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Everything Beautiful Began After

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 1,265 ratings · 215 reviews

Rebecca is young, lost, and beautiful. A gifted artist, she seeks solace and inspiration in the Mediterranean heat of Athens--trying to understand who she is and how she can love without fear.

George has come to Athens to learn ancient languages after growing up in New England boarding schools and Ivy League colleges. He has no close relationships with anyone and spends his...more

Paperback, 402 pages

Published July 5th 2011 by Harper Perennial (first published July 1st 2011)

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Aug 19, 2011 Ellie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, 2011ind-chal200bks

Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy is a truly stunning book. Vivid images cascade one after another but all serve to illuminate the characters and their past.

Three characters dominate the story-the classic French scenario of a woman (Rebecca) loved by two men. But in this story, all the characters are dominated by pasts filled with loss & abandonment and childhoods scarred in powerful ways.

This image is a representative example of how Van Booy uses images to bring an immediac...more Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy is a truly stunning book. Vivid images cascade one after another but all serve to illuminate the characters and their past.

Three characters dominate the story-the classic French scenario of a woman (Rebecca) loved by two men. But in this story, all the characters are dominated by pasts filled with loss & abandonment and childhoods scarred in powerful ways.

This image is a representative example of how Van Booy uses images to bring an immediacy to a present setting while simultaneously evoking a powerful sense of the past and deepening our feelings about the characters, increasing their texture without having them talk about their feelings: "Next to the wicker baskets, a mechanical ride-on horse already stripped bare by the wind off the sea"-we are on the dock of a semi-abandoned, dilapidated pier attached to a small, little-known or cared for village. This one image tells us so much about the place and creates a sense of how the characters will experience it and what may happen there for them.

At the same time, the image also evokes the characters' past, their childhoods which were stripped of wonder and magic and a sense of safety too soon (a mooring which was barren and without love)evoking the characters' past, their childhoods already stripped of wonder & love) and creates a powerful sense for the reader not only of each character but also of what has drawn them together-3 adults who are also 3 very wounded children trying to find ways to create a self in a dangerous, unhospitable world, and to forge relationships with others.

This image serves so many purposes, and does so gracefully, lightly, without hitting the reader over the head or pointing to itself with pride.

And the book is filled with these images, almost consists of them, one after another but not so much in a linear sequence but in a shower.

It is noteworthy that Rebecca is a painter, in a text that is so visual, that uses words as paintings of moments. One of the men is an archaeologist-perhaps not the lightest touch but a telling one none the less as the characters both seek to excavate their pasts and bring them into the light of day, to make meaning of them and integrate them into a larger experience of life while at the same time, they seek to evade the truth, to run from memory and true sharing with or trust of others.

This book is brilliant. I feel lucky to have discovered it.(less)

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Jun 24, 2011 NerdGirlBlogger rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'd say it is the perfect novel or at least, the perfect novel for me.

Of course, I loved it–in fact, it is the best book I’ve read in 2011. Set against the spectacular backdrop of an Athens summer that changed the lives of three tortured souls forever, Everything Beautiful Began After: A Novel is not your typical story of soul-searching abroad, or an entangled romantic triangle. This novel is told with Van Booy’s trademark gift to write about love, truth, beauty and compassion in a way no other...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Remoy Philip rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is a shift in book 2 of this novel that makes the amorous utopian blasé narrative of book 1 smartly plotted. And this is not specific to the dramatic shift, but to the shift in how the protagonist is no longer just "Henry" but suddenly compounded into a three letter direct pronoun that allows the spectator to become less the spectator and more the character involved in the spectacle that is Everything Beautiful Began After. There are many modern conventions like this throughout the book th...more

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May 06, 2013 Dewayne Stark rated it 4 of 5 stars

A pretzel of paths by Henry, George and Rebecca. Chapter TWENTY-ONE starts with the first meeting of Henry and Dr. Peterson where Henry bring his artifact from digging at his young age of nine. The doctor tells Henry that the flint could have been used to hunt dinosaurs. This confused me at this point, was the Dr. just humoring Henry, but certainly a man of science wouldn't give him this line of reasoning if he was serious about helping Henry which he does.

