One of the most popular authors in France today. From his early childhood with reading books and plays, Guillaume Musso became convinced that one day, he too would write novels. After finishing high school in France, Guillaume Musso left for the United States at the age of 19. He spent several months in New York City, living with other young foreigners and earning his money by selling ice-cream. He came home to France with his head filled with ideas for novels. The readers can easily see the influence his time in the United States has had on him, as the action in his books takes place overseas. He currently teaches in a high school in the south of France, all the while working on his novels. His first published novel was with Editions Anne Carriere in 2001: Skidamarink, this novel did not reach out to the masses however, but his following novels published on XO Editions have all been hugely successful, some of them translated into 20 languages. His novel, Afterwards, has been adapted to the big screen and was in cinemas January 2009, starring John Malkovich, Evangeline Lily and Romain Duris.
Musso is the French author most read. So it says in the book jacket. When I was in Paris recently the huge, ubiquitous advertisements for his books made me curious and I got this book. It is an easy read. Very reminiscent of the Davinci code minus the "spiritual" dimension. It is an adventure that moves fast. One week; Paris, Madrid, New York. The characters are not very developed and they remind me of a much diminished version of the "girl of the dragon tattoo" duo. Despite it's superficiality: everything in this book is a just a thin veneer (characters, cultural references, plot) it was entertaining. I read it in French. Must do it more.
Un thriller care m-a surprins. Se 葯tie c膬 卯mi place Musso. Dar, de aceast膬 dat膬, am fost pu葲in dezam膬git膬. A葯 fi vrut ca Madeleine s膬 fie altcineva, nu personajul care mi-a pl膬cut at芒t de mult 卯n Chemarea 卯ngerului. Nu a葯 fi vrut ca acea poveste frumoas膬 s膬 卯mi fie distrus膬 aici. Apoi, am fost surprins膬 c膬 aceast膬 carte nu are nici un strop de romantism... nu eram obi葯nuit膬 cu a葯a ceva la Musso.
Dar, mi-a pl膬cut cartea. Ac葲iunea care te 葲ine 卯n priz膬, suspansul care 卯葲i 卯ncordeaz膬 sim葲urile, munca de detectiv, pericolele ce apar; totul este at芒t de captivant 卯nc芒t nu po葲i l膬sa cartea din m芒n膬.
Depuis toujours j'adore la plume de Musso et sa manipulation de ses lecteurs pendant leurs lecture :)
Une nouvelle rencontre avec Madeleine Greene La jeune flic qui adore son boulot, que nous l'avons rencontr茅 dans les lignes de magnifique roman { l'appel de l'ange} , Cette fois ci une nouvelle aventure l'attendait et aussi un nouveau chapitre qui va colorer sa vie en couleur d'arc en ciel ....
Son retour 脿 Paris pour passer ses vacances de No毛l dans un appartement de peintre d茅c茅d茅 Sean Lorenzo et sa rencontre avec le dramaturge Gaspard Coutance dans le m锚me appartement lou茅 pour deux personnes en m锚me temps pendant la m锚me p茅riode suite 脿 une erreur.
Les 茅v茅nements successifs et rapides vont porter les deux h茅ros dans un labyrinthe du myst猫re et de secrets qui r茅pond 脿 toutes les questions dans la vie de peintre......
Ce dernier a v茅cu un cauchemar apr猫s le kidnappe de son fils et l'avoir tu茅 devant les yeux de sa m猫re ...Penelope la femme de la vie de peintre et aussi la source de son inspiration Ce cauchemar a co没t茅 trop cher pour le couple Lorenzo, apr猫s ce drame le peintre a d茅cid茅 de commencer la cr茅ation de " 21 Penelope" les 21 tableaux qui ont boulevers茅 le monde de peinture, et qui les avait br没l茅 plus tard apr猫s sa d茅couverte de la terrible v茅rit茅 : La trahison Penelope ......
Malgr茅 Son chagrin, sa m茅lancolie et ses souvenirs douloureux , Lorenzo avait une certitude profonde que son fils est encore vivant ..... D'ici Gaspard et Madeleine vont nous faire tourner les pages du roman sans arr锚t pour d茅couvrir la vie de peintre ses blessures, ses douleurs ainsi que son enqu锚te m锚me en ses derniers jours avant sa mort ....
L'enqu锚te men茅e par les deux h茅ros a enfin pu d茅couvrir le trou o霉 vivait l'enfant pendant deux ans et l'avoir sauv茅, puis construire une trop belle petite famille : Gaspard, Madeleine et le petit Lorenzo Ils ont pris cette d茅cision pour la seule raison c'est de le faire 茅duquer correctement dans des bonnes conditions et le faire oublier le cauchemar de son l'enl猫vement........
Une fin heureuse et satisfaisante Pour la petite famille joyeuse鉂わ笍
Lecture d茅cevante. Pas d'intrigue palpitante, ni de suspens haletant. Trop de r茅f茅rences litt茅raires, musicales...etc, 脿 mon gout. Le personnage de Madeline m'a agac茅e. La plume de l'auteur n'a pas r茅ussi 脿 m鈥櫭﹎ouvoir. La fin 茅tait pr茅visible. J'ai train茅 cette lecture pendant 5 jours, alors que j'aurais pu finir le livre en deux jours, si j'avais accroch茅. Apr猫s le tapage m茅diatique qui a entour茅 la sortie de ce livre, je m'attendais 脿 un peu mieux.
I read this book maybe a week ago. Honestly, when I finished the last word, I was completley speachless. It was the first time, that some book that I randomly picked in a bookstore took my breath away.You can say that this book was like Sean Lorenz's art work to me.(if u read it , you will get what I mean) I will not spoil anything, so don't worry. I wanted to write this review later, so the feeling would wear off and I can be as real as I can and try not to overhype. What I like the most is that we get to know so many unique personalities, ordinary people, who go through a lot in their life. Their struggles, path they take shape their decisions that are sometimes really brutal, but even so u can empathise and try to understand them. It got me thinking about lot of details and asking myself ,,Why? How will the situation end?'' And every time time that I thought ,,Oh! I think I know where this will go'' a bomb would drop about something from the past that will totally change my view on the whole situation. It's like the book itself is manipulating me as I read and I loved every part of it. Trust me, you will not get bored. You simply can't. I warmly recommend it to everyone, grab a cup of nice warm tea and enjoy! :D ps. Sorry for my broken English :')
A wonderful story with very real characters and interesting plot! The writing style is full of realism and even though detailed not at all tiresome! A fantastic "journey" from Paris to Madrid and New York through art, human vulnerabilities but also strength of the main characters! I totally recommend it!
This is for sure a great start for the year. I love it when someone goes out of his way to help another person and that too by coincidence. How far out is it for two people to be booked in the same flat in the same period by mistake? And how the events turn up afterwards is remarkable. This is the first book that I read for this writer and I loved it. So it won鈥檛 be my last. (Of course I read the Arabic translation but couldn鈥檛 write my real feelings in Arabic.
What I loved is the sentence used at the start of each chapter. These were sayings by artists or writers and they were great starts for each chapter. Here they are in Arabic of course: