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A review by lchamberlin97
Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera
3.0
Man, I was really rooting for this book to push me from four stars to five as I started in on the homestretch.
I admit, I was mesmerized by the whole of it - while the writing style was a bit *much* even for me (which is saying something), what with its giant block paragraphs and lack of quotation indications (is that Brazilian style or Galera's?) and unnamed main character (confusing at times with "him" being referenced only by pronoun, and I don't quite get the point), I nevertheless found myself entranced, waiting to see where this story was going. It lost me at times, that's for sure, but I had faith that the last 70 pages would lead me somewhere interesting.
Nah.
Not only did it not go from four to five stars, it went down to three. I have to give the full disclosure that I went on a 2.5 week trip in between reading the majority of the book and finishing the last 70 pages, but I genuinely don't think a full read-through would have made a difference, wrap-up wise.
Okay, okay, I'll give it a break - I acknowledge that the ending was an ending of sorts, despite my exclamation when I finished. Honestly! I know that the whole book was more about his progression as a character, and his relationship with this dog, and his relationship with all the people in this town. But I'll tell you where it gets me:
1. The lack of satisfaction with the whole thing with his grandfather. WHAT? Excuse me? He just lives up in a cave with a bunch of women and that's it? I mean, fine, I don't even know if I wanted there to be a big grand ~THING~ that he discovers about himself and his heritage and reconnects with lost ties!! But...I just didn't like it. That's all. I didn't like it.
2. The last scene is with Vivianne, and they go on a too-long discussion about forgiveness and blah-blah that's all fine but I didn't like that either. And I certainly didn't like that that's what it ends on. I just...don't think that's an adequate way to sum up this book. Hey, I'm entitled to my own opinions, right?
Overall, there's a lot about this book that I respect - a lot of choices Galera made that I am like, "Yes. Fine. But I don't like it." His girlfriend in the middle whose name I don't even remember, for example. The deal with Sara. The hill trek. To all of these things, I say, "Yes. Fine. But I don't like it." I wanted some real characters, some people I could SEE rather than hear Galera ramble about. But for a book seemingly entirely about characters, I felt their realness was missing.
I admit, I was mesmerized by the whole of it - while the writing style was a bit *much* even for me (which is saying something), what with its giant block paragraphs and lack of quotation indications (is that Brazilian style or Galera's?) and unnamed main character (confusing at times with "him" being referenced only by pronoun, and I don't quite get the point), I nevertheless found myself entranced, waiting to see where this story was going. It lost me at times, that's for sure, but I had faith that the last 70 pages would lead me somewhere interesting.
Nah.
Not only did it not go from four to five stars, it went down to three. I have to give the full disclosure that I went on a 2.5 week trip in between reading the majority of the book and finishing the last 70 pages, but I genuinely don't think a full read-through would have made a difference, wrap-up wise.
Okay, okay, I'll give it a break - I acknowledge that the ending was an ending of sorts, despite my exclamation when I finished. Honestly! I know that the whole book was more about his progression as a character, and his relationship with this dog
Spoiler
which thankfully went the way I was hopingSpoiler
1. The lack of satisfaction with the whole thing with his grandfather. WHAT? Excuse me? He just lives up in a cave with a bunch of women and that's it? I mean, fine, I don't even know if I wanted there to be a big grand ~THING~ that he discovers about himself and his heritage and reconnects with lost ties!! But...I just didn't like it. That's all. I didn't like it.
2. The last scene is with Vivianne, and they go on a too-long discussion about forgiveness and blah-blah that's all fine but I didn't like that either. And I certainly didn't like that that's what it ends on. I just...don't think that's an adequate way to sum up this book. Hey, I'm entitled to my own opinions, right?
Overall, there's a lot about this book that I respect - a lot of choices Galera made that I am like, "Yes. Fine. But I don't like it." His girlfriend in the middle whose name I don't even remember, for example. The deal with Sara. The hill trek. To all of these things, I say, "Yes. Fine. But I don't like it." I wanted some real characters, some people I could SEE rather than hear Galera ramble about. But for a book seemingly entirely about characters, I felt their realness was missing.