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caomhin's review
3.0
This is a book about two half-Vietnamese men. One (Beat) seems to be a fairly successful movie star, the other (Quyn) a reclusive caretaker in the Alps. We learn about them mostly through a series of flashbacks. And I'm a bit lost what else to add really. Let's try another approach.
The first couple of (very short) chapters of this book didn't grab me. They didn't put me off, but I felt underwhelmed. Then we met Beat properly and something clicked. The writing fell into place and I was happy this was the book I was going to be reading. Quyn's introduction followed and, although he seemed to have less impact he still had something about him - my hopes for the book soared as I wondered how these two threads would come together. I was excited at the rich writing style that came with these characters and felt I would devour this book hungrily.
And then the flashbacks started. Some of them offer real insight into our protagonists. Some of them essentially repeat half a dozen others. We leap from childhoods to young adults life to adolescence to last week and loop through those eras in a multitude of routes. It is disorienting at times, especially when we are dealing with Beat and Quyn's parents since there are few clues where in their life these things are taking place. Sometimes it took over a page to work out if one of them was a young and innocent pre-teen or a wise near adult ready to become his own man. And the core points of these flashbacks do loop. I know that Moose and Silvio both like a drink. That Clay and Tina were hippies. Points that are stated explicitly multiple times. Not hinted at or built upon, just laid out to remind you something you read twenty pages earlier. It sounds harsh said like that because the author does have a good way with words and it's not as blunt and painful as that may seem, but it doesn't help move the story forward. And that's the point, it doesn't flow, it meanders. The constant loop backs made me feel I was getting nowhere, and I was doing it slowly.
I can praise the use of language, something that will often put a smile on my face. There's huge skill in that side of things and I liked it. But there was nothing that made me feel I wanted to read that extra page. That one more chapter before turning in for the night that signals you're hooked. It wasn't bad, it just felt lacking in purpose, and it didn't have that magic touch to make that click for me. Maybe if I were camped out in an alpine chalet cut off from the world I'd buy into it. Maybe stretched out on a sun soaked beach. But in a stormy Britain? It just lacked that indescribable something that turns good writing into a great book.
I wonder if I am being harsh because I expected more after those early chapters. I saw so much in those early words, and yet I feel I ended up trudging through. I was determined to rediscover that early promise. And I think the conclusions manages it actually, it's just at this point I was weary. It was hard to get as excited as it deserved after the journey it took to get there. There is something in this book, but I came away feeling that it had ultimately eluded me - possibly apt given the book.
I received a copy of this book through First Reads.
The first couple of (very short) chapters of this book didn't grab me. They didn't put me off, but I felt underwhelmed. Then we met Beat properly and something clicked. The writing fell into place and I was happy this was the book I was going to be reading. Quyn's introduction followed and, although he seemed to have less impact he still had something about him - my hopes for the book soared as I wondered how these two threads would come together. I was excited at the rich writing style that came with these characters and felt I would devour this book hungrily.
And then the flashbacks started. Some of them offer real insight into our protagonists. Some of them essentially repeat half a dozen others. We leap from childhoods to young adults life to adolescence to last week and loop through those eras in a multitude of routes. It is disorienting at times, especially when we are dealing with Beat and Quyn's parents since there are few clues where in their life these things are taking place. Sometimes it took over a page to work out if one of them was a young and innocent pre-teen or a wise near adult ready to become his own man. And the core points of these flashbacks do loop. I know that Moose and Silvio both like a drink. That Clay and Tina were hippies. Points that are stated explicitly multiple times. Not hinted at or built upon, just laid out to remind you something you read twenty pages earlier. It sounds harsh said like that because the author does have a good way with words and it's not as blunt and painful as that may seem, but it doesn't help move the story forward. And that's the point, it doesn't flow, it meanders. The constant loop backs made me feel I was getting nowhere, and I was doing it slowly.
I can praise the use of language, something that will often put a smile on my face. There's huge skill in that side of things and I liked it. But there was nothing that made me feel I wanted to read that extra page. That one more chapter before turning in for the night that signals you're hooked. It wasn't bad, it just felt lacking in purpose, and it didn't have that magic touch to make that click for me. Maybe if I were camped out in an alpine chalet cut off from the world I'd buy into it. Maybe stretched out on a sun soaked beach. But in a stormy Britain? It just lacked that indescribable something that turns good writing into a great book.
I wonder if I am being harsh because I expected more after those early chapters. I saw so much in those early words, and yet I feel I ended up trudging through. I was determined to rediscover that early promise. And I think the conclusions manages it actually, it's just at this point I was weary. It was hard to get as excited as it deserved after the journey it took to get there. There is something in this book, but I came away feeling that it had ultimately eluded me - possibly apt given the book.
I received a copy of this book through First Reads.
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