Scan barcode
A review by sauvageloup
Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks
5.0
perhaps this is a 4.5* but I am rounding up because it is a phenomenal book in scope and human feeling.
pros:
- Faulks' writing is beautiful. he mixes lyrical with simple language, captures rhythms of speech as well as lecturing and medical language, and is deeply poignant at times
- the details of psychiatry was fascinating and clearly intricately researched
- the characters are all wonderfully human, and both frustrating and lovable for it, even the many side-characters like Luca, Abbé henry and Billy
- the ending was both realistic but not depressing and excellently touching
- considering how little we saw of Daniel and the twins, they remained very real characters
cons:
- there are a lot of characters and I forgot some (tho i had several months between reading the first half and the second)
- its long and felt like it was *too* long a little bit at the end. partly this seemed to be because....
- as fascinating as the psychiatry was, there was a *lot* of detail
- Jacque and his...dalliance frustrated me immensely and i lost all respect for him. Sonia was a wonderful character and she deserved better than him being tugged around by his "animal natures" or whatever bullshit he said. Although this was a flaw in character rather the book, it does frustrate me how many male characters particularly seem to have affairs, as if it is something inevitable. Perhaps since Thomas was a bad friend, Jacques infidelity is supposed to level them but it made me disgusted by him :(((
- sex in general seemed a little unnecessary..? but perhaps it is considered needed in writing a whole sweeping novel of 2 lives
HOWEVER i did enjoy this book, particularly its ability to cause awe in the reader. Faulks writes wonderfully and is truly masterful and it is a huge achievement
[Edit: i just remembered what i thought H.T. was similar to, in a bizarre way, which was Neil Stevenson's 'Snow storm', which also talks about logos; language and the beginnings of humans, although in a sci-fi rather than a historical one. both really fascinated me]
pros:
- Faulks' writing is beautiful. he mixes lyrical with simple language, captures rhythms of speech as well as lecturing and medical language, and is deeply poignant at times
- the details of psychiatry was fascinating and clearly intricately researched
- the characters are all wonderfully human, and both frustrating and lovable for it, even the many side-characters like Luca, Abbé henry and Billy
- the ending was both realistic but not depressing and excellently touching
- considering how little we saw of Daniel and the twins, they remained very real characters
cons:
- there are a lot of characters and I forgot some (tho i had several months between reading the first half and the second)
- its long and felt like it was *too* long a little bit at the end. partly this seemed to be because....
- as fascinating as the psychiatry was, there was a *lot* of detail
- Jacque and his...dalliance frustrated me immensely and i lost all respect for him. Sonia was a wonderful character and she deserved better than him being tugged around by his "animal natures" or whatever bullshit he said. Although this was a flaw in character rather the book, it does frustrate me how many male characters particularly seem to have affairs, as if it is something inevitable. Perhaps since Thomas was a bad friend, Jacques infidelity is supposed to level them but it made me disgusted by him :(((
- sex in general seemed a little unnecessary..? but perhaps it is considered needed in writing a whole sweeping novel of 2 lives
HOWEVER i did enjoy this book, particularly its ability to cause awe in the reader. Faulks writes wonderfully and is truly masterful and it is a huge achievement
[Edit: i just remembered what i thought H.T. was similar to, in a bizarre way, which was Neil Stevenson's 'Snow storm', which also talks about logos; language and the beginnings of humans, although in a sci-fi rather than a historical one. both really fascinated me]