A little hard to get into but once I did WOW read it in three days- didn’t want it to end-but wanted to find out what happened I laughed- I cried -loved the character descriptions felt as if I really knew who they were.

Bought for someone else , they love it

After enjoying The Book Thief, I was looking forward to reading The Bridge of Clay. Sadly I did not enjoy it as it was disjointed and somewhat laboured. The story was interesting but was all about brothers and their relationship to each other and their parents. There was an atmosphere of disfuncion in the story as it unfolded but it was how a family falls apart when one of the members leave.

Marcus Zusak charmed and entranced a mass audience with The Book Thief. Bridge of Clay is a totally different novel. This book swirls and swoops through different times, different stories, and different spotlighted characters until finally the saga of the Dunbar Boys is told. Reading it can be a challenge. At times, I was mesmerized. At times I was confused. And at other times I was repulsed by the violent brawling that fills the pages. But as I stuck with it, I was amazed at how he could make me believe and care about these characters who bear no relation to anyone I know. This is masterful storytelling. But it does not closely resemble The Book Thief. There were things that I loved in the details and there are many details. You may wonder how a story of brawling brothers, racing, horse racing, death, love, dirt, blood, the Iliad, the Odyssey, Michelangelo, a mule, the Pont du Gard, and buried skeletons with a typewriter can all come together under the unrelenting sunshine. You would be wise to wonder, but the tapestry that our author weaves is a fully integrated whole when finished. It is a novel that will challenge those who like their stories to be linear and clear. The style, the organization, the voices, and the extraordinary story telling all make this novel worth reading.

I'm in awe of Markus Zusak and his latest book, Bridge of Clay. This book is amazing in so many ways. The descriptions read like poetry - he has such a way with words! (In describing the Dunbars: "A family of ramshackle tragedy. A comic book kapow of boys and blood and beasts." or "But make no mistake - he was a wasteland in a suit; he was bent-postured, he was broken.") I could have highlighted most of the book with brilliant passages. It's funny, it's sad, it's tragic, it's heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. It's a book of love and of life, of family. Of the love of brothers. The way Zusak weaves in and out of the present and past is masterful. To me, it doesn't get any better than this. Absolutely loved the book from cover and cover and will read it again. Highly recommend this one for book clubs, as well; so many things to talk about! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!