Sarah Winman

"This is almost a love story. But it's not as simple as that. Ellis and Michael are twelve-year-old boys when they first become friends, and for a long time it is just the two of them, cycling the streets of Oxford, teaching themselves how to swim, discovering poetry, and dodging the fists of overbearing fathers. And then one day this closest of friendships grows into something more. But then we fast-forward a decade or so, to find that Ellis is married to Annie, and Michael is nowhere in sight. Which leads to the question: What happened in the years between?"--

Tin Man

Greg K

I felt as if nothing else had previously existed. As if the colors and smells of this new country eradicated memory, asifevery day rolled back to Day One, bringing with it the chance to experience it all again. I'd never felt more my- self. Or more in tune to what I was and what I was capable of. A moment of authenticity when fate and blueprint col- lide and everything is not only possible, but within arm's reach. AndI fell in love. Madly, intoxicatingly so. I think he may have, too. Just for a moment. But I never really knew.

“And I wonder what the sound of a heart breaking might be. And I think it might be quiet, unperceptively so, and not dramatic at all. Like the sound of an exhausted swallow falling gently to earth.”

“I stand in front of a painting of fifteen sunflowers, and I think of too many things and I start to hurt and the pain is intense. What did you see, Dora? Tell me what you saw.”

shen

“And I wonder what the sound of a heart breaking might be. And I think it might be quiet, unperceptively so, and not dramatic at all. Like the sound of an exhausted swallow falling gently to earth.”

/

“I stand in front of a painting of fifteen sunflowers, and I think of too many things and I start to hurt and the pain is intense. What did you see, Dora? Tell me what you saw.”

nico

i didn’t think this would break my heart but here we are

Trish

This is a difficult book for me to rate because while I see its merits, there’s no controlling timing and circumstances. This novel, although beautifully written, did not come close to making the emotional impact that The Heart’s Invisible Furies did - a novel more than double the length, but covering many similar issues and subject matters. 

Maybe if I had read Tin Man first, I would’ve been amazed by its delicate and yet raw and realistic depiction of a gay man grappling with the AIDS epidemic, but Boyne did that spectacularly in THIF. Similarly, Ellis finds a woman he’s compatible with and cares for and even loves, so he abandons his sexual desires and “passes” as straight because he can’t come to terms with the fact that he really loves Michael. Cyril from THIF also goes through a similar character arc with a very different (and far more satisfying) outcome.

I guess it’s too hard for me not to compare the two novels because THIF is so fresh in my mind and I loved it so much. Tin Man is a fine story and the writing is very lyrical, albeit a little too flowery and intentional at times, but it didn’t wow me or stand out. 

To be honest, what would have set this story apart is if we would have gotten more time and perspective from the women in the mess of it - Dora, Annie, and Mabel would have had wildly interesting, unique and emotional perspectives and chapters. Ellis and Michael’s sexual awakening, repression, and depression have all kind of been explored before and I don’t feel like Winman offered a new or fresh perspective from either of her male narrators. It was like Cyril from THIF but split into two characters. Even the difficulty with relating to an over-artistic and lonely mother - Cyril had that issue too. 

There’s just too many similarities between the characters and novels for me to be objective - and in all respects, John Boyne did it better. 

That being said, I’m intrigued by Sarah Winman’s writing style and prose. I think I could really love her new novel Still Life, as long as I don’t feel like I’ve already read it before.

Shortlisted for the 2017 Costa Novel Award Finalist for the 2019 Indies Choice Book Award: Book of the Year Longlisted for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction Finalist for the 2019 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction From internationally bestselling author Sarah Winman comes an unforgettable and heartbreaking novel celebrating love in all its forms and the little moments that make up the life of an autoworker in a small working-class town. This is almost a love story. But it's not as simple as that. Ellis and Michael are twelve when they first become friends, and for a long time it is just the two of them, cycling the streets of Oxford, teaching themselves how to swim, discovering poetry, and dodging the fists of overbearing fathers. And then one day this closest of friendships grows into something more. But then we fast-forward a decade or so, to find that Ellis is married to Annie, and Michael is nowhere in sight. Which leads to the question, what happened in the years between? With beautiful prose and characters that are so real they jump off the page, Tin Man is a love letter to human kindness and friendship, and to loss and living.

spepp

2.5

Messy. I can't even call this "over described" because it doesn't really describe much, it just dumps street names at you hoping it sticks. The whole "June 1990, France" chapter feels like the epithome of the "Going to France? Learn everything in hindsight (they hate tourists)" talk, because one thing is giving me context, the other is just giving me meaningless french words for 40 pages expecting that I'm aware of every single corner in France.
The plot itself is loose, it's divided into two parts that felt that should develop together. That doesn't happen and we just get two points of view that sometimes converge through repetition ("Remember when X did that?", "Remember when I, X, did that?").
And of course, all of that could've worked really well either way, a lot of books do these things!, so what went wrong? Too many themes, not enough time to deal with any of them, I think. I know exactly what Sarah was trying to do but that's nothing if the narrative itself doesn't convince me of such: a lot of things happened and I didn't feel a single thing.