Later in the story the professor's Rena...more

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Dec 24, 2012 N. rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've read Everything Beautiful Began After twice. The first reading was excellent with one exception: I found the prologue a baffling cloud of metaphor. Even rereading the prologue after the first completion of the book didn't help clarify things as much as I'd hoped, although it is definitely one of those prologues that makes more sense after having read the entire book.

On the second reading, I felt much the same. The use of metaphor in the prologue is too heavy, although it made sense to me. T...more

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Sep 22, 2012 lori mitchell rated it 4 of 5 stars

A beautiful story about three lost souls trying to find themselves in Athens and what happens when they all meet. This a beautiful story. Heartbreaking at times, but also full of love and life. I loved it.

Favorite quotes:

"The beauty of artifacts is in how they reassure us we're not the first to die. But those who seek only reassurance from life will never be more than tourists--seeing everything and only trying to possess what can be felt. Beauty is in the shadow of imperfection."

"Sometimes chi...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

The paths of three strangers cross while they are living in Athens. First there’s Rebecca, an artist and former stewardess. Then there’s George, a student of ancient languages who has fallen for Rebecca, but can’t stop drinking. Finally we have Henry, an archeologist who is haunted by the guilt of his past.

Reading this book is like walking into a dream. I was immediately swept away by the beauty of Athens and intoxicating love of the characters. That same enchanting fog makes it a bit hard to fi...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Vivienne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I couldn't decide if I should give this book two stars or five, so I settled on four.

I was sold on it by the blurb beneath it on the shelf at my favorite bookshop, claiming that had Fitzgerald and Hemingway had a baby, it would be this book. As I love both of those authors, I had a hard time saying no. In many ways, this is entirely accurate. (Also, in the author photo at the back, Van Booy definitely looks like he really, really wishes that he was Jay Gatsby.)

Ultimately, I think I might not be...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Judith Starkston rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book caught my attention because it is set in Athens and one of the characters is an archaeologist, topics I enjoy. Those two aspects turn out not to be overly central, but I’m glad I read it. The narrative voices and the structure of the novel are inventive and very contemporary in style. Van Booy has created a masterful piece of fiction, although it is not an easy read. I found it disorienting at times, and sometimes the masterful demanded I take notice of the author’s skill rather than l...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Larry Hoffer rated it 3 of 5 stars

I fell in love with Simon Van Booy's mesmerizing short story collection, Love Begins in Winter, when I read it in 2009, and it was among my favorite books of that year. His first novel, Everything Beautiful Began After, approaches love and relationships in a wholly different way, and although it didn't resonate with me as much as his short story collection, Van Booy's writing continues to transfix me.

Rebecca is a former flight attendant and an aspiring artist on the run from life. George is a l...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Denis rated it 4 of 5 stars

