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Bezig met laden... Common Ground: Did you ever have a friend who made you see the world differently? (editie 2021)door Naomi Ishiguro (Auteur)
Informatie over het werkCommon Ground door Naomi Ishiguro
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  Alan.M | Apr 20, 2021 |  geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
*An Evening Standard Must Read, Grazia Best Book of 2021 and Independent Debut Not to Miss* 'Beautifully written, this is a book of real hope and connection' StylistA bittersweet story of coming-of-age in a divided world, in the tradition of TIN MAN or BLACK SWAN GREEN. It's a lonely life for Stan, at a new school that feels more ordeal than fresh start, and at home where he and his mother struggle to break the silence after his father's death. When he encounters fearless, clever Charlie on the local common, all of that begins to change. Charlie's curiosity is infectious, and it is Charlie who teaches Stan, for the first time, to stand on his own two feet. But will their unit of two be strong enough to endure in a world that offers these boys such different prospects? The pair part ways, until their paths cross once again, as adults in London. Now Stan is revelling in all that the city has to offer, while Charlie seems to have hit a brick wall. He needs Stan's help, and above all his friendship, but is Stan really there for the man who once showed him the meaning of loyalty? Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)823.92Literature English English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.5)
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So, in theory, it looked like a good book to delve into: lots of issues of friendship, being an outsider, race in modern-day Britain, and so on.... But, I just felt a disconnect from the beginning. Part One felt and read at times like a YA novel, and it didn't improve much in Part Two, although some of the scenes would be a bit too heavy for YAs. Unfortunately, I just didn't believe in the likelihood of the friendship in the first place - it just seemed artificial, a 16yo befriending a 13yo in the way it works out. And as the book went on the 'message' was, well, not so subtle. What I found worked in the short story collection was totally absent here; there were no subtle metaphors, or quiet allusions to meaning. Here, you get The Message very bluntly spelt out to you. This is what the moral is. And now I'm going to tell you again. And again. And, sadly, it became quite tiresome. There surely must be space for the reader to make the connections, space where what is unsaid is more powerful than what beats you over the head, where a scene in part 2 that mirrors something that happened in part 1 is not explicitly pointed out to us ('like déja vu or something' we are told).
The idea is worthy, and at times there are flashes of the lyrical potential that Ishiguro displayed in 'Escape Routes', but it was just way too obvious in hammering home the 'moral of the story'. I look forward to seeing what Naomi Ishiguro comes up with next, but I'm afraid this was just a slightly disappointing 3 stars. (