Chargement
Informations sur le livre
Solo
Actions du livre
Commencer à lireDescription
Solo by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess is a New York Times bestseller! Kirkus Reviews said Solo is, “A contemporary hero’s journey, brilliantly told.” Through the story of a young Black man searching for answers about his life, Solo empowers, engages, and encourages teenagers to move from heartache to healing, burden to blessings, depression to deliverance, and trials to triumphs.
Blade never asked for a life of the rich and famous. In fact, he’d give anything not to be the son of Rutherford Morrison, a washed-up rock star and drug addict with delusions of a comeback. Or to no longer be part of a family known most for lost potential, failure, and tragedy, including the loss of his mother. The one true light is his girlfriend, Chapel, but her parents have forbidden their relationship, assuming Blade will become just like his father.
In reality, the only thing Blade and Rutherford have in common is the music that lives inside them. And songwriting is all Blade has left after Rutherford, while drunk, crashes his high school graduation speech and effectively rips Chapel away forever. But when a long-held family secret comes to light, the music disappears. In its place is a letter, one that could bring Blade the freedom and love he’s been searching for, or leave him feeling even more adrift.
Solo:
Is written by New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Book Award-winner Kwame Alexander Showcases Kwame’s signature intricacy, intimacy, and poetic style, by exploring what it means to finally go home An #OwnVoices novel that features a BIPOC protagonist on a search for his roots and identity Received great reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus.If you enjoy Solo, check out Swing by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess.
Actions du livre
Commencer à lireInformations sur le livre
Solo
Description
Solo by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess is a New York Times bestseller! Kirkus Reviews said Solo is, “A contemporary hero’s journey, brilliantly told.” Through the story of a young Black man searching for answers about his life, Solo empowers, engages, and encourages teenagers to move from heartache to healing, burden to blessings, depression to deliverance, and trials to triumphs.
Blade never asked for a life of the rich and famous. In fact, he’d give anything not to be the son of Rutherford Morrison, a washed-up rock star and drug addict with delusions of a comeback. Or to no longer be part of a family known most for lost potential, failure, and tragedy, including the loss of his mother. The one true light is his girlfriend, Chapel, but her parents have forbidden their relationship, assuming Blade will become just like his father.
In reality, the only thing Blade and Rutherford have in common is the music that lives inside them. And songwriting is all Blade has left after Rutherford, while drunk, crashes his high school graduation speech and effectively rips Chapel away forever. But when a long-held family secret comes to light, the music disappears. In its place is a letter, one that could bring Blade the freedom and love he’s been searching for, or leave him feeling even more adrift.
Solo:
Is written by New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Book Award-winner Kwame Alexander Showcases Kwame’s signature intricacy, intimacy, and poetic style, by exploring what it means to finally go home An #OwnVoices novel that features a BIPOC protagonist on a search for his roots and identity Received great reviews from Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus.If you enjoy Solo, check out Swing by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess.
À propos de l'auteur
KA![]()
Avis
A highly enjoyable read featuring many references to tock and roll.Blade, who believes he is the son of a rock ‘n’ roll guitarist, finds out that he is adopted and sets out to meet his biological mother. At that time she is in Ghana helping villagers. He travels there and is surprised when his father who is both an alcoholic and a drug addict ttavels there determined to publically reunite with his son (he brings a camera crew with him) and kick his alcoholic habit. While there they both fall for a tiny five-year-old girl Sia who ends up dying and Blade sings a song that honours all the people who have left his life.
Rating: 4I'm not a fan of spoken-word poetry. I held that against this book far longer than it deserved. Once I could get over the spoken-word poetry format of this book it became...It was...It defies words. The words swirled around inside my skin, choked my heart, stole my breath. It was so amazing.
Rating: 5Blade Morrison is the son of a rock musician. His mother died when he was 8, and his father is an alcoholic with a drug problem and an embarrassment. The bright spot in his life is his girlfriend, who he sees in spite of her father's prohibition. Then, the summer after he graduates high school, everything turns upside down, and nobody, not even himself, is who they seemed to be.
