Scan barcode
funktious's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Beautiful, sad and challenging.
Most of the literary allusions went well over my head and I wouldn’t have know about them but for the afterword! And it’s a tough read in places, both in form and subject matter. But it was an interesting and sad read; following one family falling apart while other families are ripped apart, both at the US / Mexico border and even further south as adults send children on dangerous journeys in pursuit of a better life. Luiselli makes you confront questions like which children matter, what is a childhood and where does it end.
Also interesting from an Information Management perspective, with the 'archive' informing both the structure of the novel and the plot.
Most of the literary allusions went well over my head and I wouldn’t have know about them but for the afterword! And it’s a tough read in places, both in form and subject matter. But it was an interesting and sad read; following one family falling apart while other families are ripped apart, both at the US / Mexico border and even further south as adults send children on dangerous journeys in pursuit of a better life. Luiselli makes you confront questions like which children matter, what is a childhood and where does it end.
Also interesting from an Information Management perspective, with the 'archive' informing both the structure of the novel and the plot.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death
someryarns's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deportation
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Infidelity, Death, Child death, and Cursing
bookicornia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Xenophobia and Injury/Injury detail
esme_bonner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Literary fiction definitely is for some people, typically I would say it is not for me. However. I read this book as part of my MA in English, and whilst it is not the most accessible book you can find on this topic, it is without doubt a compelling, heartbreaking rendering of the issues it surrounds.
The Lost Children Archive is a literary fiction book that combines the stories of two vastly different families. Drawing on her own experience as a translator in the courts, Luiselli gives voices to the women, children and families who do what they must to make it to America. Luiselli blends history with heartbreak, she gives us a woman in a dysfunctional marriage, and asks if the nobility of a cause, the knowledge that you can do something worthwhile, is allowed to take precedence over whatever love you might yet salvage. She gives us two people, one obsessed with the horrendous past of America, and one desperate to make a difference in the horrendous present. Between them we have their children, who's youthful naivety allows them to do what their parents have only ever thought of.
A non-traditional novel, The Lost Children Archive is filled with bold literary technique. Books within books, boxes upon boxes, and the shifting of point of view between parent, child, past, present, fictional, fictionalised and all too real. This is not a beach read, it is a novel that deserves your time. There will be moments that feel strange, out of place, an attempt by the author, perhaps, to ensure this novel sits where it should in a bookshop; a reminder that literary fiction can be self-consciously within its genre. For me that's what takes this from 5 stars down to a 4.75.
Brilliant.
The Lost Children Archive is a literary fiction book that combines the stories of two vastly different families. Drawing on her own experience as a translator in the courts, Luiselli gives voices to the women, children and families who do what they must to make it to America. Luiselli blends history with heartbreak, she gives us a woman in a dysfunctional marriage, and asks if the nobility of a cause, the knowledge that you can do something worthwhile, is allowed to take precedence over whatever love you might yet salvage. She gives us two people, one obsessed with the horrendous past of America, and one desperate to make a difference in the horrendous present. Between them we have their children, who's youthful naivety allows them to do what their parents have only ever thought of.
A non-traditional novel, The Lost Children Archive is filled with bold literary technique. Books within books, boxes upon boxes, and the shifting of point of view between parent, child, past, present, fictional, fictionalised and all too real. This is not a beach read, it is a novel that deserves your time. There will be moments that feel strange, out of place, an attempt by the author, perhaps, to ensure this novel sits where it should in a bookshop; a reminder that literary fiction can be self-consciously within its genre. For me that's what takes this from 5 stars down to a 4.75.
Brilliant.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Deportation, Trafficking, and Child death
This book draws on the author's experience working with undocumented immigrants, including depictions of the journey into the US via coyotes.samsearle's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Child death, and Xenophobia
elchivovivo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I read the Spanish translation, in which the author herself collaborated (a rare thing, in my experience).
Analytical prose. Revealing meaning in the selective, yet precise description of the mundane.
A rhapsody of interweaving, intertextual voices and perspectives.
A gloomy view on humanity, particularly the late-stage capitalism ruins of American society.
Absorbing, auditive. Loved it.
Analytical prose. Revealing meaning in the selective, yet precise description of the mundane.
A rhapsody of interweaving, intertextual voices and perspectives.
A gloomy view on humanity, particularly the late-stage capitalism ruins of American society.
Absorbing, auditive. Loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Xenophobia, and Child death
impla77's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Yeah, this just wasnt the book for me. I liked aspects of it, but it tended to drag, and was a bit too clever for its own good. Also, the ten minute runon sentence at the end.. I mean come on, that dragged this book down. These children are also the smartest and most fucking dumb children simultaneously, like in what world,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Child death, Police brutality, Trafficking, Racism, and Gun violence
Minor: Infidelity
afion's review against another edition
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Trafficking
knkoch's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was a longer book I struggled to get through. It’s about a family of four grappling with the migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border (especially focused on unaccompanied children), and while I found it very informative and well researched, I felt disconnected often.
The structure of each chapter/subheading was grounded in archival terms, as the parents both do archival sound recording work. It felt like I missed many of the extra-textual connections there. I found the mother’s voice more compelling than the son’s, as the story shifted to his perspective in the second half. It’s so challenging to write from the perspective of a child, and I felt that as a 10 year old he was far too precocious and wise at first. The story becomes more engaging at the end, but for the reasons listed above, it didn’t really pay off for me.
The structure of each chapter/subheading was grounded in archival terms, as the parents both do archival sound recording work. It felt like I missed many of the extra-textual connections there. I found the mother’s voice more compelling than the son’s, as the story shifted to his perspective in the second half. It’s so challenging to write from the perspective of a child, and I felt that as a 10 year old he was far too precocious and wise at first. The story becomes more engaging at the end, but for the reasons listed above, it didn’t really pay off for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
sorrymom94's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, and Death