Reviews with content warning for Death - Lessons

I enjoyed this read, and stuck with it which is saying something as I don't often read books this long. Told from the perspective of Roland, who grows up in the aftermath of the Second World War, the book is very rooted in the historical context. It was interesting to feel that each character was deeply influenced by the historical and political contexts- arms races, the fall of the Berlin Wall, political movements in Britain, all the way through to the covid lockdowns. However it did feel very male centric- all the male characters were significantly more developed than the female characters and it felt like the genre of 'grandad telling his life story at the dinner table'. Also massive massive content warning for sexual assault / harassment / pedophilia - it jumps in right at chapter 1, threads through the whole novel and is very confronting if you are not expecting it.

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raelin's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I am glad I finished this, because I liked it more than I thought I did halfway through. I needed the reflections of the old man on the young man to balance out the thoughts of the young man, and I had to keep reading to get to that part.

There was a lot in this to digest and it is ripe for discussion in a book club.

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miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The start is a struggle tbh but it does improve a lot, about growing up and getting old and just life more generally

‘He wasn’t waiting for her. But if she ever turned up he wanted his options open. Which was another was of saying, he was waiting.’

‘A form of narcissism, or closely related paranoia.’

‘It was his right to want nothing.’

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lynnenad's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I enjoyed this book but I would not recommend it to many other people. It tells the story of one man’s life from 11 years old to beyond 70 years. Critical readers say that nothing happens in this man’s life but his life is very similar to the lives of pretty much everyone I know, including me. There are some personally dramatic moments that create ripples that last for decades, and for generations. The events of the larger human world also impact the man’s life, creating their own consequences, as they do for most of us. The lessons learned and the reflections are well written and thought out. The several pages dealing with loss and grief are extremely well written. A fine book. I may well read it more than once.

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agata_94's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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danaaliyalevinson's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I’ll preface by saying, I have loved other stories from this writer. This one was a big miss for me. I’m a television and screenwriter, and all the time in reference to biopics, I say that they often fail to realize that someone’s life is not a story. That’s how I felt about this book. Its narrative spanned an entire lifetime and yet it just felt like a series of events marching on without point or thematic conclusion. Oftentimes, the historical events that are woven throughout the narrative also feel contrived, as if to make commentary on the ways in which history affects the common person. But for me, too often this served to distract from the narrative.

I was also very disappointed in the way that this book handled sexual assault and the non-consensual adult/child sexual relationship between Roland and his piano teacher. For me, it fell into the trap of how when an adult man preys on a girl, it’s clearly viewed as predatory and beyond the pale. But when an adult woman preys on a boy, well good for that boy! While there’s some indictment of Roland’s teacher, there’s not nearly enough. And even Roland himself questions whether or not she really did anything wrong. The psychic harm that she caused him is also not fully explored. For me, this was problematic on its face.

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