"Verloren bagage" van de Spaanse auteur Jordi Punt is... bijzonder. Bijzonder origineel. Bijzonder gelaagd. Bijzonder van opbouw. Bijzonder van personages. Maar ook bijzonder traag in het begin, waardoor ik het boek bijna aan de kant had gelegd. Ik ben blij dat ik volhield, want het was meer dan de moeite. Het verhaal ? Een jonge Spaanse vrachtwagenchauffeur uit Barcelona, die als verhuizer voor een internationale verhuisfirma werkt, verwekt bij vier verschillende vrouwen, in vier verschillende landen, 4 zonen die Christof, Christophe, Christopher and Christofol heten. uiteraard weten vrouwen noch kinderen van het bestaan van de anderen af tot zoveel jaar later het lot daar anders over beslist en door een toeval de vier zonen bij elkaar worden gebracht en het levensverhaal van hun vader schetsen. Dit plot zou een recept kunnen zijn voor voorspelbare platitudes en weinig originele scenes, maar niets is minder waar. De reconstructie van de vader zijn leven, verteld door de vier zonen, is een aaneenschakeling van boeiende verhaallijnen en vertellingen, sappige anecdotes en herkenbare dagdagelijkse situaties, waardoor het nooit saai wordt. integendeel. De kracht van het boek zit dan ook in de vertelstijl, en in de ontknoping. Een heel klein aantal schoonheidsfoutjes, zoals een bijzonder trage start en het irritante herhalen van sommige uitdrukkingen in vier talen, kosten de auteur een 5e ster, maar ik heb het boek graag gelezen!

interesting idea, but I'm not sure I'm interested enough to keep reading! Nope, I'm not.

Four Christophers from four different countries set out to find their long-lost father. A bit slow in places, this was a lovely read about the choices we make and the unexpected places to which life takes us.

I received a free copy of this novel from Bookbrowse.com and also posted a review there. This is a novel translated from the Catalan to English and won several awards in Spain. It is the story of Gabriel Delacruz, who was orphaned and grew up to be a mover with his best friend Bundo. Based in Barcelona, they do the longer moves around Europe with a third man, Petroli. They all meet women in different countries, but Gabriel seems to meet women from all the countries and develops relationships which lead to four different sons named Christopher, Christophe, Cristof and Cristobal (Cristofol). The brothers meet up, as Gabriel has been declared missing even though none of the brothers have seen him for more than 18 years. This is a beautifully written story, but at times the descriptions are very long. The plot moves slowly with lots of back story given, so those who read for plot may be disappointed and disheartened. The ending of the story was worth the read, but I could have eliminated 50 -100 pages and still enjoyed the book.

Picked this one up for $1 at the library sale - and what a bargain. Who would have thought that a book about a mover - a guy who moves household stuff across Europe - could be so gripping. Richly drawn characters whose lives weave together largely by coincidence. The voices of the Christophers are had to distinguish, but maybe that's the point. Overall, a charming book.

Lost Luggage is a fascinating take on four brothers who learn of meet each other for the first time after finding out that their father had disappeared. The reader catches a flavour of the times through their stories and the respective cities and backgrounds they are from.

I found the narrative approach to be a little weird, rather post-modern; the brothers initially narrated together before narrating their own respective stories about how their mothers met Gabriel and what their lives were like before and after those initial meetings. It was rather hard to distinguish between the four Christophers personality-wise; it may have been a lost in the translation but it did add to the weirdness of the entire situation.

While the story did have its dry moments where nothing was happening or contributing to the overarching storyline, Lost Luggage was an interesting story, different in its own way and pretty ambitious in scope. If you’re interested in Spanish literature and stories about families, you should check this novel out.

You can read this review in its entirety over at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/2013/10/07/review-lost-luggage/

I was sucked in by the wonderful cover and by the premise outlined on the back: Christopher, Cristof, Christophe and Cristofol all had the same father who abandoned them each in turn when they were young. He was a truck driver who moved around Europe and started families for some mysterious reason. When one of them is informed his father hasn't been seen in while, he discovers he has three half-brothers. They get together for the first time in their lives to try and puzzle out who their father was and where he might be.

But really that's as interesting as the book gets. I must be missing something cultural that's lost in the translation, because I don't get why this won awards in Spain.

I suppose I could find the deeper meaning here by saying that the novel is about the fact that the mysteries of the past lose their power when you find out the truth behind them and all parents inevitably lose their godlike status to us as we grow, until we're reminded of something magical about them... but I suspect all of that would be me projecting.

This is really just a plotless novel that's indolent like a country vacation which at first is charming but wears on you quickly and you just want to do something rather than listen to your weird uncle's stories for another day.

But yeah, pretty cover.

Quite honestly a bit of a slog, and it didn't really deliver on its interesting premise.