perceptive and enthralling
586896
Peter Hessler is a fine writer, with insight and sensitivity. He gets the balance between personal anecdote and travel writing just right. I am learning so much about Chinese society and customs.
4460235
I have been entranced by the author's ability to capture the emotions of each character.  She shows a particular knack for the sort of stream of consciousness thinking that is so literally human.  A spell-binding book.
2481241
I was swept away to a land of mystery, excitement, and intrigue with the backdrop of a unique culture, rituals, and rules that may seem so foreign to us but have become a daily routine for people who live in Iran.  I felt I was right there, where action was happening, and could feel, smell and touch  my surroundings. This is truly a mesmerizing book that you will not be able to put down.  Characters,  locations, and their experiences will stay with you for a long time to come.  I highly recommend this wonderful book to anyone who wants to discover a truly talented author and an unforgettable story of love and perseverance.
2071704
Written with evocative and lyrical prose, I was mesmerized and enthralled immediately.  The prose was lush in its descriptiveness (but not too much so) and transported me to time and place.  I have not been this caught up in a book in awhile.  I would have finished the book in a sitting but did not only because I started it late in the evening.  A wonderful engaging piece of work.
2925213
A lively, perceptive view of Asia--an astonishingly vast range of countries included--in the mid-1980s, and even more valuable because it contains an epilogue which moves into the twenty-first century.  Iyer approaches each country from a different perspective, then ties it all together in his conclusion.  I appreciate the open-ended quality of this study, which reflects the breadth of vision and understanding of the author.
An endlessly fascinating book!
1299866
I could not put this book down. The 'nudge' the author felt, the vision she began forming and seeing in her mind's eye, and the remarkable tenacity she demonstrated culminated into one of the most admirable stories I have read in quite some time.
1340569
From the opening line, "If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me," the reader becomes ensnared by Moses Herzog's churning mind, the mind of a man who sits on the border of of a new period in his life. He sways on the precipice, constantly looking backwards in order to make his next step forward.  He worries if he is crazy--and so will the reader, as he or she picks through pages of unsent letters that Herzog composes on a whim.  Addressed to people ranging from his ex-wives to God, the letters span various topics, and in doing so, they give the reader an amazing insight into Herzog's situation.

  Bellow remains a masterful storyteller, though if you're looking for an action-filled novel, this isn't the one for you. His descriptions are impeccable, and I don't know of any modern novelists who can depict characters in such a masterly fashion.  As you read, the images flow into your mind seamlessly; there are very few times that you have to stop reading in order to compose a mental image of what is depicted. Despite Herzog's academic rants, Bellow manages to create a character so familiar in Americana: constantly moving, constantly disappointed, and constantly searching for his or her next step.  Bellow's novels are among the most satisfying reads; while difficult, they leave you with the feeling that you have eaten a large yet nonfilling meal, and while your stomach acknowledges that you've eaten a lot, you're still hungry for more.
1293332
More of a portal than simple letters on pages, this book was fully captivating, from the beautiful descriptions to the intriguing bits of historical facts strewn throughout the storyline. In addition, a handful of eloquent verses strung together in the mind of young Sarah Carrier stokes the fires of profound thought for the reader. Seeing into her story will bring you to the edge of yourself.
4474005
What has slipped in John Toomeys excellent novel is any sense of reality in the mind of its subject, Albert Jackson. As he goes about his daily life as a teacher, Albert appears normal enough, but contemptuous and distorted thoughts seethe in his brain as he pursues his delusion of love for a pretty young teacher on whose account he (partly) decides he must murder his wife. While serving his sentence in the local psychiatric hospital, he enlists the aid of a young fiction writer, Charlie Vaughan, to help him present his view of this event. Alberts account, sent in episodes, makes compelling reading, both for Charlie and ourselves. Albert is clearly insane, but his fierce intellect, playful humour and tender observations both intrigue and disarm us as he draws us into the complex workings of his mind. At the end, Charlie is not sure if Albert deserves a public voice. There is something self-serving about Alberts request, something that makes us feel uneasy, even complicit. And yet the story is told. And we cant help but be thoroughly entertained. The prose is beautiful and the whole thing is a superb tour de force.
RuberyBookAward.com
633433
At many points along the story, I felt a vivid projection of lifefrom a small caf where Marco and Marisa had a chat about philosophy to some of the more dark corners of its favelas. Shes done an outstanding job of conveying the reader through the trappings of her scenes, not least because of her elegant word choices, but also for her wide range of artistry with details large and small. Collet expertly brings the reader into a fantasy state about the lovers, treating the reader to something urgent yet well foretold, immediate yet hoped-for. She shows us the human condition of being in love and reminds us that no relationship is perfect, regardless of circumstances. The grind and mesh of logic and wanting, the crushing ethical choices, and the sweet impulse of attaining something precious are elements in Collets story that dance in harmony, giving emotional terrain below the heights of sensuality.
4304202
Abram's work unsettles our familiarity with much human-centered technology and habits -- from airplanes and lit screens back all the way to phonetically written text -- as he coaxes us into a rapport with the thoroughly animated elemental world to which our senses belong. Much of the grace of this work lies in Abram's capacity to translate. He anticipates where readers' common sense and scientific literacy will balk at what looks like superstition, confusion, or "mere metaphor," and then he draws our attention around to an astonishing new angle of recognition. By the end, it is our detachment and our very notion of "the literal" that seem out of joint with life.
930978
Interesting character study and how perception frames events.
313222
From the first page, I was captivated by Gilboy's lead characters - both Professor Adam Snow and his young acquaintance, Madeleine. Snow's musings about passion, perception and compromise are edgy, but also universal.

