Bridge of Clay

I've found this "review" hard to write, as I don't want to destroy your pleasure in reading the book, and assembling the story for yourself. So you'll excuse me if I tell you just enough to whet your appetite.

This was a "rites of passage" tale, centred around what a family goes through after the

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mother is diagnosed with a terminal illness, and how each member of the family copes, in their own way. After Penny's death, the father Michael finds himself unable to cope with bringing up 5 sons, and eventually deserts them leaving the eldest, Matthew, the narrator of the book, to provide the backbone of the family. There are some very challenging images and situations along the way.

But there is so much more to it than that. We leap around the stories of the family, learning what brought the parents together, and the legends that become part of the family folk lore. There are some animals that become part of the family and who could forget the mule Achilles, the first to triumphantly cross the river on the bridge?

The "bridge" element is in part actual and in part metaphorical. After 3(?) years, Michael, referred to by his sons as The Murderer, returns to visit to ask his sons to come to the country where he lives to help him build a bridge. Only one responds positively to that - Clay, the fourth son - and he becomes a principal builder of the bridge in the river bed near his father's house, and also the rebuilding the connections in his family.

It reminded me in many ways of work by Patrick White.

Initially I was going to read a paper copy of this title but the 544 pages were daunting and sent me scurrying to Amazon for a Kindle copy.

However, by the end of the book I felt that it was overly long and was tired of the fragmentation that the hopping backwards and forwards in time produced. I found the timeline hard to nail and really wasn't sure that I had sorted everything into the right order.
Don't let that put you off, but expect the book to be a challenge.

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I've finished 'Bridge of Clay'. In the end I'd say it is very good. I found it hard up till about the 40% mark but then it gelled.

There is so much in it and not all of it works. The Irish Times reviewer thought it somewhat tedious as well as very good - not excellent or exceptional but very good,

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so 3 stars. I've forgiven the writer the tedium in the first part. It works in the whole book in showing the absolutly ordinaryness - even boreing ness - of this suburban bunch of hoodlums.

The beginning of the book is at the end of the story and I got to really like how he told the story in small sections that had some underlying thematic continuity but were all over the palce as to time line - kaleidosocpic and somewhat Braque-esk - the whole in bits.

There are so many metaphoric tags in the story - loaded images in a poetic cadence which I loved. Its like the writer is saying to the reader to STOP - listen to the sound in these words in a row and let them plonk into your consciousness. Sometimes though, the overtone became too romanticly sweet and a bit out of kilter with the saga of pain and joy and tragedy in Homer's texts which the 'book thief' in this writer constantly works into his narrative.

Watch out for the anagrams.

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I didn't love it. It's beautifully-written, but a bit plodding and I never felt that Clay was the heart or glue of the family as I was told he was.

It all starts with the Dunbar boys: Matthew, Rory, Henry, Clayton & Thomas. "A family of ramshackle tragedy". It is a tragic and beautiful story about a family that I grew to love more than anyone should love a group of fictional characters. But let me tell you what expect. This is not an easy

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read. It is not something you can casually and comfortably read. It is a bit of hard work, especially in the beginning when you won't know what is going on. The writing will challenge you. It is often fragmented and sometimes almost poetic. It will force you to concentrate and you'll find yourself re-reading sentences to make sure you got it right. It is not at all linear. Downright patchy! However you do get used to the style and I grew to love it. I really can't imagine it being written any other way without diminishing the effect of the narrative. The relationships in this book touched me deeply, both the romantic relationships and the connection between the Dunbar brothers. I think it is probably my favourite book of the year and a real labour of love from the author. I feel like he must have left a little piece of himself in the pages. If you have the patience and time to do right by this book, I would highly recommend it.

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I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the story of the Dunbar boys struggling with the loss of both parents, learning their history and the history of their parents. And the teenage love story of Clay and Carey is also tangible and well written. Make no mistake, this author has a talent

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for prose and metaphoric description. And he is great at developing his characters. These are the things that made me stick with this novel

However, there were so many twists, turns, and dissembling as I waded through the pages, that I couldn't help but wish the author hadn't gone out of his way to obfuscate the fact that time really is linear and it wouldn't hurt to make the narrative in this story just a little bit more linear and a little bit leaner. Do we need all of the horse racing backstory, or could that subplot have been saved for another book down the road?

