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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Die Mutter ist in einer psychiatrischen Anstalt, der Vater ein General der U.S. Army, irgendwo in den Vereinigten Staaten stationiert. Doch der zwölfjährige Wunderknabe Gould ist nicht einsam, denn er hat sich zwei Bodyguards ausgedacht: stumm der eine, riesig der andere. Und außerdem hat er gerade bei einer Telefonumfrage die dreißigjährige Shatzy Shell kennengelernt, die nun bei ihm einzieht und sich als sein Kindermädchen ausgibt. Langweilig wird es dem ungleichen Paar nie, denn sie haben sich die seltsamsten Geschichten zu erzählen.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Baricco struggles to regain the magic that made Silk an international bestseller in this disappointing follow-up set in the U.S. and starring a precocious 13-year-old named Gould, who finds himself losing his childhood amid the demands of life as a mathematical genius. Left alone in the wake of a family meltdown that cost his mother her sanity, Gould turns to flighty, 30-ish Shatzy Shell, who becomes the boy's governess. Their friendship starts as an exchange of innocent fantasy stories, with Gould's consisting of a series of imagined fights involving a heroic boxer, while Shell chips in with her lifelong desire to make a Western. Baricco spends the bulk of the book exploring the effects of Gould's baroque academic life on his development. The climax involves a fellowship award allowing Gould to go to Europe to perform advanced research, but he buckles at the prospect of leaving his cloistered, quaint life and disappears, allowing Baricco to explore the boy's upbringing when his father arrives for an emergency visit. Baricco writes a few engaging, entertaining scenes, but he can't get the sparks to fly with his two protagonists, and the fantasy subplots used to explore their ambitions remain murky and lifeless. The author never delves into Gould's mathematical world, either, making his protagonist seem more like a helpless savant than someone with the intellectual capacity to dominate a complex field. This book has some touching moments, but as a novel it never quite comes together.
