Gorgeous language, mysterious characters, lives that intersect in geographical space and across time. Who is real, and who is fictional? Who is telling the stories? The blue table!

A family: two daughters, a father, a handyman. An almost numbing act of violence and each member of the family goes his or her own way. The book starts in Northern California and then roams the American West and rural France. As someone on Goodreads wrote, this “is not about the things that happened; it is a story about the things that were felt.” It is about what makes people tick and words are less important than relationships, feelings, silences. A point probably worth making: if you like “traditional” novels with a beginning, a middle, and an end, don’t read this book. It isn’t that kind of book. The middle isn’t a middle, the end most certainly is not an end. There is no end. Life has no end. Just puzzles without a solution, strings not tied up, false starts….
It took a while for me to get into this because Ondaatje focused on a part of the story/stories that just didn’t grab me. But once you’re involved, watch out! It’s partly the story, partly the writing, partly the omissions, the subtext. There’s a very short (maybe four or five page) “interlude” that is part of the backstory more than halfway in about a stepfather. Some of the best writing I have ever read, bar nothing. Ondaatje is one of the very best authors writing anywhere. Why isn’t HE on the Nobel short list? In a word: brilliant. ( )

I like when an author switches from one perspective/narrator to another, and then successfully weaves them together to make a whole story. The key to this is the successful weaving part, though, and this is where "Divisadero" fails the most for me. Also, I prefer a plot, story arc, and a pretty high verb to adjective ratio, none of which did this book have. It was more a collection of vignettes, yet they didn't all come together to make something more than the sum of their parts like a good collection should. (An excellent example of vignettes coming together to make more than the sum of their parts is "The House on Mango Street" - super good read.)

This book was the July selection for my book club, and after talking it over and hearing their interpretations I actually have a much more positive view of this book than when I had first finished reading it. They discussed themes of loneliness and divisions ("divisaderos"), poetry disguised as prose, and the human need for closure. All these ideas are very tied to this book, yet did not become obvious to me until others pointed them out. Hearing the book clubbers talk about these themes was enjoyable, but reading this book was not. ( )

between 2.5 and 3 stars. man, his writing is exquisite. i thought i was going to swoon my way through this when i first opened it. i love when poets write prose.

that said, this didn't work for me as much as i wanted it to. it was still beautiful and lovely and made me care more than i expected about some of the characters and situations, but some of it seemed a little untethered and incomplete. but. the writing. goodness the writing. ( )

He develops character marvelously. I become immediately involved in every character presented. He also moves plot, making me want more. There is still something missing for me, and I think it is that no one's story seems complete or finished. In the end it is like getting a vignette that is to be continued but never is. ( )