Plot: this is the story of several people: a young, poor girl with big dreams; a black doctor struggling to overcome racism; a revolutionary drunk with strange ideas; an observing restaurant owner trying to find a reason. They are all connected by an intelligent, caring deaf man that they somehow can't stay away from. When they are with him, they feel like everything will be okay...
Comments: I really enjoyed this book, but I must warn you that it is not light reading. At first it seems like a nice fictional story about a deaf man and his quiet life, but that soon changes. It's not an action book - though a lot of things happen - but the story was no longer...sleepy, as it first seemed. This book is about intense passion and deep mysteries, about asking questions and not resting until you find answers, about love, life, and death.
Reading the stories, thoughts, hopes, and wishes of the characters, you become deeply involved with them. I felt like I knew them all really well, even though I couldn't necessarily imagine them. However, I think this book was too advanced for me, because though I understood the general concepts and ideas and feelings related to these characters, I couldn't follow a lot of the long speeches (mostly by Jake Blount). This is a rather advanced novel, meant undoubtedly for adults rather than teenagers, but that's not to say that teenagers should not read this.
This book had multiple eye-opening views of life, extremely different perspectives, different people brought together by one person. It was an interesting experience, seeing life from the point of view of a young girl with music dancing through her head, or a drunkard with insight but little common sense, or...well, you get it. I liked the different perspectives. I especially loved Singer, the deaf man. He was so kind and patient, and I just loved everything that he did.
I didn't believe the ending. When I read it, I wasn't surprised at all, but I felt disbelieving, confused. In a daze, I read the last few chapters (yes, chapters), still clinging to the hope that it would have a happy ending. I suppose it didn't have an unhappy ending, but it fit; the ending was a real life kind of ending. This book brought me face-to-face with reality and reminded me that you can't run away from life. A lot of the time I read books to escape from life, to have a few hours off of reality. Sometimes I even make up different endings to books when I want a happy (or just different) ending. Reading this story reminded me that you can't run away, and that sometimes you just have to suck it up and go on. It's a good thing to remember.
Rating: I will rate this book a seven and three-fourths out of ten. Advanced read, amazing view of life.
Comments: I really enjoyed this book, but I must warn you that it is not light reading. At first it seems like a nice fictional story about a deaf man and his quiet life, but that soon changes. It's not an action book - though a lot of things happen - but the story was no longer...sleepy, as it first seemed. This book is about intense passion and deep mysteries, about asking questions and not resting until you find answers, about love, life, and death.
Reading the stories, thoughts, hopes, and wishes of the characters, you become deeply involved with them. I felt like I knew them all really well, even though I couldn't necessarily imagine them. However, I think this book was too advanced for me, because though I understood the general concepts and ideas and feelings related to these characters, I couldn't follow a lot of the long speeches (mostly by Jake Blount). This is a rather advanced novel, meant undoubtedly for adults rather than teenagers, but that's not to say that teenagers should not read this.
This book had multiple eye-opening views of life, extremely different perspectives, different people brought together by one person. It was an interesting experience, seeing life from the point of view of a young girl with music dancing through her head, or a drunkard with insight but little common sense, or...well, you get it. I liked the different perspectives. I especially loved Singer, the deaf man. He was so kind and patient, and I just loved everything that he did.
I didn't believe the ending. When I read it, I wasn't surprised at all, but I felt disbelieving, confused. In a daze, I read the last few chapters (yes, chapters), still clinging to the hope that it would have a happy ending. I suppose it didn't have an unhappy ending, but it fit; the ending was a real life kind of ending. This book brought me face-to-face with reality and reminded me that you can't run away from life. A lot of the time I read books to escape from life, to have a few hours off of reality. Sometimes I even make up different endings to books when I want a happy (or just different) ending. Reading this story reminded me that you can't run away, and that sometimes you just have to suck it up and go on. It's a good thing to remember.
Rating: I will rate this book a seven and three-fourths out of ten. Advanced read, amazing view of life.
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