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Waiting for Columbus
 
 

Waiting for Columbus [Kindle Edition]

Thomas Trofimuk
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

Print List Price: £7.99
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Product Description

Review

`As the threads draw together Trofimuk reveals a story of sorrow and loss that packs a huge emotional punch.'
--The Times

Product Description

He appears out of the sea, washed up naked, in the treacherous Straits of Gibraltar. Seemingly delirious, and claiming to be Christopher Columbus, he is taken to an insane asylum in Seville, where astonishingly he starts to reveal the true story of how he set sail on behalf of the Spanish queen five hundred years ago. Consuela, a nurse at the Institute, is charged with helping him back to reality. She listens to his fantastic tales in the hope of discovering the truth. But as his story unfolds, she finds herself falling for her patient – no longer able to tell where truth ends and fantasy begins. Meanwhile, across the continent, Emile Germain is involved in a different search. He's an Interpol officer on the hunt for a missing person, presumed dangerous. He's a determined man, and when his investigation leads to Spain these two stories collide. Part romance, part mysterious thriller, this is a rich and emotional novel about love, loss, and the fragile beauty of our own life stories.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 678 KB
  • Print Length: 410 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 077108546X
  • Publisher: Picador (6 Aug 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0042JSM5K
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #15,413 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Confusing and ultimately unsatisfying 31 Jan 2010
By L Williams TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
The cover notes for "Waiting for Columbus" say that it is a book that will appeal to fans of "The Gargoyle" and the "Time Traveler's Wife"; having read and immensely enjoyed both of those books I'm afraid "Waiting for Columbus" isn't in the same league.
"The Gargoyle" and "The Time Traveler's Wife" require some effort on the part of the reader to persevere with the story over the initial chapters until the story becomes clear, however I found that I was nearly at the end of "Waiting for Columbus" and still had no idea what it was all about. The mixing of past and present events was very confusing, for example, Christopher Columbus finishes his audience requesting his ships with the King and Queen of Spain and then can't find his car in the car-park. Characters also appeared for a chapter and then either disappeared or re-appeared so much later than you had to go back in the book to find out who they were.
It didn't involve the reader in the way "The Gargoyle" and "Time Traveler's Wife" did and the ending when it came lacked the real emotion of those books.
I found it confusing and ultimately unsatisfying.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Failing to connect 5 May 2010
By S. Zigmond TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
When I read the blurb, I hoped I was in for a good read. I so wanted to like this novel. The premise was intriguing, the writing was intelligent and for a while I was immersed in it.

Only then, something happened. Or rather something didn't happen. That moment when the reader becomes absorbed int he world the writer has created. I just could not get to grips with it at all. This is probably totally my fault but I found irritation on every page. I didn't find the mental asylum scenes convincing; most nurses are far too stressed and busy to sit and listen to the ramblings of a man who may be mad. And to share the same swimming pool with a naked patient? Oh no. It would never happen.

Suspension of disbelief is essential in all fiction. It didn't happen.

At first, I was intrigued by the 'anachronisms' in 'Columbus's' stories but after a while I grew annoyed--angry even--because I felt the author was playing games with me. Perhaps I'm just not clever enough but I prefer authors who draw me in and include me in their world. What I hate are authors who somehow spend a book telling me just how clever they are.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By J. Brand TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
I found Waiting for Columbus a fascinating little book. It plays with time and anachronisms while all the time drawing the reader along with the question that if you're not who you think you are then who are you really and ingeniously tells it largely through Columbus' own stories of his 15th century life. There is an extra story line running through the novel involving an interpol investigation of a missing man and while it's obvious that this will lead to Columbus it isn't until the last section where Columbus' 15th century life falls away that the threads come together.

There are parts of this novel that don't work well. The interpol investigation sub plot seems rather clumsily added and is as a bit of a deus ex machine device to find Columbus' real identity. The asylum scenes seem rather unrealistic, and Columbus' escape from the Asylum seems somewhat far fetched. But all of that I would forgive just for the fact that I so wanted to find the asnwer to the main plot of 'who are you'. Additionally it doesn't seem to really know what sort of a novel it is; a love story? historical fiction? thriller? what?

Overall - recommended with reservations.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book
This book is such an interesting and compelling tale. it slowly draws you in and becomes a compulsive read. Highly recommended.
Published 33 minutes ago by Busybee17
4.0 out of 5 stars I'll meet you at Starbucks
Although it didn't end quite like I imaged it would, Waiting for Columbus was still a very interesting read. Read more
Published 2 months ago by D. Curwen
2.0 out of 5 stars Confusing
I bought this book based on it's reviews. Although I read it to the end I understood very little of what was going on until the last few pages. Read more
Published 3 months ago by 2dogs
4.0 out of 5 stars So unbelievably believable
This book is very bizarre, the story is so unbelievable but the way it's told makes you really believe it. I'd definitely recommend this book
Published 4 months ago by Kelly L Robson
2.0 out of 5 stars Confused....confused....ends?
I found this a very difficult book to get into, but once I've started I won't give up! I think I spent the whole book waiting for that 'click' when I finally got it... Read more
Published 4 months ago by csf
4.0 out of 5 stars Good But Slightly Confusing
I did really enjoy reading this book. Yes, some aspects could be viewed as unrealistic but I didn't think this when I read it. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Super Cereal
5.0 out of 5 stars Well I loved it.
I can't understand all the negative reviews for this book.
It was so intriguing. I fell in love with columbus and fell under the spell. I wanted so much to believe it all. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mrs. D. L. Cox
2.0 out of 5 stars A struggle to finish it
This book was a struggle to finish. The story was totally unbelievable and it annoyed me in every page. Read more
Published 17 months ago by SLL (London)
5.0 out of 5 stars A keeper for my book shelves
This is an odd story, certainly and probably aspects of it were unrealistic (as other reviewers have pointed out), but that didn't matter to me. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Hils T
3.0 out of 5 stars waiting
I found this book interesting in parts and difficult in others especially the asylum scenes - an unused swiming pool come on. Read more
Published 19 months ago by few words
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