This may well be one of the most exquisitely written books of the year. I can imagine that some may find Van Booy's style precious and maybe too elaborate, and I guess some could describe him as an acquired taste: it seems that people don't write like this anymore, today - and that, for me, is an immense quality. I miss writers who are able to create, in some ways, a language of their own, who aren't afraid to be poetic (without sounding pretentious or ridiculous), who want to enchant the reader...more This may well be one of the most exquisitely written books of the year. I can imagine that some may find Van Booy's style precious and maybe too elaborate, and I guess some could describe him as an acquired taste: it seems that people don't write like this anymore, today - and that, for me, is an immense quality. I miss writers who are able to create, in some ways, a language of their own, who aren't afraid to be poetic (without sounding pretentious or ridiculous), who want to enchant the reader through the power of words, and not just through a complicated plot. Each word is there for a purpose, each sentence has a specific sound, and the whole novel has the haunting quality of a rare, very unique, mysterious perfume that you can't quite analyze nor define, but which you want to smell again and again. I just love the way this man writes - and how unabashedly romantic he is, although, to be clear, his romanticism, tinted with deep melancholy and sadness, isn't the one you find in cheap romance novels, but is of a purer literary essence. The story is - at the beginning at least- deceptively simple. Two men in love with the same woman, in an exotic, lush yet poor city of a country rooted in the past. But things happen. Life happens. And then the story goes toward very unexpected directions (there is quite a shocking turning point): they don't always have the enthralling power of the first part, but, somehow, they do come together to create a cohesive whole, and they do work. Van Booy explores the devastation of grief in ways that can appear unbelievable, and yet the result is quite emotional, and you do feel deeply for the character, as much as you want to shake him out of his dreamlike self-destructiveness born out of a loss. One of the most poignant, intelligent, and subtle aspects of the novel is how it dissects the internal lives of expatriates - people who live in foreign cities, inhabited by a sense of wanderlust that is often linked to personal tragedies. As an expatriate myself, I could only marvel at Van Booy's understanding of the situation, and how it feels to be an exiled, even if the exile has been chosen. This book is quite a tour de force - that more than deserves the praises it seems to get from the literary world.(less)

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Aug 29, 2011 Jamie rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I chose this book out of quite a few. It's always dangerous to go into a bookstore with no set title in mind. I must have switched my choice at least six times before choosing this one and finally making it to the register. And while I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of Proust or "Swann's Way," reading the comparison between Simon Van Booy to a love child of Margarite Duras and Marcel Proust was simply too poetically shimmering a thought to pass up. Throw in Greece, which I'm always longing to visit...more I chose this book out of quite a few. It's always dangerous to go into a bookstore with no set title in mind. I must have switched my choice at least six times before choosing this one and finally making it to the register. And while I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of Proust or "Swann's Way," reading the comparison between Simon Van Booy to a love child of Margarite Duras and Marcel Proust was simply too poetically shimmering a thought to pass up. Throw in Greece, which I'm always longing to visit, an archiologist (the most stimulating and, if such a thing exists, sexiest--of professions) and I'd found my latest novel.

I loved several aspects of the book. The overall omniscient narrative that switches between leading characters was nice, as everyone brings their own back story to the table and it's nice and efficient to know who's you'll be focusing on; coupled with the varying nationalities of the characters. The landscape and local color were as beautiful as the Proust/Duras comparison had lead me to believe, and I even enjoyed the 70 or so pages of pen pal/fax machine exchanges while Henry took a page out of "Up In The Air" and went from Heathrow to LAX and everywhere in between.

But, what I didn't like was the lack of solidity between points in the plot. I found myself unaware of the central plot catalyst until I was past it and had to go back to read a few pages to understand what happened to our heroine Rebecca. Additionally, I had a hard time keeping time, as they book didn't start with a linear time frame (despite the title, this still threw me, and I'm usually a fairly observant reader, more so than most I'd wager). And, over all, while realism wasn't the book's or Van Booy's purpose, I still found it distractingly difficult to believe (no, more than that, perhaps even sloppy) to assume Henry's parents would think it appropriate to not hear from their son for a year, that George would quietly give up drinking or Rebecca's family would find out she was lovingly and romantically tossed in the to Aegean.

More frustrating than all of the discrepancies combined was the chapter on Nathalie, Rebecca's twin, and her husband and little daughter. We're told to question the girl's paternity, but the question appears all at once and is just as quickly dismissed. Likewise, Rebecca didn't seem to keep a diary but it couldn't, as I imagined at first, have simply belonged to her mother. So was Rebecca a liar? Did she never work for Airfrance? Why was this important at all except to slightly (barely) hinder Henry's inevitable recovery?