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Having stayed up long past my bedtime to finish reading, and after lots of tears, and smiles, and tears, I’m not sure where to start in writing a review that really captures all my thoughts on this book. I will come back later when I can put my thoughts in order, but in short: my heart.

The Dunbar boys: Matthew, Rory, Henry, Clay and Tommy. Their mother has died, their father has fled. The boys do the best they can on their own and live a life of roughhousing (and actual fighting), school (or not), and coming to grips with life without parents. TIt is narrated by the oldest

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brother, Matthew, but is really the story of Clay -- the fourth brother who chooses a different path from the others.

The story isn't told in a linear way and at times, I wondered about the significance of some of the actions. But, when it comes together, it was so powerful. This is the kind of book I'd like to read again -- knowing the ending will deepen the significance of some sections while I'm reading rather than in retrospect, making it a different but equally engaging story.

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Its not like The Book Thief, but it is a book about death and the coming to terms with it. Its well written and different. It needs to be read to the end, like most good stories. Definitely worth a read.

The Dunbar boys are the survivors of a broken family. Their mother Penelope died slowly and painfully, and their father Michael abandoned them in his grief. They have carried on, sticking together and adding a number of pets and friends to their ensemble, but now their father Michael is back and

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wants to reconnect. It's up to Clay, the most empathetic of the brothers, to find a way to bring them all together -- to build a bridge, both literally and figuratively.

Markus Zusak is wonderful at writing about the powerful ties between family members, the strange rituals that keep them connected, and the pain that comes from losing the ones close to you. The story of Penelope and Michael, their lives before they met, their romance, their family, and then the horror of Penelope's seemingly endless decline and death are absolutely heartbreaking. The brothers are rambunctious, foul-mouthed, annoying, and yet also devotedly loyal and supportive in their own ways. The allusions to the stories that have shaped their parents' lives -- for Penelope, the Odyssey; for Michael, the Quarryman -- are well-done. It's a deeply moving family saga.

The problem that I had was with the parallel story of Carey and her horse racing. There was just too much horse-racing, and not in a way that really made you feel why Carey was so interested in a rather strange career choice for a teenage girl. It was mostly talk about how she knew all the cup winners and how everyone was so impressed with her obsession with horse racing, and I thought it got a little repetitive and took away from the story of the Dunbars a bit.

Altogether, however, this was a moving read about grief and family devotion.

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I loved The Book Thief, by this author, and gave it 5 stars ( which I seldom give), but this book was as slog to get through. Too much switching between past and present . I didn't care about the horse racing and I didn't understand what Clay was training for. I just didn't like it.

It's time to catch my breath a bit. I just finished this book, and I feel like I'm lost at sea. I read it because I enjoyed The Book Thief so much, but I came to fall in love with this one even more than the lovely The Book Thief. At first I wasn't sure about the novel. For the first 70 pages or

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so, I was having difficulty following because the book slips between different times, places and people so much that it's hard to get a handle on it. But the fabulous 5 Dunbar boys is the glue that holds the book together. This is a love story between Michael Dunbar and his beautiful refugee wife Penelope. It's a story about their lives before they met, and a story about after they met and the wonderful family they raised. It's a story about a ramshackle, tumultuous family of 5 strapping boys. The family lives in the hot grassland of the Australian countryside. The family lives hard, loves hard and fights hard, and little Penelope is the glue that holds them all together. When she gets sick and "sets about the process of dying", the family members each take it in their own way. The father retreats into himself and disappears. Matthew the oldest, steps up and becomes the man of the house. Rory argues, swears, drinks and fights, proving he's the toughest guy out there. Henry becomes a teenage entrepreneur. Tommy, the youngest, relies on his menagerie of animals to help him cope. But Clay, the fourth boy, the one with "fire in his eyes", runs away from himself and others, and trains and races, and fights and reflects, and sits up on the roof of their house contemplating the world around him. Clay is the one with the weight of the world on his slim shoulders. Clay is the one who builds a bridge almost single-handedly in order to help keep his demons at bay, and Clay is the one who meets a girl called Carrey and falls in love. Like in The Book Thief, Death plays a part in this novel as well, and it's Clay who tries to tame him and keep him away from the rest of his family. I could go on and on about this book, but instead I ask you to read it. Read it with an open mind and open heart and you will not be disappointed. This is the best book that I've read in a long long time. And I may have to go read some Homer again too. There's a lot of Odysseus and the Iliad in this book. There is even Achilles the mule. Thank you Markus for writing this perfect novel.

