2.0
The Shape of Bones
ByPublisher Description
"A book of visceral and tender beauty whose echoes persist long after the final page."
—David Mitchell, author of The Bone Clocks
A coming of age tale of brutal beauty and disarming tenderness from one of Brazil's most exciting young novelists, an author writing in the footsteps of "Roberto Bolaño, Jim Harrison, the Coen brothers and...Denis Johnson" (The New York Times)
A young man wakes up at dawn to drive to the Andes, to climb the Cerro Bonete--a mountain untouched by ice axes and climbers, one of the planet's final mountains to be conquered--as an act of heroic bravado, or foolishness. But instead, he finds himself dragged, by the undertow of memory, to Esplanada, the neighborhood he grew up in, to the brotherhood of his old friends, and to the clearing in the woods where he witnessed an act that has run like a scar through the rest of his life.
Back in Esplanada, the young man revisits his initiation into adulthood and recalls his boyhood friends who formed a strange and volatile pack. Together they play video games, get drunk around bonfires, pick fights, and goad each other into bike races where the winner is the boy who has the most spectacular crash. Caught between the threat of not being man enough, the desire to please his friends, and the intoxicating contact-high of danger, the boy finds himself following the rules of the pack even as the risks mount. And in a moment that reverberates and repeats itself in new ways in his adulthood, his fantasies of who he is and what it means to be a man come crashing down, and life asserts itself as an endless rehearsal for a heroic moment that may never arrive.
From one of Brazil's most dazzling writers, The Shape of Bones is an exhilarating story of mythic power. Daniel Galera has written a pulse-racing novel with the otherworldly wisdom of a parable.
—David Mitchell, author of The Bone Clocks
A coming of age tale of brutal beauty and disarming tenderness from one of Brazil's most exciting young novelists, an author writing in the footsteps of "Roberto Bolaño, Jim Harrison, the Coen brothers and...Denis Johnson" (The New York Times)
A young man wakes up at dawn to drive to the Andes, to climb the Cerro Bonete--a mountain untouched by ice axes and climbers, one of the planet's final mountains to be conquered--as an act of heroic bravado, or foolishness. But instead, he finds himself dragged, by the undertow of memory, to Esplanada, the neighborhood he grew up in, to the brotherhood of his old friends, and to the clearing in the woods where he witnessed an act that has run like a scar through the rest of his life.
Back in Esplanada, the young man revisits his initiation into adulthood and recalls his boyhood friends who formed a strange and volatile pack. Together they play video games, get drunk around bonfires, pick fights, and goad each other into bike races where the winner is the boy who has the most spectacular crash. Caught between the threat of not being man enough, the desire to please his friends, and the intoxicating contact-high of danger, the boy finds himself following the rules of the pack even as the risks mount. And in a moment that reverberates and repeats itself in new ways in his adulthood, his fantasies of who he is and what it means to be a man come crashing down, and life asserts itself as an endless rehearsal for a heroic moment that may never arrive.
From one of Brazil's most dazzling writers, The Shape of Bones is an exhilarating story of mythic power. Daniel Galera has written a pulse-racing novel with the otherworldly wisdom of a parable.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Shape of Bones Reviews
2.0
Heather W
Created almost 2 years agoShare
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The_Reading_Kat
Created over 2 years agoShare
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“This book is absolutely horrible. The writing is fine, but the story itself is just plain bad. Everything seems all over the place. The story jumps back and forth between the main in the present and the main character in his past, and the plot jumps from plot line to plot line; often without a plot being resolved. Heck, even the ending doesn't have resolution. It it ends with a "The main character has made up their mind on what to do, but doesn't reveal to the audience" trope. I really disliked the fact that the set up for the story makes it seem like we are gonna read about one story/adventure, but in reality we get something completely different.
I don't think this is the intention of the author, but this book reads like we're reading the thoughts/diary of someone going through a mental break. And this is a trigger warning that I feel might be spoiler-ish but I feep like should be mentioned in not a spoiler tag. But the story gets into intentional injuries and almost but maybe not quite a blood/masochist fetish.
I can not get over how much I dislike the main character and how there is absolutely no character growth. And instead of the character actually discovering something about themself they go crazy and help beat up a gang group with an ice pick.
Content Warnings”Lyd.iaa.x
Created about 3 years agoShare
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Tanninsandtales
Created almost 4 years agoShare
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Michael K
Created almost 4 years agoShare
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About Daniel Galera
Daniel Galera is a Brazilian writer and translator. He was born in Sao Paulo, but lives in Porto Alegre, where he has spent most of his life. He has published five novels in Brazil to great acclaim, including Blood-Drenched Beard, which was awarded the 2013 Sao Paulo Literature Prize. In 2013 Granta named Galera one of the Best Young Brazilian Novelists. He has translated the work of Zadie Smith, John Cheever, and David Mitchell into Portuguese. He is translated in English by Alison Entrekin.
Alison Entrekin translates Brazilian literature. Her works include Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera; City of God by Paulo Lins; The Eternal Son by Cristovão Tezza, shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector, shortlisted for the PEN America Translation Prize; and Budapest by Chico Buarque, shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.
Alison Entrekin translates Brazilian literature. Her works include Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera; City of God by Paulo Lins; The Eternal Son by Cristovão Tezza, shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector, shortlisted for the PEN America Translation Prize; and Budapest by Chico Buarque, shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.
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