A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom
Ratings3
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings3
Average rating3.7
Some stories are universal. They play out across human history. And time is the river which will flow through them. It starts with a family, a family which will mutate. For now, it is a father, mother and two sons. One with his father’s violence in his blood. One who lives his mother’s artistry. One leaves. One stays. They will be joined by others whose deeds will change their fate. It is a beginning. Their stories will intertwine and evolve over the course of two thousand years – they will meet again and again at different times and in different places. From distant Palestine at the dawn of the first millennium to a life amongst the stars in the third. While the world will change around them, their destinies will remain the same. It must play out as foretold. It is written. A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom is the extraordinary new novel from acclaimed writer John Boyne. Ambitious, far-reaching and mythic, it introduces a group of characters whose lives we will come to know and will follow through time and space until they reach their natural conclusion.
Reviews with the most likes.
First of all, let me say this: this book is one of the most intense and deep exploration of the human condition, and what it means to be human in general. It does not shy away from triumphs and fails, and I think it generally succeed in being almost universal.
I would have easily given 5+ stars if not for the ending. It was in poor taste, and honestly just badly written. To Me, it feels like the author himself missed the whole theme of the book he himself wrote.
It's sad, but that means I cannot in pure heart give it the 5 stars I want to give so badly.
Maybe next time, John.
Interesting concept. I wish there had been less ‘characters' though. Some chapters were immersive if short while others were dull and a little tedious.
I picked up A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom based on a list of books to read if you loved Cloud Cuckoo Land and while I can see why it made the list, the millennia spanning ideas, it lacked the intimacy and personal nature of CCL.
A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks does a similar concept with more fluidity and less chaff
