Reviews

Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

meesm's review against another edition

3.0

I couldn't decide whether to rate this a 3 or a 4. This books had some beautiful descriptions and phrasing throughout that I loved and kept me reading. But I found the story line hard to follow and kept waiting for all the questions to be answered. Of course that is part of the point of the book; we don't always get all of our questions answered in life. There was so much jumping around between all the characters that I never felt any emotional bond or connection to any of them which is what draws me into a book.

fallohide's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

soeurx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is challenging- not only because of the topic (the (colonial) history of Kenia) but also for the way it is written: very poetic, sometimes you feel like you are reading a poem but can‘t really value all the metaphors and stilistic methods since the story is so suspense and you just want to know how it ends. 
You have to read the novel fast/in a row to keep track with all the figures and the plot. 

michellegroenewald's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

leasaurusrex's review against another edition

4.0

J’ai lu quelque part, je ne sais plus où, que La maison au bout des voyages est un livre qui se mérite.
Et ô combien c’est vrai !
Après un premier chapitre haletant, l’autrice nous retire les clés de compréhension et nous oblige à faire l’économie de nos indices pour mieux nous retrouver plus tard.
La plume d’Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor est dense, fragmentée, lyrique, secrète, exhaustive. Le style est mouvant, la chronologie suit ses propres règles, et il est au début difficile d’accrocher à l’histoire de cette maison et de ses habitants. J’ai dû attendre de dépasser la première moitié pour être enfin totalement envoûtée par l’intrigue.
Au travers des pages se redessine l’Histoire (ou les histoires ?) du Kenya, du début des années 70 à nos jours (ou presque). La Nature y tient également une place prépondérante, mais l’autrice tient surtout un discours sur la colonialisation qu’il est important d’entendre et d’écouter.

La fin de La maison au bout des voyages laisse beaucoup de questions sans réponse, à l’image de la vie réelle. Il faut accepter de se laisser guider dans ce récit chaotique et vrai, poétique et dur, pour éventuellement arriver au bout du voyage.

C’est une lecture exigeante, mais que je suis heureuse d’avoir faite.

mariaili's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The prose is beautiful, but it's very difficult to follow what is happening the book. It felt choppy with the short sections of multiple POVs and time jumps. 

At times, I had to reread sections in order to understand what happened. I felt confused a lot of the time.

jennaw's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

somojones's review against another edition

2.0

A very difficult read. The words are too flowery and the story is choppy and difficult to follow. Unfortunately because of the style of writing I will not finish this book.

annindo_underthesun's review against another edition

The book had very flowery and poetic writing and intensive imagery which made it difficult for me to follow along since these are not the things I enjoy in a book. It was also very slow paced which made it difficult to follow along

shonatiger's review against another edition

5.0

Had a hard time with this book - not least because [gestures at burning world]. The style is so fragmented in parts that it's hard to understand what the author is getting at - but then! Eventually it comes together as an intensely painful story, and the fragmentation is part of it (another character?)

Simply: epic.