Se lo envío a Cristina Jiménez Urriza, grupo Facebook - febrero 2021

A lovely plot, beautiful imagery, clever but over too fast, I think. I'm not sure if this is because I had a solid two hours to fill and read it without breaks or because it touches on interesting things and then slips past them.

I've become quite used to reading slowly, with lots of breaks that give me time to think about what I'm reading. Perhaps it would have been a meatier dish with that time?

At any rate, I enjoyed how Abidi wrote about families and sibling relationships and intend to get hold of his book, [b:The House of Bilquis].

Don't read this if you want well-rounded female characters, though. ( )

Passarola Rising is seriously good fun, with intellectually stimulating ideas for discussion seamlessly woven into the adventure. Here's my review: http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/passarola-rising-by-azhar-abidi/ ( )

From my librarytart blog http://librarytart.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/an-ambitious-adventure-above-the-clo...

Abidi, Azhar ~ Passarola Rising

When I selected this book I thought
I am more shallow and distracted by pretty shiny things than I thought – the cover’s curious flying ship and graduated hues of blue from sapphire to turquoise to faded sky had me gripping the book for grim life in case another bower bird tried to steal it from my clutches.

50-word description
Set in 18th-century Portugal, a clever, head-in-the-clouds man designs a flying ship and encourages his adventurous but aimless younger brother to join him on a great adventure. Their endeavours are supported by forward-thinking monarchs and thwarted by a cranky cardinal, who takes extreme steps to end the ungodly nature of manned flight.

(More than) 150-word review
Abidi took on a bold challenge to re-invent the lives of two historical figures, Bartolomeu and Alexandre Lourenco, and take to the skies Francesco Lana-Terzi’s 17th-century plans of a flying machine called the Passarola.

A dose of faith is needed to believe the clunky-looking airship on the book’s cover can fly and navigate successfully from Portugal to far-flung places such as France, the North Pole and India. The dilemma faced by fantasies based on real life is the inherent promise to entertain and educate and my inner historian kept asking if the airship could indeed fly (no, according to the author’s research — sorry) and checking if other characters borrowed from history – such as Voltaire – were authentic of the period.

The story is narrated by Alexandre recounting his life’s journey with a tinge of regret. He recalls events clearly but doesn’t reflect meaningfully (I’m unsure if this is a ‘telling more than showing’ style of the author or the deliberate voice of a directionless man). The book would have been markedly different (and perhaps even more lively) if the story was told by daredevil priest Bartolomeu.

The book skims several premises – including science, politics and the influence of religion– and feels torn between being a rollicking adventure or philosophical journey. Abidi is skilled and imaginative enough to master both between the covers but tries to please everyone. Passarola Rising is a wonderful story in its own right but should have been allowed to bloom more ambitiously.

Found in
Fiction A

Borrowed
Oct 08

Rating
Worthwhile ( )

A peculiar book, it seems to be some kind of fable, though I'm not quite sure of the moral. An old man who's lived a life of respectability as a family man, citizen, & man of business, recalls youthful adventures with his older brother, who invents a flying machine in Portugal in 1730, is pursued by the Inquisition, but never gives up his eternal quest for truth by valiantly facing the unknown. It's charming, but beyond me despite its apparent simplicity. ( )