Customer Reviews

Leonardo's Bicycle

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Paco Ignacio Taibo the second IS NOT EVERYONE'S CUP OF TEA (or cerveza as the case may be) but what a ride, what a joy. It's a translation that comes across as authentic. It's a moving story with some aspects of a mystery novel but more an examination of power and how it is exercised and why and by whom.

What a joy! This is the kind of book I've always wanted to read. Polyprotagonist, but virtually two novels in one. Antonio "The Flea" Amador and a half lame Mexican writer hobbling around looking for those who hurt a female basketball player whom keeps a piece of his heart and soul. (This was written before Mia Hamm, Venus and Serena and various other female pro athletes did just this; I found out Anna Kornikova played tennis professionally two years into her fame as a model.)

BE ADVISED: the ending is not a John MacClane-style leap from an exploding building. It is quiet, a coda to all the points made perfectly well prior. But don't sell Taibo short, or yourself.

Much of the content is covered in other reviews and synopses. I found the book mesmerizing, informative, dream like. Many things I knew a little about were fleshed out in this book, such as the tragedy of Barcelona, the actual bicycle and it's a far better than average mystery too.

The greatest detective cracks his last case a finds out more about his past than he bargained for. Fascinating historical detail tied into a modern detective novel - buy it if you can find it

Whew! This is like reading four books in one as Tabio jumps between multiple storylines, spending only 2-5 pages on each before switching. One is set in present-day Mexico City and is centered on a downtrodden crime writer who gets obsessed with watching women's college basketball. Another follows a CIA operative circa 1975 as he flees Vietnam and tracks him until the present. A third is about the unionist and anarchist upheavals in Spain in the 1920s. Yet another is about Leonardo DaVinci. Most reviews I read said that it is a frustrating read at the beginning, but the end is worth it. I dispute that, as all these stories converge into what I found to be a very unsatisfying ending.