All in all, I enjoyed aspects of this novel but don't feel it was well-formed enough to really call a novel. I'd call it glimmers. And they were beautiful glimmers, but not joined enough to make a solid book. I felt unfulfilled and a little exhausted after reading it, despite coming away with a mind full of beautiful black and white snapshots, the sorts with the scribbly annotations you can't quite make out well enough to give you a solid idea of who, what or when they came from, but just show you a pretty woman you knew more about in a silk flower dress...(less)

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Jul 21, 2011 Carita rated it 4 of 5 stars

Van Booy has such a deft touch with language, I wasn't sure it could carry a novel... but it does, and gracefully.

This was a simple, thought-provoking read. Henry, Rebecca and George were interesting to follow on their journeys, interesting to understand. Van Booy describes their surroundings beautifully, with the kind of subtle skill that can leave aspiring writers gnashing their teeth with envy.

The book isn't perfect. The writing is still in short story form; on one hand the short (often singl...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Everything Beautiful Began After took me by surprise. It begins with a little girl playing in the "wild end of the garden". She's thinking about how she came to be, and realizing there was life before her, she decides she again wants to hear the story about how her parents met.

I thought I had an idea of the story this book would tell, but I was taken down a completely different path.

Rebecca is a beautiful, young, former French stewardess turned aspiring artist.

George is an American, with a bit...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I took a copy of this out of the library, but after the first page of Book One I just went out an bought my own copy; by the time I was done reading there was a bookmark on nearly every page (see below). I wasn't entirely sure a novel would be as good as his short stories (Love Begins in Winter; The Secret Lives of People in Love) but this was. It's the same poetic language but you spend longer with the same characters, as they fall apart and piece themselves back together. Piercingly beautiful...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Erika Robuck rated it 5 of 5 stars

The novel takes place largely in Athens, Sicily, and France, but spans many continents and time periods, and is divided into the time before and after an event. Before the event, in Athens, Greece, three people’s lives converge in unexpected ways as they are all displaced in some way from a life they should be living, where they reside under the cover of shadows from their pasts or demons from their present.

Rebecca, an artist, still feels the hollow wound of her mother’s abandonment of her and h...more The novel takes place largely in Athens, Sicily, and France, but spans many continents and time periods, and is divided into the time before and after an event. Before the event, in Athens, Greece, three people’s lives converge in unexpected ways as they are all displaced in some way from a life they should be living, where they reside under the cover of shadows from their pasts or demons from their present.

Rebecca, an artist, still feels the hollow wound of her mother’s abandonment of her and her twin sister when they were children. George, a linguist and American boarding school graduate, drinks to anesthetize himself from his loneliness. Henry, an archaeologist, is trapped in a tragedy from his past that has never allowed him to fully live.

The three of them meet each other in the decaying city of Athens and begin to emerge from their vacancies until a terrible incident changes everything. Though their worlds are shaken, the experience leads to true spiritual awakening and appreciation for the tragic beauty of every moment in life.

I knew from the moment I started Everything Beautiful Began After that I was in love. I had to remind myself to breathe after the first chapter, not because of any jarring scenes or shocking moments (those come later), but because of the language. This novel feels like 402 pages of poetry, without a single gratuitous word. Every sentence has weight, but rather than being exhausting, the reading is exhilarating. I underlined half of the sentences in the book, and I know I will reread it many times.

In addition to the elegant prose, there are several point of view shifts in the novel, not only from character to character but also from third to second person, that support both the thematic and character development. There are also many drawings, post cards and letters embedded within the text that enhance the authenticity of the story.

Everything Beautiful Began After is literary, philosophical, and spiritually rich but it is also very accessible, which makes it genius. This is a book club book, and as it was recommended to me, I suggest to you that you read this book on paper. An e-reader can’t possibly do its text features justice. This is a book you’ll want on your shelf to refer to and display so that people thumbing through your library can pick it up and get lost in it.

