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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Read for book club and like going to book club otherwise would not have finished it. Pretty painful for at least 2/3s of it.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
"Hey Yann, how's the book coming?"
"Dude, it's so good. I have this great idea for a character!"
"Oh yeah, what's he like?"
"Well, his wife is dead!"
...
"And his son is dead too!"
"Ok...maybe we could dig a little deeper?"
"He...walks backwards everywhere?"
...
"Oh, and the best part: he's a total technophobe, and he has to drive this crazy car made of elephant parts! Ahahaha, I crack myself up sometimes. Anyway, I was thinking the book could double as a driving instruction manual! I've got pages of just learning how to drive; it's so next level! In the future all books will double as driving instruction manuals."
"Um..."
"Oh, how stupid of me! I haven't told you about my next character!
"Ok, what's he like?"
"His wife's dead too! But. We don't know it immediately. It's pretty slick."
"And..."
"And he loves Agatha Christie! Isn't that wild?"
"Sure...any other characters?"
"Yes! There's a guy and his..."
"...Wife is dead?"
"Yes, how'd you know?"
"Just a guess."
"But I wanted this guy to be unique, different than the others. So I made him Canadian."
...
"And he has a monkey!! Ahaha I'm cracking myself up again!"
"Ok, how about female characters? Got any of those?"
"Dude, tons! Check it out! There's the first guy's girl and she doesn't want to marry him because she's a servant, and then she dies!"
"Anything else about her?"
"I thought the death thing could be like her defining characteristic. I didn't want to muddy that up with details."
"Ok, I guess..."
"But then the second guy's wife is super religious and also into Agatha Christie. It's like a passion they share; that's how the readers will know they're an amazing couple. She has this whole thing about Christie and Jesus; it is the highlight of the book!"
"Oh, so she's not..."
"Dead? Of course she is! But that one's the fake-out. That's why I put in the Jesus and Agatha stuff, to throw readers off."
...
"And of course there's the last guys wife."
"Well, you told me she's dead, but what else?"
"Nothing! That's the beauty of it. She is purely dead, no messy details. But I named her Clara; isn't that a beautiful name? I thought that would really drive the grief home."
"So it seems like there's a theme going on here..."
"Yes, totally! I knew you would get it. It's about grief and love and faith, and they're all kind of on a quest, but not after anything really important! They're all just so sad!"
"Um..."
"Oh, and there's some random monkeys. I like monkeys."
"And you can get 300 pages out of this?"
"Dude, of course!"
"Okay, we can sell it. Send it to the printer."
"Dude, it's so good. I have this great idea for a character!"
"Oh yeah, what's he like?"
"Well, his wife is dead!"
...
"And his son is dead too!"
"Ok...maybe we could dig a little deeper?"
"He...walks backwards everywhere?"
...
"Oh, and the best part: he's a total technophobe, and he has to drive this crazy car made of elephant parts! Ahahaha, I crack myself up sometimes. Anyway, I was thinking the book could double as a driving instruction manual! I've got pages of just learning how to drive; it's so next level! In the future all books will double as driving instruction manuals."
"Um..."
"Oh, how stupid of me! I haven't told you about my next character!
"Ok, what's he like?"
"His wife's dead too! But. We don't know it immediately. It's pretty slick."
"And..."
"And he loves Agatha Christie! Isn't that wild?"
"Sure...any other characters?"
"Yes! There's a guy and his..."
"...Wife is dead?"
"Yes, how'd you know?"
"Just a guess."
"But I wanted this guy to be unique, different than the others. So I made him Canadian."
...
"And he has a monkey!! Ahaha I'm cracking myself up again!"
"Ok, how about female characters? Got any of those?"
"Dude, tons! Check it out! There's the first guy's girl and she doesn't want to marry him because she's a servant, and then she dies!"
"Anything else about her?"
"I thought the death thing could be like her defining characteristic. I didn't want to muddy that up with details."
"Ok, I guess..."
"But then the second guy's wife is super religious and also into Agatha Christie. It's like a passion they share; that's how the readers will know they're an amazing couple. She has this whole thing about Christie and Jesus; it is the highlight of the book!"
"Oh, so she's not..."
"Dead? Of course she is! But that one's the fake-out. That's why I put in the Jesus and Agatha stuff, to throw readers off."
...
"And of course there's the last guys wife."
"Well, you told me she's dead, but what else?"
"Nothing! That's the beauty of it. She is purely dead, no messy details. But I named her Clara; isn't that a beautiful name? I thought that would really drive the grief home."
"So it seems like there's a theme going on here..."
"Yes, totally! I knew you would get it. It's about grief and love and faith, and they're all kind of on a quest, but not after anything really important! They're all just so sad!"
"Um..."
"Oh, and there's some random monkeys. I like monkeys."
"And you can get 300 pages out of this?"
"Dude, of course!"
"Okay, we can sell it. Send it to the printer."
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
this book is fantastic. the first part had me instantly hooked and was probably my favourite, but the third part pleasantly surprised me as well. the second part had me scratching my head, and i’m still extremely confused about it but i don’t even care because the book is just that good. i normally don’t care for books heavy in religion, and i especially abhor apes, but somehow this book got me reading about those things and loving it. i would give odo my life. this book does a great job at connecting all the parts together in a way that is very easy to follow, and it all wraps up so nicely, i’m obsessed with the way everything comes back in the end. 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content
Moderate: Child death, Grief
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story starts slow and talks a lot about Christianity and religion in general. I enjoyed the second and third part way more than the first one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Child death, Death, Car accident
3.5 stars. Set in three different time periods this book contains three stories revolve around a small village in the High Mountains of Portugal and concern, of all things, chimpanzees and rhinoceroses. This started out really slowly and out of the three stories I liked the first the least, although it did lay the background for the two stories that followed. I was a big fan of the Life of Pi and the second two stories felt more like that book to me. They had the more mystical and fantastical aspects that made Pi so enjoyable to me.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I finished reading this book over a week ago and I'm still ruminating on the story. Talk about a book making you think, forcing you to analyze every scene looking for the deeper meaning, knowing you should be getting this but missing the mark.
This allegory on grief and loss is presented in three separate yet connected stories set decades apart. In each section truths are revealed though not always understood by the characters or the reader. Much like Martel's Life of Pi, suspension of belief is a given, particularly so in Part Two, Homeward. I'm still scratching my head regarding this section of the book, much as I was during the island scene in The Life of Pi.
Much to ponder and definitely worth a second read, or a third in my case. English teachers are going to spend entire semesters dissecting the High Mountains of Portugal with their students. It's that kind of book.
3.5 stars
ARC received with thanks from Penguin Random House via NetGalley for review.
This allegory on grief and loss is presented in three separate yet connected stories set decades apart. In each section truths are revealed though not always understood by the characters or the reader. Much like Martel's Life of Pi, suspension of belief is a given, particularly so in Part Two, Homeward. I'm still scratching my head regarding this section of the book, much as I was during the island scene in The Life of Pi.
Much to ponder and definitely worth a second read, or a third in my case. English teachers are going to spend entire semesters dissecting the High Mountains of Portugal with their students. It's that kind of book.
3.5 stars
ARC received with thanks from Penguin Random House via NetGalley for review.