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Lädt ... Lifted by the Great Nothingvon Karim Dimechkie
Top Five Books of 2015 (638) Lädt ...
Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. Funny, very charming first part when the main character Max is young. His father is a pretty wonderful character—though it’s also concerning how much of the novel’s humor hinges on the dad’s immigrant English and how much of the tragedy hinges on the dad being a closeted gay man. The second part becomes more ambitions, perhaps, but also less convincing. Zeige 2 von 2 keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Auszeichnungen
Max doesn't remember his mother, who was murdered by burglars before they emigrated from Beirut to New Jersey. He lives with his father, Rasheed, who is enamored of his concept of American culture--baseball and barbeques--and tries to shed his Lebanese heritage completely. "When we are in America," Reed (for he goes by Reed in America, not Rasheed) tells Max, "we are Americans." Rasheed has a single purpose in life: to provide Max with a joyful childhood. He showers his son with gifts out of a belief that he deserves all and is capable of anything. Max wants nothing more than to convince his father that he is a successful single parent. The only thing that can disrupt their peaceful universe is the truth--which it does, with force. When Max turns seventeen, he learns from Rasheed's ex-girlfriend that his father has been lying to him. Max's understanding of the world is so rocked that he is subsequently launched on an uncertain mission to Beirut and then Paris. -- is a startlingly graceful, and often hilarious, coming-of-age story about the lengths we go to preserve the untruths we live by. With its poignant relationships, unsettling misadventures, and surprising love stories, it is a touching and devastating portrait of a young man coming to terms with his country's--and his own--violent past. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyKlassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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Rasheed leaves Lebanon with his infant son Max, settling into a multi-cultural American neighborhood and life. He is determined to live all aspects of Lebanon behind. Max grows up believing his mother and entire extended family were killed by robbers in Beirut -- he and his father narrowly escaping the ambush.
The book's primary focus is Max's coming-of-age and his relationship with his father and neighbors. Max struggles to understand his heritage and questions whether his father has been truthful about their past in Lebanon. He doesn't fit in at school and connects most with a neighbor twice his age.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. There are poignant notes throughout the book, but I didn't really find myself invested with the characters until the very end of the book. By then I had nearly given up interest. "Lifted by the Great Nothing" is the author's debut novel, I would certainly be interested in reading a future novel as I believe he is a talented writer.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )