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tashreads2manybooks's Reviews (1.06k)
This could be my favourite novel of all time - and that's a big call!
Recently I’ve started my reading/reviewing process differently. I go to Goodreads and find a one or two star review (hopefully one without spoilers) and learn exactly how bad the book can be. Then I open the book and start to read. What happens? I am almost always pleasantly surprised.
This is the case with Tom Rachman’s The Rise & Fall of Great Powers. After reading the bad review I expected to be bored and confused. However, after finishing the book, I found the writing and story to be engaging and really easy to follow.
Tooly Zylberberg had an unconventional childhood. She was raised by a group of drifters, thieves and scoundrels after she was ‘taken’ from her home in Maryland. Now in her early thirties she is the owner of a second hand bookstore in Wales. After her ex-boyfriend calls to say that her father is ill, she decides to venture to New York to confront the characters from her past and learn the truth about her upbringing.
The novel alternates between 1988, 1999 and 2011. Some say that this alternating structure is confusing, and while there is an array of colourful characters, they are so distinct that I didn’t feel at all lost.
While the story is a mystery, at the heart of the novel are the characters. Humphrey, an old Russian intellectual and great reader; Sarah – a flighty and flirtatious groupie; Paul – a rather odd bird enthusiast; Venn – the mysterious and charismatic leader of the group, and many others you will love and/or hate.
It is interesting to follow Tooly through her discoveries and you realise that events from her childhood did not actually happen as she remembered them. The fallibility of memory, especially when we were young, is a core theme of the book. How well do we really know the people who raised us?
This is an enjoyable read with some breath-taking prose and philosophical ideas.
This is the case with Tom Rachman’s The Rise & Fall of Great Powers. After reading the bad review I expected to be bored and confused. However, after finishing the book, I found the writing and story to be engaging and really easy to follow.
Tooly Zylberberg had an unconventional childhood. She was raised by a group of drifters, thieves and scoundrels after she was ‘taken’ from her home in Maryland. Now in her early thirties she is the owner of a second hand bookstore in Wales. After her ex-boyfriend calls to say that her father is ill, she decides to venture to New York to confront the characters from her past and learn the truth about her upbringing.
The novel alternates between 1988, 1999 and 2011. Some say that this alternating structure is confusing, and while there is an array of colourful characters, they are so distinct that I didn’t feel at all lost.
While the story is a mystery, at the heart of the novel are the characters. Humphrey, an old Russian intellectual and great reader; Sarah – a flighty and flirtatious groupie; Paul – a rather odd bird enthusiast; Venn – the mysterious and charismatic leader of the group, and many others you will love and/or hate.
It is interesting to follow Tooly through her discoveries and you realise that events from her childhood did not actually happen as she remembered them. The fallibility of memory, especially when we were young, is a core theme of the book. How well do we really know the people who raised us?
This is an enjoyable read with some breath-taking prose and philosophical ideas.
I read this book after some abdominal surgery - which was unfortunate because every time I laughed it hurt like a bitch! It is a fun read about mistaken identity and all over silliness.
Hugh Howey has done it again! He has created another desolate dystopian world and sucked me right into it.
I have made no secret of the fact that I loved the Silo Trilogy, so it was with much trepidation that I started to read Sand. I was concerned that Mr. Howey might let me down. That Wool may have been a fluke, and my appreciation of the author may be tarnished. Not the case I am happy to report.
Sand tells the story of four siblings who live in the post-apocalyptic state of Colorado. An endless desert has buried the ancient world, and their people barely survive in the harsh wasteland. They work hard for every drop of water, and live under constant threat of terror attacks in their lawless society. The siblings (Victoria, Palmer, Conner and Rob) are all somehow involved with the dangerous job of sand-diving (I thought of it as deep sea diving, only through sand) where they scavenge items from the old world for resale. One day Palmer is approached by a band of outlaws who claim they have discovered the mythical city of Danvar buried deep beneath the dunes. Palmer, along with the rest of his family, is about to stumble on a truth that will change their perception of their entire world.
This is a fast-paced, highly engaging, very readable novel. The prose is not poetic or flowery, and Howey moves the action along swiftly and with purpose. His description of the sand and sand diving were particularly successful. Just as the Inuits purportedly have various different terms for snow, so do these people have numerous terms for sand – showing just how important it is in their lives.
The sand diving scenes were surprisingly realistic. I felt my own lungs gulping for air as the characters had to make their way through the sand without being buried alive – I took deep breathes after each dive. His explanation of the dive suits and the diving process were really good too. Though in reality it would be impossible (I think), Howey makes it plausible.
Some negative comments have been made about the world-building part of this novel. There is no completely satisfactory explanation as to how the world became this way (though it is attempted towards the end), however, I have a feeling there may be another book in the works, and our questions will be answered. Hugh Howey will not let us down!
I have made no secret of the fact that I loved the Silo Trilogy, so it was with much trepidation that I started to read Sand. I was concerned that Mr. Howey might let me down. That Wool may have been a fluke, and my appreciation of the author may be tarnished. Not the case I am happy to report.
Sand tells the story of four siblings who live in the post-apocalyptic state of Colorado. An endless desert has buried the ancient world, and their people barely survive in the harsh wasteland. They work hard for every drop of water, and live under constant threat of terror attacks in their lawless society. The siblings (Victoria, Palmer, Conner and Rob) are all somehow involved with the dangerous job of sand-diving (I thought of it as deep sea diving, only through sand) where they scavenge items from the old world for resale. One day Palmer is approached by a band of outlaws who claim they have discovered the mythical city of Danvar buried deep beneath the dunes. Palmer, along with the rest of his family, is about to stumble on a truth that will change their perception of their entire world.
This is a fast-paced, highly engaging, very readable novel. The prose is not poetic or flowery, and Howey moves the action along swiftly and with purpose. His description of the sand and sand diving were particularly successful. Just as the Inuits purportedly have various different terms for snow, so do these people have numerous terms for sand – showing just how important it is in their lives.
The sand diving scenes were surprisingly realistic. I felt my own lungs gulping for air as the characters had to make their way through the sand without being buried alive – I took deep breathes after each dive. His explanation of the dive suits and the diving process were really good too. Though in reality it would be impossible (I think), Howey makes it plausible.
Some negative comments have been made about the world-building part of this novel. There is no completely satisfactory explanation as to how the world became this way (though it is attempted towards the end), however, I have a feeling there may be another book in the works, and our questions will be answered. Hugh Howey will not let us down!
