A review by booksaremysuperpower
All the Secrets of the World by Steve Almond
2.0
(2-3 stars) Look, I'll say this: Steve Almond remains one of the most talented, generous, compassionate, quirky and profound writers I've ever come across. I find his writing (and teaching, if you've ever taken a workshop with him) astounding and inspiring. There's so much about him and his approach to craft that just works. Which is why it very much disappoints me to not fall head over heels in love with this novel.
It's certainly an ambitious effort. There's so much juicy and hard-hitting stuff in here: scorpions, science, Mormon sects living in Mexico, Reaganism, the 80s, child molestation, the prison system, racism, misogyny, teen angst, drugs, illegal immigration... perhaps it was too ambitious? I'm not sure all of these themes got equal weight and I often found myself adrift by the scope of the storytelling.
I also had a hard time connecting with these characters, if I'm honest. The only character that I truly followed with any curiosity was Detective Pedro Guerrero. In fact, if Guerrero was the protagonist to the story and not Lorena, I might have felt more invested overall. The middle section of the novel, where Guerrero is trying to do some serious detective work and go around his boss (and trying to take Lorena's word seriously but also protect her), was the strongest part of the book with true stakes, and Guerrero just came off as a more developed and nuanced character than the others. I cared about him and wanted him to succeed.
I mean, was I supposed to care about Marcus Stallworth, self-proclaimed child predator/abandoner of family/all around boring individual at all? The story hinges on his disappearance and only Lorena (after a too brief interaction with a map where she seems to solve the mystery of his whereabouts way too quickly), really, seems to care.
Different sections of the novel felt tonally all over the place, given such heavy themes. I wasn't sure where I supposed to land emotionally. The story of Tony Saenz and his treatment by the police and FBI is heart wrenching. Plus, his mother Graciela's constant fear of deportation was intense. But then we get little scenes with Nancy Reagan consulting her astrologer on how she (and the President) should handle major affairs (which is apparently factual), and it comes off as humorous and a little wacky - too light, in some ways, for the full weight of such a novel.
What I think ultimately kept me from fully sinking into the story, however, was the format. There are no chapter breaks, just aspects of the story, not always linear, told by different points of view, and separated into 5 “books.” I needed chapter breaks! There is so much to take in here and my reader brain felt quite overwhelmed by the constant shifts in POV, location, facts, time lapses, etc.
I'm probably in the minority on this read but perhaps my expectations were high too, since this is his first published novel. Writing wise, Almond still crafts beautifully intricate and vivid sentences, even though I wasn't a fan of the actual story. For the location, he definitely captured California and the 80s quite well. I did feel transported back in time.
I'm looking forward to what's next!
It's certainly an ambitious effort. There's so much juicy and hard-hitting stuff in here: scorpions, science, Mormon sects living in Mexico, Reaganism, the 80s, child molestation, the prison system, racism, misogyny, teen angst, drugs, illegal immigration... perhaps it was too ambitious? I'm not sure all of these themes got equal weight and I often found myself adrift by the scope of the storytelling.
I also had a hard time connecting with these characters, if I'm honest. The only character that I truly followed with any curiosity was Detective Pedro Guerrero. In fact, if Guerrero was the protagonist to the story and not Lorena, I might have felt more invested overall. The middle section of the novel, where Guerrero is trying to do some serious detective work and go around his boss (and trying to take Lorena's word seriously but also protect her), was the strongest part of the book with true stakes, and Guerrero just came off as a more developed and nuanced character than the others. I cared about him and wanted him to succeed.
I mean, was I supposed to care about Marcus Stallworth, self-proclaimed child predator/abandoner of family/all around boring individual at all? The story hinges on his disappearance and only Lorena (after a too brief interaction with a map where she seems to solve the mystery of his whereabouts way too quickly), really, seems to care.
Different sections of the novel felt tonally all over the place, given such heavy themes. I wasn't sure where I supposed to land emotionally. The story of Tony Saenz and his treatment by the police and FBI is heart wrenching. Plus, his mother Graciela's constant fear of deportation was intense. But then we get little scenes with Nancy Reagan consulting her astrologer on how she (and the President) should handle major affairs (which is apparently factual), and it comes off as humorous and a little wacky - too light, in some ways, for the full weight of such a novel.
What I think ultimately kept me from fully sinking into the story, however, was the format. There are no chapter breaks, just aspects of the story, not always linear, told by different points of view, and separated into 5 “books.” I needed chapter breaks! There is so much to take in here and my reader brain felt quite overwhelmed by the constant shifts in POV, location, facts, time lapses, etc.
I'm probably in the minority on this read but perhaps my expectations were high too, since this is his first published novel. Writing wise, Almond still crafts beautifully intricate and vivid sentences, even though I wasn't a fan of the actual story. For the location, he definitely captured California and the 80s quite well. I did feel transported back in time.
I'm looking forward to what's next!