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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
This was one of my book club books. Good points-the voice was authentic and blended humor, despair, and the mundane in a very believable way. That said it was told in a first person stream of consciousness manner that just never resonated with me. The ending is terrible- I'm not asking for a happy one but some resolution should but be given rather than just stopping mid thought. Perhaps it is someone else's cup of tea but it sure wasn't mine.
Pretty good.
This isn't really a novel, not really. It's a collection of short stories that feature (mostly) the same main character, arranged mostly in chronological order. Maybe that's why it feels like such a fast read (I started and finished it in like three days).
If that doesn't bother you, and you want to read about a part of the world that doesn't often get a lot of attention, from someone who has lived this experience, you should pick this up.
This isn't really a novel, not really. It's a collection of short stories that feature (mostly) the same main character, arranged mostly in chronological order. Maybe that's why it feels like such a fast read (I started and finished it in like three days).
If that doesn't bother you, and you want to read about a part of the world that doesn't often get a lot of attention, from someone who has lived this experience, you should pick this up.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
This coming of age story follows Darling, a 10 year old in recent Zimbabwe, as she plays with friends, mourns the life she and her family lost as the result of political upheaval, and looks to a future in the United States. When her aunt brings her to the U.S. several years later, she is eager to assimilate: the subtle shift in accent by audiobook narrator Robin Miles brings home Darling's "Americanization" admirably. But as she moves into adulthood, Darling realizes that while her exodus from her country may have benefitted her materially, she has paid a higher price than she anticipated. Lyrical and heartbreaking... a story that stays with you long after you finish.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
slow-paced
Interessante estreia de NoViolet Bulawayo, com um livro cheio de cores, sabores, cheiros e memórias. Uma história de tradições, de identidade e de pertença. Um testemunho de realidades completamente distintas.
Leitura que se faz em bom ritmo e que convida a voltar a Bulawayo.
Leitura que se faz em bom ritmo e que convida a voltar a Bulawayo.
(Zimbabwe)
Zingy! Stories told through an intense barrage of images; from a childhood spent running around a slum, in a place of belonging and dreaming big, to America, adrift in a land of 'possibility'. More like a collection of loosely connected short stories than a linear novel, so don't expect a neat wrapping up of plot. Ends abruptly and unconcluded, which might be frustrating for some. Personally, I enjoyed getting swept along in this mad current.
Zingy! Stories told through an intense barrage of images; from a childhood spent running around a slum, in a place of belonging and dreaming big, to America, adrift in a land of 'possibility'. More like a collection of loosely connected short stories than a linear novel, so don't expect a neat wrapping up of plot. Ends abruptly and unconcluded, which might be frustrating for some. Personally, I enjoyed getting swept along in this mad current.
Powerful, emotionally potent novel about a young girl's childhood in Zimbabwe and teenage years in Michigan, and how neither home holds up to fantasy or nostalgia; in neither does the girl, Darling, find a place where she fits. It's a painful, unforgiving book, although not without humor -- you can feel Bulawayo's immense skill in the slyness of that, and her excellent POV work.
However, I found the book a bit scattered; there's no real thrust to the narrative, just a series of incidents. This is probably more true to life than the conventions of most novels, but it doesn't necessarily make for the best reading experience. Likewise, Darling's rage is blistering and realistic and earned, even/especially as a child of deprivation toward people she later encounters with a wide variety of eating disorders. But I personally found those parts incredibly hard to read, and they take up a not insignificant part of the book.
In spite of these reservations, I am eager to see what Bulawayo writes next.
However, I found the book a bit scattered; there's no real thrust to the narrative, just a series of incidents. This is probably more true to life than the conventions of most novels, but it doesn't necessarily make for the best reading experience. Likewise, Darling's rage is blistering and realistic and earned, even/especially as a child of deprivation toward people she later encounters with a wide variety of eating disorders. But I personally found those parts incredibly hard to read, and they take up a not insignificant part of the book.
In spite of these reservations, I am eager to see what Bulawayo writes next.