Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - أرشيف الأطفال المفقودين

Literary fiction definitely is for some people, typically I would say it is not for me. However. I read this book as part of my MA in English, and whilst it is not the most accessible book you can find on this topic, it is without doubt a compelling, heartbreaking rendering of the issues it surrounds.

The Lost Children Archive is a literary fiction book that combines the stories of two vastly different families. Drawing on her own experience as a translator in the courts, Luiselli gives voices to the women, children and families who do what they must to make it to America. Luiselli blends history with heartbreak, she gives us a woman in a dysfunctional marriage, and asks if the nobility of a cause, the knowledge that you can do something worthwhile, is allowed to take precedence over whatever love you might yet salvage. She gives us two people, one obsessed with the horrendous past of America, and one desperate to make a difference in the horrendous present. Between them we have their children, who's youthful naivety allows them to do what their parents have only ever thought of.

A non-traditional novel, The Lost Children Archive is filled with bold literary technique. Books within books, boxes upon boxes, and the shifting of point of view between parent, child, past, present, fictional, fictionalised and all too real. This is not a beach read, it is a novel that deserves your time. There will be moments that feel strange, out of place, an attempt by the author, perhaps, to ensure this novel sits where it should in a bookshop; a reminder that literary fiction can be self-consciously within its genre. For me that's what takes this from 5 stars down to a 4.75.

Brilliant.

Content Warnings

samsearle's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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elchivovivo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I read the Spanish translation, in which the author herself collaborated (a rare thing, in my experience).

Analytical prose. Revealing meaning in the selective, yet precise description of the mundane.

A rhapsody of interweaving, intertextual voices and perspectives.

A gloomy view on humanity, particularly the late-stage capitalism ruins of American society.

Absorbing, auditive. Loved it.

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impla77's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Yeah, this just wasnt the book for me. I liked aspects of it, but it tended to drag, and was a bit too clever for its own good. Also, the ten minute runon sentence at the end.. I mean come on, that dragged this book down. These children are also the smartest and most fucking dumb children simultaneously, like in what world,

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afion's review against another edition

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3.5

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ldandridge's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

At times a bit too esoteric, but overall a good read. The shifting perspectives and intertwining stories were a strength. While the story telling involving refugee and immigrant children is powerful and necessary, but the representation of native cultures could definitely have been better.

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cabuff's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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shelby's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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