Gio'

Brilliant brilliant book. I'm not a mountain man and I wasn't born in the mountains, but my wife was and some of the vivid imagery of this book captures perfectly some of the things that she told me over the years about people that grow up at high altitudes.
This author is so talented and I hope that he will be able to continue producing books this strong.

This book has three fundamental parts, plus, in the version I listened to an essay from the author written a few years after the first publication. The first part is very good and engaging, the middle part is a little overlong and boring and I also found the some of the characters were on the shallow side with some of their actions and reactions not fully consistent with the personality they were described with. The third part is back to be tight and exciting and very well written. The final essay is just brilliant.

Why do I do this to myself, why? Why do I read books that are so hard to cope with? This book is infuriating, I want to have a magic wand to erase a large part of world history. I cannot rationally accept that something like slavery ever existed but the history is what it is and history doesn't care that I'm so upset about it. Sadly, slavery doesn't exist anymore, but I see racism alive and well every single day.
If I'm able for a moment to judge the book for its literary merits, I think it is well written, with clear and engaging language and a nice way to handle timelines and multiple characters. It also paints this magical world of the underground railroad as momentary relief from the horror of real life. There are plenty of point of views and plenty of histories to highlight the many different backgrounds of the many type of people involved in that part of American History.

Great, great, great! The book is fun, quick paced and certainly deserves all the notoriety it has. Maybe some of the characters are a bit shallow, in the sense that some of their actions are not necessarily justified by the personality that they were built with...

I'm not even sure how to describe this book. It is at the same time a love letter to comics, a sad story about WW2, an epic about the life of very singular and intense characters, a story about family values and relationships and do much more.
The book is big and you need to take your time with it. A lot of work has gone in this book to create such an exciting universe, so will depicted in vivid details.
It is rare to encounter such a complete masterpiece that is also extremely polished and easy to consume, because among other things this book is a lesson of writing style.

I'm not even sure how to describe this book. It is at the same time a love letter to comics, a sad story about WW2, an epic about the life of very singular and intense characters, a story about family values and relationships and do much more.
The book is big and you need to take your time with it. A lot of work has gone in this book to create such an exciting universe, so will depicted in vivid details.
It is rare to encounter such a complete masterpiece that is also extremely polished and easy to consume, because among other things this book is a lesson of writing style.

The story is of course epic and full of nuances. I was impressed of how dense it is. Definitely there are no wasted pages or long stretches in which nothing happens. Things move fast through history, family ties, social issues and magic spirituality. I'm not sure I can add much to what has already been said about this incredible book.
I felt ambitious and listened to the audiobook in Spanish. That was a great exercise for my Spanish Language study, but maybe I missed out a little bit because my Spanish is not that good yet. On the other end, maybe I would have missed out something else by listening to/reading a translation...

The story is of course epic and full of nuances. I was impressed of how dense it is. Definitely there are no wasted pages or long stretches in which nothing happens. Things move fast through history, family ties, social issues and magic spirituality. I'm not sure I can add much to what has already been said about this incredible book.
I felt ambitious and listened to the audiobook in Spanish. That was a great exercise for my Spanish Language study, but maybe I missed out a little bit because my Spanish is not that good yet. On the other end, maybe I would have missed out something else by listening to/reading a translation...

This is a quick and easy read. I don't think I disagree with almost anything in the book, and it is always good to hear ideas that are not necessarily new but expressed in clear and engaging form. Not life changing for me but a decent book, nonetheless.

I had a little bit of trepidation in staying this book. I didn't know what to expect and, as an American, in this historic moment I'm not in the mood for more American testosterone celebration. Luckily this book is a lyric masterpiece that expresses many thing about we and life that are deeply personal without pride or ego. The style of writing is superb and original with great rythm. I listened to the audiobook that in to of everything has a fantastic reading performance by Bryan Cranston

I had a little bit of trepidation in staying this book. I didn't know what to expect and, as an American, in this historic moment I'm not in the mood for more American testosterone celebration. Luckily this book is a lyric masterpiece that expresses many thing about we and life that are deeply personal without pride or ego. The style of writing is superb and original with great rythm. I listened to the audiobook that in to of everything has a fantastic reading performance by Bryan Cranston

Beautiful book. The story is original and allows exploring many aspects of young life in a difficult environment. The author has a gift in being able to make you understand the deep personality of each character in just a few lines. The main problem with this book is that it is way too short and it stops in the middle of the story. I understand that there's is no need to continue the story forever, but in this case I believe that the story has been cut excessively short.

