Reviews and Comments

It's a very well-written book with a fascinating focus on falling. It is not light-hearted, despite the fact that Buster Keaton is heavily featured. The obsession with Keaton is woven throughout the story, as the self-destructive narrator navigates her fraught relationships with her twin brother and her mother, as well as the family's superstitions about a falling curse supposedly caused by the actions of an ancestor in Prague. There are many interesting scenes set in Prague, where the narrator and her brother move for a while in an attempt to sort things out.

This was delightful, and Ethan Hawke's audiobook narration had me laughing out loud through the whole book, which is largely about friends supporting each other. It touched on so many things, like the wonder of art, the joy of adventure, and the great variety of personalities that you will meet in life.

Beautifully written and very moving. Among other things, it's a psychological thriller and an adventure story (i.e., following some of the remaining Arctic terns on their migration to Antarctica). Despite the book's restless, haunted narrator and its focus on mass extinction, it did not leave me feeling bleak. It raises important questions about what humans owe to the creatures with whom we share the planet, and those concerns are presented in an energizing way.

There are a lot of memorable, thought-provoking passages. For example, this one really jumped out at me: "I think of the impact of a life like that. It sounds quiet, and so small as to be invisible. ... But I know better than that. A life's impact can be measured by what it gives and what it leaves behind, but it can also be measured by what it steals from the world."

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did about 50-50 reading and listening to the audiobook, and the narration by Barrie Kreinik was great.

I enjoyed this and thought it was an inventive story. Apparently, some readers didn't like the writing, but I thought it was fine (OK, there were a lot of similes; I noticed that, but it didn't bother me). I guess I would describe it as mostly a romance, with sci fi, historical and thriller elements. Some of the romance stuff didn't completely work for me (e.g., an expat gets to the point where he's regularly using a motorbike, a cell phone and a laptop, and yet somehow he still has Victorian ideas about courting). However, the sci fi/thriller aspects kicked into higher gear in a pretty satisfying way toward the end. I liked the tie-in with the Franklin expedition and was glad to see AMC's The Terror thanked in the acknowledgments.

Good thriller. A little more violent than I usually prefer, but it's well-written and exciting. It has lots of interesting thoughts about language, meaning, persuasion/manipulation, and what makes people tick.

I guess I didn't connect very well with this collection overall, but I did enjoy a few of them - in particular, some that revealed a quirky perspective on animals and/or showed the poet poking fun at himself. My favorite was Life Expectancy.

I've never read anything before that was focused on Colombia, so that aspect of the book was very interesting to me (i.e., the culture, legends, and geography of that country). It's a moving story about a family torn between Colombia and the United States, with gut-wrenching choices (e.g., do you send your baby back to relatives in Colombia so you are more able to work in the U.S.?) and insights that challenge certain beliefs (e.g., is Colombia really so much worse, when the U.S. has its own serious problems like worker/immigrant exploitation and school shootings?). There were some things that didn't make sense to me, like a reference early in the book to "the illusion that women are safer among women." Also, if I were a teenage girl on the run and looking for someone to help me and give me a ride, I'm not sure my first choice would be to seek out a lone man around my father's age. But, anyway, overall I enjoyed the story quite a bit. It was a nice touch when some of the later chapters switched to narration by Talia's brother and sister in the U.S.

4.5 stars. It's a powerful reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim's perspective. Although it's harrowing and at times brutal, somehow there is a fair amount of humor. There are great observations about language and also navigating the world of white people. It really highlights the outrageousness of white supremacy.

I was a bit disappointed. Having read in the past year or so both Zone One (which I liked a lot) and Station Eleven (which I loved), I felt that this book - another post-apocalyptic novel with lots of insightful flashbacks to "normal" life - paled in comparison to those. I did appreciate the forceful writing, and I thought aspects of it were very well done (for example, the parts focused on the publishing industry, the production contractors in China, and the NY Ghost blog).

A vivid story with interesting characters and a great sense of setting. Although it's definitely well written, there were times when I found myself getting a little impatient with some of the poetic but long-winded descriptions. I found it to be pretty somber overall, which I guess is not surprising considering the historical background. Quite a few haunting scenes. One of my favorite parts was the brief section focused on Eha being "slow of tongue" and aware of his inability to keep up verbally with his own thoughts.

It's a satire about racists, brutal killings, and justice ... so although it's humorous, it's also thorny and unsettling -- but Everett makes it work. About 2/3 of the way through, it kicks into a higher gear and delivers a powerful punch. I have to admit, it did my heart good to read those scenes where racists were made the butt of so many jokes. It also succeeds as a mystery/thriller; I was anxious to find out how it was going to end. It's a fast read, with short chapters and a lot of dialogue. One odd thing: in Chapter 50, there's a character whose name changes inexplicably. I thought maybe I had missed something, but then I saw some other people discussing it on Goodreads. I guess it was an editing error.

Vivid, well-written, and excellent overall, although I thought Part II (from Rainey's perspective) was not as good as the rest of the book; for one thing, some of its depictions seemed too stereotypical. After finishing the book, I read articles by several reviewers, and most agreed that Part II was out of place or just less compelling, but ... I feel like I'm still trying to figure out what McDermott was trying to do with it.

But, anyway, the Saigon parts are fascinating, with the trip to the leprosarium being the highlight of the story (the NPR reviewer referred to this as a Heart-of-Darkness-like journey for Patricia). The final part of the book, showing some significant choices made by both Patricia and Ly, was powerful.

4.5 stars. Parts of this were a bit more focused on romance than I'm used to, but I got caught up in the story and enjoyed it a lot. Cinematic and well-written. Many of the sentences are long but lyrical, especially as read by Philippe Spall for the audiobook.

It has a fascinating setting and well-developed characters. I loved the description of Willa's need to understand things, and the way she tries hard to learn by carefully watching what the experienced people do. As for Henrik, who is pretty slow-witted (not helped by his excessive drinking, which is a problem for quite a few characters), Pylväinen does a great job of conveying his doubts and his realization that he doesn't understand or remember things; these parts are painful but also funny. There are also times when certain characters start imagining a brighter future - and their moods lift as they think about things going their way (maybe it's part of God's plan?) - and I appreciated how well the book captures this sort of thinking.

The story also includes some thoughtful criticism of religious leaders and does a good job of providing background on the history and cultures of the region. Plus, there are the reindeer, which I decided (correctly, it turns out) would make this an appropriate read for December. Finally, I liked the low-key humor that runs throughout the book, e.g. The more he thought about it, the more he agreed with himself .... :-)

This was a fast, intense read. I originally set it aside because the omniscient narration was rubbing me the wrong way. It constantly jumps between the characters' thoughts/points of view; over a few pages, for example, you will see a single conversation through the eyes of four different people, as they react to each other, etc. At first, it struck me that this approach gave the story kind of a shallow feeling, in contrast to one that has you seeing things through the eyes of a single character (or maybe a few characters, with the perspective/point of view alternating among the chapters).

But luckily I decided to give it another try, and then I realized that the omniscient narration is essential for this book. Every time the characters say or do anything, there is immediate commentary about what they're thinking, so you get to see their motivations, doubts, shame, mental gymnastics, etc. It's fascinating.

Overall, it is very suspenseful and makes pointed observations about New York and many aspects of life, including parenting, racism, intergenerational and class tensions, self-delusion, and environmental degradation.

Because so much of what matters in this book takes place inside the characters' heads, I would say that it was almost unfilmable. So I'm really interested in seeing what the Netflix show does with it. [Note: I watched the movie and thought it was pretty good]