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This reminded me of another classic, Cloudstreet by Tim Winton. I think Zusak has matured as a writer since The Book Thief, but I could also see why he struggled with the story for so long. However, his efforts were not in vain. Well worth the wait.

This eagerly anticipated novel reminds me more of the author’s early work, Underdogs, than The Book Thief. The story includes a family of 5 brothers, a racetrack, young love, an immigrant from Europe, a mule, a piano, and a whole lot of grief. The plot mattered less to me than the way he

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describes things and the characters he creates. It was a slow read and I gave myself time to savor each phrase.

“It’s silence was something awesome—an enormous playground for the guilt to wreak havoc, to work him over.”

“She would do something once with each of us. Maybe it was to give us one memory that was ours, and ours alone, I hope she did it for herself.”

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I have to say that this has to be one of the best books I have ever read!! Markus is an amazing writer!

You cannot compare this to the Book Thief. For me it is a worthwhile albeit slow read; the constant flitting between past and present was intensely irritating.

Oh dear. I’d been looking forward to this one but I’ve given up after less than 30 pages as I don’t have a clue what’s going on. And I don’t care. This writing style really irritated me and as 2019 is going to be my “Year of reading only what I want to”, it appears I’ve started

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early.

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I read this for the "A Book Featuring Music" part of my 2019 reading challenge. I didn't love it, the plot was jumpy and all over the place, and I found there weren't enough details for the parts I actually wanted to know about. It was almost a 3, but I didn't enjoy it enough.

I loved this for its writing. The author knows how to create pauses and space with short punctuated sentences without overdoing them. The detail is there but only what needs to be. Concise without being sparse, vivid without being cramped. It's a fine balance, but it's there.
The narrative voice is

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similar to The Book Thief, but more mature -- I think that's because both the narrator and the author are more mature than with The Book Thief. It's good to read a book that holds the author's voice but also shows growth. Death is a character in this book, too, but it's a cameo role, not a starring role. (Aside: what happened in the author's life to give him such a tangible persona to death? I've not read such vivid personification for death elsewhere.)
I connected with all the characters in this book--the five brothers, the Murderer (what a great technique in setting up suspense and interest in the opening chapters!), and all the other people in their lives.
I read an interview with the author many months before I read the book, and I'm sure it was there that I was told that, while it is Clay's story we read, the narrator is Matthew so the reader needs to consider that layering: do we trust Matthew? he puts in his own story and perspective throughout Clay's story. Much of the retelling was retold to Clay first, so what has been altered or filled in through the iterations? That puts an interesting layer on the story.
This is not the Book Thief. This is its own story, and stands on its own two legs without the Thief's coattails. While the protagonists are teens, this is not a teen book (though my library stuck a "Teen" sticker on the spine and I've taken issue with them for that). It's not inappropriate for teens nor inaccessible to them, but I believe the audience is adult. It's more than just a coming-of-age story and shouldn't be pigeon-holed into that category.
Read it. It's great.

