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A review by mariahlus
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I picked „Lost Children Archive” up because the Orphan Trains (which is the topic of my PhD thesis) Wikipedia page mentioned that the theme appears in this novel (and it did! I don’t think I will be able to use it, though). So, basically I had no idea what the book was going to be about, and I’m glad I didn’t because I’ve seen many negative reviews online from people disappointed by it - because it’s not about the titular children. Rather, it’s about creating a family, parenthood, childhood and, most importantly, it’s a meditation on the concept of ARCHIVE itself. If you read the blurb & you expect some sort of a melodramatic, sentimentalist story about detained Mexican children on the border of the U.S. - this is not for you. These events are only a background for the story, although they are crucial for its development, and I think they are emotionally impactful nonetheless.
This novel is definitely more on the intellectual/reflexion/analysis of a topic side; sometimes it reads like an essay- but one with a plot. Although at times it’s close to a stream of consciousness (not a fan usually), I didn’t mind it, and weirdly it was pretty fast-paced for me, although not a lot happens. I guess maybe it’s because they’re riding in the car for the most part, and everything just flows, jumping from past to present to cogitation. Oh, and did I mention that the writing is BEAUTIFUL? As you can see, I kept underlining, not only because of the interesting observations but because of their poetic quality.
The novel is also incredibly meticulously constructed, and I’m sure I missed some of its artistry. The author uses intertextuality in a very interesting way. In the afterword she says: [The] references to sources—textual, musical, visual, or audio-visual—are not meant as side notes, or ornaments that decorate the story, but function as intralinear markers that point to the many voices in the conversation that the book sustains with the past. (…) I’m not interested in intertextuality as an outward, performative gesture but as a method or procedure of composition.” I think it's a very good, non-pretentious way of using that device and also it ties back nicely to the concept of the ARCHIVE - which is, in the end, not only in the content but also in the form.
This novel is definitely more on the intellectual/reflexion/analysis of a topic side; sometimes it reads like an essay- but one with a plot. Although at times it’s close to a stream of consciousness (not a fan usually), I didn’t mind it, and weirdly it was pretty fast-paced for me, although not a lot happens. I guess maybe it’s because they’re riding in the car for the most part, and everything just flows, jumping from past to present to cogitation. Oh, and did I mention that the writing is BEAUTIFUL? As you can see, I kept underlining, not only because of the interesting observations but because of their poetic quality.
The novel is also incredibly meticulously constructed, and I’m sure I missed some of its artistry. The author uses intertextuality in a very interesting way. In the afterword she says: [The] references to sources—textual, musical, visual, or audio-visual—are not meant as side notes, or ornaments that decorate the story, but function as intralinear markers that point to the many voices in the conversation that the book sustains with the past. (…) I’m not interested in intertextuality as an outward, performative gesture but as a method or procedure of composition.” I think it's a very good, non-pretentious way of using that device and also it ties back nicely to the concept of the ARCHIVE - which is, in the end, not only in the content but also in the form.