Rating: 4A novel in verse, Kwame Alexander will feed your ears with a beautiful, lyrically written book.Blade is the son of a rockstar and has been raised knowing the most famous rockstars. The problem is that after his mother died, his father has been unable to control his addictions. He goes in and out of treatment facilities, which makes Blade angry that he has to deal with his father and angry that he can’t focus on just his life. Because I would like you to experience the novel, I have to stop there with any information or it will spoil the book for you. Basically, Blade makes a discovery that sends him on a journey that he’d like to make his own, but will his father let him?For me, the book was okay. I listened to Kwame read it and I felt like the intensity was almost overwhelming. I found Blade’s romances naive. I also didn’t see the point to the whole book or the abrupt ending that left many plot points unresolved. Is it well-written? Absolutely. He is a master with words and metaphor. Was I sucked in wanting to only listen to this book and forget everything else. Absolutely not. If you listen to it, a man performs the songs Blade writes. I fast-forwarded past them because they were long and I wasn’t a fan. I’m sure there’s more analysis that I missed by not listening to the words. The novel is divided by famous songs, but they aren’t performed on the audio. If you know a lot about music, you’ll find that organization clever, adding depth for you.
Rating: 3Blade has had enough with his dad and his rock-star largess, addition, tabloid fodder. When Rutherford ruins Blade's graduation he feels like it is the last straw, and that is before Blake finds out he is adoption and his girlfriend's love isn't as true as he thought. Blade finds himself on an unexpected journey to Ghana to find his birth mother. The audiobooks includes music which adds a richness to the experience. Blade, petulant and unforgiving at times, has music in his soul and poetry in his heart. During his trip he finds a way to heal, grieve, forgive.
Rating: 4When Blade finds out that he was adopted he set out for Ghana to find his birth mother.
Rating: 4Spoiler Alert. My admiration for Kwame Alexander's work continues to grow. This book was written with Mary Rand Hess, so I need to check out more of her books as well. Many stories are told from the point of view of characters living in poverty, but Solo is a YA novel in verse about a teen who is the son of a famous rock star. They live in Hollywood and have everything money can buy. But his father can't manage to finish any rehab he enters and humiliates his son, Blade, over and over. His mother was his constant in a world of chaos, but she died when he was ten. After his father ruins his graduation, he finds out he is adopted and that his girlfriend is cheating on him. It's all too much. Part two of the book takes place in Ghana when Blade sets out to find his birth mother. Mr. Alexander has experience there and it's evident in his authentic descriptions. (He is the co-founder of a literacy program: LEAP for Ghana.) At the heart of the story is music, woven throughout and tying everything together. It is a heartening read not only for teens feeling alone with their problems, but for everyone.
Rating: 5It was amazing it aw inspired me to be able to do anything
Rating: 5GREATEST BOOK OF ALL TIME!!! Recommend this book to everyone
Rating: 5This is quite a good book, actually. It is not a real travelogue, in which you read all about the travel, and also about the various people and cultures you meet on such a journey. It is a socio-political discourse of sorts, with a journey as an enabler. Having said that, it is a good book, and one well worth reading. While I do love North East India, this book serves to open my eyes to a lot about that part of our country, and gives a brief introduction to some of the issues facing people who live there. Well written, reading the book is a breeze. She takes you along on her journey.
Rating: 4This is decidedly not Fleming, but Boyd is especially adept at describing Africa (fictional though it is, it seems real enough). His style is distinctly his and I would not have it any other way. We find a Bond that is sensual in his enjoyment of life's pleasures and cynical when it comes to geopolitics.
Rating: 4I haven't read many post-Ian Fleming Bond novels, but I enjoyed this one. It was especially an improvement over the last 007 outing, written by Jeffrey Deaver, which updated Bond to our times and made him so "p.c." that he wasn't even recognizable at James Bond anymore. Denver's 007 didn't smoke, was moderate with the booze, had a healthy respect for women, and seemed more "licensed to wound" than "licensed to kill." He was a "company man" through-and-through who was prone to ask himself "what would M do" in any particular situation. Ugh! The character could have just as easily been called Malcolm Goodwright, for all the resemblance he had toward Bond.
