The writing in this story kept me engaged throughout, although in the first third of the book I wasn't sure what the writer was trying to accomplish. Halfway through, I was completely immersed in the story and was anxious to see what would happen next. Then, I felt that beginning with USA 2016, the story took off in a completely different direction. The writing style and the importance of the main character seemed to shift. There was a bit of magical realism throughout the book, but the scene where Trump auto-combusted without explanation seemed to push everything a little too fast and too far and I wish that that part had been done differently. ( )

This is an inventive and unusual book. It is difficult to describe. Some have called it “time travel,” but it is certainly not typical. The protagonist changes over time. He takes on a different name and lives in a different part of the world in each chapter, but his situation does not change. It begins in the year 1 in Palestine and ends in the year 2080 in a space colony. Many famous people from history make an appearance.

After his childhood, the protagonist is a male artisan, with a wife. His wife dies. He takes another wife, and she bears a child who is murdered. He goes on a quest for vengeance to find and kill the guilty party. The protagonist is himself responsible for various deaths. His “life” unfolds in pieces and parts. His name changes but it always begins with the same letter. A constant “witness” is a blind woman (based on Tiresias of Greek mythology) whose name always begins with a “T.”

The advantages of this type of approach to storytelling is that the reader can witness how human nature changes very little over time. The disadvantage is that it is difficult to get attached to the characters. The final two chapters did not hold together quite as well, especially the scenes set in 2016 in the United States and the epilogue set in space. I enjoyed it for its creativity. ( )

It's a long and winding road that leads to an odd ending. I really liked the idea of writing a saga split into chapters that occur in different countries over two centuries. In fact, it was the frequent location changes that kept my interest up. Doubtless, authorial intention. I kept Wikipedia handy to flesh out the time and place for each chapter, or simply enjoyed what the author was doing with history that was familiar. But, I have to say that without this clever structuring I found the basic story unremarkable, repetitive and boring. And the wrap-up delusional. Or was this satire that went over my head? ( )

John Boyne is one of my favorite writers and this book is one of his best. He basically follows an unnamed lead character through 2000 years. It starts in Palestine at the time of Jesus and goes all the way through the future. As each chapter ends we see the character in various states of plot. What happens is that the plot gets advanced by 50 years but into a different place in the world. The characters get introduced in the new chapter as if they just completed the plot point from the previous chapters. The names change but they always begin with the same letter. There are parents, brothers, wives, children etc. It is a very creative way of constructing a story and it totally worked for me. Boyne deals with the issue of the brutality of life through the ages, especially how it deals with women and children. This book is a challenge but well worth it. ( )

Audiobook- excellent narration
I had to give it 4 stars because I will not reread this and that gets my 5 stars. It's not a story I'd want to relive but am so glad I read.
It was an amazing travel through times with an almost exact story just in a different time and place. What if you were reborn over and over ? How do you review a book like this ? I will not, I couldn't do it justice. I went in totally blind it was recommended by a friend. I didn't know what it was about and didn't for a while reading it. Then I caught on, very interesting.
What I found the most interesting was women's rolls and how they stood in society over the years. Oy, it was horrible. That is not even the worst there was child abuse, acceptable then and sickening always. heartbreaking deaths, violence, great loss, with short moments of joy.
The epilogue was spot on about a certain President. Read the book you'll see. ( )