Beautiful book. The story is original and allows exploring many aspects of young life in a difficult environment. The author has a gift in being able to make you understand the deep personality of each character in just a few lines. The main problem with this book is that it is way too short and it stops in the middle of the story. I understand that there's is no need to continue the story forever, but in this case I believe that the story has been cut excessively short.

The story grew into me slowly. For a while I thought it was just ok, and well written for sure. But over time, I couldn't resist in getting fascinated by the strength of the main character and the strength of the youth. A lot of things to unpack from this book, I'll leave to the academics to talk about it, I'm just saying that this book is profound but still fun and enjoyable, reading it is absolutely not a chore and it won't make you feel bad, just a little more aware of the world.

The story grew into me slowly. For a while I thought it was just ok, and well written for sure. But over time, I couldn't resist in getting fascinated by the strength of the main character and the strength of the youth. A lot of things to unpack from this book, I'll leave to the academics to talk about it, I'm just saying that this book is profound but still fun and enjoyable, reading it is absolutely not a chore and it won't make you feel bad, just a little more aware of the world.

Can I give 10 stars to a book? As a sucker for good style, I'm amazed at how clean and beautiful the language of this book is (I read it in Italian, so I cannot say how good the other translations are). I love when a book is able to marry great content with innovative structure to generate a timeless exercise of style. As a technology guy (not a chemist) I'm fascinated by how unapologetically geeky Primo Levi gets into this book, while transmitting a never boring enthusiasm for his work. As a person who has already read “If this is a man” I marvel at the fact that a single person was able to write two masterpieces in his lifetime and that they are so different from each other. One of the most original pieces of art I came across. Primo Levi is now up there with my other heroes and he makes me feel proud to have been born in the same country as him.

Obviously, this is a very famous book but, to be honest, I found it long winded and over-long and I was exhausted but the endless dialogues and monologues that I didn't thoroughly enjoy the good parts when I finally got there, and there are plenty of good parts.

Short story. Good and quick writing. A fun read but nothing more.

Short story. Good and quick writing. A fun read but nothing more.

As a white man that grew up in a safe middle class family, this is a very hard book to read. And of course this is exactly the type of book that I need to read more often, to become a more aware and grounded person. There is an immense sadness in me because of a terrible past that cannot be changed and because in my lifetime I will not see a world without racism and we true equality. Also, while in the past I could convince myself that the world was going in the right direction, I feel that we are moving two step forwards and one step back, and part of it is due to short memory and a revisionism that teaches only a mild version of world history, celebrating the great achievements without emphasizing the human capital violently spent.
Stepping down from a soap box I don't deserve and focusing just on the quality of the book, I found this book to be very sophisticated, the language is clean and flows without any bumps and the style and rhythm are exquisite. It is not a hero's journey but a cohesive picture of how the author saw the world during his life and a clear explanation of why his world view has been like that since he was a kid. Overall this book is very strong and the author is a master story-teller that marries strong content with perfect aesthetics and style.

TL,DR: I didn't get it. I know that as an Italian, especially as a southern Italian, I'm supposed to like Pirandello, but... I was lukewarm after reading “Il fu Mattia Pascal” and now fully disappointed by this book, so I need to probably accept that Pirandello is not my thing.
I found this book pompous and self important. The author takes a simple idea and puts on it a veneer of importance that isn't justified and some pretended philosophical depth. Then he goes on telling a story where very little happens and so the page have to be filled by pontificating, trying to convince us how original and meaningful all this construction is, but in reality, it isn't.

TL,DR: I didn't get it. I know that as an Italian, especially as a southern Italian, I'm supposed to like Pirandello, but... I was lukewarm after reading “Il fu Mattia Pascal” and now fully disappointed by this book, so I need to probably accept that Pirandello is not my thing.
I found this book pompous and self important. The author takes a simple idea and puts on it a veneer of importance that isn't justified and some pretended philosophical depth. Then he goes on telling a story where very little happens and so the page have to be filled by pontificating, trying to convince us how original and meaningful all this construction is, but in reality, it isn't.

The characters are good and interesting and so is the story, but I found the plot turns a little conventional. Overall it is a good mindless read and I'll definitely be back for more Cormoran Strike.

Not sure about this. I was hoping to laugh and have a great time, but the tone is actually subdued, and I counted only one chuckle from me during the entire read. The stories are nice and warm and the book flows by nicely, but I had higher expectations in terms of funniness...