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Added to listAudiobooks Readwith 161 books.
Added to listBooks About Bookswith 14 books.
Added to listHistorical Fictionwith 75 books.
As I listened to this book, I kept hopping between 5 stars for the writing and 3 stars for the story. I ultimately decided that good writing doesn't save a disjointed story, but I wish I could have rated this one higher for the writing alone.
Alma Cruz is a writer of untold stories -- that is, despite being a writer of some renown, she still has bits of stories unfinished and unpublished that she feels compelled to put to rest. Rather than shove them in a shoebox and hide them in a closet, she constructs a literal graveyard for her finished stories on some inherited land in the Dominican Republic. She hires Filomena as her groundskeeper to maintain the land in her absences, and tells her to stop and listen to each story once a day. So, while keeping the grounds clear and maintaining the sculpted headstones, she starts pausing at one grave a day, and to her astonishment, she starts hearing these characters' stories. Not the incomplete snippets Alma wrote, but entire family stories involving intrigue, romance, infidelity, and death.
There's so many POVs in this book. Alma. Filomena. The characters from Alma's books (primarily Bienvenida and Manuel). Side characters sometimes get a chapter. We hop back and forth between characters in the present and in the past, making things feel very fragmented. There's a lot going on backstory-wise amongst everyone, but you really have to be good at keeping stories straight to stay oriented in this book. Despite all this, the prose is fantastic, and honestly was what kept me going throughout the book.
Great prose but too many POVs and too much to keep track of for me to rate much higher.
As I listened to this book, I kept hopping between 5 stars for the writing and 3 stars for the story. I ultimately decided that good writing doesn't save a disjointed story, but I wish I could have rated this one higher for the writing alone.
Alma Cruz is a writer of untold stories -- that is, despite being a writer of some renown, she still has bits of stories unfinished and unpublished that she feels compelled to put to rest. Rather than shove them in a shoebox and hide them in a closet, she constructs a literal graveyard for her finished stories on some inherited land in the Dominican Republic. She hires Filomena as her groundskeeper to maintain the land in her absences, and tells her to stop and listen to each story once a day. So, while keeping the grounds clear and maintaining the sculpted headstones, she starts pausing at one grave a day, and to her astonishment, she starts hearing these characters' stories. Not the incomplete snippets Alma wrote, but entire family stories involving intrigue, romance, infidelity, and death.
There's so many POVs in this book. Alma. Filomena. The characters from Alma's books (primarily Bienvenida and Manuel). Side characters sometimes get a chapter. We hop back and forth between characters in the present and in the past, making things feel very fragmented. There's a lot going on backstory-wise amongst everyone, but you really have to be good at keeping stories straight to stay oriented in this book. Despite all this, the prose is fantastic, and honestly was what kept me going throughout the book.
Great prose but too many POVs and too much to keep track of for me to rate much higher.
Added to listFictionwith 96 books.
"This all has got to be, patently, the most unbelievable, the most ridiculous story I have ever heard."
Well, not my least favorite Murakami book to date (that'd be 1Q84). Started slow and puzzlingly, but managed to pull me in by the halfway point.
Our protagonist (from the first two Rat books) has a bit of a business problem. When designing a travel brochure, he unthinkingly uses the image his friend Rat sent him months previous of an idyllic hillside, mountain in the background, and sheep scattered on the grass. A mysterious man contacts him to demand he locate one of the sheep in the photo, a special sheep with a star on its back. What follows is a weird romp in rural Japan involving a sheep professor, a girl with unblocked, exquisite ears, and a guy in a skinsuit/sheep costume.
Yeah, typical Murakami, right?
I won't begin to summarize the themes of this book, because it's very literary and I'm pretty sure a large chunk went over my head. I enjoyed the fever dream of tracking down the sheep though, and thought this was a great follow on to the previous two books in this series. It really shows how far Murakami had come as a writer by the time he got to this book. It's very trippy, and really only for people who know what they're getting into with Murakami.
"This all has got to be, patently, the most unbelievable, the most ridiculous story I have ever heard."
Well, not my least favorite Murakami book to date (that'd be 1Q84). Started slow and puzzlingly, but managed to pull me in by the halfway point.
