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boneffface's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Sometimes wondered where we were going, but at the end i felt so grateful to have been invited along on the trip.
msoblong's review against another edition
3.0
I previously received this through the Goodreads First Reads program, and I was just never drawn to it. In an effort to clear some shelf space, I decided to give it a go.
While this is a novel, it reads more like a non-fiction book. There was a lot of 'he did this, then this, and then this' rather than a more story like description of events. If you enjoy that type of narrative, then I would recommend this to you. It was a very interesting story overall and I did enjoy it. My biggest issue is that the story did drag on quite a bit where more of a traditional novel like writing may have sped things along better.
While this is a novel, it reads more like a non-fiction book. There was a lot of 'he did this, then this, and then this' rather than a more story like description of events. If you enjoy that type of narrative, then I would recommend this to you. It was a very interesting story overall and I did enjoy it. My biggest issue is that the story did drag on quite a bit where more of a traditional novel like writing may have sped things along better.
lmrajt's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book so much more than I thought I would. I generally think Hijuelos is a tad over-rated (I know I know, report me to the nearest English professor, whatever), but this account was so charming. Dorothy and Samuel were especially fabulous, and I am officially adding "Mark Twain" to my fantasy dinner guest wish-list. Great read.
tonstantweader's review
3.0
Twain & Stanley Enter Paradise by Oscar Hijuelos seems nothing like his other novels. It is a bit stately and constrained by the conventions of historical writing. His efforts to make it seem as though a true history of the forty year friendship between Samuel Clemons and Henry Morton Stanley deprive us of the passion and power of his other novels such as the famous The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love.
Throughout the book we are treated to letters, narratives, diary entries and notes by Clemons, Stanley and Stanley’s wife Dorothy Tennant. All of them are fictional. Such is Hijuelos’ craft that each writer has their own voice, a voice that reflects their character. With this, he was helped by the abundance of research he did on their lives, reading their writings, visiting where they lived, handling their artifacts. It is a fact that they were friends of long acquaintance but all else is imagined by Hijuelos.
The novel focuses mainly on Stanley, probably a wise choice since today people already have a image of Twain in their minds from so many portrayals of him in books and film. Stanley is often known only for saying “Dr. Livingstone, I presume,” something he probably did not say at the time, but invented as a later embellishment.
Both Stanley and Twain were writers and adventurous men who traveled far and wide. They were very different, though, in temperament. Stanley’s childhood was cruel and without much love, raised in an orphanage, illegitimate and abandoned, he was insecure and desperate for attention and approval, often jealous, often angry. Twain had an ideal childhood, one he called a paradise, filled with love and family and the bucolic pastimes of a country life. This gave me a relaxed self-confidence and a mildly bemused temperament. Perhaps their differences were complementary, or perhaps their mutual love of adventure and writing trumped their differences. For whatever reason, they were good friends.
The rest of my review is on my blog.
Throughout the book we are treated to letters, narratives, diary entries and notes by Clemons, Stanley and Stanley’s wife Dorothy Tennant. All of them are fictional. Such is Hijuelos’ craft that each writer has their own voice, a voice that reflects their character. With this, he was helped by the abundance of research he did on their lives, reading their writings, visiting where they lived, handling their artifacts. It is a fact that they were friends of long acquaintance but all else is imagined by Hijuelos.
The novel focuses mainly on Stanley, probably a wise choice since today people already have a image of Twain in their minds from so many portrayals of him in books and film. Stanley is often known only for saying “Dr. Livingstone, I presume,” something he probably did not say at the time, but invented as a later embellishment.
Both Stanley and Twain were writers and adventurous men who traveled far and wide. They were very different, though, in temperament. Stanley’s childhood was cruel and without much love, raised in an orphanage, illegitimate and abandoned, he was insecure and desperate for attention and approval, often jealous, often angry. Twain had an ideal childhood, one he called a paradise, filled with love and family and the bucolic pastimes of a country life. This gave me a relaxed self-confidence and a mildly bemused temperament. Perhaps their differences were complementary, or perhaps their mutual love of adventure and writing trumped their differences. For whatever reason, they were good friends.
The rest of my review is on my blog.
jooniperd's review
3.0
this was an interesting reading experience. i'm not sure i really loved it, but i found it fascinating at moments, and was lulled along on the meandering paths the story took. i appreciated the different forms of storytelling hijuelos used in this novel. but, i did find myself wondering about the story's length (which is weird, because i LOVE a big, chunky novel)... in the afterword, by hijuelos' widow, she notes the book was edited down from over 900 pages to its published length. i did find the second half of the story was paced better than the first half. also, initially, i wanted more of twain's arc. stanley's side of things did get a bit repetitive. still, i am glad i finally got to this book, and found it a pleasant diversion.
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