.
Louis Drax is the best part.
Characters seem more American than French.
"Surprise" denounement is broadly signalled from the beginning.
Making Dr. Pascal Dannachet so dumb ruins the story.
Characters seem more American than French.
"Surprise" denounement is broadly signalled from the beginning.
Making Dr. Pascal Dannachet so dumb ruins the story.
- Full of twists, very gripping story
- Dry and strange writing style, I thought at first it was maybe a bad translation
- Definitely a story full of layers, it gets more and more intense as it goes
- Strangely sexist, like the book was written a century ago by some male writer trying to be ~controversial~.
- I have ZERO sympathy for the doctor and kept hoping his wife would leave him
- Dry and strange writing style, I thought at first it was maybe a bad translation
- Definitely a story full of layers, it gets more and more intense as it goes
- Strangely sexist, like the book was written a century ago by some male writer trying to be ~controversial~.
- I have ZERO sympathy for the doctor and kept hoping his wife would leave him
Now, I'm either too smart or this book is too predictable. I thought I was in for a "mindblowing thriller" - or whatever the press said about the book - but I just got myself into a story about a disturbed child with even more disturbed parents. I'm usually attracted to disturbing things so I was expecting something new and unusual. I'm afraid that the plot of this book lacks whatever I was looking after.
Still, it is written in both an adult's perspective and a child's. That added the entertaining factor that it definitely needed; it would be an even weirder book if it didn't have it. The child's perspective is a million times more interesting than the adult's. It's confusing, introspective, funny, too intelligent. It shows how creative the writer can be. The adult's perspective (the adult being another disturbed person) is dryer, depressing and disquitening. I liked both because neither of them is great but they both rang true. They portray the same moments differently and access memories and thoughts in different ways. It adds depth to the story. Just wished there was more of the little boy than of the man.
The thing about this book is that it will keep you interested, then mildly interested, then back to fully-interested, and then it ends. The plot isn't brilliant nor the way it is displayed. However, it will make you wonder about how some kinds of love can be so terrible and how some people can live with themselves even after all the bad choices they've made. The book underlines an undeniable truth: the choices you make are yours and only yours. But what about the consequences?
Still, it is written in both an adult's perspective and a child's. That added the entertaining factor that it definitely needed; it would be an even weirder book if it didn't have it. The child's perspective is a million times more interesting than the adult's. It's confusing, introspective, funny, too intelligent. It shows how creative the writer can be. The adult's perspective (the adult being another disturbed person) is dryer, depressing and disquitening. I liked both because neither of them is great but they both rang true. They portray the same moments differently and access memories and thoughts in different ways. It adds depth to the story. Just wished there was more of the little boy than of the man.
The thing about this book is that it will keep you interested, then mildly interested, then back to fully-interested, and then it ends. The plot isn't brilliant nor the way it is displayed. However, it will make you wonder about how some kinds of love can be so terrible and how some people can live with themselves even after all the bad choices they've made. The book underlines an undeniable truth: the choices you make are yours and only yours. But what about the consequences?