Scan barcode
aquint's review against another edition
3.0
A memoir within a memoir, fiction, parallel lives, identity, love, war, death, family, tragedy, and madness.
krislarsc's review against another edition
5.0
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaways and I was utterly astounded by the force of the author's writing. Shards provides a powerful metaphor for not only the shards created by war, but also, for the shards of writing that come together to tell this incredible story.
ari__s's review against another edition
4.0
I have no idea what happened - except it being a remarkable creative representation of trauma experiences - and that's okay; I liked it.
moogen's review against another edition
3.0
I admire the quality of writing but this book was hard to read and finish
ben_miller's review against another edition
5.0
I can't think of another book that could be so aptly described as VISCERAL. People get eviscerated, viscera are exposed, and the writing itself originates in the visceral realm of the gut. That's why a book this sad can also be this funny. There's a thin veneer between what's inside and outside--the book is full of puke, piss, and blood--and what's inside of a person is always trying to get out, to paraphrase Denis Johnson. It's hard to keep up a facade when you're being pierced by shards, blown into shards, or when you are a shard.
natesea's review against another edition
4.0
How does one define himself, and find an identity? These are questions that are hard enough in a "normal" life - ideas that one continues to explore through out his life. Now, imagine a life torn apart by war, foreign travel/escape, and the effort to reestablish yourself as a war-torn immigrant in your early twenties. This sets the stage for Shards, by Ismet Prcic. The main character, also Ismet Prcic, is faced with the choice of leaving his family in civil-war-torn Bosnia for a chance at a new life in the States. The narrative, however, is not linear. Rather, we get "shards" of the story as told through journal entries, much like shards of shrapnel scattered by a mortar. There is an apt comparison in the book about a young neighborhood boy going around to collect pieces of shrapnel to try and recreate a whole mortar, which we know is impossible. And so Ismet, on his journey away from family and to the States, attempts to piece together his identity and memory while his life is falling apart. Ismet writes about a parallel character named Mustafa, who's life looks suspiciously similar to Ismet's, but he chooses to stay and fight in the war. These characters' lives run closer and closer together as the book proceeds, and the reader is left questioning which is real. This is a beautiful, brutal book, that is part memoir and part fiction. The writing will have you glued, and the imagery in the middle of the action. You won't be disappointed, but maybe frustrated as I was, left questioning what was real and what was imagined.
christiek's review against another edition
4.0
complicated and confusing in a good way. Some of the writing is crystalline.
poenaestante's review against another edition
5.0
humorous and heartbreaking and frustrating and challenging novel about love and death and survivor's guilt and memory and truth and Truth and imagination and addiction and terror and PTSD and the way the past can obliterate the present. gorgeous book. not easy but worth it.
bethanymiller415's review against another edition
3.0
I won a copy through Goodreads. Can't wait to start reading!
2.5 stars
I have mixed feelings about this book. Some of the writing was really good, but there were some sections where it got a bit convoluted and confusing. There are a lot of layers here. The book is a work of fiction; however, the author has the same name as the main character and he mentions Eric Carlson, the name of another character, in the acknowledgements. Within the book, Ismet is attempting to write a memoir, but finds himself adding details that aren’t real though they feel real to him. In addition, there is the story of Mustafa which both intersects with and reflects Ismet’s experiences. So… yeah, it gets a little confusing at times. I did think the novel’s structure was interesting and forced the reader to contemplate what actually happens in the world of the story and what comes from the imagination of the character Ismet as well as how much comes from the author’s own experiences.
There were a couple of issues that kept me from truly enjoying the book. Only a very cold hearted person could read this book and not feel sorry for Ismet, so I pitied him, but I didn’t really like him. Throughout the book, his reliance on women (including his mother and all three girlfriends) to make himself feel complete really annoyed me. The reader does not really get to know American girlfriend Melissa except as the object of Ismet’s affection/obsession, but boy did I feel sorry for her. I found myself thinking, “Break it off before he pulls you down with him!” (No wonder her friends hate you, Ismet. Could you be more stalkery?) Because clearly Ismet has to deal with his own issues and figure out who he is before he can have a successful relationship with anyone else.
I was also bothered by some of the language in the book. Though I'm not opposed to realistic language (I don’t think I’m a complete prude), there seemed to be an overuse of derogatory terms for female anatomy. You can chalk it up to realism, but to be honest those words grated on me a bit.
Overall, I have to say that I found this book to be a pretty big downer. Other reviewers mentioned passages that they found humorous, but they were pretty few and far between in my opinion. Ismet and his mother are both profoundly depressed and there are no happy endings here. I have no problem reading serious books that discuss serious issues, of which there are many in Shards, but I like a little bit of light to balance out the dark, and for that reason, this just wasn’t my cup of tea.
2.5 stars
I have mixed feelings about this book. Some of the writing was really good, but there were some sections where it got a bit convoluted and confusing. There are a lot of layers here. The book is a work of fiction; however, the author has the same name as the main character and he mentions Eric Carlson, the name of another character, in the acknowledgements. Within the book, Ismet is attempting to write a memoir, but finds himself adding details that aren’t real though they feel real to him. In addition, there is the story of Mustafa which both intersects with and reflects Ismet’s experiences. So… yeah, it gets a little confusing at times. I did think the novel’s structure was interesting and forced the reader to contemplate what actually happens in the world of the story and what comes from the imagination of the character Ismet as well as how much comes from the author’s own experiences.
There were a couple of issues that kept me from truly enjoying the book. Only a very cold hearted person could read this book and not feel sorry for Ismet, so I pitied him, but I didn’t really like him. Throughout the book, his reliance on women (including his mother and all three girlfriends) to make himself feel complete really annoyed me. The reader does not really get to know American girlfriend Melissa except as the object of Ismet’s affection/obsession, but boy did I feel sorry for her. I found myself thinking, “Break it off before he pulls you down with him!” (No wonder her friends hate you, Ismet. Could you be more stalkery?) Because clearly Ismet has to deal with his own issues and figure out who he is before he can have a successful relationship with anyone else.
I was also bothered by some of the language in the book. Though I'm not opposed to realistic language (I don’t think I’m a complete prude), there seemed to be an overuse of derogatory terms for female anatomy. You can chalk it up to realism, but to be honest those words grated on me a bit.
Overall, I have to say that I found this book to be a pretty big downer. Other reviewers mentioned passages that they found humorous, but they were pretty few and far between in my opinion. Ismet and his mother are both profoundly depressed and there are no happy endings here. I have no problem reading serious books that discuss serious issues, of which there are many in Shards, but I like a little bit of light to balance out the dark, and for that reason, this just wasn’t my cup of tea.
debbiewakefield10's review against another edition
2.0
I was not a fan of this book. I found myself skimming through a lot of it just because I wasn't interested or engaged with it. I can appreciate the risks he took with the form and use of the three different narrators. He often uses very robust and in-your-face language. He paints memorable scenes that will stick with you. It was certainly well-written and a very unique powerful book. But it just was not for me.