Helpful Score: 2
Mike Smoliji is 16 when his father leaves their family. Actually most of the men from Maple Rock leave. The wives are left to raise their families and make new lives and Mike and his friends who are unable to leave their neighborhood remain to stumble through their twenties and into marriages, jobs and families of their own. This is an interesting book about a young boy trying to find himself and his future. Sometimes it's easier to think that your dad is on the moon, then the fact that he abandoned you. What would happen if the moon called out to Mike and his friends? What would happen if one of the dad's came back?
Helpful Score: 1
I could not get into this book. It's quite gloomy, all the dads in this working class section of town disappear one by one and the story is told through the eyes of a boy who's dad leaves. There didn't seem to be any relief from the sadness of it all.
An interesting book. Well written, sad and heartbreaking at times. Highly recommended.
This was a page turner for me. The premise was immediately odd: all the fathers in a small town one day vanish, and their sons decide they have all gone to the moon. The hero is 16 at the time of the disappearance and we follow him through the next 13 years, as he lives his quite ordinary life. He falls in and out of love; he struggles to find meaningful work; he builds a family of his own. Each episode is thoroughly believable, yet twinged with something surreal. The writing is the perfect mix of unfussy yet descriptive. The mood is both compassionate and melancholy. Being able to "stumble" upon books like this, that I can't seem to put down, is why I especially seek out debut novels. I will definitely remain on the lookout for more by this author.
This just wasn't my thing. It's very readable and thought-provoking at points, but I just didn't care for it.
A book that could easily be read in a day if willing to invest in the time it would take.
The author's writing style is unusual and somewhat creative. His protagonist is not speaking to us, as readers: he's speaking to the fathers that have disappeared and abandoned their families.
The brief chapters are like a collection of progressive short stories.
There is much about these character's coming of age experiences or how they perceive society and culture that many young adults would find in common.
The author's writing style is unusual and somewhat creative. His protagonist is not speaking to us, as readers: he's speaking to the fathers that have disappeared and abandoned their families.
The brief chapters are like a collection of progressive short stories.
There is much about these character's coming of age experiences or how they perceive society and culture that many young adults would find in common.
This book was a little quirky but I really liked reading it. A good change of pace.
