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d_saff's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
Review posted here: https://55booksin52weeks.wordpress.com/2016/12/04/review-the-sound-of-things-falling/
Review posted here: https://55booksin52weeks.wordpress.com/2016/12/04/review-the-sound-of-things-falling/
yogarshi's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 rounded down to 3. I really wanted to love this one more.
JGV delivers a quiet tale about the life of the Laverde family, and the narrator who gets involved with them, with the spectre of post-Escobar Bogota hanging in the background. Without spoiling much, there are parts that I absolutely loved and was devastated by, such as the tape recording, and the time spent by the narrator with Laverde's daughter. On the other hand, there were parts where the narrator's introspection just did not work for me, and felt like meandering for the sake of meandering.
JGV delivers a quiet tale about the life of the Laverde family, and the narrator who gets involved with them, with the spectre of post-Escobar Bogota hanging in the background. Without spoiling much, there are parts that I absolutely loved and was devastated by, such as the tape recording, and the time spent by the narrator with Laverde's daughter. On the other hand, there were parts where the narrator's introspection just did not work for me, and felt like meandering for the sake of meandering.
theoglibrarianmom's review against another edition
5.0
How does this not have a higher rating?! Of the 74 books I read this year this is one of my favorites. I just put it on my bookshelf for all my favorite books. I loved this book. I folded over some many pages because of the profound sentences and ideas to think about. I love the ending. I think I found a new favorite author.
donkread's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ccallan's review against another edition
4.0
The sound of things falling. El ruido de las cosas al caer. A curious title. He gives numerous hints through the book of what he means by that, but it is only as the various pieces of the tale come together that you what he means. Is it the sound of a plane crashing (of which there are three in the book)? Sounds of gunshots (nearly all of which take place off stage)? Disagreements between lovers? In fact in most cases the sound of things falling is only implied, or we only see the prelude to them or the consequences of them. In fact the story is about how things fall apart (though that title was already taken), either by things we do ourselves, others do to us, or just by bad luck. And he breathlessly links a life falling apart for an individual, a couple, a family, even the whole city of Bogota through the troubles over a couple of decades.
The themes came together nicely, in clear and flowing prose. And it will be hard for to forget the moments of reading along as the tale unfolds, only to realize that he's summarized my life in one long sentence, or captured hard to describe feelings in a few well chosen phrases, leading me to go back and reread sentences slowly, savoring them the second time. His reputation is well deserved.
The themes came together nicely, in clear and flowing prose. And it will be hard for to forget the moments of reading along as the tale unfolds, only to realize that he's summarized my life in one long sentence, or captured hard to describe feelings in a few well chosen phrases, leading me to go back and reread sentences slowly, savoring them the second time. His reputation is well deserved.
keight's review against another edition
4.0
A wistful novel that begins with an escaped hippopotamus. Read more on the booklog
stevienlcf's review against another edition
3.0
The Sound of Things Falling opens in 2009 with the narrator, a young, disaffected law professor, Antonio Yammara, reading a magazine article in which he learns that a marauding hippopotamus that had escaped from drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s private zoo had been shot and killed. Antonio then ruminates on a cautious friendship that he had formed with the middle-aged Ricardo Laverde. The two men had met in a Bogota billiards hall when Ricardo struck up a conversation about his concern for the animals starving in Escobar’s zoo. Antonio is present several months later when Ricardo listens to a black box recording of a doomed plane carrying his long-estranged wife from Miami to Cali, and is then gravely wounded while witnessing Ricardo being shot dead by masked men on motorcycles.
Learning why Ricardo was assassinated becomes Antonio’s obsession, and his investigation takes him backwards through Ricardo’s history and forward into its consequences. Antonio meets with Ricardo’s adult daughter, Maya Fritts, who is attempting to reconstruct her father’s life. Maya explains that her American mother had come to Bogota in 1969 as a Peace Corp worker, and had met Ricardo when his family served as her local host. Ricardo’s plan to restore his family’s faded glory caused him to use his piloting skills to smuggle drugs during the 1970s. He was arrested by DEA agents and served a lengthy prison sentence. In his absence, Maya’s mother constructed a world in which Ricardo no longer existed, and Maya become one of hundreds of “fictitious orphans,” whose fathers were drug traffickers jailed in the United States.
Although Vasquez shows the impact on individual lives destroyed by drugs, his canvas his larger. He depicts an entire nation weary from the corruption and crime wrought by narcoterrorism that began with the rise of Escobar in the late 1970s. As Antonio muses, “how many traversed their teenage years and fearfully became adults while the city around them sank into fear and the sound of gunshots and bombs without anyone’s having declared any war, or at least not a conventional war, if such thing exists. That’s what I’d like to know, how many left my city feeling in one way or another that they were saving themselves, and how many felt that by saving themselves they were betraying something. . . .”
