Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
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Book Reviews of Divisadero
Book Review: less than I expected
Summary: 3 Stars
I was enthused by the first segment of what I thought would be a full novel with a single plot. To my disappointment, the author created three short novels with a barely visible connection among the parts. I thought there was ample room for an expansion of the life and times of Cooper, a principal character. But perhaps I am prejudiced by never having had enough to read about California, casino gambling and the rough, tough times going all the way from Gold Rush days up to the present Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and all the fascinations surrounding those exciting places. Overall, Divisadero was a moderate disappointment. I was struck, however by the author's occasional but punchy ant-war comments.Book Review: Disappointing read from Ondaatje
Summary: 2 Stars
Michael Ondaatje's Divisardo is the first novel I have read, or rather tried to read, by this critically-acclaimed author of The English Patient. I'm sorry to report that I was disappointed with this latest Ondaatje effort. So much so in fact that I didn't even finish it-which is a rarity for me. Once I get halfway through a book, I feel obligated somehow to finish it. Not so here. I got to page 191 (total page count is 273) and couldn't not go any farther. I thought maybe it was because I was eager to read Jay Asher's debut novel, Thirteen Reasons Why. I came back to Divisardo after completing Thirteen, but it was too late; I was too bored with the undefined plot line to read the rest.
Divisardo is, supposedly, about three children who are raised together, Claire, Coop, and Anna. Anna and Coop had an affair, and he turned into a professional gambler. That's as much as the non-linear structure as I could figure out. Well, Anna is studying French writer Lucien Segura. Other reviewers have mentioned the parallel of Anna and Claire with Segura's daughters, but I didn't even see a reference to them in the pages I read.
One of the biggest issues I had with the text was voice. All the characters sounded the same, and all were flat. Whether the scene was violent or sanguine, it became increasingly difficult to determine who was talking when because of the sameness in tone and voice. This is the one time that a varied sentence structure could have worked wonders for a piece.
The San Francisco Chronicle called Divisardo "Brilliant...plays whimsically with chronology and memory, with fantasy and historical fact." Author Jhumpa Lahiri called the work "a mosiac of profound dignity, with an elegiac quietude that only the greatest of writers can achieve." Me? I just went "huh?"
Armchair Interviews says: Heed this reviewer's comments.
Book Review: Terribly disappointing..
Summary: 2 Stars
This book started out absolutely riveting, and it ended up being one of the worst reads I have ever suffered through. Just when it starts to get interesting, the author switches stories to narrate the painfully boring life of a depressed and introverted writer from a century ago.
I firmly believe all of the rave reviewers of this book, who said it was "haunting" and "compelling", just didn't want to admit that they didn't understand the book at all. Because as hard as the author tries, the book is completely devoid of value: plot, theme, or otherwise.
**On a side note, nothing drives me crazier than authors who refuse to use quotation marks. Really? You're too deep and brilliant of a writer to use correct punctuation? I don't think so. Not you or anyone.
Book Review: Lacking...
Summary: 2 Stars
This book is essentially two separate stories. Not totally uninteresting stories, but they both left a great deal to be desired. Attempts to truly define the characters are somewhat lacking, and just when it appears things will get interesting, the reader is left hanging. Oh sure, there is a connection between the two stories, but it's as thin as a hair, and leads me to believe the author tried to write two different books, could not make complete novels out of them, so tied these two together to give the impression of a completed book. I did not read THE ENGLISH PATIENT, and did not like the movie. Perhaps I should have known better.Book Review: two short stories don't make a good novel
Summary: 1 Stars
Don't waste your time reading this stupid novel. Wait for the movie; it will only take two hours and will be much more visually entertaining. For the book, just when it starts to get interesting the scene switches to a new set of characters. The second part reads like a Russian novel where you learn four generations of the main characters' history. That would be ok if it translated into some action. Ultimately there should have been a strong tie in between the second set of characters and the first. Otherwise this should have been two short stories (both with unresolved endings).