Reviews with content warning for War - Lessons

I only got more invested in the story two thirds into the book.
There are no good build ups of suspension. The moments in his life that are supposed to be big, are dealt with in a short sentence. The character himself is not per se loveable or enthralling. His storytelling is constantly focused outward and I missed reflection from the character.
Still the writing is stunning which is the reason I kept reading. The final 150 pages are a real treat.

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bernard_black's review against another edition

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emotional reflective

Loveable characters? No

4.25

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natlikestoread's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

3.0

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rosereadsalot's review against another edition

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2.0

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schorlett's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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bridgetkay's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I wanted more from this book - and by more, I certainly don’t mean words or pages. From the blurb I was expecting some skilful weaving of a person’s life with the background of major world events. But I was not compelled to continue reading, and found myself quickly wanting to get this book over and done with. Some parts were enjoyable, but with the amount of different huge issues that were attempted, I didn’t feel like any were done justice.

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stuffinmybrainhole's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I’ll preface by saying, I have loved other stories from this writer. This one was a big miss for me. I’m a television and screenwriter, and all the time in reference to biopics, I say that they often fail to realize that someone’s life is not a story. That’s how I felt about this book. Its narrative spanned an entire lifetime and yet it just felt like a series of events marching on without point or thematic conclusion. Oftentimes, the historical events that are woven throughout the narrative also feel contrived, as if to make commentary on the ways in which history affects the common person. But for me, too often this served to distract from the narrative.

I was also very disappointed in the way that this book handled sexual assault and the non-consensual adult/child sexual relationship between Roland and his piano teacher. For me, it fell into the trap of how when an adult man preys on a girl, it’s clearly viewed as predatory and beyond the pale. But when an adult woman preys on a boy, well good for that boy! While there’s some indictment of Roland’s teacher, there’s not nearly enough. And even Roland himself questions whether or not she really did anything wrong. The psychic harm that she caused him is also not fully explored. For me, this was problematic on its face.

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