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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
A wonderful story of the joys and pains of deep love told in a Faulknerish style
Some books are read, some are experienced. BRIDGE OF CLAY is less a story than a journey, one with a final destination, but to get there the reader travels in circles, inside, outside, forward and back. I became desperately invested in the five brothers. Often so concerned, even a little afraid to move forward. (Zusak is not sparing with his foreshadowing grenades).
This is more a story of forgiveness than redemption. No one is asked to be more than they are. With the side-by-side jostling of the brothers there is just the right amount of support to keep them all standing.
I have a feeling this will not be universally adored. It might seem self-indulgent and overly stylized, the language is decadent, unexpected and at times bludgeoning. I needed to keep Google on speed dial and found out more about the bridges of the world, Michelangelo, and the Australian racing circuit than I'd planned for my life. Not sure I'm better armed with this knowledge, but was happy to dig in.
Finally, as a mother of boys I appreciated the truth that they can be loud, destructive, crude and even a bit rude and also be beautiful beings.
This is more a story of forgiveness than redemption. No one is asked to be more than they are. With the side-by-side jostling of the brothers there is just the right amount of support to keep them all standing.
I have a feeling this will not be universally adored. It might seem self-indulgent and overly stylized, the language is decadent, unexpected and at times bludgeoning. I needed to keep Google on speed dial and found out more about the bridges of the world, Michelangelo, and the Australian racing circuit than I'd planned for my life. Not sure I'm better armed with this knowledge, but was happy to dig in.
Finally, as a mother of boys I appreciated the truth that they can be loud, destructive, crude and even a bit rude and also be beautiful beings.
I love to read a book by an author who delights in language. It almost doesn’t matter what it is about. This was truly beautiful.
"It was a Sunday, an arsonist sunrise."
Markus Zusak's narrators narrate unlike anyone else. He did with Death in The Book Thief, and he creates a new, almost-as-compelling voice in Matthew Dunbar in Bridge of Clay, which is good and bad.
Good in that it results in beautiful prose and moments that sometimes stop you in your tracks. Good in that he makes you fall in love with certain characters. Good in that you want to know what it's all building towards.
But bad in that while Matthew is not Death, there's too big a similarity to the way he tells his story: the I'm-going-to-reveal-something-to-you-but-not-yet...still-not-yet...and-still-not-yet-ness of it all. The book too often strings the reader along with the promise of eventual revelation. I love a bit of that, and he does it brilliantly in The Book Thief, but at 500+ pages here it begins to wear.
But for me it still managed to come together just under the wire—even at that page count it's worth it.
Markus Zusak's narrators narrate unlike anyone else. He did with Death in The Book Thief, and he creates a new, almost-as-compelling voice in Matthew Dunbar in Bridge of Clay, which is good and bad.
Good in that it results in beautiful prose and moments that sometimes stop you in your tracks. Good in that he makes you fall in love with certain characters. Good in that you want to know what it's all building towards.
But bad in that while Matthew is not Death, there's too big a similarity to the way he tells his story: the I'm-going-to-reveal-something-to-you-but-not-yet...still-not-yet...and-still-not-yet-ness of it all. The book too often strings the reader along with the promise of eventual revelation. I love a bit of that, and he does it brilliantly in The Book Thief, but at 500+ pages here it begins to wear.
But for me it still managed to come together just under the wire—even at that page count it's worth it.
This will be one of those books that I'm hesitant to recommend because I loved it so much. I want others to love it as much as I did, but I know its different. Its first 50 pages or so had me wondering what I was getting myself into. It didn't take much longer to be sucked right in. I've been looking for that novel that has that something special. That sucks me into the story, and makes me feel every range of emotion. This book did just that. I fell in love with the brothers. I fell in love with their family. I fell in love with their home, and animals, and silly traditions. My heart rejoiced. My heart broke. And at the end I was left with tears streaming down my face, absolutely in love with the mother who gave her boys everything she had. She read from the classics, taught them the piano, loved them, put up with their crap, and was absolutely incredible.
And Clay. What is there to say of that beautiful boy?
This book is one I'll hold dear. I love it. It was beautifully written, enchanting, and mesmerizing.
And Clay. What is there to say of that beautiful boy?
This book is one I'll hold dear. I love it. It was beautifully written, enchanting, and mesmerizing.
I think I love Markus and his soul. I can even deal with his writing style which is both annoying and full of beautiful moments (although the ratio in this book swung the wrong direction), but my question is where are his editors? Its like everyone left him alone for 10 years and he came back with 25 motifs, symbols, and plot threads ranging from great to terrible and his editor said “Sure. We’ll print that.”
I absolutely adored this book. It drew me into the family dynamic of the characters within the first chapter. I feel like I lived through their hurts and heartbreak with them. The last page made me nostalgic for the first. Definitely recommend. A great reminder of healing that which has been broken.
I wasn't sure I liked this at the beginning but I persevered and am so glad I did. I think Zusak tries to be too literary in the first section but quickly settles into a more flowing style (or maybe I just got used to it?) and couldn't put it down by the time I got half way through. Heart wrenching story of love, loss and family, more than a few tears shed.
...note I changed this from 4 to 5 stars as I couldn't stop thinking about the story for a long time after - shows how deep these characters and their story are. I've decided it's actually brilliant and I would recommend to anyone.
...note I changed this from 4 to 5 stars as I couldn't stop thinking about the story for a long time after - shows how deep these characters and their story are. I've decided it's actually brilliant and I would recommend to anyone.
Couldn't really get into it and so stopped after the first few hours. The Clay's fighting/training scenes didn't interest me and the story seems to drag on through that part.
It’s good. It’s not great. I liked the story but I struggled through the first 100pages trying to understand timelines and characters.