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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
None of the characters really elicited any empathy. I was drawn in by the boy at the airport at the beginning but he is barely part of the, supposedly there just to show how others' behaviors ended up with the boy stranded.
Though if this were to made into a movie, Clint Eastwood would have to play Tilly/Vollie, though he's probably way too old now. Grouchy enough though.
Though if this were to made into a movie, Clint Eastwood would have to play Tilly/Vollie, though he's probably way too old now. Grouchy enough though.
This just was not for me. I never felt empathy for the characters and when I finished I just didn’t feel like anything had really been accomplished. The author has a really unique writing style and the settings/connections were different- otherwise it just seemed to fall flat for me.
I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads contest.
I really wanted to like this book. It had a promising storyline and I started to read it.
I have decided in 2019 to only read a few chapters of books that do not grab my attention. I do not want to waste my time struggling through a book that just does not suit me. This book falls into that category.
I had a hard time following the plotline. I usually can easily read even the most non-conventional plots in books but the writing in this one seemed so choppy that I had confusion figuring out what was going on. I seriously thought the child was a human bomb at first because the way his abandonment at the airport was portrayed was so confusing in writing. I had no idea what was being written and why.
This "WTF?" Feeling continued as the story unfolded and I just had little interest in where the story was going so allowed the weird way the story we unfolding to pull me out of the story.
This was a resounding DNF. So disappointing. I will pass it on to soneone who may like this book better than me.
I really wanted to like this book. It had a promising storyline and I started to read it.
I have decided in 2019 to only read a few chapters of books that do not grab my attention. I do not want to waste my time struggling through a book that just does not suit me. This book falls into that category.
I had a hard time following the plotline. I usually can easily read even the most non-conventional plots in books but the writing in this one seemed so choppy that I had confusion figuring out what was going on. I seriously thought the child was a human bomb at first because the way his abandonment at the airport was portrayed was so confusing in writing. I had no idea what was being written and why.
This "WTF?" Feeling continued as the story unfolded and I just had little interest in where the story was going so allowed the weird way the story we unfolding to pull me out of the story.
This was a resounding DNF. So disappointing. I will pass it on to soneone who may like this book better than me.
This is a difficult book. The tragedy that is the human race. Touching on the absolute truth that war is bad for humanity, and humans. The opening scene grabs you and propels you to read on, even through the very difficult parts in Vietnam. There are parts of the book that are confusing, as to who are we talking about, but as some is revealed and the gutt wrenching ending proves- we never had a chance.
Weird book about a rural Midwest farm boy who joins the Army and fights in Vietnam to escape his boring life. Then about his adoptive son who also joins the Army and then the boy he fathers.
Author tends to run on and on in providing details that are sometimes just fancy filler for trying to provide background, but prove to be boring.
Author tends to run on and on in providing details that are sometimes just fancy filler for trying to provide background, but prove to be boring.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is stunning in many ways -- the quality of the writing and the sweep of the story that it tells are astounding. Scibona writes perfect sentences, and is also able to create some truly memorable characters. I want to give this book 5 stars (the writing is that good, and the ambition is enormous), but in the end for me there was a certain lack of humanity in several of the protagonists that kept me from being able to emotionally connect with the story. I realize, of course, that part of the point of the book is what a lack of human connection can do to a person, but I still feel like Scibona could have done more. Still, this book will break your heart and leave you thinking.
I loved this book! The sections that took place in the Vietnam war reminded me of Tolstoy, his long thoughts about how the experience of war differs from the real war. Vollie, the main character, thinks about the difference between the war as he experienced it and the war he sees on TV. Unlike Tolstoy, it is the second that seems more real to him. Many of the characters here feel that they are not part of the real world, which would be better off without them. They hurt each other with this belief. A son leaves his father, leaves his own son, then sort of takes him in again. That son abandons his son, who rejects a woman who tries to adopt him. The final son drags another person over a precipice as he is falling. This is about generational trauma. People trying not to hurt each other, and hurting each other nevertheless in that attempt. Unknowingly making a version of the mistakes of their predecessors (all the sons become killers, though the last only accidentally. Vollie both kills in the war and later is complicit in murder. Elroy kills in war and in peace.) Everyone tries to fix mistakes too late. I just loved this book, though I did not understand everything it was trying to do, or I don't think I did. First library book I got in Madrid.