The new novel, "Solo," brings back a creditable Bond. We're back in the 1960s, with Bond being 45 years old. He loves his martinis, his fast cars, and his women. But what I liked about this novel is that it took Bond out of his element. Rather than traveling to the world's exotic spots to battle megalomaniacs seeking global domination, he is sent to a dismal West African country in the midst of civil war. On top of that, he isn't even allowed to pack a gun!
To be sure, there will be plenty of gunplay before the book is over, along with other nastiness, but along the way, Bond is also exposed to some of the ugly truths about colonialism and the role he plays as a government agent in realpolitick. These lessons aren't dealt to the reader heavy-handedly, but it is significant that the novel takes place in 1969, just as a new administration has begun in Washington whose entire foreign policy was based on realpolitick. As Bond says at the end of the book, "Realpolitick isn't just a German word anymore."
William Boyd, the novel's author, knows Africa, having spent much of his life there, making the African scenes particularly compelling. I'd enjoy having him write a sequel.
Rating: 4The new novel, "Solo," brings back a creditable Bond. We're back in the 1960s, with Bond being 45 years old. He loves his martinis, his fast cars, and his women. But what I liked about this novel is that it took Bond out of his element. Rather than traveling to the world's exotic spots to battle megalomaniacs seeking global domination, he is sent to a dismal West African country in the midst of civil war. On top of that, he isn't even allowed to pack a gun!
To be sure, there will be plenty of gunplay before the book is over, along with other nastiness, but along the way, Bond is also exposed to some of the ugly truths about colonialism and the role he plays as a government agent in realpolitick. These lessons aren't dealt to the reader heavy-handedly, but it is significant that the novel takes place in 1969, just as a new administration has begun in Washington whose entire foreign policy was based on realpolitick. As Bond says at the end of the book, "Realpolitick isn't just a German word anymore."
William Boyd, the novel's author, knows Africa, having spent much of his life there, making the African scenes particularly compelling. I'd enjoy having him write a sequel.
This is a 3 and a half star book, but I cannot round it up to 4 stars because that would over praise it. You know it is not an Ian Fleming James Bond on the first page where "real writing" appears and throughout the book William Boyd displays flashes of his normal quality writing, whilst staying within the template of a Bond book. There is lots of drinking, smoking, sex, food and guns as one would expect. I was amused by the gun buying sequence in Washington. This was supposed to be 1969 and, sure enough, little has changed, a Beretta and a highpowered hunting rifle over the counter with no identity checks! I noticed a few editing issues, e.g. also buying binoculars before the main purchase and did he really intend to use sodality rather than solidarity, I think not.I think it is probably the best of the Bond Redux novels I have read, the word is fun!
Rating: 4This is a book about resourcefulness. Boyd's Bond is a pared down sixties version but with a reasonably rich interior life drawn straight from the liberalism of later years. He does not act without compunction and he generally considers and weighs up each situation as a human being, rather than a super-construct-hero. The story is engaging and well plotted. Though it does dip occasionally into the realms of disbelief it provides remarkably easy and entertaining escapism for a day or so.
