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Nov 21, 2008
Sunflower
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fiction-read-2008
There are so many good reviews of this book on Goodreads, and they all make a better fist of it than I was going to. So I'll cop out right here, and just say that this is a clever novel, with a lot of devices that can confuse or add to the reader's enjoyment.I like the way he plays with text.
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Didn't care for this one all that much. The author's writing style drove me nuts. Lack of carriage returns among dialog made it difficult to read long bits of narration and Alex's English, while endearing to many, irked me a bit. I did really enjoy the more historical bits - Brod, Lista, the search for Augustine, etc. I just didn't feel "Illuminated" after reading this one. Felt it was a tad gimmicky.
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There's just something lovely about the way this book hangs together - the interweaving works beautifully and the turns of phrase shine. Normally I dislike the style choice of dialect or tweaked language, but with Alex it really works because it forces you to slow down and really absorb the text. Surprisingly polished and well-crafted for a young writer's debut.
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Mar 25, 2008
Kara
marked it as to-read
Aug 07, 2008
Kristin
marked it as to-read
Mar 13, 2011
Kat
marked it as couldn-t-finish-i-tried-really
Mar 11, 2012
Dana Arbelaez
marked it as to-read
Jul 26, 2012
Lindsay
marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2013
Kathy Jo
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
Gaijinmama
marked it as to-read
Aug 25, 2013
Tanya
marked it as to-read
Oct 22, 2013
Stephanie
marked it as to-read
Jan 04, 2014
Carolyn
marked it as to-read
Mar 09, 2015
Jen
marked it as to-read
Apr 11, 2015
Megan
marked it as to-read
Apr 12, 2015
Shannon Wallner
marked it as to-read
Jan 08, 2016
Kim DeCina
marked it as to-read
Jun 12, 2016
Sherry
added it
