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ClareR (5674 KP) rated A Ladder To The Sky in Books

Oct 12, 2018

A Ladder To The Sky

John Boyne | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

A fascinatingly awful main character!

Maurice Swift wants to be a writer. It doesn't matter that he isn't particularly gifted, because he has access to a great story. Erich Ackerman meets Maurice in a hotel in West Berlin in 1988 - and so begins Erich's fall from grace and Maurice's meteoric rise.
Maurice works his way through writers at an astonishing rate. He's a narcissist, I think. He needs the admiration of others and doesn't care how he gets it, and this manifests itself;f in the need to write books, be recognised as a respected award winning writer and make lots of money.
Not wanting to give anything away, but he does some really immoral, terrible things, and doesn't to have any guilt at all. He's an awful person. I don't know why a character like this can make such a good book. I can, actually. This book is so well written. I felt empathy for those he swindles out of their stories, and Maurice is a fascinating character. The reader is drawn to him, just as those poor writers are. I wanted to hate him, but just couldn't.
I loved this book and I've already started recommending it to everyone I know!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this wonderful book.