You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
morandareads 's review for:
Lost Children Archive
by Valeria Luiselli
3 stars.
I read this for my book club and really wanted to like it. The problem is its focus or rather lack of focus. Many important issues are touched on here (on many levels): treatment of Native Americans, immigration over our Southern borders, lost and exploited children, immigrants, divorce, and our country's vast landscape. However, none of it receives enough in depth exploration.
A disservice was done to both the plight of Native Americans over the course of American colonization and a disservice was done to the current plight of immigrants attempting to enter this country. None of it received enough attention or in depth discussion. It felt weird to me that these issues were "obscured" from the children. The idea that these parents thought they could talk about these issues and listen to the news while the kids were "asleep" and then NOT talk about it with their kids? We're literally reading as they traumatize their children and then refuse to discuss the trauma with them. It made me super uncomfortable. Maybe that was the point? Who knows! None of the "points" were clear in this book.
It felt like the author wanted to say so much but never got to the point. Like some other reviewers, I felt this could have been a collection of essays. The lack of insight into the parents relationship was also very frustrating. The whole first part of the book is the mom and yet we have no understanding of WHY their relationship is failing. Nor do we get flashbacks of when it was "good" in their relationship. The husband felt barely present in the first half of the book. It was very disappointed. We were supposed to care about this family breaking apart but the author didn't make me care! I wanted them to separate so the kids could stop suffering in silence.
The second half narrated by the boy is much more enjoyable. We get actual insights into their family and home life. We get to see the dynamic between his mother and father. However, it makes the beginning seem even more lacking. Clearly, the author is an excellent writer so why did she make these stylistic choices? Why obscure your own story?
I really wanted to like this book but it lacked the depth it promised. It would start to touch the surface of any issue, dip a toe in, and then move on to the next body of water. In the end, it was muddled and confused without a clear focus.
I read this for my book club and really wanted to like it. The problem is its focus or rather lack of focus. Many important issues are touched on here (on many levels): treatment of Native Americans, immigration over our Southern borders, lost and exploited children, immigrants, divorce, and our country's vast landscape. However, none of it receives enough in depth exploration.
A disservice was done to both the plight of Native Americans over the course of American colonization and a disservice was done to the current plight of immigrants attempting to enter this country. None of it received enough attention or in depth discussion. It felt weird to me that these issues were "obscured" from the children. The idea that these parents thought they could talk about these issues and listen to the news while the kids were "asleep" and then NOT talk about it with their kids? We're literally reading as they traumatize their children and then refuse to discuss the trauma with them. It made me super uncomfortable. Maybe that was the point? Who knows! None of the "points" were clear in this book.
It felt like the author wanted to say so much but never got to the point. Like some other reviewers, I felt this could have been a collection of essays. The lack of insight into the parents relationship was also very frustrating. The whole first part of the book is the mom and yet we have no understanding of WHY their relationship is failing. Nor do we get flashbacks of when it was "good" in their relationship. The husband felt barely present in the first half of the book. It was very disappointed. We were supposed to care about this family breaking apart but the author didn't make me care! I wanted them to separate so the kids could stop suffering in silence.
The second half narrated by the boy is much more enjoyable. We get actual insights into their family and home life. We get to see the dynamic between his mother and father. However, it makes the beginning seem even more lacking. Clearly, the author is an excellent writer so why did she make these stylistic choices? Why obscure your own story?
I really wanted to like this book but it lacked the depth it promised. It would start to touch the surface of any issue, dip a toe in, and then move on to the next body of water. In the end, it was muddled and confused without a clear focus.