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A review by lauriel13
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.5
I feel bad only giving this two stars. If we could give half stars I’d bump it up to two and a half. I also am unsure why this is considered young adult fiction. I can see young adults reading it but it is a bit heavy and at times confusing, and wouldn’t be something I’d necessarily suggest to someone in that age group.
The story is all about the Dunbar family, a family of Penny and Michael and their five boys, Matthew (the narrator), Rory, Henry, Clay (whose live the book mainly roams around), and Tommy. It goes back and forth in time. In fact it kind of starts at the end and ends in the beginning but nothing in it is chronological or linear. Chapters jump around, sections jump around. Like I said, it could be confusing at times.
The boys mostly grow up on their own, many deaths occur. These deaths are what both draw the boys together and tear them apart. It’s emotional.
This story is about Clay. Clay is a lover of stories. He’s always asking to hear more, whether it’s his parents reading to them The Iliad and The Odyssey (which is where the names for all their pets come from) to just hearing stories about Michael or Penny’s childhood. He also loves Carey Novac. She moved in across the street one day when he was sitting up on his roof and they’ve kind of been connected since then. He also loves Michaelangelo. His dad had a book, The Quarryman, Clay and Carey now pass it back and forth reading it, it gives him inspiration to help his dad build the bridge. There is also running and training which Clay is very good at. This too leads to him building that bridge. We can’t forget horse racing. The Dunbars house backs up to a racetrack. Carey and her father are/were jockeys. It’s all entwined.
Family, love, death, emotions, boys.
The story is all about the Dunbar family, a family of Penny and Michael and their five boys, Matthew (the narrator), Rory, Henry, Clay (whose live the book mainly roams around), and Tommy. It goes back and forth in time. In fact it kind of starts at the end and ends in the beginning but nothing in it is chronological or linear. Chapters jump around, sections jump around. Like I said, it could be confusing at times.
The boys mostly grow up on their own, many deaths occur. These deaths are what both draw the boys together and tear them apart. It’s emotional.
This story is about Clay. Clay is a lover of stories. He’s always asking to hear more, whether it’s his parents reading to them The Iliad and The Odyssey (which is where the names for all their pets come from) to just hearing stories about Michael or Penny’s childhood. He also loves Carey Novac. She moved in across the street one day when he was sitting up on his roof and they’ve kind of been connected since then. He also loves Michaelangelo. His dad had a book, The Quarryman, Clay and Carey now pass it back and forth reading it, it gives him inspiration to help his dad build the bridge. There is also running and training which Clay is very good at. This too leads to him building that bridge. We can’t forget horse racing. The Dunbars house backs up to a racetrack. Carey and her father are/were jockeys. It’s all entwined.
Family, love, death, emotions, boys.