Play Book Tag discussion

This book centers around an English-language newspaper in Rome and the people who work there. Each chapter is a short story about a different character and you briefly learn about each of them. Each character is "imperfect" and tragic in their own way, none of the characters are particularly likeable some are pretty terrible. Each story is unique even though the time covered through all the stories is pretty limited just from many different points of view. If you ever wonder about how another person experiences a situation differently than you, this book would probably appeal to you.

I found some of the stories excellent and believable and some just odd, but since each chapter stands alone, it doesn't take long before you can leave some characters behind. Overall, they layering of the stories was clever. I thought the story ended predictably and it was unnecessary to even really have an ending since it was more about the individual parts than leading to a resolution for me.

Jennifer P. wrote: "This book centers around an English-language newspaper in Rome and the people who work there. Each chapter is a short story about a different character and you briefly learn about each of them. Eac..."

This is one of my favorite books. I've often wondered if the end of the paper was a metaphor for the end of people's interest in others (one reason to read a paper is to stay connected to others relative to yourself).

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that. I'll have to consider that more. I did not much care for the chapter at the end from the owner's point of view.

It's definitely a book that could be read again after you know all the connections.