Learning why Ricardo was assassinated becomes Antonio’s obsession, and his investigation takes him backwards through Ricardo’s history and forward into its consequences. Antonio meets with Ricardo’s adult daughter, Maya Fritts, who is attempting to reconstruct her father’s life. Maya explains that her American mother had come to Bogota in 1969 as a Peace Corp worker, and had met Ricardo when his family served as her local host. Ricardo’s plan to restore his family’s faded glory caused him to use his piloting skills to smuggle drugs during the 1970s. He was arrested by DEA agents and served a lengthy prison sentence. In his absence, Maya’s mother constructed a world in which Ricardo no longer existed, and Maya become one of hundreds of “fictitious orphans,” whose fathers were drug traffickers jailed in the United States.
Although Vasquez shows the impact on individual lives destroyed by drugs, his canvas his larger. He depicts an entire nation weary from the corruption and crime wrought by narcoterrorism that began with the rise of Escobar in the late 1970s. As Antonio muses, “how many traversed their teenage years and fearfully became adults while the city around them sank into fear and the sound of gunshots and bombs without anyone’s having declared any war, or at least not a conventional war, if such thing exists. That’s what I’d like to know, how many left my city feeling in one way or another that they were saving themselves, and how many felt that by saving themselves they were betraying something. . . .”
scallywag316's review against another edition
3.0
The story made me ponder what my parents shared or did not share with me. An insight into family, strangers and what we share or conceal.
panastasia's review against another edition
3.0
Ο ήχος των πραγμάτων όταν πέφτουν του Juan Gabriel Vásquez
Ο Αντόνιο Γιαμαρα, καθηγητής Νομικής, είναι μάρτυρας της δολοφονίας του Ρικαρδο Λαβερδε, πρώην πιλότου. Ο Αντόνιο στιγματιζεται από αυτό το γεγονός. Η ζωή του προχώρα αλλά ο ίδιος όχι. Όλη η εύθραυστη πραγματικότητα του έχει θρυματιστει. Έτσι, όταν του δίνεται η δυνατότητα να μάθει περισσότερα για τον δολοφονημένο Ρικαρδο δεν την αφήνει να χαθεί.
Η Κολομβία ήταν κάποτε η Κολομβία του Εσκομπαρ. Κάθε απόφαση κάθε κίνηση του έπλασαν τη χώρα σε βαθμό που ακόμη και το πάρκο ζώων που είχε φτιάξει ήταν σημείο αναφοράς.
Ο βραβευμένος Vázquez κάνει εξαιρετική δουλειά στήνοντας μια ιστορία από τρεις διαφορετικές που απλώνονται χρονικά από το 1938 ως το σήμερα. Οχι μόνο εφάπτονται αλλά κουμπώνουν και παρεισφρυουν η μία στην άλλη. Ισως η παράθεση πολλών ιστορικών γεγονότων να δίνει την αίσθηση καταιγισμου πληροφοριών αλλά και χωρίς αυτά κάτι θα έλειπε.
Και μετά από αρκετό καιρό βρήκα τον τίτλο ενός βιβλίου διπλά ενδιαφέρον μετά την ανάγνωση του κειμένου.
Προσωπική σημείωση
Μια απόσταση τη νιώθω πάντα με τη μεταφρασμένη λογοτεχνία. Μια ιστορία από ένα άλλο τόπο πάντα μοιάζει αλλιώς. Με τα έργα από τη λατινκή Αμερική αυτή η απόσταση κάπως σα να μικραίνει. Τι είναι αυτό που κάνει τη γραφή από εκείνη τη γωνιά της γης τόσο διαφορετική;
Αν ήμουν αθάνατο ον (βαμπίρ ίσως, να μη χάνω χρόνο στον ύπνο), ο σκοπός μου θα ήταν να μάθω όλες τις γλώσσες του κόσμου και να διαβάσω ιστορίες στο πρωτότυπο τους. Αλλά έτσι όπως είμαι εγκλωβισμένη σε αυτή την φθαρτή ύπαρξη (φωνή Βάνας Καρόλου Λέκκα, για να το ελαφρύνουμε και λίγο) δε προλαβαίνω πολλά. Έτσι θα καταπιαστώ με τα ισπανικά και κάποια στιγμή θα μπορώ να ξαναδιαβάσω αυτά τα έργα που αγάπησα στη γλώσσα που γράφτηκαν και θα μάθω τα μυστικά τους και θα ανακαλύψω και άλλα και άλλα.
"Αυτό είναι το ωραίο με την Κολομβία. Κανείς δεν είναι ποτέ μόνος με τη μοίρα του."
"Το μόνο πράγμα που πρέπει να κάνει κανείς είναι να πεθάνει."
Antonio Yamara, a law professor, witnesses the murder of Ricardo Laverde, a former pilot. Antonio is stigmatized by this. His life goes on but he doesn't. His fragile reality has been shattered. When he is given the opportunity to learn more about the murdered Ricardo he doesn't let it go.
Colombia was once Escobar's Colombia. His every decision and every move shaped the country to such an extent that even the animal park he had built was a reference point.
The award-winning Vázquez does an excellent job of setting up a story of three different stories spanning from 1938 to the present day. Not only do they to fit together, but they snap into each other. Perhaps the citation of many historical facts gives the feeling of a flood of information, but without them there would be something missing.