Rating: 5When i was about 13 or 14 I read Ian Fleming's James Bond novels quite avidly, even though they were by then already rather dated and, at least to an adolescent's boy's taste, rather anodyne compared with the films that they had spawned. However, as one of my old drinking buddies was a huge fan of them I tried to re-read a couple of them just a few years back and found them very hard going, almost to the point of being utterly impenetrable.However, ever since reading his first novel, "A Good Man in Africa", I have been, and avowedly remain, a huge fan of William Boyd, whom I consider incapable of writing an inelegant sentence. I was, therefore, intrigued to hear that he had accepted a commission from the Fleming Estate to write the latest "official" James Bond story. Boyd's recent novels have followed espionage-related themes, though operating on a far more elevated plane than Fleming's shockers, but he rises to the challenge of continuing Bond's career with great gusto. The book is set in 1969, and opens on Bond's 45th birthday. To celebrate he book the day off and arranges to spend the previous night in The Dorchester Hotel. We get chapter and verse on his meals, even down to the number of eggs scrambled for his breakfast, though this attention to detail isn't at all intrusive. Having met a beautiful woman in the hotel lift, he then heads off for a day of intense self-indulgence for his birthday, including a test drive of the legendary Jensen FF. This all works very well, and Boyd paints an appealing picture of the swinging sixties in west London.Indeed, the plot only really gets properly started some four or five chapters in when Bond eventually makes it to his office and is briefed by M for his mission which is, basically, to go to West Africa and bring an end to a vicious post-colonial civil war that is besetting the state of Zanzarim.. Bond is flown out to Africa masquerading as a reporter for a French news agency. The story proceeds true to the tried and tested James Bond model.I think this was an interesting experiment but I am not sure that it worked - basically William Boyd is just too good a writer and it seems a dreadful waste to have his ability reined in to match the weaker template set by Fleming. Still, I did enjoy it, and I might even try some of the originals again.
Rating: 4Just finished reading Solo by William Boyd. This is the latest James Bond by an author picking up after Ian Fleming. I really enjoyed this book. This book seems to be the most faithful to Fleming's James Bond character. The book is set in 1969. The descriptions of the period seem to be very accurate from my recollections.The story is about James Bond being sent to a fictitious west African country in the midst of a civil war with the mission of enabling the defeat of the rebels. Bond has run ins with several strange characters along the likes of Jaws, Blofeld, etc. Bond also has a dalliance with an agent who turns out not to be who he thinks she is. He also has a relationship with another woman. The sex with the beautiful women is described in a similar manner to the way Fleming handled it and in the early Bond films.The title Solo is about Bond's actions after returning from the end of the civil war in the west African country. He is plotting revenge outside of MI6 over what happened while in Africa.If you enjoyed Ian Fleming's Bond books, you should enjoy this book.
Rating: 5Good one! It starts off in 1969, on James Bond's 45th birthday. In classic Fleming style, Bond dines on fine cuisine, drinks only the best, and dresses, well, like James Bond! The whole opening part of the book reminded me of the classic Bond! The middle of the book is James' mission - to end a civil war in Africa. Not terribly interesting, but full of action and extremely fast paced! And the end is again classic. The drink, the girl, and the job. I really think this book captured the Bond that I loved as a kid, and I'm glad I read it! I also liked that it had a "classic" villain too! Welcome Kobus Breed to the Bond villain wall of fame!
Rating: 4The Good Stuff Will appeal to Bond fans, especially fans of those early Fleming novels This Bond felt like a Daniel Craig style Bond - but than again maybe that is just how I imagined him to be. Nice addition to the back story of Bond Bond Girl was fabulous, really enjoyed her personality and how she dealt with Bond. Well written, Boyd does a fabulous job of setting the scene and the mood of the story. The African setting is a nice change of pace Author obviously has done some thorough research on Bond, he really has a true understanding of his character I have a feeling this will appeal mostly to the older Bond enthusiast as the slow paced style of the story will probably turn off the younger reader - this would be my Dad's Bond type of story (This isn't a negative comment) Nice to read about Moneypenny again, I have missed her (though would have liked to have more of her)The Not So Good Stuff Rather dull at times and quite frankly, couldn't wait to be done so I could pick up something a little more exciting. This has nothing to do with Boyd's ability to write (his talent is very evident) but this particular story was not my cup of tea Must we always kill off the women that Bond sleeps with. Than again I would risk death to have one night with Daniel Craig's Bond (But I would get the hell out of whatever country we were in once I left his bed & would have a big ferocious dog with me too (not to mention a full body bullet proof suit) I think Cory is going to be mad at me since I didn't love this book as much as he did (FYI he is young and loved it so maybe my observation about how this will appeal to older readers might be inaccurate)Favorite Quotes/Passages "Sometimes, Bond thought, Moneypenny's banter could verge on the annoyingly self-satisfied. He was vaguely irritated that she must know how old he is.""Bond found he rather admired the Captain's tireless ability to lie so fluently and with manifest conviction. He was good at his job, but no one was fooled.""They had seen everything, these nurses, Bond realized. Words like prudish, embarrassed, shocked, disgusted or ashamed simply weren't in their vocabulary. Perhaps that was why people - why men - found them so attractive."3 Dewey'sI received this from William Morrow (HarperCollins) in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 3Boyd was always a good storyteller. He doesn't disappoint here in the continuing James Bond sags.