I can’t do justice to the perfection of this novel. I want to call it a religious experience, but I’m afraid I’ll sound ridiculous or build it up too much for you. I will say that Everything Beautiful Began After profoundly touched me. It is a book I will carry with me and recommend widely. Please read it and tell me what you think.(less)

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Dec 14, 2011 Rosy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Simon Van Booy has a beautiful way with prose that left me in tears at some points when reading his two short story collections ‘Love Begins in Winter’ and ‘The Secret Lives of People in Love’. So I was eagerly anticipating his first full novel ‘Everything Beautiful Began After.’

And it does contain a lot of the things that I loved in Booy’s shorter prose. His trademark lyrical beauty and skill with words is present throughout, but unfortunately some of the skill that weaves his stories together...more Simon Van Booy has a beautiful way with prose that left me in tears at some points when reading his two short story collections ‘Love Begins in Winter’ and ‘The Secret Lives of People in Love’. So I was eagerly anticipating his first full novel ‘Everything Beautiful Began After.’

And it does contain a lot of the things that I loved in Booy’s shorter prose. His trademark lyrical beauty and skill with words is present throughout, but unfortunately some of the skill that weaves his stories together isn’t quite as tight when lengthened to encompass an entire novel.

The story is divided into four ‘books’, each dealing with a new phase in the story. Book one covers half of the span of the novel and is exquisite. Told in third person the story details Rebecca, Henry and George in both the present and the events in their past that have shaped them into the people they’ve become. It twines their lives together beautifully and I loved reading this section. I was swept away in the descriptions, the scenes and the use of all the senses to create the world of Athens. It’s melancholy, stunning, a little depressing but utterly gorgeous.

However, books two and three really didn’t do it for me. They’re told in second person perspective although still from Henry’s side. The lyrical beauty of the first book is turned here into an overly obsessive list of things that ‘Henry’ can see, feel and hear. It became overly depressive and as a result I just wanted it to be over. I don’t mind depressive books – book one is depressing, but it couples that with beauty. This was just pressing and heavy and I wanted to finish it as quickly as I could.
That’s not to say it wasn’t still good and well written – it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Book four made me feel a little less like sitting in a corner and crying – it offers hope at the end of grief and darkness, and leaves the reader with a lot to think about long after the last page has been turned.

Van Booy’s first book is a gorgeously melancholy look at love, grief, death and the way that grief can distort our memories and thoughts, and take on a life of its own.(less)

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Oct 02, 2011 Sasha Martinez added it

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

So many disappointments in me right now.

I don’t have the energy—or the patience—to rationally talk about those bedamned disappointments right now. How to say that the prose had me rolling my eyes more times than it made me breathless? How to say that I didn’t feel as though Van Booy respected his characters to give them room to grow—and not just mope for the purpose of displaying the author’s dubious skillz with the language? How to say that I am certain that a chunk of the book could have been...more So many disappointments in me right now.

I don’t have the energy—or the patience—to rationally talk about those bedamned disappointments right now. How to say that the prose had me rolling my eyes more times than it made me breathless? How to say that I didn’t feel as though Van Booy respected his characters to give them room to grow—and not just mope for the purpose of displaying the author’s dubious skillz with the language? How to say that I am certain that a chunk of the book could have been ruthlessly chucked out, because that would make this better? How to say that this could have been about love, but it wasn’t? How to say that this aimless novel made worse by the most egregious usage of deus ex machina I’ve read in recent years? [Doesn’t mean that if you’re novel’s set in Greece, ye have to use good ol’ Poseidon’s fury, dammit.]

[SPOILERS AHOY!]

I want to pull out all the spoilers here and say that there’s this girl, and she’s French and young and beautiful. She goes to Athens, because that’s what lost French and young and beautiful women do. In Athens, she meets a George. And then she meets a Henry. And then Henry meets George. And things get weird undercurrent-y, like Henry saying, “I will take care of you, George, you’ll never be lonely again.” And me laughing. And then an earthquake comes out of nowhere and kills Rebecca—just when she tells Henry that she’s pregnant, just when Henry and Rebecca have to decide on something and stop sightseeing, at least. And me going WTF DUDE? That decision taken away from them by a random earthquake—yes, earthquakes are allowed to be random in real life, but, good lord, they have no place in literature if all they do is launch an unnecessary soul-searching shiznit and gah and gah and gah. And then and then, yeah, Henry breaks down, and George moves away, and then Henry and George meet again, and George is happy, and Henry isn’t, and a lot more blah, and then, and then, Henry brushes hands with this stranger and da-dum, is it happily ever after post-novel?

