Expected more from the author of All the Light We Cannot See
2 stars
Same style that gives you the feeling of following a child discovering the world, scattering left and right beautiful and interesting insights.
But not the same result. All the Lights was set during WWII and we were following the lives of two pre-teens dealing with the chaos around them and managing to find beauty nevertheless.
In Four Seasons he's telling his own story of a 1 year trip in Rome. Insights are thrown around, beauty appears in a city that's a mess but the drama is not there.
It's a long novel (as was All the Lights) but halway through I found myself wondering if I really cared that much for one of his twins making his first steps or about the funeral ("biggest in the world") of pope John Paul II.
No drama, no tension, just everyday life. For me it became annoying very fast and I quickly felt …
Same style that gives you the feeling of following a child discovering the world, scattering left and right beautiful and interesting insights.
But not the same result. All the Lights was set during WWII and we were following the lives of two pre-teens dealing with the chaos around them and managing to find beauty nevertheless.
In Four Seasons he's telling his own story of a 1 year trip in Rome. Insights are thrown around, beauty appears in a city that's a mess but the drama is not there.
It's a long novel (as was All the Lights) but halway through I found myself wondering if I really cared that much for one of his twins making his first steps or about the funeral ("biggest in the world") of pope John Paul II.
No drama, no tension, just everyday life. For me it became annoying very fast and I quickly felt as if I was forced to look at the tons of photos of my friend's baby making his first steps.
And this type of writing seems to become very popular lately. I started On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, a novel from Ocean Vuong that seems to be written in exactly that same style: a son's letter to his mother. I read about 100 pages and gave up.
Everyday plain life in litterature is not for me....