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A review by ccallan
The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
4.0
The sound of things falling. El ruido de las cosas al caer. A curious title. He gives numerous hints through the book of what he means by that, but it is only as the various pieces of the tale come together that you what he means. Is it the sound of a plane crashing (of which there are three in the book)? Sounds of gunshots (nearly all of which take place off stage)? Disagreements between lovers? In fact in most cases the sound of things falling is only implied, or we only see the prelude to them or the consequences of them. In fact the story is about how things fall apart (though that title was already taken), either by things we do ourselves, others do to us, or just by bad luck. And he breathlessly links a life falling apart for an individual, a couple, a family, even the whole city of Bogota through the troubles over a couple of decades.
The themes came together nicely, in clear and flowing prose. And it will be hard for to forget the moments of reading along as the tale unfolds, only to realize that he's summarized my life in one long sentence, or captured hard to describe feelings in a few well chosen phrases, leading me to go back and reread sentences slowly, savoring them the second time. His reputation is well deserved.
The themes came together nicely, in clear and flowing prose. And it will be hard for to forget the moments of reading along as the tale unfolds, only to realize that he's summarized my life in one long sentence, or captured hard to describe feelings in a few well chosen phrases, leading me to go back and reread sentences slowly, savoring them the second time. His reputation is well deserved.