Professor Snow's "confession" is subtle, complex and utterly engaging. Like him, Madeleine also treads a thin line between eccentricity and madness.

In short, this novel is mindbending. So now, knowing the end from the beginning, I'm eager to delve in for a second read!
1811709
I read this book when was first published, and am happy to see it reissued in both paper and electronic format. Upon re-reading it from the perspective of an older person I better appreciate its considerable depth and scope. I was a student of the author around the time the book was first published and nominated for the National Book Award, a fact I should mention though I don't think it prejudices my review of the book.

The story and subplots all succeed individually and as they're interwoven. The reader gets a vivid vision of the city of Chicago in the late 1950s, a city Ive never visited or seen except from the window of a plane.  It is partly this vision that weaves or binds the many elements into a rich tapestry. Imagine an intricate and detailed pen and ink drawing of an apartment building with the wall cut away, hundreds of people going about their daily lives in their homes, a spaghetti-like complex of highways jammed with vehicles, planes in the sky, people on the streets, the details of which can only be seen with a magnifying glass, and also seeing the entire picture, sort of like some of the drawings of Peter Aschwanden. The picture is both microcosmic and macrocosmic.

A particular scene of many that might come to mind describes the detective Magnuson walking through alleys that many years earlier he had used to walk to and from work. There apparently are or were all these wide alleys in Chicago which serve as unofficial pedestrian arteries. On either side are the backyards of homes, so theres this whole insular world of families and neighbors and passers-by that is unseen by visitors, known only to Chicagoans. The descriptions of scenes and characters in this book are extraordinary, Dickensian as other reviewers have said.

This is a book to be read again and again. When I read it as a young man, I couldn't grasp it in its totality, but particular chapters I would read numerous times. The chapters concerning the main character Magnuson did not so much interest me then as they do now, and his evolutionor his disintegration, depending on how you look at itstands out for me upon reading the book now.

Some reviewers have thought the prose to be overwrought or florid in places, and there might be something in that. It did seem to me that in some spots the author might have been reaching some in trying to define and convey the thoughts and feelings and memories of Magnuson. He is a somewhat uncommunicative character who keeps much to himself, who is both famous and unknown, a pillar of the city and yet alien to it, whose mystery I can only partly solve.

Theres so much I want to say about this book,  but every word I don't write puts you the reader of this review one word closer to reading the book instead of reading this. The Death of the Detective is enthralling from cover to cover any which way you read it. Its probably more in the literary than detective genres, but its both. Download a free sample from an online retailer and see if it doesnt pull you in and leave you wanting to read more.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of the kindle book in exchange for an honest review.
4872485
What I most enjoyed about The Woman Behind the Waterfall was the complexity of the narrative and in particular that way it switches back and forth between first-person and third-person, and between the perspectives of various characters; this prevented the reading experience from becoming monotonous at those points where the plot seemed to be developing slowly.  Renderings of scene are vivid to the point of being suffocating at times, but the sentences doing the description are often so sonically pleasing that one may want to read one or two of them aloud.  I personally have never been to Ukraine, but I imagine that people who have spent time there will get a nostalgic thrill from the loving yet realistic treatment of the countryside and the language.  The incorporation of some Ukrainian words into the narrative was handled deftly, intensifying the sense of place without becoming confusing.  Some readers may be put off by the fantastical elements of the plot, but the novel is mostly realistic in its portrayal of character and emotion: characters who behave selfishly and sometimes even cruelly are nevertheless treated sympathetically, and the novel does not shy away from the uncomfortable truths that even the most intense feelings can change with circumstances, and that we often resent the ones we should, and indeed do, love.
2550556
The author provides a thoughtful and beautiful journey through the world that she sees. It is both seductive and compelling to this discerning reader, leaving me wanting more from her...hoping to travel along side.
2542930
In Joseph Boyden's mesmerizing and beautifully-rendered second novel - a follow-up to Three Day Road--former bush pilot Will Bird reflects, "Something's there, through the black spruce, just on the other side. I can't see it yet, though..."

The "something" is a strange place in the road:  the place between traditional ways of life and modernity, between nature and the insidious effects of the drug culture, between life and death.  There are two stories that are expertly interwoven here:  the story of Will, deep in a coma, who reflects on the adventures and tribulations of his life and what has led him to this hospital bed.  And the story of Annie, his niece, who is on a quest to find her missing sister, a one-time top fashion model in New York City who has lived the high life in every sense of the word.

Joseph Boyden captures the Cree language and sensibility and there are truly gorgeous and memorable moments in this book such as Will's connection with an aging bear sow, who, like Will, is experiencing "a world of loss".  Boyden breathes fresh air into the life of this aging hunter who is losing his designation as the "bush man in this town" and who deplores the blood feuds and drug dealing that have taken hold of his community.

Annie, too, is lost in the foreign world of high stakes modeling in New York - where she ends up in her search for her sister - a high-octane world where human connections mean little and the drug Ecstasy rules the day.  After being summoned back home, she and Will strive to rescue each other through the bracing honesty of confessing their experiences.

This gripping novel - taking us from a sterile hospital room to the primordial edges of the secluded James Bay, from the northern backwoods of Ontario to the glittering high-rises of the Big Apple - only falters at the end, with a "tie it all together" ending that is unworthy of the rest of the book.  It's a stunning book, worthy of the Scotibank Giller Prize it so richly earned.