Book Review
Feb. 25th, 2015 06:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Rise & Fall of Great Powers
by Tom Rachman
This novel follows the life of Tooly, a now thirty-something woman who had a very unorthodox and peripatetic childhood. Now the owner of a failing bookshop in Wales, she re-encounters some of the people from her past and begins piecing together what happened and just who the people she grew up among really were. We see Tooly's life through three different times and places of great importance to her: 1988 in Bangkok, 1999 in NYC, and 2011 (the book's present) in Wales and the US. The alternation among time periods works very well as a narrative structure and makes for a satisfying gradual reveal of the truths of Tooly's childhood.
The Rise & Fall of Great Powers was a very engaging read. Rachman creates wonderful characters. He populates the narrative with a rich cast that is nigh-on Dickensian in their variety and oddness. My favorites were Tooly herself with her cleverness, resiliency, and humor, and Humphrey, and aging, eccentric Russian book-lover who looks after Tooly for much of her childhood. Venn the grifter was very intriguing as well - I wish there had been just a bit more about him.
Rachman also does a great job of exploring fascinating and emotionally resonant themes through his story and characters. Tooly's life provides a poignant reflection of the pull towards and push away from both rootlessness and connection. The people she grows up among beautifully illustrate what makes and unmakes a family. Everything together takes a look at the value of making connections and feeling deeply in spite of the chaos of the modern world and the often confusing lives we live in it.
by Tom Rachman
This novel follows the life of Tooly, a now thirty-something woman who had a very unorthodox and peripatetic childhood. Now the owner of a failing bookshop in Wales, she re-encounters some of the people from her past and begins piecing together what happened and just who the people she grew up among really were. We see Tooly's life through three different times and places of great importance to her: 1988 in Bangkok, 1999 in NYC, and 2011 (the book's present) in Wales and the US. The alternation among time periods works very well as a narrative structure and makes for a satisfying gradual reveal of the truths of Tooly's childhood.
The Rise & Fall of Great Powers was a very engaging read. Rachman creates wonderful characters. He populates the narrative with a rich cast that is nigh-on Dickensian in their variety and oddness. My favorites were Tooly herself with her cleverness, resiliency, and humor, and Humphrey, and aging, eccentric Russian book-lover who looks after Tooly for much of her childhood. Venn the grifter was very intriguing as well - I wish there had been just a bit more about him.
Rachman also does a great job of exploring fascinating and emotionally resonant themes through his story and characters. Tooly's life provides a poignant reflection of the pull towards and push away from both rootlessness and connection. The people she grows up among beautifully illustrate what makes and unmakes a family. Everything together takes a look at the value of making connections and feeling deeply in spite of the chaos of the modern world and the often confusing lives we live in it.
