nawellponson's reviews
80 reviews

So, I didn’t like it: not my favorite subject matter and some of it felt vulgar just for the uncomfortable factor. But I certainly appreciate the writing — naturally, it’s wonderful writing since it’s Ondaatje. It’s prose, but written very much like poetry. The main character, based on real-life Buddy Bolden, slips into madness, and that’s a lot what reading this book is like. I understand this to be purposeful and therefore well done. The plot is non-linear, there are multiple points of view, there are changes of tense, and the syntax is more like modern poetry than well-structured sentences. Ondaatje certainly has wonderful characters — gruesome, ugly people who simultaneously break the reader’s heart. Was personally interesting to me since it’s based in Louisiana, namely New Orleans, but includes so many small towns that I know. All in all, it’s one of those books in which the reader says “Wow, I can appreciate what is happening here” over and over without ever actually liking what is happening. Three stars just for the complexity of writing and pure talent of Ondaatje.

3.5 stars = 3 stars personally; 4 stars generally. If you like fluffy romance amid the backdrop of historical fiction/fantasy, you’ll love it. I personally am not a huge romantic fan, but really enjoyed the writing style and the finesse at which the author wove fiction, history, and poetry.

I cried twice and I didn’t want it to end. 5 stars

Beautiful writing style - clever and poetic

I honestly don’t know if I should give three or four stars. Four for pure talent by Tartt. She’s an amazing writer and some places of this book genuinely made me tear up from the way she simply turned a phrase. Three stars because there were some places that felt the pacing dragged on and on. Really, I oscillated between being riveted by sections to wanting to abandon it altogether, sometimes within a single chapter. Definitely not a feel-good, happy book full of warmth, but there are glimpses there…but certainly gritty and seedy, too.

Pretty good! A lot of his tips are feasible :) I liked the metaphor of the potato vs egg.