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Held by Anne Michaels

‘I Spy the Stranger‘ by Jean Rhys

This is a beautiful book.
It starts with a man lying on a battlefield who‘s lost all feeling in his extremities and his mind drifts off to memories. The chapters skip back and forth in time and places creating a fractured storyline. The connections in the chapters include generations of family and friends, photography, war, art weaving in and out right up to present day. It‘s poetically written and so lovely. AM is so talented

#Two4Tuesday 1. So far just milk chocolate pumpkin balls for household consumption- maybe the actual trick or treat candy this week 1. War, memories, dying. @AmyG @dabbe @Tamra wanna play ?

My library holds aren‘t really aligning with my October reading goals 🤷🏻‍♀️

A short novel that covers several generations in a family and up until the halfway point, we followed along the family lines. Then started the time jumps and I also had trouble placing the different people in the family.

If it hadn‘t been for the Booker prize and that my library had the book, I never would‘ve read it. So I don‘t think I was the right reader for this one.

This one popped up at my library so I figured I‘d give it a try, but it just didn‘t work for me at all. It‘s so disjointed and there seems to be a bunch of writing that doesn‘t serve any purpose. There was one bit related to photographs that I found really intriguing, but then it disappeared, never to be seen again. Disappointing.

I agree with other reviewers about this one: The first half is lovely and heartbreaking in a way, but the second half lost me a bit. The prose is beautiful but a little overwrought at times, the author (and narrator of the audiobook) luxuriating a little too self-consciously in her own language.

What an interesting book. I‘ll have to reread this. It‘s a splintered narrative and I tried to focus on where and when and who, enjoying the romantic touches and the drifty feel, overlooking the mechanical and scientific commentary … until I saw two chapters titled “River Orwell…1984”. Then I started to look for something dark. It‘s a little buried and quiet, but pieces line up. A striking condemnation of our destructive society is built in here.

My last left from the #shortlist - I just started this morning and I‘m have The Sound and the Fury and Tinkers vibes. But it‘s also totally different. #booker #booker2024 #longlist

So many great quotes in this book. What beautiful writing.

This story of how war and loss reverberates through generations could have been powerful and poignant, but due to the choppy, episodic nature of the plot and the overwrought and pompous prose, it was mainly irritating, confusing, and dull. Those who click with the prose love it, so I guess it's a marmite book. The first #Booker 2024 that I actively dislike.

A book of two halves. I enjoyed the ponderings on memory, perception and desire of the first half; once the narrative moved away from John and Helena to introduce new characters, and the timeline really started skipping about, the book's initial strength began to ebb. As the pace picked up, the narrative fragmented. Characters didn't remain "on stage" long enough to leave an impact and the idea-threads connecting them felt too much of a reach.

This is one of those books that‘s asks a bit more of readers than I‘m usually willing to give. 😆 just being honest! I‘ll admit I was often lost on the connections between characters and was unhappily jolted out of the narrative to meet even more characters and settings. HOWEVER, some of the writing about death and loss stopped me in my tracks and forced me to give this a little more time than I normally would. A short, but not quick little book.

A loosely connected collection of short stories. Some worked better than others for me. I found them over written. Not a fan, proud that I finished this short novel. 2 🌟 Not on my short list #bookerlonglist @Deblovestoread @squirrelbrain @JenP @AnneCecilie @charl08 @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @jlhammar

As others have noted, this book really lacks cohesion- time jumps around and new characters are introduced in often brief sections which was jarring. However the sections that resonated with me, deeply resonated with me. Not my favorite from the Booker long list but some of these scenes will stay with me.

This was a mixed bag for our panel. I loved it but others not so much. Beautifully poetic and full of emotion (which I found lacking in the Messud‘s book I had read prior to this one.

Read our panel‘s full reviews here: https://thereadersroom.org/

#bookerlonglist2024

A slight novel that looks at ideas about our search for meaning and purpose, and the finality of death across four generations. Lots of moments of very resonant observation about these concepts which are of course, universal. Although I could see connections between the stories, and that Michael‘s was pointing to the ripples of consequence, I didn‘t feel like this hung together as a whole. A reader preference, rather than a critique of the novel.

A curious read. The opening story drew me into the tale of a young ww1 soldier and how he meets his wife before we see their life post-war. I expected to follow the characters, but the subsequent tales jumped back and forth through the next 100 years, telling tales of love, loss, and war. Lovely writing, but I felt that I missed one life story or at least a connection. I'd be interested to read it again, as well as rereading fugitive pieces.

I finished this yesterday then saw @Deblovestoread Debra‘s review - which pretty much said everything I wanted to say! 🤣

Beautiful writing but it was a bit confusing with the chronological jumping around - it felt like a series of vignettes rather than one cohesive novel.

#booker #longlist

I have to say, though, there‘s always one impenetrable / opaque book on every book prize longlist, and if this is this year‘s then it‘s not so bad!

Held is filled with themes of love, waiting, loss and grief. There is some beautiful writing in this book but for me the connections promised in the blurb were tenuous at best and the jumping around in time did not help. 2/13 Booker Longlist

Beautifully written but this didn‘t work for me. We flit between characters & timelines so it feels more like a story cycle - it lacks the satisfying narrative of a novel. We only scratch the surface of characters & their stories. The love stories are all sweet in contrast with the war scenes but felt contrived or unreal. Stunning, economical prose. It just didn‘t quite hang together for me.

I find the genre historical novel, even the word novel misleading.This reads like a long prose poem.Michaels reflects on intimacy,romantic love,trauma & loss.The characters are often connected (parent-child-grandchild).Their stories are not told in chronological order.The writing is at times outstanding & at times I rolled my eyes at the lyrical language. I didn‘t enjoy the audio, the somber monotonous narration was annoying & switched to print.

This was beautiful. Lovely prose. Close reading required to pick up the threads of interconnected families. Loss/death is happening in the background- the narrative involves people coming to terms with that loss. As well as loving each other

Absolutely gorgeous meditation on memory and loss and connection and meaning that I read in a single sitting. The book involves a large cast of characters and sometimes it can be difficult to see the how they are related. It asks questions about the limits of human experience and knowledge. I definitely will be picking this up again as I think a deeper second reading will have a lot to offer.

The first half of this book is amazing. Each sentence a gem in itself about love, war, happiness and grief. Loosely connected short stories give a glimpse of the lives of the characters who grew on me in just a few pages.
However, the 2nd half introduces new characters and to me wasn‘t as good as the first. Still a worthy successor to Fugitive Pieces though, highly recommended!

#Roll100 #pop24 - At least 3 POVs
#52BookClub24 - Non-chronological

If you are looking for a novel made of interconnected short stories that reads like poetry, this one‘s for you. I‘ll definitely reread it.