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One For Sorrow A Novel Christopher Barzak Books

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One For Sorrow A Novel Christopher Barzak Books

This is a novel to be read and cherished, regardless of your genre of choice. With this first novel, Chris Barzak has crafted a beautiful vision of friendship, loss, and love in the wake of senseless tragedy. But beyond the specific premise of the book, what makes Barzak’s work so resonant is his knack for folding the fantastic into the real. Unlike many writers of the magical and supernatural, he anchors us in a world all too familiar—a deindustrialized Midwest that is itself a ghost of a bygone era, when prosperity was more than just a memory and the American Dream was still within reach. Set against such a backdrop, the otherworldly aspects of Barzak’s novel are only heightened and given more weight as we follow Adam and Jamie and Gracie along a journey both devastating and emotionally rich. This is another quality that has set Barzak apart from many: he has the gift of showing us the interior lives of his characters, their vulnerability and ambivalence, in such a way that it’s impossible not to care about them. He’s a writer who understands on a fundamental level that the emotional landscape of a story is vital if we are to care at all about the physical one. Too many writers, particularly writers of “genre” fiction, forgo emotional depth and complexity in favor of the hook and sprint. And while the narrative is indeed gripping from the start, the pacing top-notch, we are also not denied the subtleties of language and understated moments that make the story so much more than just a “page turner”—that make it linger, yet another ghost, haunting us long after the last page.


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One For Sorrow A Novel Christopher Barzak Books Reviews

This book isn't the type of book I usually read, but I am so glad I read it. What a great story! I am from Youngstown, and felt the author did a great job capturing the essence of the area. I could easily picture in my mind the setting of the story. Dorian Books is an actual place and is a nice place to hang out.
I loved the analogy of the bridge and crossing over. What a vivid scene! I can see why this book got picked to become a movie.
There was quite a bit of hype about this book last year in the blogs that I frequently read, and of which I was dimly aware. I added it to my list of things to eventually read, and finally got around to it this year.

I have, honestly, mixed feelings about the book. I have rarely seen a writer who captures teenagers so very well (aside from Joss Whedon).I really enjoyed the quality of the prose. I am casting about in my mind for a good reviewing word to describe it, and can only come up with "elegant". The characters, both living and dead, are very well written. Francis has stuck in my mind since I finished the novel-- funny and sad, kind of an icon for refusing to let go when your tragedies are all that you own.

On the other hand, the pacing struck me as at least a little bit strange. The last section of the book collapsed in on itself like a telescope and a good deal of that section felt oddly false. I also wasn't always wild about how Barzak developed his concept of an afterlife, but that is more of a minor quibble.

I would certainly recommend the novel, with the minor reservations noted above. I liked it enough to circle back around and read some of the short stories which I was able to find online. He is a really talented writer, and I look forward to seeing more of his work.
This book was excellent, one of the best ghost type fiction stories I have head in a very long time. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for an excellent read. Truly an excellent author, Unfortunately I only wished it was longer as far as the beginning started, the only reason is because it immediately started off with the kid being murdered it would have been nice to have a fulfilled conclusion on this perfect story.
It's a coming of age book, and a young man's search for his personal and sexual identity. It is suspenseful without horror, dark but not depressing. It takes a gifted author who understands the complexities of emotions and circumstances to do this, and Barzak does it well.
(I have never written a review, so I apologize if this turns out to be rubbish, or if I ramble on too much)
This book surprised me. Maybe I just wasn't expecting much because the book has some awful reviews on here, but in my opinion, those reviews couldn't be more wrong. This is a really unique story about friendship, love, finding ones way, and doing whats right (and how sometimes that's saying goodbye) The characters were rich, believable, and easy to relate to. The story its self is beautiful and thought provoking. The only thing i can think of that people might have a problem with is that the story ends with out Jamie's murder being "solved." I found this to further my ability to relate to it though. Life and death are not black and white, sometimes things happen, and we never know why. I don't believe the author ever set out to have the book be about solving a murder. Its how that murder affected the people left behind, even those he didn't know very well.
Another reviewer wrote about the possible gay under tones. I say if you let that keep you from reading this truly incredible story, then your loss. The story centers around two males with an unusual friendship (ones dead, the other living) the two guys become very close and do share a bed often and even a small kiss at the end of the book, but to me it honestly didn't come off sexual at all. Our society places labels on things way to quickly, with out understanding them. especially the males in our society tend to be a little more uncomfortable when it comes to closeness with a member of the same sex. The two boys in this story have a very pure, close bond, and i found it to be beautiful.
This is a novel to be read and cherished, regardless of your genre of choice. With this first novel, Chris Barzak has crafted a beautiful vision of friendship, loss, and love in the wake of senseless tragedy. But beyond the specific premise of the book, what makes Barzak’s work so resonant is his knack for folding the fantastic into the real. Unlike many writers of the magical and supernatural, he anchors us in a world all too familiar—a deindustrialized Midwest that is itself a ghost of a bygone era, when prosperity was more than just a memory and the American Dream was still within reach. Set against such a backdrop, the otherworldly aspects of Barzak’s novel are only heightened and given more weight as we follow Adam and Jamie and Gracie along a journey both devastating and emotionally rich. This is another quality that has set Barzak apart from many he has the gift of showing us the interior lives of his characters, their vulnerability and ambivalence, in such a way that it’s impossible not to care about them. He’s a writer who understands on a fundamental level that the emotional landscape of a story is vital if we are to care at all about the physical one. Too many writers, particularly writers of “genre” fiction, forgo emotional depth and complexity in favor of the hook and sprint. And while the narrative is indeed gripping from the start, the pacing top-notch, we are also not denied the subtleties of language and understated moments that make the story so much more than just a “page turner”—that make it linger, yet another ghost, haunting us long after the last page.