It is Sylvia’s sixteenth birthday, and her life as an adult is about to begin—not with the party she had been planning, but with a car ...
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reviews
Apr 02, 2011
Pequod
rated it: 
El 50% de Pequod ya se lo leyó y el otro 50% lo está haciendo ahora.
Allá va una pequeña reseña de "la mitad" que ya lo leyó:
Trueba nos narra sus historias entrelazándolas como quien reparte las cartas para el mus. Va de personaje en personaje y el paso de una historia a otra resulta fácil sencilla. Cada uno de ellos nos muestra el lado más humano desde situaciones en ocasiones sórdidas y patéticas. Y sólo podemos comprenderlos. Porque la naturaleza humana es así. Vi More...
Allá va una pequeña reseña de "la mitad" que ya lo leyó:
Trueba nos narra sus historias entrelazándolas como quien reparte las cartas para el mus. Va de personaje en personaje y el paso de una historia a otra resulta fácil sencilla. Cada uno de ellos nos muestra el lado más humano desde situaciones en ocasiones sórdidas y patéticas. Y sólo podemos comprenderlos. Porque la naturaleza humana es así. Vi More...
Mar 28, 2011
Maya
rated it: 
I really did like this book. Here are some of my favorite lines.
Sometimes, when a teacher finishes an explanation and asks if anyone has any questions, Sylvia has a desire to raise her hand and say, yes, could you start all over again from the beginning? I mean from the very beginning, from birth because I don't understand a thing from any of these almost sixteen years I've been alive.
....but you know that taste is a form of memory, so you only appreciate what you know. More...
Sometimes, when a teacher finishes an explanation and asks if anyone has any questions, Sylvia has a desire to raise her hand and say, yes, could you start all over again from the beginning? I mean from the very beginning, from birth because I don't understand a thing from any of these almost sixteen years I've been alive.
....but you know that taste is a form of memory, so you only appreciate what you know. More...
Feb 24, 2011
Mike
rated it:
I was watching an interview with Keith Gessen (author of All the Sad Young Literary Men, also reviewed) the other day, and he was explaining his belief that “sad young literary men (and women)” are a legitimate group or sub-culture that deserves / should be considered and written about seriously. Before going into a brief lament about hipster culture, which he claims seeks false authenticity and denies their own identity through the use of irony, Gessen notes that many people wonder why they sho
More...
Jul 14, 2010
Jasmine
rated it:
This book is GENIUS. It NEEDS to live on TABLE!!!
I don't really know how to review this book, I feel like I may love it far too much to actually say anything coherent about it.
I made a comment earlier about how this book was for me what twilight was for Karen. Although likely better written but being in translation makes that comparison a bit tougher than I would like. What I meant was Karen talked about twilight being what it was like to be a 16 year old girl. I never reall More...
I don't really know how to review this book, I feel like I may love it far too much to actually say anything coherent about it.
I made a comment earlier about how this book was for me what twilight was for Karen. Although likely better written but being in translation makes that comparison a bit tougher than I would like. What I meant was Karen talked about twilight being what it was like to be a 16 year old girl. I never reall More...
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May 18, 2010
Liz
rated it: 
David Trueba is an intelligent, insightful writer. He brilliantly captures the lives of his characters, which include a sixteen year old girl, a twenty year old professional soccer player, a middle aged man, and his elderly father. His ability to capture the innermost thoughts and actions of such a diverse group of individuals in such detail and so honestly is remarkable. (Sylvia is one of the most mature, self-aware sixteen year olds I’ve encountered in fiction, but nonetheless is authentic an
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Oct 10, 2010
Nacho
rated it:
Por primera vez Trueba abandona la comedia y sale del paso con nota. Comprende bien a sus personajes, los humaniza con defectos con los que no cuesta empatizar y sabe imprimir un ritmo bastante vivo al relato. Es recomendable y alimenta las esperanzas de que lo próximo que escriba el autor sea aún mejor.
