Book Review - Beatrice and Virgil

Beatrice and Virgil Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read Life of Pi with my book club and it engendered views that ranged from "this is total crap" to "I couldn't put it down". I expect Beatrice and Virgil would have the same results. Judging by the reviews on Goodreads, that assumption is correct. Lots of 0 and 1 stars and lots of 4 and 5 stars.

I liked B&V a lot and read all but the first 20 pages in one sitting. It's the story of Henry who wrote a very successful novel but has his next book about the Holocaust rejected by the publishers after he takes five years to write it. He and his wife move to a new city, put down roots in the arts community and enjoy their lives. Until, one day a letter comes with a story by Flaubert and a partial script for a play.

That leads Henry into a disturbing, mysterious, sad and always reminding of Waiting for Godot world filled with taxidermy, pets and imagery that I felt I might be too dumb to fully understand.


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