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riestenberger's review against another edition
4.0
(Writing this SUPER late, oops!)
After absolutely loving [b:The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426l/19063._SY75_.jpg|878368] and [b:I Am the Messenger|19057|I Am the Messenger|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398483261l/19057._SY75_.jpg|2737065] I HAD to read this. And honestly, I was a bit disappointed. The storytelling and prose were beautiful... but nothing really happened. It all felt like a lot of set up and then nothing ever became of it. I still gave it 4/5 because the characters and backstory were so nicely developed... they just need to go somewhere.
After absolutely loving [b:The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522157426l/19063._SY75_.jpg|878368] and [b:I Am the Messenger|19057|I Am the Messenger|Markus Zusak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398483261l/19057._SY75_.jpg|2737065] I HAD to read this. And honestly, I was a bit disappointed. The storytelling and prose were beautiful... but nothing really happened. It all felt like a lot of set up and then nothing ever became of it. I still gave it 4/5 because the characters and backstory were so nicely developed... they just need to go somewhere.
tanja_reads_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Markus Zusak is an author that is an automatic buy for me and so the fact that This book took me a little bit longer to get into, kind of was disappointing, but in the end the slow pace and the dual timelines paid off. This was a sad, but hopeful story that had me in tears at the end.
The time jumps I each chapter were hard to get used to, as was the more choppy narration, but all that leads to the charm and almost truthful feel of the story.
I loved the dynamic of the brothers and how they all related to each other, and to the others around them. It truly was the heart of the story.
The time jumps I each chapter were hard to get used to, as was the more choppy narration, but all that leads to the charm and almost truthful feel of the story.
I loved the dynamic of the brothers and how they all related to each other, and to the others around them. It truly was the heart of the story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Death
isladh's review against another edition
Literally so hard to read it was quite boring, especially compared to the book thief.
nnnaaommiii's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
counciloffrogs's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Sometimes I struggle with giving books 2 stars and qualifying what a 2 star book really is, but this is the epitome of one. Why should I care about the Dunbar boys? I don’t know but I kind of do? Only enough to not put the book down and DNF it, but certainly I think if I didn’t relate to how broken and yet relenting they are I would have.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Cancer
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, and Antisemitism
jenmangler's review against another edition
2.0
I was so looking forward to this book and really wanted to love it, which makes the disappointment I feel upon finishing it that much greater. The writing didn't do it for me (it felt too stylized and self-indulgent), and I sadly didn't care about any of the Dunbar boys. They are so testosterone-y and tiresome, and I honestly couldn't distinguish between them most of the time. I almost gave up reading the book. What saved it for me was the introduction of Penelope. I would have much rather the book been about her. She was a much more interesting character and I desperately cared about her. It's frustrating that her story is told only in service to the Dunbar boys, as if her affect on the boys' lives is her only reason for existing. I would rather have seen the Dunbar boys through her eyes, rather than the other way around.
ebrae04's review against another edition
5.0
I never really meant or expected to finish this book. It's been sitting on my nightstand since the release, which was a year ago this October. Every night, I read as much as I was able to - ten, fifteen minutes usually. Bridge of Clay isn't a page turner. It takes a whiiiiiiiile to get into. But when you do - you'll stay for however long it takes. I was a quarter way through the book when I realized I had fallen deeply, deeply in love with it. Zusak's sentences, broken and oft indented, at first seem cheaply used - they're simple, short. But every line beats with matter-of-fact emotion. If you read closely, what looks easy to skip over are often novel, beautiful, spectacularly human turns of phrase. E.g.:
"The old man nodded, barely allowing her to see his face chop and change, as watery as the Baltic Sea. The Baltic. That was how she always explained it. She claimed her father's face had turned into a body of water. The deep wrinkles, the eyes. Even the mustache. All of it drowned in sunshine, and cold, cold water."
The benefit of a book like this is that when you're finished you feel as if you've lived through an entire lifetime with the characters. Zusak's out of order story telling style doesn't mar this feeling one bit, in fact, it heightens it. Bridge of Clay's differing time lines run parallel and perpendicular to each other, crossing and passing and waving to each other masterfully. The past and future are told together, giving you the full scope of each character, and making them seem more alive and lived in than any other story I've read for this long. The characters are larger than life, (the Dunbars own a donkey for God's sake) but these characteristics (I don't know how he does it) only make them seem more human. And you love them, all of them, like family.
The depiction of masculinity was admirable, though it definitely was a "five feral brothers live in a house with no supervision" kind of story. The grief in this book is handled in a way I've never seen before, but it's devastating and so well written.
I thought I would never finish this book because I thought it never did - that is how immortal these characters are to me now.
I hope others never mean to finish this heartbreak sunset river of a story too.
"The old man nodded, barely allowing her to see his face chop and change, as watery as the Baltic Sea. The Baltic. That was how she always explained it. She claimed her father's face had turned into a body of water. The deep wrinkles, the eyes. Even the mustache. All of it drowned in sunshine, and cold, cold water."
The benefit of a book like this is that when you're finished you feel as if you've lived through an entire lifetime with the characters. Zusak's out of order story telling style doesn't mar this feeling one bit, in fact, it heightens it. Bridge of Clay's differing time lines run parallel and perpendicular to each other, crossing and passing and waving to each other masterfully. The past and future are told together, giving you the full scope of each character, and making them seem more alive and lived in than any other story I've read for this long. The characters are larger than life, (the Dunbars own a donkey for God's sake) but these characteristics (I don't know how he does it) only make them seem more human. And you love them, all of them, like family.
The depiction of masculinity was admirable, though it definitely was a "five feral brothers live in a house with no supervision" kind of story. The grief in this book is handled in a way I've never seen before, but it's devastating and so well written.
I thought I would never finish this book because I thought it never did - that is how immortal these characters are to me now.
I hope others never mean to finish this heartbreak sunset river of a story too.
mezzoir's review against another edition
DNF - managed a hard fought slog to 40% but the tortuous prose finally did me in...
brisingr's review against another edition
4.0
This is a book on how boys and brothers loved. 3 stars as overall enjoyment, but 4 stars because Markus Zusak's writing style still blows me away, over a decade later since I first read something by him.
mattip's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0