Our protagonist (from the first two Rat books) has a bit of a business problem. When designing a travel brochure, he unthinkingly uses the image his friend Rat sent him months previous of an idyllic hillside, mountain in the background, and sheep scattered on the grass. A mysterious man contacts him to demand he locate one of the sheep in the photo, a special sheep with a star on its back. What follows is a weird romp in rural Japan involving a sheep professor, a girl with unblocked, exquisite ears, and a guy in a skinsuit/sheep costume.
Yeah, typical Murakami, right?
I won't begin to summarize the themes of this book, because it's very literary and I'm pretty sure a large chunk went over my head. I enjoyed the fever dream of tracking down the sheep though, and thought this was a great follow on to the previous two books in this series. It really shows how far Murakami had come as a writer by the time he got to this book. It's very trippy, and really only for people who know what they're getting into with Murakami.
"We always sit at the plank."
This is like if my favorite author, Guy Gavriel Kay, wrote Game of Thrones without gratuitous sex scenes and almost all political intrigue. Which is to say, yes please, more of this for me.
Navola is run by its bankers. Davico, son of Devonaci, is coming of age as part of the di Regulai family, shrewd, powerful merchants who have pull everywhere. Devonaci is a master businessman, and Davico spends all his days growing up comparing himself to his father and coming up short. But time doesn't care if you're not ready, and Davico finds himself thrust more and more frequently into the types of political intrigue he hates. His adopted sister, Celia, however is steeped in intrigues, and finds herself more than capable of navigating the twisty Navola mind. When things come to a political boil, though, Davico's naiveness may be his and his family's downfall.
Right off the bat I'll say that this isn't a book for just anyone. It's like...literary fantasy? Not a whole lot happens immediately, or at all. Some action-adjacent things happen around the 50% mark, and then again for the last quarter of the book, but by and large this is a character-driven political fantasy seen through a vaguely Italian lens. That appealed to me, but probably won't to an average fantasy reader. Yes there is a dragon (or...a part of a dragon, I guess), but I wouldn't call it a central character. The last quarter of the book is brutal though, and made me experience a large enough mental WTF that I spent a chunk of my cruise holed up in my cabin finishing the book to find out what happens.
My only hangups really was the ending and how the author basically (major ending spoilers here) wrote Celia out of the book. Yes, she does put in an appearance, but I was rather put out at how quickly/easily Davico washed his hands of her betrayal. I feel like something of that magnitude needed longer to marinate. But even that wasn't a large enough of an issue for me to not enjoy things thoroughly.
Recommend this for fans of Guy Gavriel Kay, and political/character-heavy fantasy.
"We always sit at the plank."
This is like if my favorite author, Guy Gavriel Kay, wrote Game of Thrones without gratuitous sex scenes and almost all political intrigue. Which is to say, yes please, more of this for me.
Navola is run by its bankers. Davico, son of Devonaci, is coming of age as part of the di Regulai family, shrewd, powerful merchants who have pull everywhere. Devonaci is a master businessman, and Davico spends all his days growing up comparing himself to his father and coming up short. But time doesn't care if you're not ready, and Davico finds himself thrust more and more frequently into the types of political intrigue he hates. His adopted sister, Celia, however is steeped in intrigues, and finds herself more than capable of navigating the twisty Navola mind. When things come to a political boil, though, Davico's naiveness may be his and his family's downfall.
Right off the bat I'll say that this isn't a book for just anyone. It's like...literary fantasy? Not a whole lot happens immediately, or at all. Some action-adjacent things happen around the 50% mark, and then again for the last quarter of the book, but by and large this is a character-driven political fantasy seen through a vaguely Italian lens. That appealed to me, but probably won't to an average fantasy reader. Yes there is a dragon (or...a part of a dragon, I guess), but I wouldn't call it a central character. The last quarter of the book is brutal though, and made me experience a large enough mental WTF that I spent a chunk of my cruise holed up in my cabin finishing the book to find out what happens.
My only hangups really was the ending and how the author basically (major ending spoilers here) wrote Celia out of the book. Yes, she does put in an appearance, but I was rather put out at how quickly/easily Davico washed his hands of her betrayal. I feel like something of that magnitude needed longer to marinate. But even that wasn't a large enough of an issue for me to not enjoy things thoroughly.
