Reviews

The Book of Chameleons by José Eduardo Agualusa

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autumnallune's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

blueyorkie's review against another edition

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5.0

Sometimes, on the literary road, we encounter surprising stories, a style, subjects, and poetry that touch us without knowing why. For example, we cannot explain some romances; once the reading ends, we ask ourselves questions about what happened.
That's what happened to me with the merchant of the past. Reading the back cover, I expected anything but that.
The narrator, a gecko who was once a man, like Scheherazade, tells us about the life that passes in the house he has chosen, that of Félix Ventura. Through concise chapters that may seem disjointed between dream and reality, the reader is almost hypnotized by the story.
The strength of José Eduardo Agualusa's novel is not in the story's plot, which is very inconsistent in itself. However, the questions it suggests are about the weight of the past, one's pride, each person's history, the lie, the truncated reality, and the memoir solidities.
Along the way, we will reveal some snippets of Angola's history in the background. Poetic writing is a dreamlike story tinged with a fantasy that we hesitate to qualify as soft or violent—a bizarre reading.

ana_qq's review against another edition

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3.0

Foi o primeiro livro deste escritor que li. O livro tem uma escrita límpida e imaginativa, a começar pelo narrador que é uma osga. A história vai e vem como uma maré de memórias onde se diluem passados e vidas possíveis. Ao lê-lo tive uma vaga e agradável sensação de irrealidade. No entanto a leitura não me prendeu, senti-a equivalente a um passeio ameno de fim de tarde.

ritaralha's review against another edition

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4.0

Mais uma estreia e muito boa por sinal.
Uma osga que já foi em tempos um homem e que vive vendo os outros viver.
Um homem que vende passados àqueles que querem mudar o futuro.
Um futuro que não sabemos se é real ou mais uma partida da nossa imaginação.