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nbrickman's review against another edition
4.0
I initially picked this up because Nick Hornby is one of the ten writers who contributed to this unique "novel". However I found the other contributions equally intriguing. The premise was quite compelling. Maggie and Jason's grandfather Gee dies and leaves them each an unusual gift that inspires their lives. The remaining stories are all connected back to Gee (George Keane) who was a well known photojournalist who traveled many places and influenced many lives. I was loving it and getting ready to give it a 5 when I got to the last chapter which was written by Gregory Maguire. It was strangely futuristic and where I could see the point it just seemed like the only chapter that stuck out like a sore thumb! plus, I think it freaked me out.
debz57a52's review against another edition
4.0
While I was reading through this book, I kept thinking about Paul Fleischman's Whirlgig, since it includes short stories that are both independent of themselves and part of a wider story. Of course, in Whirligig, Fleischman wrote all the stories, whereas Click includes stories from different writers, with different styles, word choice preferences, imaginations, and understandings of the final purpose of the story. That's not a bad thing; it added a layer of complexity to this book as a whole. Sometimes, there were stories written for the characters who were related to the photographer Gee Keane, but they were separated in this volume by stories about people who may Gee out in the world or were affected by his life's work of observing the world as it is. There are a few big things going in this book including a look at the victims of Hiroshima, prisoners of war, a man with multiple families who don't know each other, an emotional struggle with adoption by the adopted, not to mention the grief that comes with Gee's passing and the author's of each story deal with these big issues and concepts in gentle ways. A youth reading the chapters may need to have a chat with an adult after a few of the more distressing topics, if they truly grasp what is going on. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and I just find it disappointing that it's so hard to find out in the world.
amandabock's review against another edition
3.0
I was intrigued by the concept of this one. Ten authors each wrote a chapter. I’d love to know what the process was. From what I’ve read (one interview is here), it seems that the chapters were completed individually, in order, although perhaps not the order they appear in the final book. I enjoyed seeing how it starts out as Maggie’s story, but is really Gee’s, despite a half-hearted return to Maggie at the end. I don’t remember who was responsible for the fantastical twist (it might have been Nick Hornby, but it was developed by Greg McGuire), but that element didn’t quite fit in. Besides, I’ve never really been able to just accept fantasy elements in an otherwise realistic book without some kind of explanation. “Just because it’s magic” doesn’t cut it.
ajsterkel's review against another edition
3.0
This novel in short stories is written by ten different authors. The royalties from the sale of the book benefit Amnesty International. All of the stories revolve around a photographer named Gee. The stories range from realism to magical realism to science fiction. Like all short story collections, some of the stories are more successful than others.
These are some of the stand-outs for me:
"Jason" by Eoin Colfer is about Gee's grandson, Jason, who considers selling his inheritance to buy a ticket to Tobago to meet his birth father. This story is funnier than it sounds.
"Lev" by Deborah Ellis is about a teenage boy who is serving time in a Russian prison.
"Min" by Tim Wynne-Jones is about a girl who becomes involved in a photography project that ends up changing her life. This is the best-written story in the collection.
"Jiro" by Ruth Ozeki is about a young boy who lives in poverty in Japan after his older brother loses his legs in WWII and is unable to support the family. This is my favorite story in the collection. It's deeper and more complex than many of the others.
None of the stories in the collection are awful, but most of them are pretty bland. I'm usually a fan of magical realism and science fiction, but I didn't think those stories worked in this collection. They were possibly too constrained by the overall story and themes of the collection.
This book is a quick read and benefits a good cause. There's nothing mind-blowing in it, but it's an entertaining way to pass a few hours.
These are some of the stand-outs for me:
"Jason" by Eoin Colfer is about Gee's grandson, Jason, who considers selling his inheritance to buy a ticket to Tobago to meet his birth father. This story is funnier than it sounds.
"Lev" by Deborah Ellis is about a teenage boy who is serving time in a Russian prison.
"Min" by Tim Wynne-Jones is about a girl who becomes involved in a photography project that ends up changing her life. This is the best-written story in the collection.
"Jiro" by Ruth Ozeki is about a young boy who lives in poverty in Japan after his older brother loses his legs in WWII and is unable to support the family. This is my favorite story in the collection. It's deeper and more complex than many of the others.
None of the stories in the collection are awful, but most of them are pretty bland. I'm usually a fan of magical realism and science fiction, but I didn't think those stories worked in this collection. They were possibly too constrained by the overall story and themes of the collection.
This book is a quick read and benefits a good cause. There's nothing mind-blowing in it, but it's an entertaining way to pass a few hours.
k_lee_reads_it's review against another edition
2.0
Loved the Linda Sue Park chapter. Was okay with most of the middle chapters from other authors. Thought the end got rather strange. It was definately the strangest multiple author book I have read so far.
michellest's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book when I was probably in 8th or 9th grade and I loved it. I recently stumbled upon and it, and I thought that I would read it again since I remembered loving it so much. I didn't remember the majority of the plot, so I was still pleasantly surprised throughout. There are a few chapters I'm not very fond of, but since each one is written by a different author and only lasted about 30 pages, it was easy to want to keep reading.
whitls's review against another edition
3.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a collection of short stories, so my first impression was that it was going to be rough to read and unenjoyable, boy was I wrong. I picked up this book based off of its unique title and cover (yes I judged a book by its cover). But it was spectacular. Each story was written by a different author and each story was told from a different persons (characters) point of view. The most interesting part was they were all connected through one common character Gee, a photojournalist. Its a unique yet intriguing book. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys adventure, photography, and just hearing about the lives of others.