Recommend this for fans of Guy Gavriel Kay, and political/character-heavy fantasy.
"Time goes by so damn fast."
As a small anecdote to tack on here for myself for later, I was reading my paperback copy of this book on my couch, and it's one of those duologies where you read half/one book and flip it over/around to read the other half/the other book. My husband walked past me perhaps two or three times before he finally asked if I was aware I was reading my book upside down.
These two are some of Murakami's earliest works, and it kind of shows. While the second book (Pinball, 1973) feels more like a cohesive book with some narrative direction, the first book (Hear the Wind Sing) just felt like scenes strung together until the book stopped having pages. Both feature the same two characters as main characters, Rat and our unnamed protagonist, just trying to make sense of the world in their early 20s, when things change, people move on, and they have to figure out what it means to be an adult. It's not quite angst these two are facing, but uncertainty about what to do with their lives beyond what they've always done (drink at J's bar, women, sit at the beach). Stagnation and moving on are common themes in Murakami's works, I've noticed. The second book has the only real magical realism here, and even that only comes in towards the last third of the book or so. It's not quite on par with some of his other books I enjoyed more, but I do like the idea of an advice-giving pinball machine.
I have the other books in this series at home, and I'm interested to see how more developed they are, since they're more full-fledged novels than these two were. Not bad books, but kind of forgettable.
"Time goes by so damn fast."
As a small anecdote to tack on here for myself for later, I was reading my paperback copy of this book on my couch, and it's one of those duologies where you read half/one book and flip it over/around to read the other half/the other book. My husband walked past me perhaps two or three times before he finally asked if I was aware I was reading my book upside down.
These two are some of Murakami's earliest works, and it kind of shows. While the second book (Pinball, 1973) feels more like a cohesive book with some narrative direction, the first book (Hear the Wind Sing) just felt like scenes strung together until the book stopped having pages. Both feature the same two characters as main characters, Rat and our unnamed protagonist, just trying to make sense of the world in their early 20s, when things change, people move on, and they have to figure out what it means to be an adult. It's not quite angst these two are facing, but uncertainty about what to do with their lives beyond what they've always done (drink at J's bar, women, sit at the beach). Stagnation and moving on are common themes in Murakami's works, I've noticed. The second book has the only real magical realism here, and even that only comes in towards the last third of the book or so. It's not quite on par with some of his other books I enjoyed more, but I do like the idea of an advice-giving pinball machine.
I have the other books in this series at home, and I'm interested to see how more developed they are, since they're more full-fledged novels than these two were. Not bad books, but kind of forgettable.
Hey, did you like Pachinko (more than me)? Are you keen on multigenerational Asian historical fiction? Like great writing? This one's for you, then.
Meilin is newly married in 1938, but with war headed their way her future is uncertain. With only her son Renshu, a beautiful hand painted scroll, and what little they can throw together, they're forced to flee an oncoming Japanese army. Renshu is raised on tales Meilin tells from the scroll, as together they make new lives for themselves over and over again as they're forced to flee again and again from places they try and start fresh in. As Meilin's story in Taiwan gives way to Renshu's story in America, and finally Renshu's daughter Lily trying to figure out who she is, we get to know this family's struggle, and how events of the past can shape a person in the future.
This one took me a bit to get into, but once I got into it (about when Meilin flees with Renshu the first time), it really sucked me in. The writing is exceptional, and really painted a picture of Meilin, her family, and what China looked like in her time. It's a multigenerational tale in the same way Pachinko is, but I thought this one was written a bit better and didn't overstay its welcome as much, so I enjoyed it more. I will say I think I was more invested in Meilin's story in the beginning, and Lily's story at the end, than I was with Renshu's story in the middle. Maybe his story would resonate with me more if I were more familiar with Chinese politics in America at the time, as it felt like I was missing context in the story for Renshu's paranoia. I really felt for Lily trying to figure out who she is, sandwiched between America and China and wanting to understand where she came from.
I really enjoyed this one though, despite my mild hangups with Renshu's point of view. Great writing and a sad story.
Hey, did you like Pachinko (more than me)? Are you keen on multigenerational Asian historical fiction? Like great writing? This one's for you, then.