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A compelling, story of an Australian family of five sons/brothers, their loves and losses, and menagerie. Strong moral centre - their survival is due to their connectedness. I'm just so in love with Penny and Michael and how they raised their strong, vulnerable boys; and especially, sensitive Clay

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and how his brothers enabled him do what he needs to get done. I don't want to spoil any of the story - except to say it's a about good, ordinary people doing good things, or at least, the very best they can, who will make you smile and weep at their courage, individualism and vulnerability.

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Bridge of Clay is about the Dunbar boys - specifically the second to youngest, Clay. The chapters alternate - the first half of the book is between the main storyline of how Clay goes to build a bridge and the stories of their parents growing up and before the boys were born. The second half

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alternates more of a "before" and "after" of a couple of situations that have happened (not to give anything away).

Stay with this book.

There was a bit of a struggle to get into it because the writing style was different. For one thing, the story is told through the oldest Dunbar brother, Michael, about the second to youngest brother, Clay. At times I would forget he was the one writing it and be confused when the word "I" would be placed in. Then I would remember who was "writing" this story. The second thing is that the story goes back and forth between past and present and it uses a lot of nicknames, especially for the parents and Penelope's (their Mom's) father. It's a lot to kind of chew when you're trying to get your footing with all the characters and animals in this story. But if you stay with it, it will make your heart twist with emotions.

This book for sure made me feel things. I cried a few times and half of them were because of things that were hinted at that we already knew were going to happen! Bridge of Clay shows an amazing dynamic of family and brotherhood, the latter I had to double check with my boyfriend about because I grew up with all sisters and we didn't exactly curse and fight each other as much as the Dunbar boys did. But that made them authentic and made me roll my eyes, cheer, and cry with their fights, wins, and losses.

Bridge of Clay is a book about the struggles of memories, pain, and relationships. It tells the importance of story telling and sharing of ones past to those we love.

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I really wanted to love this book because I had high expectations from reading The Book Thief. I adored that book. Here I liked the characters and story but I found the alternating chapters moving back and forth in time confusing and it prevented me from really being invested because I had to work

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so hard to figure out what was going on. Also his use of the colon : I just didn't understand.

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In a suburb of Sydney, the five Dunbar brothers (Matthew, Rory, Henry, Clay, and Tommy) are living together on their own after their mother dies of cancer and their father abandons them. Years later, their father appears out of the blue to seek their help in building a bridge. Of the five, Clay is

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the only brother to accept the invitation. Thus, Clay becomes a human bridge, of sorts, between the other brothers and their father.

Eldest brother, Matthew, tells the family’s history in dual timelines. The first takes place in the distant past. As a young woman, their mother migrated from Poland to Australia, where she met their father, who was previously married and divorced. The other takes place more recently, starting with the reappearance of their father, whom Matthew refers to as “the murderer.” The brothers’ many activities are integrated into the narrative – long distance running, fighting, horse racing, 1980s films, collecting pets with names from their mother’s beloved literature.

It is a book about loss, grief, forgiveness. Momentum is maintained by wondering what happened to make this father abandon his children shortly after their mother dies. The characters are well drawn, including the pets. The writing is elegant. Though there are significant tragic elements, it is also a story of hope.

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I give this 3 1/2 stars. As with many others who have experienced this book, I found the first chapters confusing. Sometime after page 100 I became more interested in these characters and how their relationships would shape their stories. But after page 200 or so, I couldn't put it down!
Give this

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one a chance. It sneaks up on you and pulls you in when you least expect it.
I will need to read it a second time but suffice it to say it's family and the roles each person plays. It's relationships and the consequences we must move through. It's death and the many journeys people will take to understand it.
It's beautiful. It's sad. It's quietly joyful. It's life.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC! It will be cherished.

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I got about 25% through this book and really wasn't digging it, so I came to check reviews to see if it improves. I saw so so many comments on DNF reviews saying "keep going, the ending is worth it," so I did. I kept going so you don't have to. Honestly, if the style of the book isn't resonating

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with you then I don't think the plot is worth keeping with it. There's nothing (in my opinion) particularly new or revelatory to this novel that you don't find in many, many coming of age stories. And, obviously, the choppy back and forth storytelling didn't resonate with me.

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