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Nancy O. (Hobe Sound, FL)
a short review is impossible!
I absolutely love the very original premise in this novel, in which 4 men discover quite through accident that they have the same father, who it seems, has disappeared. This intriguing story takes the reader through a whirlwind tour of European history, cities and cultures in this story which is funny and poignant, dark in spots, and intriguing. It does so without ever disconnecting the reader from the themes of loss and of being lost that come shining through in this novel, as well as the concepts of home, family and freedom. While I may have found it to be tangential and meandering in spots, I had no trouble at all NOT putting this book down -- although I think that for more casual readers, the tangents in the narrative complete with flashbacks might be a little challenging. I liked this one and would certainly recommend it, especially to readers like myself who enjoy translated fiction.
Kate G. (Bronx, NY)
4 Christophers!
Lost Luggage, the award winning novel is translated from Catalan and tells the story of Gabriel Delacruz and his life as a mover in Europe. Raised in an orphanage, he grows up and with his best friend, Bundo joins an international moving company in Barcelona. This offers both young men many opportunities to meet people and Gabriel is a very charming young man who ends up with 4 wives and 4 sons, all variations of Christopher. It is a wonderful story, but its long descriptive passages may be off putting to those who prefer more plot driven fiction. It was really enjoyable, but occasionally I longed for a more straightforward story.
Daniel A. (Naugatuck, CT)
Lost Luggage
Reading this book was a huge challenge for me. The story was pretty good, but the translation was in British English, with all the similes and other cliches that made me look up some British terms often. also, I'm not used to reading sentences that comprise of 50 to 75 words. My reading pace slows way down and sometimes I tend to reread sentences and paragraphs.
Overall, I recommend this book to anyone that is from the UK, loves a good mystery, and likes to read books that won many awards. 4 stars
Michele W. (Manchester, MD)
Four of a Kind
I enjoyed reading Lost Luggage despite the fact that I skimmed large parts of the book. It reminded me of The Tiger's Wife in that traumatic issues were discussed, but without real feeling, making them more like fables or legends than realistic fiction. I also thought both books were engaging in plot and structure despite flaws in the development of the main character (Grandfather in The Tiger's Wife and Gabriel in Lost Luggage), and excessive development of secondary characters. The plot of Lost Luggage is basically simple, but the twists at the end made me glad I read it all the way through. I don't think it would be the very best book club read.
Nancy F. (Carmel, IN)
Too many threads....
Unfortunately this book was difficult to read based on my preference for a more straight forward plot line. Also the amount of detailed description and dialogue was too much to digest. While I found the plot potential original, I did not enjoy the reading experience.
Diane D. (South Portland, ME)
Lenghthy Lost Luggage!
Although Punti is a master at prose, his sheer amount of flashbacks and characters is a lot to sort through. The reader needs to pay close attention as the author jumps back and forth through the decades. The story of the Christophers is so unusual and really held my interest throughout the long book.
Mary Beth S. (Mequon, WI)
Lost Luggage lost me
Four young men, fathered by the same man with different mothers, discover the existence of the others in Lost Luggage by Jordi Punti . Combined, they serve as the narrator of this book which is confusing enough on its own. To complicate matters for the reader even further, they are all named some variation of the same name and refer to themselves as The Christophers. I found the ending to be convenient considering the hundreds of pages that led up to it. Sorry to say, this is not a book I will be recommending.
Donna W. (Wauwatosa, WI)
Lost Luggage
"Lost Luggage" is a story about 4 boys trying to find the father who abandoned each of them and their 4 different mothers. The main story is quite clever, but the author is so ambitious in his telling of it that he introduces too many side characters and goes off on too many tangents. While this helps to make the story unique, it also tends to weigh the story down. When the story was revolving around the main 5 characters it had a charm to it, but I found my attention wandering during much of the book. It was interesting enough that I wanted to find out what happened to the father and the boys in the end, but a lot of the other characters were a distraction. I had to push myself sometimes to keep going.