This was a Christmas present.
There is nothing more welcome as a gift to me than a book (or a music, movie) BUT what to give to a 100% bookworm who reads an collects his whole life? When it comes to my current choices, I usually roam where inspiration leads me and follow towards whatever suggestion, idea or a recommendation might point. Sometimes the best intended gifts might simply not be the right choice for me, as proven a few years ago when I was given than brand new trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey" (which my roommate had bought as Christmas present completely innocently because it was very popular and the lady in the shop suggested as a best seller) than still stands unopened somewhere in the corner because I simply didn't have a heart to throw it away. This Christmas my current work colleague faced a small choice in a Aruba's bookshop and bravely decided to go for something written recently and to trust all those glitzy awards and usual advertising tricks on the cover. I was thrilled, to be honest, because I love books + never heard of this one.
It turned out very interesting, though I was very suspicious initially because I didn't like the voice of the character at the start - it sounded just as annoying and superficial as majority of the people I meet trough my work (me, me, me and some more me) until I realised (around chapter three) that this was actually a very clever trick: every chapter is told from a point of view of a different person, so each of them have completely different way of expressions and thinking. A spotty teenager, neurosurgeon, retired widower, FBI agent, pop singer, it unfolds Rashomon-like into a story that eventually connects different destinies, lives past and present, even far away places. I guess the main idea would be how our lives are all connected one way or the other. Kind of how your life story could be told from different perspectives if various people talk about it. Which brings me to my favourite question - what is truth and are we a person we think we are, a person we strive & imagine ourselves to be or a person others see in our place? Well, I enjoyed the novel up to the point but not really because of the story as much for the idea of each chapter having a completely different, fresh voice. This was done with excellent style and grace, I must admit the author showed even brilliance by using so many completely opposite ways of thinking and different perspectives. As for the story itself, I felt it a bit meandering and unfocused because it started in one place and it went to several others until it closed at something completely left-turn - it all had some sort of conclusion, I guess, but again it was the writing style and not the story itself that thrilled me.
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