Desk, meet head. Repeatedly.(less)

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Jun 10, 2011 Jennie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, fiction, to-review, read-in-june, read-in-2011

I have let this book simmer in my mind for a while after finishing, trying to find the words to write this review. Alas, I am still at a loss but must get the review written anyway. This book was written in a manor that left me with a feeling of confusion each time I put it down – I didn’t understand where anything was going in the plot or with the characters. I felt lost but could sense the drama building but never really connected with any of it. When the sense of impending doom finally came t...more

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May 24, 2011 Elizabeth B rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think this is a book that will divide its audience: either you will love it or you will give up after a few chapters. Having not read anything by this author previously, I was intrigued by the writing style. Most of the novel is composed of short, direct sentences that read almost like a journalistic reporting of events. No effort is made at description or character building which will bother some readers. I, however, found the style to be generally engaging and it helped pull me along through...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Dani rated it 3 of 5 stars

I loved this author's other book "Love Begins and Winter" so much that I have to say this book was a disappointment. He had the same powerful quotes and the succinct writing style as the other book it was just a problem with the character and the believability of their emotion and actions. I just didn't feel it. I just didn't understand why Henry became so in love with Rebecca in such a short time that he could not get over her. Or what was the catalyst that "fixed" George. I didn't feel the aut...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Olduvai rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, 2011

“For those who are lost, there will always be cities that feel like home.

Paces where lonely people can live in exile of their own lives – far from anything that was ever imagined for them.”

I was going to start off by saying that I would pretty much read anything that Simon van Booy writes. And then I stopped and thought, this book is actually only the second book of his that I’ve read (the first being his collection of short stories, Love Begins in Winter – even announcing it to be one of my fav...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Acacia rated it 2 of 5 stars

The first "book" is wonderfully evocative of the warmth of the sun, and the scents and dusty roads of Athens. Of brief encounters and falling in love and friendships developed too fast and too close and a time of potential. Then a devastating intermission. The next two books, for me, was a struggle between me as reader, and the thoughts and feelings the writer was trying to impose on me. This is the problem I have every time a writer moves into second person. I always feel like its a cheat and I...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Carol rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, first-reads

The first time that I tried to read this book, I was completely lost and confused and that was after only eight pages! I put the book down and decided to come back to for a second try.

The second time went better; I got through the whole book. It is very true that you either loved it or hated it. I did not like it. I cannot help my feelings. For me the first half was better than the second and I would have preferred to stop there.

First, here is what I like about the book. The cover looks like a...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Debbie Robson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Everything Beautiful Began After is an intriguing title and the book begins with a very intriguing and beautifully written Prologue that hints at one such turning point. Van Booy is, I believe, one of the most poetic and lyrical writers today and thank God he is because it is a dying art - to take "care" of words as lovingly as Van Booy does. Take for instance these sentences:
"Athens has long been a place where lonely people go. A city doomed to forever impersonate itself, a city wrapped by crue...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Sarah Joyce Bryant rated it 4 of 5 stars

I fell in love with Everything Beautiful Began After after having just read the Prologue and the rest of the book did not disappoint. Simon Van Booy’s beautiful poetic language is stunning and his descriptions require the reader to pause and take a deep breath to take them in. The characters are so well developed that one cannot help but love and care deeply for them. It is fascinating to watch as they argue over the existence of fate while we quietly witness fate take its toll on each of them....more

