everything beautiful began after a novel

But because children care little for guiding anyone through their thoughts and they tend to jump through non sequiturs, my first read of the prologue left me very lost. The narrative voices, which vary with each major section of the book, are for me the author’s most distinctive and impressive accomplishment, but also sometimes part of what makes this a challenging read.įor example, Van Booy opens with a Prologue told in a very convincing child’s voice.

Love and grief take extreme forms that enlighten and intrigue the reader. So this is an excellent choice for those more interested in a literary tour de force than a story.Īt the core of Everything Beautiful Began After are three very flawed characters whose emotional crippling as children leads them to unusual relationships as adults. I found it disorienting at times, and sometimes the masterful demanded I take notice of the author’s skill rather than lose myself in his characters and their world. Van Booy has created a masterful piece of fiction, although it is not an easy read. The narrative voices and the structure of the novel are inventive and very contemporary in style.

Those two aspects turn out not to be overly central, but I’m glad I read it. This book caught my attention because it is set in Athens and one of the characters is an archaeologist, topics I enjoy.

Everything beautiful began after a novel