WARNINGS:
Language: None
Sex: none, although there is mention of "something" happening to one of the characters but no details just simply a sentence stating just that something scarring happened to a young woman involving an older man.
Drugs: none
Violence: none, but it does mention war veterans and war but not in gruesome detail.
WARNINGS:
Language: None
Sex: none, although there is mention of "something" happening to one of the characters but no details just simply a sentence stating just that something scarring happened to a young woman involving an older man.
Drugs: none
Violence: none, but it does mention war veterans and war but not in gruesome detail.
redhickory's review against another edition
3.0
“Ten voices, one story” is a stretch but the stories are inter-woven.
“Lev” by Ellis & “Min” by Wynne-Jones were my favourites.
Min is a dark but beautiful story, with an unfolding over events in layers. The central figure in the stories is G, a photo journalist; the other important figures are Maggie & Jason (his grandchildren). The first and last stories have Maggie as the narrator/central character and the final story talks of events of the previous stories.
All of the stories show how G has touched the lives of others, sometimes in small but important ways and this shows us how one person can be different things to different people, how small kindnesses can be so influential to the recipient, as well as showing us there are many different ways to look at the world.
The magical components of the stories fell short for me (especially story 9 where the main character could make another person by wishing she had a different life and then she could feel their lives) and the final story half succeeds at bringing the other stories together (via a photographic exhibition) but fails to provide a solid conclusion to the earlier richness of the stories. Still it was a very good read and probably even better for young adults (the book’s intended audience).
“Lev” by Ellis & “Min” by Wynne-Jones were my favourites.
Min is a dark but beautiful story, with an unfolding over events in layers. The central figure in the stories is G, a photo journalist; the other important figures are Maggie & Jason (his grandchildren). The first and last stories have Maggie as the narrator/central character and the final story talks of events of the previous stories.
All of the stories show how G has touched the lives of others, sometimes in small but important ways and this shows us how one person can be different things to different people, how small kindnesses can be so influential to the recipient, as well as showing us there are many different ways to look at the world.
The magical components of the stories fell short for me (especially story 9 where the main character could make another person by wishing she had a different life and then she could feel their lives) and the final story half succeeds at bringing the other stories together (via a photographic exhibition) but fails to provide a solid conclusion to the earlier richness of the stories. Still it was a very good read and probably even better for young adults (the book’s intended audience).
librarianna81's review
3.0
shelfnotes.com
Dear Reader,
I was really excited for this book. It had a lot of promise! So many great authors, and all working for such a great cause. And, I did love most of it - there were some great and beautiful "sub-stories", and the writing was beautiful. However, for those of you who have read A Tale for the Time Being, you'll understand what I mean when I say things got a bit unexpectedly weird. I was hoping for a great resolution to the mystery, but was pretty disappointed by what, ultimately, the explanation turned out to be.
However, the characters almost made up for any of the story's shortcomings. I don't think I'll soon forget the tale of the girl and her mother who live alone on the seashore, or the one of the teenager who feels so alone in her despair until she meets a photographer who captures her story with a large piece of jagged glass. Or the Russian prisoner who receives unexpected kindness. I think the main characters - Maggie and Jason, and their grandfather "Gee" - framed the story really well. I'm quite interested to know if the authors all conceived the entire story together, or if they wrote their chapters in order, with no idea where the book would go (even if they tried to gently guide things one way or another). Knowing that would make the story even more strong to me, I think - knowing one way or the other. I remember trying to write a story like that once or twice in my past, and being disappointed to see where my partner had taken the tale I was trying to tell. Each author only gets so much control over the book, which I found endlessly intriguing - especially because, as a writer, I certainly love having control of my own stories!
I'd recommend this to writers especially, because I think they'd be fascinated to watch how ten different authors approached the same novel. (And luckily, their different narrative styles don't disrupt the flow of the story in any way.) I think it was a very interesting read, just not quite up to the par I was expecting.
Yours,
Arianna
Dear Reader,
I was really excited for this book. It had a lot of promise! So many great authors, and all working for such a great cause. And, I did love most of it - there were some great and beautiful "sub-stories", and the writing was beautiful. However, for those of you who have read A Tale for the Time Being, you'll understand what I mean when I say things got a bit unexpectedly weird. I was hoping for a great resolution to the mystery, but was pretty disappointed by what, ultimately, the explanation turned out to be.
However, the characters almost made up for any of the story's shortcomings. I don't think I'll soon forget the tale of the girl and her mother who live alone on the seashore, or the one of the teenager who feels so alone in her despair until she meets a photographer who captures her story with a large piece of jagged glass. Or the Russian prisoner who receives unexpected kindness. I think the main characters - Maggie and Jason, and their grandfather "Gee" - framed the story really well. I'm quite interested to know if the authors all conceived the entire story together, or if they wrote their chapters in order, with no idea where the book would go (even if they tried to gently guide things one way or another). Knowing that would make the story even more strong to me, I think - knowing one way or the other. I remember trying to write a story like that once or twice in my past, and being disappointed to see where my partner had taken the tale I was trying to tell. Each author only gets so much control over the book, which I found endlessly intriguing - especially because, as a writer, I certainly love having control of my own stories!
I'd recommend this to writers especially, because I think they'd be fascinated to watch how ten different authors approached the same novel. (And luckily, their different narrative styles don't disrupt the flow of the story in any way.) I think it was a very interesting read, just not quite up to the par I was expecting.
Yours,
Arianna