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Dec 08, 2011
Rita
rated it:
Takes place in contemporary Spain and the changes society there face. Interesting to
read a novel popular enough to make it into translation without being by a literary great. Although I am not a sports enthusiast one of the central characters is a soccer player and his year
in Spain as a soccer recruit from SA makes for interesting reading given how central
the sport is to Europe. The characters all seem almost casually true to life as they face their
own losses through on More...
read a novel popular enough to make it into translation without being by a literary great. Although I am not a sports enthusiast one of the central characters is a soccer player and his year
in Spain as a soccer recruit from SA makes for interesting reading given how central
the sport is to Europe. The characters all seem almost casually true to life as they face their
own losses through on More...
Jan 20, 2011
Elsje
rated it:
A grandfather, a father, a daughter and a football player are the main characters of this rather lengthy story about loss. Losing love, mainly. But also losing self-esteem. Although the story-line sounds interesting, and Trueba knows his way with words, the pace in which it is written, and the extreme amount of details made me lose interest. I finished reading the book because my IRL-reading group was talking about it. Not sure if I would have if it would have been just me reading it...
Oct 10, 2011
Rodrigo
rated it:
Está bien. Relata la vida de 4 personas, abuelo, padre hija y un joven futbolista llegado de Argentina a Madrid, contando cada una por separado, de manera que te vas enterando de parte de lo que le pasa a uno en las historias de otros. Es algo triste. El título no engaña.
Oct 13, 2010
Esther
rated it: 
Er gebeurt niets. Tot de laatste 50 bladzijden, maar tegen die tijd was ik zo blij dat ik het boek bijna uit had dat ik me niet goed meer kon concentreren. Haastig heb ik het uitgelezen.
In het boek worden vier verhalen verteld welke bij elkaar komen. De verhalen van Leandro, Lorenzo, Sylvia en Ariel. Deze verhalen gaan over liefde, vriendschap, voetbal en vreemdgaan met prostituees en blijven oppervlakkig.
Ik heb me geërgerd aan de Nederlandse vertaling waarin fouten zaten en More...
In het boek worden vier verhalen verteld welke bij elkaar komen. De verhalen van Leandro, Lorenzo, Sylvia en Ariel. Deze verhalen gaan over liefde, vriendschap, voetbal en vreemdgaan met prostituees en blijven oppervlakkig.
Ik heb me geërgerd aan de Nederlandse vertaling waarin fouten zaten en More...
Jan 17, 2011
Amy
rated it:
Loved this book. Lyrical writing, graceful translation, beautifully detailed characters, absorbing plot that progressed to an ending that seemed inevitable without being clichéd or obvious. Plus the descriptions of Madrid and Venice made reading this book feel like going on a mini-vacation. Sorry I'm finished with this one.
Aug 12, 2010
Candace
rated it:
Simply excellent. I've found few Spanish novels I've enjoyed, but "Learning to Lose" is hard to put down. Well written, with a canny, adept translation, it is a real look at modern Spanish life.
May 03, 2010
Eileen
rated it:
I would give this 3 1/2 stars. The writing was very good. There were 4 story lines that were intertwined. The relationships that people developed were complicated and influenced by modern urban life. My biggest complaint is that the book is too long.
Oct 24, 2010
Siobhan
rated it:
Great read! Loved the author's style and story telling. A insight into modern Madrid, international footballers, generational change, ethnic diversity in a large modern city. Would be a great movie, where are you Almodovar??
Nov 22, 2011
Ferneeen
rated it:
Me ha costado dios y ayuda terminar este libro. Está bien escrito, pero no engancha. Los personajes me traían sin cuidado y tampoco ayudaba el tono melancólico y quejicoso que adoptaba el autor a veces. Me gusta bastante la parte final, pero para llegar allí tuve que arar a través de más 400 páginas por pura fuerza de voluntad.
Oct 10, 2010
Maria
rated it:
How and what we felt when we loose someone...
When we really understand that we need someone else to keep moving on...
One day, somebody appears in our lifes and proof us that we can't stay alone all the time...
When we really understand that we need someone else to keep moving on...
One day, somebody appears in our lifes and proof us that we can't stay alone all the time...
Oct 10, 2010
Paloma
rated it:
Este libro merece llegar al final, porque es donde todo cobra sentido. Sin embargo, me ha decepcionado en comparación con los dos otros libros de Trueba, que me encantaron y recomiendo totalmente.
Feb 06, 2012
Feb 06, 2012
Jan 30, 2012
Jan 17, 2012
Jan 14, 2012
Jan 07, 2012
Jan 04, 2012
