The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
elysahenegar's review against another edition
4.0
I like books with good bones, and this story has structure and tissue and whole hidden threads that course through. If you're someone who likes to puzzle through, to consider what's happening underneath, you'll enjoy this novel too. This is a story that sifts through the issue of human suffering, how we navigate our deep grief, how we summon a sense of purpose and the will to pursue adventure in the wake of deep pain. The writing has texture and color and smell---this author knows well the memory we have for smells, the emotion and nostalgia they evoke, and he uses them well. The prose does include some in your face, earthy descriptions of sexuality and the human body that feel more like an invasion of your space than anything erotic, but it also carefully examines the makings of love, romance, attraction, and the differences among them. In stages, the writing is poetic, thoughtful, and even wise. This is a colorful tale with a shadow hiding underneath, and you'll read all the way to the last page before you discover the answer to the question Nurse Consuela asks in the beginning: Why Columbus?
the_sassy_bookworm's review against another edition
5.0
Really, Really liked this one! A man washes ashore and claims to be Christopher Columbus. He is sent to a metal institute and soon forms a bond with one of the nurses. This was just such a well written book, the relationship between "Columbus" and "Consuela" is beautifully written and the stories "Columbus" recounts are touching and offer clues to what really happened. It's not a very fast paced read, but more of a stroll through love and tragedy. Just a really great read!
suey's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting, compelling story about a guy who is crazy and thinks he is Columbus. Overall, I liked it, but I had a few problems with it too.
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
A book with some interesting parts but I found the whole story quite strange and did not enjoy any of the characters, probably wouldn't read again.
skyreader's review against another edition
2.0
I feel cheated by this novel. The question is—does the wonderfully touchy and tragic ending justify the long toil the story took us through, to reach the end? I was, actually, so very close never to reach it, because the first 350 pages made me so agitated, I wanted to leave the book unfinished on a few occasions. Even now, when I turned the last page, I’m still not sure if it was worth it.
At first I liked the idea of a mental patient who thinks he's Christopher Columbus, and tells the stories, mixing history and present time, to his nurse. However, as the book progresses, it doesn't go anywhere, the plot stalls, and Columbus' stories drag on, without sense. There are way too many of those confused story-episodes, unsorted and out of chronological, or any other logical order. On top of it, the nurse develops emotional attachment to Columbus, but that was explained in a very superficial and unbelievable way. There was no courting, or subtle changing of feelings from the care for a patient into something deeper. No, one day the good nurse realized that she’s in love. Snap. Just like that. For a reader who likes his books well done, this one was absolutely rare.
It also seems that all the female characters in the book get naked at some point, mostly without any particular reason other than, perhaps, to spice up a terribly bland story. There’s lust and sex. There’s author’s documented intention to describe a great romantic with absolute adoration of his women’s body, and, yes, the soul, too. Which begs the question whether the author ever experienced the kind of romance he was trying to attribute to this ‘Columbus,’ because if he did, he isn’t capable to translate it in writing. Rather, the romantic escapades in the book are half-baked, clumsy and neither detailed enough to be taken seriously, nor funny enough to be taken as comedy.
Two stars, only because of the ending.
At first I liked the idea of a mental patient who thinks he's Christopher Columbus, and tells the stories, mixing history and present time, to his nurse. However, as the book progresses, it doesn't go anywhere, the plot stalls, and Columbus' stories drag on, without sense. There are way too many of those confused story-episodes, unsorted and out of chronological, or any other logical order. On top of it, the nurse develops emotional attachment to Columbus, but that was explained in a very superficial and unbelievable way. There was no courting, or subtle changing of feelings from the care for a patient into something deeper. No, one day the good nurse realized that she’s in love. Snap. Just like that. For a reader who likes his books well done, this one was absolutely rare.
It also seems that all the female characters in the book get naked at some point, mostly without any particular reason other than, perhaps, to spice up a terribly bland story. There’s lust and sex. There’s author’s documented intention to describe a great romantic with absolute adoration of his women’s body, and, yes, the soul, too. Which begs the question whether the author ever experienced the kind of romance he was trying to attribute to this ‘Columbus,’ because if he did, he isn’t capable to translate it in writing. Rather, the romantic escapades in the book are half-baked, clumsy and neither detailed enough to be taken seriously, nor funny enough to be taken as comedy.
Two stars, only because of the ending.
squeegybeckinheim's review against another edition
2.0
This book let me down. The only saving grace was that the writing was beautiful. Unfortunately that's not always enough to save a book. The idea was certainly interesting, but to me the execution failed. It also dragged. I wanted to reach inside the book and shake the narrator telling them to "get on with it already". I'd call this a pretty sub-par experience.
spattee's review against another edition
5.0
Stunning book. Beautifully written. It will stay with me for a long time. I cried.
parasyticworm's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so interesting! I love everything about it!!!
thesassybookworm's review against another edition
5.0
Really, Really liked this one! A man washes ashore and claims to be Christopher Columbus. He is sent to a metal institute and soon forms a bond with one of the nurses. This was just such a well written book, the relationship between "Columbus" and "Consuela" is beautifully written and the stories "Columbus" recounts are touching and offer clues to what really happened. It's not a very fast paced read, but more of a stroll through love and tragedy. Just a really great read!