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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Disappointing read - didn't feel much of a connection or genuine interest in any of the stories except for the first one.
I'm not a great candidate for these types of books, I'm realizing. It's a lot like Olive Kitteridge. Lots of stories, tangentially related to one another. I didn't find it compelling enough to care, I guess.
Rachman provides character portraits that are sensitive, thoughtful, and pretty amazing. Each story is narrated from within the mind of a different quirky person, each somehow associated with an American newspaper based in Rome.
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This series of interconnected portraits follows the descending spiral of the newspaper industry by zooming in on key figures at an international paper headquartered in Rome, one flawed employee after another. When at its best, the writing is cringe-inducing in that its characters' faults hang like the moon over a darkened scene. I can't decide if the dismal unravelling of the hatchet-lady who gets her comeuppance near the end is satisfying or two clever by half.
A wondering: are all the raves on the cover (NY Time, Wash Post, Seattle Post-Intelligencer) over-the-top because newspaper people love the idea of opening the intricate watch that is their business and inspecting its mechanics?
A wondering: are all the raves on the cover (NY Time, Wash Post, Seattle Post-Intelligencer) over-the-top because newspaper people love the idea of opening the intricate watch that is their business and inspecting its mechanics?
Terrific book -- well crafted and intriguing fictional story based on the International Herald Tribune published in Italy.
Clever, funny, heartbreaking -- pick one and you'll find it here. I enjoyed every chapter (each from a different character's perspective), and I also enjoyed the alternating chapters that told the history of the newspaper for which all the characters worked. A great read!
Book weaves in stories of publishing staff; allegory of state of newspaper publishing in that everyone knows a change is needed but they are looking for a savior in their lives or some form of escape instead of taking risks and making their own path.
That was all OK, and I thought worth finishing, thinking the stories would tie together in the end. No, a dog is murdered instead. You just don't murder dogs. Especially when the dog is a human's only friend. No, not even especially when, you just don't murder dogs. Not in real life, not on film, not in writing.
If you want to review the lives of the staff and their despair read it. If you want to know exactly how the dog is murdered, I will not tell you - as I said, you shouldn't put that stuff in writing - you'll have to read the book.
But do you really want to read that?
That was all OK, and I thought worth finishing, thinking the stories would tie together in the end. No, a dog is murdered instead. You just don't murder dogs. Especially when the dog is a human's only friend. No, not even especially when, you just don't murder dogs. Not in real life, not on film, not in writing.
If you want to review the lives of the staff and their despair read it. If you want to know exactly how the dog is murdered, I will not tell you - as I said, you shouldn't put that stuff in writing - you'll have to read the book.
But do you really want to read that?
I read this book when it was first published and again this May.