In a not-so-distant future when lions are extinct Jachin-Boaz, a middle-aged mapmaker, leaves home with the wonderful map that was to tell his son ...
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reviews
Dec 10, 2009
Flying_Monkey
rated it: 
An early novel from the supremely talented Russell Hoban, this is a well-crafted slice of magic realism set in an unnamed country somewhere bordering the Black Sea in that part of the world so fascinating to outsiders; neither entirely European, Asian nor Arabic.
This is a novel about about fathers and sons. Jachin-Boaz makes maps in a small town: all kinds of maps, from the mundane to the more bizarre; for example, a map for voyeurs. He creates the ultimate map for his son, Boaz-Jach More...
This is a novel about about fathers and sons. Jachin-Boaz makes maps in a small town: all kinds of maps, from the mundane to the more bizarre; for example, a map for voyeurs. He creates the ultimate map for his son, Boaz-Jach More...
Nov 07, 2010
Ben
rated it: 
funny and sad, realistic and supernatural, a fable about fathers and sons and the existence of non-existent things...
'Empty space,' said the driver. 'There's a funny thing to think about. The back of the van is full of empty space. I brought it from my town. But I've opened the doors several times since I left. So is it still empty space from my town or is it now several different new empty spaces? This is the sort of thing one thinks about sometimes. If the back of the van were full More...
'Empty space,' said the driver. 'There's a funny thing to think about. The back of the van is full of empty space. I brought it from my town. But I've opened the doors several times since I left. So is it still empty space from my town or is it now several different new empty spaces? This is the sort of thing one thinks about sometimes. If the back of the van were full More...
Dec 29, 2011
Owen
rated it: 
It's hard for me to compare this book to anything I've read before, which automatically earns it some uniqueness points. It hints at sci-fi/fantasy, but the only fantastical elements to the story are the extinction of lions (which may not be all that far off in reality) and the fact that maps in Hoban's world are far more revealing and magical than our world's paper maps. The story is told with the soft focus of allegory that is void of place names (ironic in a book about maps?) and slight on de
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Dec 17, 2011
Ensiform
rated it:
Jachin-Boaz, a Jewish map maker, leaves his wife and son to find “a lion,” though they are extinct. He takes with him the “master map of everything” he was preparing for his son. The son follows after him to London, and his rage becomes a lion that haunts Jachin-Boaz, while he too searches for somewhere and something to be. A mystical, original fantasy, with some gems of phrasing here and there; but I found the book a bit tedious at times. That the tale is a quest for self means that the cha
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Oct 06, 2007
James
rated it:
I definitely speak on a bias when I praise Russell Hoban. He is one of my favorite writers and indirectly has been since I was the age of 3. The Mouse and His Child has stuck with me my entirely life and continues to stay as I read it every year and even deemed it necessary to have images of it permantently etched into my skin. But thats beside the fact. Hoban is one of the most gifted, ingenious, and hidden writers of our time, writing some of the most unique and affirming books I've ever r
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Mar 18, 2010
David Glenn
rated it:
Hoban can put his subtext right out front and it doesn't hurt a thing.
Dec 17, 2009
Greg
rated it:
Any son who has a father must read this book. Any man who has a son must read this book. Any seer who loves maps must read this book. Anyone confronted by lions must read this book. Anyone who loves and fears the strangeness in humanity must read this book.
Nov 10, 2007
Rael
rated it:
I was perhaps too young (18) and id like to re-read it..
Great book, i remember that wonderfull feeling associated with great books, ..
but the details are vague..the lion, the map,the shop, the quest..
Great book, i remember that wonderfull feeling associated with great books, ..
but the details are vague..the lion, the map,the shop, the quest..
May 29, 2010
Janis
rated it:
I read this book in high school many years ago and I don't remember the story, I just remember that I loved it and I think I'll buy it again and reread it because it just makes me feel good to see it.
Aug 19, 2007
Courtney
rated it:
A fantastical story of a father and a son, seeking to understand each other and their own life stories.
Jul 04, 2011
Júlía
rated it:
This book is cool. it's about mapping and lions. in a cool way. read it.
Aug 27, 2008
Doug
rated it:
my father tried to give me his maps, but I didn't know how to take them.
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