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fmoreno 's review for:
The High Mountains of Portugal
by Yann Martel
The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel is a different book: it tells three tales that are loosely connected to each other. It is an interesting approach, in my opinion, but I don't think that it was that well executed. My problem with different tales (and hence, different characters and story lines) is that the quality level of each of the tales was also very different.
The first tale was kind of boring with the excessive details about car parts, the mechanic of the thing and it was a very slow reading process. The plot didn't really interest that much me as well. Although Tomás seemed an interesting character in the initial pages, I had hoped the story would develop in a different way.
The second story was more interesting than the first (marginally) and you can't help but be curious about the story of the woman who carries a husband in a suitcase. But, similar to what happened with the first story, I think it was badly executed and didn't go in a direction I was expecting - this is not exactly bad but I felt kind of disappointed in the end of the second tale.
The last tale was my favorite story: it was the one which I found to be the most accomplished - in terms of plot and of characters and I quite liked Odo.
The book, in general, is very philosophical and allegorical and I liked that about it. I also enjoyed the fact that the author managed to sprinkle the book with some magical aspects, which made the whole book more interesting. I also enjoyed reading about my country, recognizing the landscapes, the cities and some of the little villages he mentioned throughout the book.
The end result was not really that satisfying because of the drag of the first tale and the fact that I think the three tales weren't on equal terms regarding the quality of the plot and the writing, making the reading inconsistent. Even though I think that this book might have been meant to be read as a novel, for me, it seemed like a collection of stories glued together by some elements.
Interesting read but...not amazing.
The first tale was kind of boring with the excessive details about car parts, the mechanic of the thing and it was a very slow reading process. The plot didn't really interest that much me as well. Although Tomás seemed an interesting character in the initial pages, I had hoped the story would develop in a different way.
The second story was more interesting than the first (marginally) and you can't help but be curious about the story of the woman who carries a husband in a suitcase. But, similar to what happened with the first story, I think it was badly executed and didn't go in a direction I was expecting - this is not exactly bad but I felt kind of disappointed in the end of the second tale.
The last tale was my favorite story: it was the one which I found to be the most accomplished - in terms of plot and of characters and I quite liked Odo.
The book, in general, is very philosophical and allegorical and I liked that about it. I also enjoyed the fact that the author managed to sprinkle the book with some magical aspects, which made the whole book more interesting. I also enjoyed reading about my country, recognizing the landscapes, the cities and some of the little villages he mentioned throughout the book.
The end result was not really that satisfying because of the drag of the first tale and the fact that I think the three tales weren't on equal terms regarding the quality of the plot and the writing, making the reading inconsistent. Even though I think that this book might have been meant to be read as a novel, for me, it seemed like a collection of stories glued together by some elements.
Interesting read but...not amazing.