Comments (26)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 26 items
Dec 02, 2023mmacleod34 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Read the first part and started the second and just couldn't stand to read anymore
Nov 30, 2023
I could not get into this story. Perhaps another time.
Aug 09, 2022
This is SUCH a weird book. 3 parts, all disconnected, or not. I hated to see the first part end, although the journey of the mourning man was horrific on many levels. I starting skimming the second part then went back and read every word.…
Jun 07, 2022rayjd rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Another book from the "Books That Feel Like Wes Anderson Movies" list. My least favorite so far, although it did remind me of The Darjeeling Limited, and to a lesser and much more specific extent, The Life Aquatic. I wish everything in…
Apr 09, 2020Walter724 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Yann Martel really knows how to tell a story! At times his writing is very clever and logical. I often had to re-read certain passages to get his profound meaning. There is humor in his story-telling, and I liked that I would often…
Apr 09, 2020stewstealth rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Had a very difficult time with the characters in the novel. they were not sympathetic or relate-able. The plot is thin and loosely connected between the three chapters. The prose is excellent. Overall for me this is an okay read but not…
Aug 19, 2019kwillen rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Part one caught my attention, though it seemed to go nowhere and then without resolution came part two which was simply absurd. I have had enough of authors who write one good novel to much acclaim then slide into careless ... trash which…
Dec 18, 2018GLNovak rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I really enjoyed the writing in this book, and although the three stories could have confused me a bit, I also enjoyed the slim threads connecting these three stories. I think reading this book and trying to figure out, to come to an…
Oct 07, 2018myreadingworld rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
This was definitely not the book for me. Too esoteric. The use of words, the style of writing, was wonderful though, as one would expect from this author, but for me the story itself was ... blah.
May 07, 2018FabulouslyWeird rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This was a memorable read. By briefly settling on three different people experiencing different losses Yann Martel brings their feelings to our own experiences with loss and how we move forward from them. There is so much i could talk…
Apr 01, 2018kwsmith rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
As always, Martel writes in religious allegory. His complex tales are filled with subtle magical absurdity that is entirely up to us to interpret. His excellent earlier book, *Life of Pi,* likens life to a story, quietly suggesting a story…
May 02, 2017kimh454 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A sad book. But a wonderful one.
Feb 15, 2017DanglingConversations rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I welcomed the library reviews to warn me that this was 3 short stories, vaguely connected. By not trying to make sense of the plot I was better able to appreciate the pathos of this story of grief suffered by fathers who have lost their…
Jan 30, 2017spiderfelt_0 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This book left me feeling like there was something I was missing. The description of a man learning to drive one of the first cars through remote villages was farcical until it turned tragic. The 2nd story veered into surrealism and the…
Jan 23, 2017
This book spans from the early 1900's to the mid-80's and presents three stories linked by grief, chimpanzees, and the High Mountains of Portugal. Although I appreciated the intricate connections and themes explored within the stories, I…
Jan 09, 2017sneha rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book immensely. Unlike some other commenters, I didn't mind that the book didn't have a clear plot. I loved all the detailed descriptions -- about how an early automobile works, analysis of Agatha Christie, etc -- and found…
KHCPL_Mikayla
Dec 26, 2016
This was definitely a unique novel. Three stories set into one, each with distinctive, interesting characters that all had very different lives. The characterization and the slow pace were the most distinct aspects of Martel's novel, and…
Oct 16, 2016brangwinn rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I had high expectations of this book, sadly I finished the book not finding what I was expecting. The writing is excellent, but the three separate stories didn’t resonate with me. I guess it was the subject. One of my favorite aspects of…
Oct 08, 2016pkerr rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I loved the Life of Pi, in fact read it twice. In one word this book was disappointing.
Sep 08, 2016multcolib_alisonk rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This set of three loosely linked novellas had me a bit confused. For one thing, it took me a while to understand that this wasn't a full length novel, as I was listening to the audio book. At times the narrative made me incredulous, the…
Aug 16, 2016JANET FLAPAN rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
If you liked 'The Life of Pi' you'll like this one. It's also about a strange journey, three of them, over 4 centuries. I wanted to find out what happened next so I kept going and also found the main characters interesting and wanted to…
Jul 18, 2016robertafsmith rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Forteen years after Martel won the Booker Prize (2002) for Life of Pi, comes his next novel - The High Mountains of Portugal. This novel (although with a lengthy section on the adoption of a chimpanzee) is very different from Life of Pi.…
May 02, 2016s390325 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
This novel was engaging and confusing. I think what irked me the most was that I couldn't figure out the "point" or moral of the novel. The only connections I could see between the three stories was: 1)Portugal and the specific town…
Mar 28, 2016becker rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
An allegorical conundrum for sure but I have to say I enjoyed the challenge. I was mesmerized by the telling of this story, even the parts I didn't understand (and there were a few). A good deep read for those who enjoy that type of…
Mar 04, 20161_Great_Book rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Like Martel himself says towards the end..... "What's with all the apes "? This is more an allegorical and symbolic foray into the quintessential question of where do we come from? Martel explores the hypothesis that rather than fallen…