Meilin is newly married in 1938, but with war headed their way her future is uncertain. With only her son Renshu, a beautiful hand painted scroll, and what little they can throw together, they're forced to flee an oncoming Japanese army. Renshu is raised on tales Meilin tells from the scroll, as together they make new lives for themselves over and over again as they're forced to flee again and again from places they try and start fresh in. As Meilin's story in Taiwan gives way to Renshu's story in America, and finally Renshu's daughter Lily trying to figure out who she is, we get to know this family's struggle, and how events of the past can shape a person in the future.
This one took me a bit to get into, but once I got into it (about when Meilin flees with Renshu the first time), it really sucked me in. The writing is exceptional, and really painted a picture of Meilin, her family, and what China looked like in her time. It's a multigenerational tale in the same way Pachinko is, but I thought this one was written a bit better and didn't overstay its welcome as much, so I enjoyed it more. I will say I think I was more invested in Meilin's story in the beginning, and Lily's story at the end, than I was with Renshu's story in the middle. Maybe his story would resonate with me more if I were more familiar with Chinese politics in America at the time, as it felt like I was missing context in the story for Renshu's paranoia. I really felt for Lily trying to figure out who she is, sandwiched between America and China and wanting to understand where she came from.
I really enjoyed this one though, despite my mild hangups with Renshu's point of view. Great writing and a sad story.
Hey, did you like Pachinko (more than me)? Are you keen on multigenerational Asian historical fiction? Like great writing? This one's for you, then.
Meilin is newly married in 1938, but with war headed their way her future is uncertain. With only her son Renshu, a beautiful hand painted scroll, and what little they can throw together, they're forced to flee an oncoming Japanese army. Renshu is raised on tales Meilin tells from the scroll, as together they make new lives for themselves over and over again as they're forced to flee again and again from places they try and start fresh in. As Meilin's story in Taiwan gives way to Renshu's story in America, and finally Renshu's daughter Lily trying to figure out who she is, we get to know this family's struggle, and how events of the past can shape a person in the future.
This one took me a bit to get into, but once I got into it (about when Meilin flees with Renshu the first time), it really sucked me in. The writing is exceptional, and really painted a picture of Meilin, her family, and what China looked like in her time. It's a multigenerational tale in the same way Pachinko is, but I thought this one was written a bit better and didn't overstay its welcome as much, so I enjoyed it more. I will say I think I was more invested in Meilin's story in the beginning, and Lily's story at the end, than I was with Renshu's story in the middle. Maybe his story would resonate with me more if I were more familiar with Chinese politics in America at the time, as it felt like I was missing context in the story for Renshu's paranoia. I really felt for Lily trying to figure out who she is, sandwiched between America and China and wanting to understand where she came from.
I really enjoyed this one though, despite my mild hangups with Renshu's point of view. Great writing and a sad story.
Hey, did you like Pachinko (more than me)? Are you keen on multigenerational Asian historical fiction? Like great writing? This one's for you, then.
Meilin is newly married in 1938, but with war headed their way her future is uncertain. With only her son Renshu, a beautiful hand painted scroll, and what little they can throw together, they're forced to flee an oncoming Japanese army. Renshu is raised on tales Meilin tells from the scroll, as together they make new lives for themselves over and over again as they're forced to flee again and again from places they try and start fresh in. As Meilin's story in Taiwan gives way to Renshu's story in America, and finally Renshu's daughter Lily trying to figure out who she is, we get to know this family's struggle, and how events of the past can shape a person in the future.
This one took me a bit to get into, but once I got into it (about when Meilin flees with Renshu the first time), it really sucked me in. The writing is exceptional, and really painted a picture of Meilin, her family, and what China looked like in her time. It's a multigenerational tale in the same way Pachinko is, but I thought this one was written a bit better and didn't overstay its welcome as much, so I enjoyed it more. I will say I think I was more invested in Meilin's story in the beginning, and Lily's story at the end, than I was with Renshu's story in the middle. Maybe his story would resonate with me more if I were more familiar with Chinese politics in America at the time, as it felt like I was missing context in the story for Renshu's paranoia. I really felt for Lily trying to figure out who she is, sandwiched between America and China and wanting to understand where she came from.
I really enjoyed this one though, despite my mild hangups with Renshu's point of view. Great writing and a sad story.