How gorgeous is that cover??
I so loved Jess Walter's The Financial Lives of the Poets that I was quite excited to get an ARC of Beautiful Ruins. The story begins in 1962, when a young blonde starlet with a terrible disease is brought to a miniscule Italian village to rest in an inn there. By the time the book is over, the time has stretched to the present and involved more Italians and a lot more Hollywood-ians, including Richard Burton in a pivotal role.
Just as in Poets, Walter has a wonderful way of making his characters real and engaging, even when they're behaving poorly. They often have a wry view of the world, such as the American writer who travels each year to the same inn as the starlet. When the innkeeper asks him why he keeps coming back, here is his response:
"Bender pondered the wine in his hand. 'A writer needs four things to achieve greatness, Pasquale: desire, disappointment, and the sea.'
"'That's only three.'
"Alvis finished his wine. 'You have to do disappointment twice.'"
Walter takes on some heady topics in this book. Fate, karma, the butterfly effect, and how the choices we make play out over the decades. While I applaud the ambition, at times I felt like he lost control of his material. The ending is one giant recap of what happened to every single character, and it felt forced in a bad-movie kind of way. Some of the secondary characters (I'm talking about you, Claire) were just not that interesting compared to the starlet, Pasquale the innkeeper, and Richard Burton.
But if you like books that are set in Italy and/or Hollywood, and you like following arge casts of characters over several decades, this will be your cup of tea.
Yes to Italy and a large cast of characters over several decades... Hollywood, not so much. I haven't read the author's previous book, but was talking about this one on twitter this morning with another friend. I mentioned the gorgeous cover, too!
Posted by: JoAnn | June 15, 2012 at 04:46 PM
The Hollywood parts were, for me, the least interesting parts. I have to admit a huge cast of characters is not always my cuppa either.
Posted by: Amy Rea | June 17, 2012 at 04:13 PM
We do agree about the characters! I also liked Financial Lives of Poets very much, but I liked Beautiful Ruins even better. And my take on the last chapter is quite different from yours--I loved it! Walter definitely has a way of developing characters who stay with you....
Posted by: Lisa Almeda Sumner | July 12, 2012 at 11:53 AM
Lisa, I think that last chapter will have its fans and detractors. Example--you and I. :-)
Posted by: Amy Rea | July 12, 2012 at 02:51 PM