Rating: 4Always a difficult job to come after a trend setting author who has created an icon. William Boyd does a fair job but a little like Jeffery Deaver before him, he gives his Bond characteristics that jar with those familiar with Flemings Bond. Bonds new car, his attitude when investigating a character in the first third of the novel, all seemed to be forced. This is Bond as a Wilbur Smith African adventurer. He has some characteristics of Flemings creation: darkly intelligent, ruthless but loyal, resourceful but in this setting, with these fictional African locales, it all seems like a need to put a favourite of the authors into his own fictional locations. This isn't Fleming pastiche, like Faulks recent effort, & it shows. It doesn't feel like Bond. Read as an adventure in its own right, it's enjoyable. Just don't expect things to be the way a purist would like.
Rating: 3I hate to say that I didn't like, let alone love, a James Bond book, but Solo just didn't work for me. The early, London-based sequences were an intersting view into Bond's life that felt true to the character. However, once he is sent on his mission to Africa, things turned progressively ... boring. That's really the only way to describe it. Sure there were a few action sequences, but none that stood out or were reminiscent of traditional Bond-esque action scenes. Too much sitting around drinking waiting for something to happen. And the final third of the book just felt as if the author needed to find some way to make this an Bondian thriller and wrap the story up, neither of which was he able to do successfully.
Rating: 2A quick read, helped by breakfast in bed on Saturday morning.... a bit 'nice' as I remembered James Bond as being nastier - but it's so long since I read the Flemming books that I might well be quite wrong. Enjoyed the African bits especially.
Rating: 3Boyd has done a good job at replicating Fleming here. Bond pontificates, eats and relates to the world just as Fleming wrote bond. But where was the fun plot? Yes a couple of twists are here but by the end it was difficult to care about the story.
Rating: 2Quite possibly the most disappointing work by William Boyd. His attempt at the iconic James Bond was rather flat and not terribly thrilling. A far, far cry from the quality he's known for in his other works.
Rating: 2This is moderately successful, better in some parts than in others, much like the Ian Fleming originals. There's a certain pleasure in ticking off all the generic conventions as they're duly called into service: fast girls, faster cars, particular - and often peculiar - dietary requirements, the right weapon, characters' bizarre names (Sunday, Blessing, Christmas), inventive death, etc, etc: yes, they're all here. Boyd even remembers the story of Fleming learning that in real life one always vomits when recovering consciousness. Fleming included the detail in his next novel, and here it is in Boyd, too. Twice.While all of this may indeed 'A James Bond Novel' make, it doesn't in itself add up to an effective thriller. Solo is exciting in places, but drags in others, which I suppose is not unusual, but one has come to expect more from James Bond, perhaps unreasonably, especially as I think I remember the same being true of at least some of Fleming's efforts, though they at least had the benefit of originality, a luxury not enjoyed by Boyd.Boyd has famously chosen to set the novel in 1969, so here we have a historical novel, too: while period detail is dutifully included and anachronism doesn't exactly abound, neither is it wholly absent, and it grates. I don't for a moment believe that she had a 'day from hell', and I'm suspicious of a hospital that was 'state of the art', or that Bond appreciates 'effective PR'.A generally enjoyable literary exercise: well done. Now, put your money away, Mr Boyd, and write something much better.
Rating: 3Entertaining, but ultimately uninspired, addition to official Bond canon.
Rating: 3It wasn't bad, but it left me with the same vague feeling of disappointment that all non-Fleming Bond novels do.
Rating: 3