What readers think of The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl, plus links to write your own review.

I normally read about history (non-fiction), so I was really excited about a fictitious narrative about events I've already learned about. I flew through the first several chapters (and a few others) and I loved hearing about the personal experience surrounding historical events. Unfortunately, I lost interest as the "years passed" because some of the characters were either annoying or difficult to relate to. I found myself groaning each time one of the characters appeared in the chapter. I'm not interested the sexual experiences of the characters (but that was a very small and inoffensive part of the narrative). I couldn't relate to the grand locations, lifestyles and seemingly unlimited amount of time the family/friends have to spend together. To be fair, I rarely enjoy fiction except for historical fiction and the narrative seemed to become more about the family/friends than their personal experiences in the context of historical events during the "very long, very strange life..."

It was okay; not as good as anticipated. Certainly not a very strange life, though I would call it a very interesting life and story. It could have drawn me in more during the first half of the book to be called "intimate." I think most of the characters could have been given more depth.

While the premise for Bart Yates' "The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl" was different, I found it to be more disappointing than strange. I would just get into the people who comprised that day, then that day was over. Then it's 8 years later. There was a lot of repetition from each event day to the next, as though the reader was the one who lived the 8 years and needed to be reminded how cranky Aggie was, how strong Bo was, or that Isaac was a writer.

Several of the significant days were centered around a natural disaster: an avalanche, a dust storm, an earthquake, etc. Generally when a person survives a disaster, they come out of it having learned something about themselves or about those who survived with them. I don't feel that Isaac or his "family" learned much at all. More so than "strange", Isaac's life was sad.