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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Unfortunately I found the magical realism framing device - the irregular flow of time in Venice - to be at times pretentiously written, and overall lackluster. The author didn't much engage with the impact such a magic would really have beyond a surface level acknowledgement, and it fell quite flat for me. It was interesting to read about Venice across history but, contrasted with a book like Pachinko that follows generations of families, did not work nearly as well for me. Still, I have a fondness for Venice and Murano and have been to many of the locations in this novel, which was nostalgic. I wanted to like this one more than I did.
3.5 stars This is my first book by the author, I will be rectifying this asap. What book should I start with?
I loved the authors attention to detail in her book and Orsola was such an interesting character, at times I did get confused by her appearing in all of the timelines. However this didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book, just means I need to have a re-read to get a fuller understanding.
I feel that I have learnt from the book, not only about glassmaking but also Murano, where I now want to visit.
I loved the authors attention to detail in her book and Orsola was such an interesting character, at times I did get confused by her appearing in all of the timelines. However this didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book, just means I need to have a re-read to get a fuller understanding.
I feel that I have learnt from the book, not only about glassmaking but also Murano, where I now want to visit.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I was not prepared for or convinced of the necessity of the time jumps, but aside from that I loved it. Very informative and descriptive of a world I knew nothing about.
adventurous
reflective
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:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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:
No
I really enjoyed The Glassmaker. Venice has become a special interest of mine ever since visiting last year. Ever since I learnt about it aged 6, it’s somewhere that I dreamed of going and I’m so happy I did. Reading about it is now a great pleasure, as I’ve been to all these places I can imagine it all so clearly.
This book was wonderful. I felt immediately transported and loved seeing history through the eyes of Orsola Rosso. She’s a great character and incredibly self determined. I think I was a bit confused with the time skips at first, but then understood why the author had pointed out Time alla Veneziana at the start, with the idea that glass moves so slowly etc. So I got the idea that time moves slowly in the lagoon. I really liked that, it added a level of magical realism that I really enjoyed.
Overall, what a joy to read. I loved the technical details about glass, I enjoyed that I could understand the bits of Italian dotted through, and have learnt to curses alla Veneziana ! Really enjoyed this book.
This book was wonderful. I felt immediately transported and loved seeing history through the eyes of Orsola Rosso. She’s a great character and incredibly self determined. I think I was a bit confused with the time skips at first, but then understood why the author had pointed out Time alla Veneziana at the start, with the idea that glass moves so slowly etc. So I got the idea that time moves slowly in the lagoon. I really liked that, it added a level of magical realism that I really enjoyed.
Overall, what a joy to read. I loved the technical details about glass, I enjoyed that I could understand the bits of Italian dotted through, and have learnt to curses alla Veneziana ! Really enjoyed this book.
Really, truly beautiful. Haven't cried at the end of a book in a long time.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This book was set in the 1500s on the island of Murano near Venice. The book was about a family of glassmakers but it had an interesting plot device of setting the story over the lifetime of the main character Orsola but in fact that lifetime spanned generations so really it was a history of Murano and Venice too which I really enjoyed. There was a love story at the heart of the book but this wasn’t the main focus. The book explored so many key events from the black plague through to Covid, climate change and tourism and the challenge of being a maker.