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Walls: Travels Along The Barricades (2013)

by Marcello Di Cintio(Favorite Author)

3.8 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

159376524X (ISBN13: 9781593765248)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Soft Skull Press

review 1: A fascinating concept but mixed execution. The premise is interesting - what effect does the presence of a wall have on those who live in its shadow? His examples are well chosen (including a little known example of Canada). My one major complaint is that his approach is pure journalism school - he makes himself the lead character in every story and does the classic journalism cheats (ie describing characters in terms of their physical appearances - how does knowing someone has black hair and is wearing a pink sweater help me know them as a person?) There is no question this book would have been greatly improved with the addition of photographs - if he wanted to avoid showing the persons interviewed, that's fine, but at least show the locales. His writing is good but... more does not quite capture a sense of place well enough to overcome the lack of images.
review 2: There is nothing I love more than to be entertained while learning about the world. This book transported me to places that I may never see and yet I felt that I had been there along with the author. I loved the people that he met along the way and the way that these people deal with these barricades in their lives. It is a very different type of travel book and I highly recommend reading this innovative and wild subject matter. Who would have ever thought of writing a book about Walls and then to do so this wonderfully was quite a treat! The last section on the wall in Montreal situated between Park Extension and Town of Mount Royal totally blew me away since I grew up in that area and always viewed that wall as daily proof that we just were not good enough. Not rich enough, not affluent enough, not Anglo Saxon enough...and all my life I would say that one day I will live there...and I still do!! How crazy is that? And all because of a wall...Seeing Marcello Di Cintio,in Kingston, the day after reading this book was a treat. He talked about this book for about 35 minutes and did a great job! Cannot wait to see what else he has up his sleeve... less

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