Jarek Roczniak Roczniak itibaren 36636 O Freixo, Pontevedra, İspanya
I was home for Christmas, sitting cold and lonely in the guest room that once was my room with the tacky photos on the wall that I put up when I was 15 and I read this book and it made me happy, despite the tacky photos. It's brave. It's a really brave book, rambling, leaping, sometimes I wished it would hold still. But it made me laugh, and sometimes it made me sad (I'm not going to say cry, I don't remember if I cried). I like it and its grandiose ideas even more than I liked Everything Is Illuminated, which has a different flavor, though also brave. I like it when authors write things that people can make fun of, because some people will say JSF was too brave on this one and that he can't pull it off. Sometimes the book is a little too much, too much flavor, a little drippy with all the writing talent. But overall I think he did pull it off, and even if he overshot a couple times, he couldn't have gotten all the moments that are just right without reaching that far.
Smart, well-written, quick beach read. I rushed to the end of this book about family, connections and going home(can you?) Details of the scenery add so much to the plot, which follows several permanent and temporary island residents over the course of a summer.