The Speed of Light (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Elizabeth Rosner (Goodreads author!)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 180)
recommended to Khaya by:
Shelly
2.5 stars, grudgingly rounded up to 3 because I really couldn't give this the same rating I gave to "A Thousand Splendid Suns." (See what happens once you start with grade inflation?)
Initially, I found the rapidly shifting viewpoints jarring and annoying, and I felt like I just wanted to get into one person’s story and perspective. After a while I did get used to it and found that it moved the book faster; despite that, it’s not my preferred reading style. This was compounde...more
Initially, I found the rapidly shifting viewpoints jarring and annoying, and I felt like I just wanted to get into one person’s story and perspective. After a while I did get used to it and found that it moved the book faster; despite that, it’s not my preferred reading style. This was compounde...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Scully by:
Gillian Andersonrecommends it for: literature lovers
A wonderful book. A piece of art on every page - intellectual, poetic, written with such an emotional truth and colorful images, I wanted the book to never come to an end (and in a way it didn't, for me).
The lives of three people so woven together, light and music, pain and tears, all so close together - it is hard to put into words.
A sensual book that is so much more than just a collection of letters and words - it's like a painting, like an aria, like a gourmet dish. It led me to dark pl...more
The lives of three people so woven together, light and music, pain and tears, all so close together - it is hard to put into words.
A sensual book that is so much more than just a collection of letters and words - it's like a painting, like an aria, like a gourmet dish. It led me to dark pl...more
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Read in July, 2008
This was very good. I heard about it in an interview in Oprah magazine--her feature where she asks celebrities to list their favorite books. I don't even remember the name of the actress, but I'm glad she recommended this book! It's a very moving story of three people who have been damaged by the atrocities of life. They are drawn together and as limited as each of them are, they are able to help each other to heal. It's not an easy book to read, the subject matter is painful at times. It ca...more
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After reading the first few pages of this book I thought I would not like it nor even finish it. It seemed weird. But I hung with it, and am I glad I did. It is an excellent book. It is beautifully written, the story is touching, and it is so full of emotion that you feel attached to it and can hardly put it down.
It is the story of two children of a holocaust survivor and how it has affected their lives. It is interestingly written; there are three narrators: the son, the daughter, a young w...more
It is the story of two children of a holocaust survivor and how it has affected their lives. It is interestingly written; there are three narrators: the son, the daughter, a young w...more
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Read in September, 2008
This is a remarkable story of how three people, wounded by the memory of political violence, come to help each other begin to find a path out of darkness. Two are a brother and sister weighed down by the silences and pain of their Holocaust surviving parents. The third is a young woman from South America, sole witness and surviver of a military rampage which wiped out and destroyed her small village.
The author weaves the story out of each characters individual voice, in fact the font change...more
The author weaves the story out of each characters individual voice, in fact the font change...more
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The English edition isn't as much fun as the Spanish--I can deal with «quotes» and dashes but not with 'those' silly British ones. Furthermore, I'm tired of Limeys translating Spanish into French when an expression in English is more readily available in the dictionary. There's this really creepy assumption out there that everyone who is literate in English speaks French--True, there is some French in the original, but nothing that Cercas didn't copy straight out of the dictionary. De hecho...more
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Elizabeth Rosner grew up in my neighborhood so our Book Group had the pleasure of hearing her speak at a local gathering. Meeting her and listening to the memories of her family from wartime help clarify the themes in this book. If you are interested in World War II history, specificlly the holocaust, you will find this an interesting study of the effect on the next generation of the people affected.
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recommended to Meta by:
Dave at Lafayette Books
Set in Berkeley, this novel deals with the adult children of Holocaust survivors and a young woman who survived a massacre in Central America. It sounds depressing but it is truly life affirming and beautifully written. It shows how the experiences of our parents ultimately affect us, and how in a world that produces violence and hate, individuals can also find solace in one another.
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Read in July, 2008
I really enjoyed this book - the depth of the characters and psychology of trauma - their own as well as generational (holocaust).
It took me awhile to get use to the structure of the book. Three characters alternate in telling the story. Once I got the rhythm of this it was a book I hated to put down.
Quite uplifting and joyful despite the serious nature of the material.
It took me awhile to get use to the structure of the book. Three characters alternate in telling the story. Once I got the rhythm of this it was a book I hated to put down.
Quite uplifting and joyful despite the serious nature of the material.
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Took me awhile to warm up to it but once I did I liked it a lot - and really cared about the characters. I thought about this book for days afterwards... it's a slow read but offers interesting insight into the mundane lives of ordinary people who have lived very different lives. just changed from 3 stars to 4. I think there could be a sequel.
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this is the new book club book that i couldn't find anywhere, so had to get from amazon and then have it shipped 2 day since i waited so long.....better be worth it....
...so far, it has not been worth it.....
not good. i think it was too cliched for me. the others in the book club all liked it. i guess i'm the dud.
...so far, it has not been worth it.....
not good. i think it was too cliched for me. the others in the book club all liked it. i guess i'm the dud.
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Read in September, 2008
I loved this book. The overall subject of the book was interesting: the pain that the children of Holocaust survivors undergo. Her writing style was poetic. I particularly liked her depiction of introverted, terrified Julian. The way he connects with the world is beautifully strange.
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three stories interlaced as three people who are very, very different (a woman, her brother, and her housekeeper) come to startling realizations in their lives as they confess or discover unknown realities about their past, a quiet book that is nonetheless very passionate and soulful
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Read in October, 2008
recommends it for:
dawn, mom, echo...anyone i think
i really liked this book. it swithches naratives between the three main characters which made for an easy and interesting read. i finished it in just a week!(any book that can hold my attention long enough for me to actually finish it has to be good)- so... read it
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Read in September, 2008
I wasn't sure about this book at first with the different voices. However it was easy to tell which voice was telling the story as you got used to the book. Paula seemed to be the weakest character in the story although her story was also very important.
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Read in October, 2002
Aside from being a brilliantly written novel which deftly intertwines three seemingly separate stories, the book forces you, possibly for the first time in your life, to examine how much of your own life story is actually your own and not someone else's.
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From a magazine review:
At one point, she leaves him a paper bag full of lemons. On each one, she's written a word or two to help him through the day.
-Gillian Anderson
(That's enough. That's all I need to know to want to read this book.)
At one point, she leaves him a paper bag full of lemons. On each one, she's written a word or two to help him through the day.
-Gillian Anderson
(That's enough. That's all I need to know to want to read this book.)
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I enjoy books with different narrators, and I like it even better when I like the narrators. This book seemed to me to be a study in acceptance and in the redeeming quality of connecting.
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Adults, Teens
A little about WWII, a little quantum physics, a lot about relationships and more specifically how we relate to the world around us based on our personal histories.
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Read in August, 2008
this book is beautiful and heart wrenching. It reads like poetry infused with honesty about what we give voice to and shattering cost of our silence.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.80 (83 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.81 (78 ratings) number of reviews: 27
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quote
"I want to clean myself like the window of a house, make myself clear for things to pass through. Flat and quiet."
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