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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Verhaal heeft een leuke insteek: 4 dezelfde Archibalds die toch allemaal een ander, eigen leven leiden. Ben fan van de vlotte schrijfstijl, het originele verhaal dat mooi samenkomt en de verschillende lagen die je kan herkennen. Dikke 4 sterren!
When I only had several pages left to go of 4 3 2 1, I realised that I had not in any way been waiting for it to end. I wasn't wistful exactly, and I hadn't whirled my way through the book feverishly - it just isn't that kind of book. And yet I was not looking forward to finishing it, much in the same way that you are reluctant to wake up after a particularly good night's sleep.
It's a thoroughly well-written novel and I liked the way Auster explores these four options of a person's life, with a strong backdrop of 20th century American politics and society. I enjoyed spending 1070 pages in the head of a person who loves literature so much. But I am not in the mood for writing a long review about it so I'll leave it at this. If you want to know more, just ask me.
It's a thoroughly well-written novel and I liked the way Auster explores these four options of a person's life, with a strong backdrop of 20th century American politics and society. I enjoyed spending 1070 pages in the head of a person who loves literature so much. But I am not in the mood for writing a long review about it so I'll leave it at this. If you want to know more, just ask me.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A masterpiece. An 866-page book populated with characters so detailed and developed they breathe. A sweeping history of the United States in the 60s. A story of family and friendships and the many different forms those relationships can take. And ultimately, a love letter to the written word - to reading it and most of all to the act, the magic, of creating it.
Loved the writing, very much congizant of the fact that it spent a lot of time waffling for the sake of waffling
This is an incredible book and the only reservation I can say In recommending it is that it is very long. I loved the switching storylines and seeing how the same characters acted in different universes.
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
I am going to miss Archie - all of them! They have been my constant companions over the last three weeks, the time it took me to read this substantial but absorbing novel.
Auster places the novellist's art under a microscope, building four realistic but different story lines for the same character, Archie Ferguson, born on March 3rd, 1947 to Rose and Stanley. At one level, this is an exploration of nature versus nurture, showing how different circumstances influence the protagonist. What makes it particularly interesting is the plausibility of the stories of the different Archie and their impact on Archie himself.
Archie is not the only character to appear in all the stories, obviously his parents are also there although their relationship is profoundly different depending on the circumstances, and Amy Schneiderman is central. Archie is recognisably the same - good at baseball and basketball, oriented towards writing of one kind or another - yet different - the devoted lover of Amy, obsessed by the death of the other AF to the extent that he seeks atonement through AF's sister, joyously bi-sexual. It is fascinating to see how all are essentially the same people but influenced by circumstances.
**spoiler alert**
My only quibble is why Auster needed to kill off three of the four Archies. Number 2 disappears early, struck by lightening at Camp Paradise; Number 3 is killed in a road accident just when he is about to enjoy the successful publication of his book; and we are told that number 1 was killed in a fire. Then number 4 goes off to write the book we have just read about the 4 Archies. Perhaps Auster wanted to make sure he never had to sustain a sequel. I wonder.
Auster places the novellist's art under a microscope, building four realistic but different story lines for the same character, Archie Ferguson, born on March 3rd, 1947 to Rose and Stanley. At one level, this is an exploration of nature versus nurture, showing how different circumstances influence the protagonist. What makes it particularly interesting is the plausibility of the stories of the different Archie and their impact on Archie himself.
Archie is not the only character to appear in all the stories, obviously his parents are also there although their relationship is profoundly different depending on the circumstances, and Amy Schneiderman is central. Archie is recognisably the same - good at baseball and basketball, oriented towards writing of one kind or another - yet different - the devoted lover of Amy, obsessed by the death of the other AF to the extent that he seeks atonement through AF's sister, joyously bi-sexual. It is fascinating to see how all are essentially the same people but influenced by circumstances.
**spoiler alert**
My only quibble is why Auster needed to kill off three of the four Archies. Number 2 disappears early, struck by lightening at Camp Paradise; Number 3 is killed in a road accident just when he is about to enjoy the successful publication of his book; and we are told that number 1 was killed in a fire. Then number 4 goes off to write the book we have just read about the 4 Archies. Perhaps Auster wanted to make sure he never had to sustain a sequel. I wonder.