Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
The topic is certainly interesting, but I found the format annoying. I'd rather read first hand accounts than this fictionalized treatment, or, at least, cut out the present in this story.
absolutely amazing! it was an honor to spend so much time with such a remarkable man. fictional nonfiction, the story of a boy's life in the midst of civil war. horrific as well as uplifting. evidence of the indomitable human spirit. i am richer for the experience.
...really enjoyed this. Dave Eggers does a great job of developing the main character's "voice". Tragic, funny, entertaining.
I should add: the cover of this book is beautiful. The ink... the back-flap dust jacket. In itself a work of art.
I should add: the cover of this book is beautiful. The ink... the back-flap dust jacket. In itself a work of art.
This book is a spectacular look at the real life of a Lost Boy, and is a telling description of how removing a man from a situation to America does not alleviate the problems... but rather creates new, unique issues.
A beautiful book! An amazing tapestry of nonfiction events sewn into a fictional story.
I thought the first half of the book was much better than the second. It's told as an alternation between the present and the past, but as the two get closer in time at the end, it just isn't as interesting. I also would have liked more of the present than we actually got. It just felt somewhat repetitive, which is why I think the ending was worse. Still a good book and I felt like I learned a lot about Sudan.
Oh this was hard to read. So much terror and pain. But the story is like watching a coiled spring untwist and loosen. And the protagonist has such a charming honesty and sense of himself.
This took me a really long time to read, because I stopped for long periods of time and read other books. It's not a fast read. It's very heavy, difficult material. It is nothing like what Eggers has written before. I found myself forgetting that he was even the author, which I think he did on purpose. This is a perspective changing, thought provoking, faith challenging book that makes you want to take action immediately. Much of it reads like a fiction novel, as if the events had to be made up because it seems so impossible. But it's not fiction, though it is a novel (that's explained in the preface). Much of it is recent enough history for me to remember exactly where I was and what I was doing during specific events Valentino describes, which makes it even harder to wrap my mind around the differences in his life and mine. This is a book I will not soon forget.