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Sep 28, 2011 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is beautifully written by Simon Van Booy whose use of language makes you want to dwell on his words. The book looks at how our past lives shape us and together with fate, determine the nature of our love. Booy delves into the lives of his three characters who have all come to Athens: Rebecca, an artist; George, who studies ancient languages; and Henry, who is a young archaeologist. The story unfolds mostly around Henry's broken heart after he loses his first love. This line of the book...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Brianna Soloski rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-in-2012, fiction, reviewed-for-blog

Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon van Booy 5/5 stars

I love books which suck me in right from the start and leave me wanting more. I know I’ve said that before, but Everything Beautiful Began After was like reading a movie. I could picture the characters, the landscape, and architecture of Greece. I was pleased to read a book set in a foreign country that isn’t England or France. Of course, one of the main characters was French, but very little is mentioned about that, other than when she...more Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon van Booy 5/5 stars

I love books which suck me in right from the start and leave me wanting more. I know I’ve said that before, but Everything Beautiful Began After was like reading a movie. I could picture the characters, the landscape, and architecture of Greece. I was pleased to read a book set in a foreign country that isn’t England or France. Of course, one of the main characters was French, but very little is mentioned about that, other than when she talks about having worked for Air France. I took me the entire three week library loan to read this book. I had to stop every few pages to write down lines that struck me.

The characters in this book are small in number, but van Booy spends a lot of time developing each one. I felt like I got to know each character intimately. As a writer I know that’s not an easy thing to do. I would love to take characterization lessons from him – that aspect of my writing needs some serious work. Henry and George are the major male characters, both competing for the attention of Rebecca, the major female character. There are points in the story when Henry and George blend together and I wasn’t sure who she was with. The eventual relationship between Henry and George is also well-developed (no, not that kind of relationship!). The two bond over the loss of their mutual love for Rebecca, although they both love her differently.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the setting. I read a lot of books, but rarely have I read one set in Greece, especially something that’s not historical fiction. Although van Booy didn’t get insanely descriptive about Greece, there were a few scenes in the second half of the book where some pretty major turning points happen. In those scenes, he describes the city in more detail.

The language throughout the book is very descriptive. (I realize that’s the least descriptive sentence on the planet). The author weaves words together in such a way you can’t help but get lost in the story, whether you enjoy it or not. There wasn’t much dialogue, which I kind of liked. Long sections of narrative really allow you to delve into the story. You become less focused on the characters and more focused on the story happening around them and how it affects the actions they take.

I will eventually read the rest of van Booy’s catalog. I can’t say much more about Everything Beautiful Began After without giving the story away. I’ll leave you with a quote:

A life that was yet to be decided, despite everything that had already happened, every moment is yet to be decided and connected to the one before it by illusions. Page 156

Disclaimer: I obtained this book from my public library. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way.
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Aug 25, 2011 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had to think about this one for awhile and then I realized that the very fact I was thinking about it means it did what I like books to do: entertain and make me think. Everything Beautiful Began After did both. There were parts that were hard for me to read but I find myself quoting the book more than most other books I've read. It does remind me in a way of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but the difference for me between the four and five star (five star to Hedgehog) was that there were times...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Book Review | Everything Beautiful Began After
Posted on August 29, 2011 at www.theornamentedline.wordpress.com

Everything Beautiful Began After

Simon Van Booy is a writer for those who truly love and enjoy the written word — those who possess the ability to fall in love with a line and cherish a book for a single sentence. Luckily this work contains many beautifully crafted sentences, as well as complex characters that both break your heart and induce inspiration.

"He told her that language owes it...more

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About Simon Van Booy

Simon Van Booy was born in London and grew up in rural Wales and Oxford. After playing football in Kentucky, he lived in Paris and Athens. In 2002 he was awarded an MFA and won the H.R. Hays Poetry Prize. His journalism has appeared in magazines and newspapers including the New York Times and the New York Post. Van Booy is the author of The Secret Lives of People in Love, now translated into sever...more

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