Perez-Reverte is on my auto buy list so I was truly surprised and disappointed by my failure to connect, or be moved by, Max and Mencha.
En route from Lisbon to Buenos Aires in 1928,
Max and Mecha meet aboard a luxurious transatlantic cruise ship. There Max
teaches the stunning stranger and her erudite husband to dance the tango. A
steamy affair ignites at sea and continues as the seedy decadence of Buenos
Aires envelops the secret lovers.
Nice, 1937. Still drawn to one another a decade later, Max and Mecha rekindle their dalliance. In the wake of a perilous mission gone awry, Mecha looks after her charming paramour until a deadly encounter with a Spanish spy forces him to flee.
Sorrento, 1966. Max once again runs into trouble—and Mecha. She offers him temporary shelter from the KGB agents on his trail, but their undeniable attraction offers only a small glimmer of hope that their paths will ever cross again.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte is at his finest here, offering readers a bittersweet, richly rendered portrait of a powerful, forbidden love story that burns brightly over forty years, from the fervor of youth to the dawn of old age. (synopsis from Amazon)
Nice, 1937. Still drawn to one another a decade later, Max and Mecha rekindle their dalliance. In the wake of a perilous mission gone awry, Mecha looks after her charming paramour until a deadly encounter with a Spanish spy forces him to flee.
Sorrento, 1966. Max once again runs into trouble—and Mecha. She offers him temporary shelter from the KGB agents on his trail, but their undeniable attraction offers only a small glimmer of hope that their paths will ever cross again.
Arturo Pérez-Reverte is at his finest here, offering readers a bittersweet, richly rendered portrait of a powerful, forbidden love story that burns brightly over forty years, from the fervor of youth to the dawn of old age. (synopsis from Amazon)
WHAT WE BECOME flits through time following Max
and Mecha through forty years from their first meeting aboard a cruise ship to
Buenos Aires in 1928 to Sorrento in 1966.
Perez-Reverte is one of my favorite writers and
an auto buy. His characters are always rich, revealing themselves over the
course of the story. Max and Mecha are no exception, except that I felt I never
knew Mecha as well as Max. Parts of her seemed veiled, elusive; or perhaps it’s
that I saw her filtered through Max.
He also deftly manages to bring the decadence
and glamour of each era to life for readers, as he tells their story in a back
and forth fashion, unfolding slowly as bits and pieces are revealed in each era,
akin to a tapestry.
As with every Perez-Reverte there’s always
something specific the characters revolve around, that brings them together, in
this case it’s tango, dance. I always learn so much when I read his books.
Since all the elements I so enjoy were present
it’s beyond me why WHAT WE BECOME didn’t have the usual effect on me.
Typically, whenever I pick up a Perez-Reverte I resent my inability to simply
do nothing but read through to the end.
That didn’t happen this time, and try as I might there was never a
connection with Max and Mencha. I’m flummoxed.
WHAT WE BECOME is everything I expect from
Perez-Reverte, writing wise, yet Max and Mencha fell flat for me. They didn’t
engage me as his leads usually do. I enjoyed the story but never experienced
the immersion into their world.
So, for writing I give WHAT WE BECOME 4 stars.
Purely personal for the effect, or lack of, on me, 3 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment