allisonpw's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
For Torontonians, this book has lots of local reference points, serving as an interesting starting point for a deeper look into the city's historical landmarks and the people who made them. I might be less interested in this book if I didn't have that additional local context. I wasn't particularly invested in any of the characters, but the book kept my interest well enough.
shaunnow38's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-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
4.75
novelesque_life's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 STARS
"Bristling with intelligence and shimmering with romance, this novel tests the boundary between history and myth. Patrick Lewis arrives in Toronto in the 1920s and earns his living searching for a vanished millionaire and tunneling beneath Lake Ontario. In the course of his adventures, Patrick's life intersects with those of characters who reappear in Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning The English Patient." (From Amazon)
An excellent haunting novel but it is not for everyone...it is sort of a prequel to English Patient. Ondaatje is very lyrical in his writing and his descriptions at times are more of a character in the novel.
"Bristling with intelligence and shimmering with romance, this novel tests the boundary between history and myth. Patrick Lewis arrives in Toronto in the 1920s and earns his living searching for a vanished millionaire and tunneling beneath Lake Ontario. In the course of his adventures, Patrick's life intersects with those of characters who reappear in Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning The English Patient." (From Amazon)
An excellent haunting novel but it is not for everyone...it is sort of a prequel to English Patient. Ondaatje is very lyrical in his writing and his descriptions at times are more of a character in the novel.
lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very haunting story, about all kinds of people from different places in the world, their life paths crossing in mysterious ways. The language was sometimes very poetic, other times quite crude. Patrick was introduced first only as 'the boy' and he was the only Canadian in the story, all the other characters were immigrants. Patrick himself felt like an immigrant when he moved to Toronto, he was lost, with no real goal.
The end was very open, with no real resolution for any of them.
The end was very open, with no real resolution for any of them.
aimee__a's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alexanderh's review against another edition
3.0
While I'm not the biggest fan of the beginning and the all-around jumbling of the timeline, Ondaatje managed to captivate me. There is something to the quality of his writing that--once you get a feel for his style--takes you over. Once I did start reading a chunk of five pages or more, it was effortless to lose myself in the book.
dllh's review against another edition
4.0
I've been a little lukewarm on some Ondaatje, but the language in this one -- especially early on -- really did the trick for me, as did the earlier parts of the story, which was fascinating to me. Some of the later bits appealed to me less, but on the whole, this was a good, quick read.
jarichan's review against another edition
3.0
Anfangs war ich sehr eingenommen von diesem Buch. Ich fand die Beschreibungen vom Bau der Brücke fesselnd, auch Nicholas als Figur war interessant und faszinierend. Doch dann wechselte die Perspektive und aus der kreativen Handlung eines wagemutigen Arbeiters wurde eine eher durchschnittliche Liebesgeschichte.
Warum müssen Autoren ihre Werke oftmals selbst korrumpieren?
Patrick fand ich einen sehr langweilig geratenen Charakter. Vielleicht ist das so gewollt, aber nachdem er seine Kindheit (von der ich wiederum gerne las) hinter sich gelassen hat, wurde er mir immer gleichgültiger. Auch die Handlung selbst verlor an Kreativität und Originalität.
Der dritte Teil war wieder ein wenig packender, aber dennoch war das Buch bis dahin für mich schon verloren. Einzig Ondaatjes wirklich wunderschöner Schreibstil, sein feiner Umgang mit der Sprache und Ausdrücken halten mich davon ab, das Buch auszusortieren.
Denn formulieren, dass kann Ondaatje. Er drückt sich gekonnt aus, aber gleichzeitig verträumt und tiefgründig. Seine Texte zu lesen ist wundervoll. Klangvoll. Ergreifend. Wenn mir schon Handlung und Charaktere nicht zusagen, dann wenigstens seine Sprache. Diese hat wirklich viel gerettet.
Warum müssen Autoren ihre Werke oftmals selbst korrumpieren?
Patrick fand ich einen sehr langweilig geratenen Charakter. Vielleicht ist das so gewollt, aber nachdem er seine Kindheit (von der ich wiederum gerne las) hinter sich gelassen hat, wurde er mir immer gleichgültiger. Auch die Handlung selbst verlor an Kreativität und Originalität.
Der dritte Teil war wieder ein wenig packender, aber dennoch war das Buch bis dahin für mich schon verloren. Einzig Ondaatjes wirklich wunderschöner Schreibstil, sein feiner Umgang mit der Sprache und Ausdrücken halten mich davon ab, das Buch auszusortieren.
Denn formulieren, dass kann Ondaatje. Er drückt sich gekonnt aus, aber gleichzeitig verträumt und tiefgründig. Seine Texte zu lesen ist wundervoll. Klangvoll. Ergreifend. Wenn mir schon Handlung und Charaktere nicht zusagen, dann wenigstens seine Sprache. Diese hat wirklich viel gerettet.
roseice's review against another edition
1.0
A frustrating, structureless narrative. I am of the belief that a novel must stand on its own two feet, must have a balanced and proper structure that is self-contained--no vague references taking up sections of the plot that are so obscure the reader becomes lost and fails to care. No specific outside information should be required (such as the names of lesser known writers) in order to gain the full impact of a scene. This novel was all over the place--an irresponsible mess of prose and narrative that was irritating to read. No amount of lovely sentences can win me over when a book has no plot, weak conflict and characters/relationships that are nowhere near fleshed out enough to even make me care about them a little bit. The sex scenes were grating and random, pointlessly repulsive, adding nothing to the story whatsoever. This is a disappointment of Canadian literature, and I'm rather ashamed books like this have come to represent Canadian lit at all.