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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
This was a much faster read than I was expecting and I agree with the Financial Times review, each chapter could be a short story. As this is a book club read I spent much more time contemplating this book, thus I could see a couple of the plot twists coming, and though one of the characters did not stay true to herself. Overall I enjoyed the book and I think it is a book club read as it lends itself to discussion.
I absolutely loved this book. I finished it and immediately want to read it again. It took me a bit longer than I expected to finish since it was sharing my nightstand and my attention with Freedom. This book is full of interconnecting short stories centered around an English language newspaper in Rome. It is not told in a linear fashion and is completely brilliant.
I wasn't nearly as taken with this book as I had expected to be. In general, I enjoy books that give the perspective of many different characters, but in this case, none of the characters were particularly likeable. Rachman certainly did a good job of depicting human foibles and shortcomings. I only wish there were a little more of human kindness or integrity or dignity thrown in for balance.
Really a 3.5, but not so much as to round up. Mostly I loved Rachman's use of details, little quirks of character that convinced me that these are his people. Also, I'm a sucker for interlocking stories and interludes. But occasionally the stories reach into a weirdness that seems to slip away from Rachman. Like there's something really interesting there, but he backs away from it just before it can become meaningful. He doesn't go quite far enough, and that makes for a few very disappointing moments.
More like linked stories than a novel. I found this entertaining, but in the end, my feeling was "so what?" Something like a capsule history of the newspaper industry from midcentury to today. Interesting vignettes, but didn't really live up to the hype.
I had read some good reviews of this awhile back, but I wasn't convinced it would be up my alley. I couldn't resist the brand-spanking-new copy on the library bookshelf, though, and I could not put it down once I started. Each chapter is really a vignette focused on one character working at a newspaper that was founded by an American in Rome after World War II. All of the characters are in the present, but the author also intersperses little bits of the backstory of the newspaper, so you learn why it was founded and how it has declined in the internet age. For me, the newspaper history was fine, but not particularly captivating. What I really enjoyed was how this author articulated individual characters and the state of their lives in such a brief, pitch-perfect way. I was truly surprised by how touched (as lame as that sounds) by the conclusion of some of the chapters--even though I had only met this "person" twenty or thirty pages ago.
Incidentally, I read that Brad Pitt had snatched up screenplay rights to this book, and I really can't imagine being less interested in seeing a book turned into a movie. I don't mean that in a "oh-heavens-they'll-wreck-it" sort of way. It just didn't really strike me as something that would translate to a film story very well. So, Brad Pitt, on the off chance that you're a Goodreads reader, I think you have your work cut out for you. . . . .
Incidentally, I read that Brad Pitt had snatched up screenplay rights to this book, and I really can't imagine being less interested in seeing a book turned into a movie. I don't mean that in a "oh-heavens-they'll-wreck-it" sort of way. It just didn't really strike me as something that would translate to a film story very well. So, Brad Pitt, on the off chance that you're a Goodreads reader, I think you have your work cut out for you. . . . .
This is a jigsaw puzzle/Rubik's cube of a book with interspersed stories about staffers of a niche newspaper that - more often than not- end with a gutpunch.
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes