Friday, December 20, 2013

Review: Beatrice and Virgil - Yann Martel

Beatrice and Virgil
Yann Martel
Series: N/A
Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Word Rating: Mind-blowing
On Goodreads

Everyone needs to read this book. Everyone. Now. Right now. In the name of all that is good, read this book. Please.

So, like many people, I had no idea who Yann Martel was until Life of Pi started gaining popularity. And so I read Life of Pi, and I loved it, and the day I finished it, I was telling a friend how much I loved it. And so she told me she's loved Yann Martel for quite a while and told me to read Beatrice and Virgil. So, I took her suggestion, and on my eight hour car ride to Canada, read this book.

And boy, am I glad I did.

Beatrice and Virgil essentially stabbed me straight in the heart. And it did it in a very unique way. I didn't get stabbed with the love of my favorite pairing or with the internal struggle of the protagonist trying to climb his own personal Everest. I got hit with beautiful writing and characters who were strange and just gave off an ominous vibe.

The whole book, from start to finish, felt extremely eerie. That's honestly the best way I can put it. As I was reading, I just kept feeling like there was something creeping along my spine, like something dangerous was about to happen. And that feeling made for an excellent novel and chilled me to the bone.

The book involved a taxidermist, an author named Henry, and a story within a story. Everything is artfully done and so beautifully written, I could not put this book down and finished it extremely quickly. I usually can't read for too long in cars, because I get queasy, but I didn't let this book go until the last page had been turned and I was staring at the back cover in awe.

Yann Martel is such a good author and he did a fantastic job with this book and I just want to shout from the rooftops that everyone should read this. I will say that you either love it or hate it, and that all depends on how you perceive and understand it, especially the ending. I think it's one of the best pieces of fiction I have read and I definitely recommend it to everyone.

- Noor

What are some of your favorite road-trip reads?
Let us know in the comments!

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