And after a long time I found the title of a book doubly interesting after reading the text.
Personal note
I always feel a distance with translated literature. A story from another place always looks different. With the works from Latin America, this distance seems to be getting smaller. What is it that makes the writing from that corner of the earth so different?
If I were an immortal being (vampire maybe, not wasting time sleeping), my goal would be to learn every language in the world and read stories in their original editions. But as I am trapped in this perishable existence (I do get poetic in my old age) I won't get much done. So I'll learn Spanish and someday I'll be able to re-read those works I loved in the language they were written in and learn their secrets and discover more and more.
"That's the beauty of Colombia. No one is ever alone in their fate."
"The only thing left to do is to die."
Ο Αντόνιο Γιαμαρα, καθηγητής Νομικής, είναι μάρτυρας της δολοφονίας του Ρικαρδο Λαβερδε, πρώην πιλότου. Ο Αντόνιο στιγματιζεται από αυτό το γεγονός. Η ζωή του προχώρα αλλά ο ίδιος όχι. Όλη η εύθραυστη πραγματικότητα του έχει θρυματιστει. Έτσι, όταν του δίνεται η δυνατότητα να μάθει περισσότερα για τον δολοφονημένο Ρικαρδο δεν την αφήνει να χαθεί.
Η Κολομβία ήταν κάποτε η Κολομβία του Εσκομπαρ. Κάθε απόφαση κάθε κίνηση του έπλασαν τη χώρα σε βαθμό που ακόμη και το πάρκο ζώων που είχε φτιάξει ήταν σημείο αναφοράς.
Ο βραβευμένος Vázquez κάνει εξαιρετική δουλειά στήνοντας μια ιστορία από τρεις διαφορετικές που απλώνονται χρονικά από το 1938 ως το σήμερα. Οχι μόνο εφάπτονται αλλά κουμπώνουν και παρεισφρυουν η μία στην άλλη. Ισως η παράθεση πολλών ιστορικών γεγονότων να δίνει την αίσθηση καταιγισμου πληροφοριών αλλά και χωρίς αυτά κάτι θα έλειπε.
Και μετά από αρκετό καιρό βρήκα τον τίτλο ενός βιβλίου διπλά ενδιαφέρον μετά την ανάγνωση του κειμένου.
Προσωπική σημείωση
Μια απόσταση τη νιώθω πάντα με τη μεταφρασμένη λογοτεχνία. Μια ιστορία από ένα άλλο τόπο πάντα μοιάζει αλλιώς. Με τα έργα από τη λατινκή Αμερική αυτή η απόσταση κάπως σα να μικραίνει. Τι είναι αυτό που κάνει τη γραφή από εκείνη τη γωνιά της γης τόσο διαφορετική;
Αν ήμουν αθάνατο ον (βαμπίρ ίσως, να μη χάνω χρόνο στον ύπνο), ο σκοπός μου θα ήταν να μάθω όλες τις γλώσσες του κόσμου και να διαβάσω ιστορίες στο πρωτότυπο τους. Αλλά έτσι όπως είμαι εγκλωβισμένη σε αυτή την φθαρτή ύπαρξη (φωνή Βάνας Καρόλου Λέκκα, για να το ελαφρύνουμε και λίγο) δε προλαβαίνω πολλά. Έτσι θα καταπιαστώ με τα ισπανικά και κάποια στιγμή θα μπορώ να ξαναδιαβάσω αυτά τα έργα που αγάπησα στη γλώσσα που γράφτηκαν και θα μάθω τα μυστικά τους και θα ανακαλύψω και άλλα και άλλα.
"Αυτό είναι το ωραίο με την Κολομβία. Κανείς δεν είναι ποτέ μόνος με τη μοίρα του."
"Το μόνο πράγμα που πρέπει να κάνει κανείς είναι να πεθάνει."
Antonio Yamara, a law professor, witnesses the murder of Ricardo Laverde, a former pilot. Antonio is stigmatized by this. His life goes on but he doesn't. His fragile reality has been shattered. When he is given the opportunity to learn more about the murdered Ricardo he doesn't let it go.
Colombia was once Escobar's Colombia. His every decision and every move shaped the country to such an extent that even the animal park he had built was a reference point.
The award-winning Vázquez does an excellent job of setting up a story of three different stories spanning from 1938 to the present day. Not only do they to fit together, but they snap into each other. Perhaps the citation of many historical facts gives the feeling of a flood of information, but without them there would be something missing.
And after a long time I found the title of a book doubly interesting after reading the text.
Personal note
I always feel a distance with translated literature. A story from another place always looks different. With the works from Latin America, this distance seems to be getting smaller. What is it that makes the writing from that corner of the earth so different?
If I were an immortal being (vampire maybe, not wasting time sleeping), my goal would be to learn every language in the world and read stories in their original editions. But as I am trapped in this perishable existence (I do get poetic in my old age) I won't get much done. So I'll learn Spanish and someday I'll be able to re-read those works I loved in the language they were written in and learn their secrets and discover more and more.
"That's the beauty of Colombia. No one is ever alone in their fate."
"The only thing left to do is to die."