A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom – John Boyne

100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: Immortality? Time traveling? Reincarnation? Honestly, I have no idea what this novel is about.

Expectation: Another Boyne classic with richly drawn characters, implausible plots that still work, sly humor and investigations of what makes people tick.

Reality: The literary version of telephone, with slight variations to the setting and characters in each chapter that slowly moves the (boring) plot along.

Recommended For: Only people that like loosely interconnected stories that span millennia.

Why I Read It: Because Boyne wrote two of my favorite reads this year. It won’t be a hat trick.

My take:

After being completely captivated by John Boyne’s extraordinary storytelling in “A Ladder to the Sky” and “The Heart’s Invisible Furies,” I thought he could do no wrong. “A Traveler at the Gates Wisdom” proves he’s fallible.

Maybe it was vanity, or simply the idea not matching the execution, that led “Traveler” to miss the mark so spectacularly. But whatever it is, let’s hope it doesn’t happen again.

Outside of the writing, which goes down as easy as always, the story lacks all the hallmarks of a Boyne classic — richly drawn characters, implausible plots that still work, sly humor and investigations of what makes people tick.

Honestly, it took me about 100-pages to realize that the story was about reincarnation (I think) and that, no, there wasn’t going to be some big reveal about time traveling or immortality that would tie it all together.

Instead “Traveler” is simply 400+ pages of “Groundhog Day” with the same plot and characters served up in different countries and time periods. It’s the literary version of telephone, with slight variations in each new era that slowly moves the plot along.

I can’t even tell you the name of any of the characters because they changed every chapter. Also, there thinly veiled misogyny that makes an already bad situation worse. Seriously, I’m still struggling to understand the point of it all.

If you are a fan of Boyne’s work — especially the two novels I noted earlier — do not read this. You will find nothing similar to either of those stories, outside of a brief reference to Maude Avery, a nice Easter Egg that perked me up for a brief moment.

While I started to like it better in the last third — when people such as Michelangelo and Shakespeare make appearances and the global events referenced are more well-known — it still wasn’t enough to salvage this disaster.

Also, the Epilogue, which I think is supposed to give us hope for humanity during these dark times, was almost laughably bad. Honestly, had it not been for staining my deck while listening — a mindless and thankless job, like finishing this book — I probably would’ve stopped the audiobook at 50 percent.

The only people I would recommend this to are individuals that are fans of loosely interconnected stories that span millennia. If the description of Edward Rutherford’s “London” sounds up your alley, then this might be the book for you.

Rating (story): 2/5 stars

Rating (narration): 3/5 stars

Format: Audiobook (library loan)

Dates read: September 20-25, 2020

Multi-tasking: Recommended!