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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
50 pages in and already enthralled. Ondaatje's writing--specifically the books, Coming Through Slaughter an imagined life of Buddy Bolden, the English Patient and his poetry, the Cinnamon Peeler are perennial favorites.
Plus his wife is from Kansas, need I say more?
Plus his wife is from Kansas, need I say more?
Beautifully written story about....well, there's the part about the two sisters and the farm hand, and then there's the part about the sixteenth century French author. Other than one of the sisters being the one that researches the author, I'm not quite sure what the connection is supposed to be. Yes, they all suffer losses because of love, but that's an awfully common shared experience to base a novel on. But it is beautifully written, and the characters will hold your interest while you read the book.
4 years later I still remember the absolutely beautiful language of this novel, and am still furious at what he did in the middle. It was so jarring that I couldn't pick up the threads again, and spent the rest of the novel in confusion and even despair, hoping he would at least throw me a bone as to the first part of the novel.
Best failed novel ever? Or postmodern masterpiece? You tell me.
Absolutely wonderful book - one of the best I've read in a while. He is an exquisite writer. The book is comprised of several different stories, and each is beautifully told and very moving. I truly did not want this book to end.
What an interesting novel, where “spiralling among a handful of strangers tangles into a story”.
Divisadero contains multiple storylines, and crosses from the near past in Californian wine country to the present in both rural France and the casinos of Nevada, and then back to early 20th century France. I was quite invested in the storyline about the childhood of Anna, Claire and Coop, and felt vaguely unsatisfied that the three of them did not all ultimately reunite. I particularly liked the storyline about Coop’s life as a professional poker player. It reminded me of a play called Dealer’s Choice which I saw in London over 20 years ago, the first time I went backpacking. It had an entire act which centred on a game of poker, and I remember being incredibly impressed by the writing and staging of the play. I was a little sad that Divisadero didn’t give us a more satisfying future for Coop.
The real story in Divisadero was that of Lucien and Marie-Neige. I loved the nods to their life that were woven through the rest of the novel - like the time Anna visited the church belfry that Marie-Neige’s husband had worked on, and Rafael reading the Roman series of novels which had been written by Lucien as a way to keep Marie-Neige alive in his memory. As Ondaatje wrote (in one of my favourite lines from the novel), “We live permanently in the recurrence of our own stories, whatever story we tell”.
Divisadero contains multiple storylines, and crosses from the near past in Californian wine country to the present in both rural France and the casinos of Nevada, and then back to early 20th century France. I was quite invested in the storyline about the childhood of Anna, Claire and Coop, and felt vaguely unsatisfied that the three of them did not all ultimately reunite. I particularly liked the storyline about Coop’s life as a professional poker player. It reminded me of a play called Dealer’s Choice which I saw in London over 20 years ago, the first time I went backpacking. It had an entire act which centred on a game of poker, and I remember being incredibly impressed by the writing and staging of the play. I was a little sad that Divisadero didn’t give us a more satisfying future for Coop.
The real story in Divisadero was that of Lucien and Marie-Neige. I loved the nods to their life that were woven through the rest of the novel - like the time Anna visited the church belfry that Marie-Neige’s husband had worked on, and Rafael reading the Roman series of novels which had been written by Lucien as a way to keep Marie-Neige alive in his memory. As Ondaatje wrote (in one of my favourite lines from the novel), “We live permanently in the recurrence of our own stories, whatever story we tell”.
Michael Ondaatje is undoubtedly my favorite author. However, his books are sadly few and far between (but oh, the quality…)! I, like all his fans, now anxiously await the publication of his newest book, which is coming out in early May. While we wait, I thought this would be a good time to remember some of his other books, such as “Divisadero” which I reviewed on my blog here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/12/09/up-close-and-undivided-attention/
(The title of this novel comes from a street in San Francisco but the origin of the name of the street probably means 'division' or it could come from a verb in Spanish 'divisar' which means 'to gaze at from a distance'. In this, we find that the title of this novel is a metaphor for the book as a whole.
(The title of this novel comes from a street in San Francisco but the origin of the name of the street probably means 'division' or it could come from a verb in Spanish 'divisar' which means 'to gaze at from a distance'. In this, we find that the title of this novel is a metaphor for the book as a whole.
Beautiful. Although it was not my favourite of Ondaatje's books, Divisadero shows a raw example of his craft. Ondaatje's ability to create a web of characters that are equally complex, equally of their own but some how interlock into a world that is painfully beautiful, truthful and so much like our own.
This is not the genius of The English Patient; however, if you love Ondaatje's style, you'll love Divisadero. There's nothing ground-breaking in it, but what you'll find is solid, true, and cuts to the bone.
I saw him read from this at the Brookline Booksmith and really enjoyed it. He is really charming and funny in person.
I read this book in one day while I was in Iceland. It was extremely readable and left me wanting more. It's not unfinished, it just doesn't provide the resolution of all of the stories.
I read this book in one day while I was in Iceland. It was extremely readable and left me wanting more. It's not unfinished, it just doesn't provide the resolution of all of the stories.