Lucía RG

** spoiler alert **
           “And I wonder what the sound of a heart breaking might be. And I think it might be quiet, unperceptively so, and not dramatic at all. Like the sound of an exhausted swallow falling gently to earth.”

3.5*

It begins with a painting won in a raffle: fifteen sunflowers, hung on the wall by a woman who believes that men and boys are capable of beautiful things. And then there are two boys, Ellis and Michael, who are inseparable. And the boys become men, and then Annie walks into their lives, and it changes nothing and everything.

Elena Garcia Navarro

I was expecting much more from this. 

I couldn't get invested in the story or the characters and for how short this book was it took me too long to finish. It was just an okay read.

Olivera Mitić

Ovo mi je od starta imalo neki A Little Life vajb i nisam mogla da se otresem tog utiska sve do kraja knjige. Nema čak ni nekog konkretnog razloga zašto mi je to bila asocijacija, jer se ni po tonu, a ni po tematici ne preklapaju previše, ali ovaj drugi roman mi je non stop bio u podsvesti tokom čitanja. 

Stil je zaista lep. Sara Vinmen ume sa rečima i celom knjigom vlada slatkasto-gorkasto pripovedanje koje uokviruje emotivno stanje likova do finesa. Šta ovde meni nije leglo, ja stvarno ne znam, ali prosto nije. Nisam umela da se povežem sa tekstom, iako objektivno vidim da je dobar i da ispunjava sve kriterijume koje inače imam za književnost. 

Možda ako je pročitam u nekom drugom trenutku u životu još jednom, videćemo. Za sad je nažalost trojka.

Shortlisted for the Costa Novel of the Year Award "This is an astoundingly beautiful book. It drips with tenderness. It breaks your heart and warms it all at once."--Matt Haig, author of How to Stop Time From internationally bestselling author Sarah Winman comes an unforgettable and heartbreaking novel celebrating love in all its forms, and the little moments that make up the life of one man. This is almost a love story. But it's not as simple as that. Ellis and Michael are twelve-year-old boys when they first become friends, and for a long time it is just the two of them, cycling the streets of Oxford, teaching themselves how to swim, discovering poetry, and dodging the fists of overbearing fathers. And then one day this closest of friendships grows into something more. But then we fast-forward a decade or so, to find that Ellis is married to Annie, and Michael is nowhere in sight. Which leads to the question: What happened in the years between? With beautiful prose and characters that are so real they jump off the page, Tin Man is a love letter to human kindness and friendship, and to loss and living.

Laura Leila Marta

One of the best books I’ve read. Really honest and beautifully written, sad and happy and just gorgeous 

Dana Musser

Erin 

I love books that are about quietly falling in love. There's something so special about them, about feelings that are so deep and so pure that to be convinced there's a world without them would be inhumane. This book is full of so much of those feelings. It's Pride Month, and I finally got around to reading this book, after taking it out and returning it to the library at least twice. Maybe it was fate that I waited this long. It felt like the right time. It's a bit of a tragic love story. It's a bit of a tragic love triangle. It's not how you think - this is a book about three people falling in love with each other. It's as clear as day. There's a focus on Ellis and Michael clearly - giving off vibes that remind me of both Brokeback Mountain and Call Me By Your Name - but I refuse to believe that even though Annie and Ellis are the married ones, there's no romance between Annie and Michael. It is so clear to me that the love between them is strengthened by Ellis, and vice versa, and all around. I don't think that even though he loved Michael, Ellis settled for Annie. I don't think that Michael's heart was broken when he was delegated to being Best Man at their wedding, because it didn't feel any different, it just felt right. I do think it changed the nature of their relationships with each other though - otherwise Michael wouldn't have left, or disappeared, or lost contact. But when he finally returns and meets Annie in the bookshop, it's hard to discern his feelings towards her as much different than his feelings towards Ellis.

Despite all the love, or perhaps because of it, this book will quietly break your heart. Whether it's the heteronormative marriage within a friendship that is anything but, or the conclusion of Michael's story - which we find out well before we reach his narrative - it's hard not to feel while reading these words. It's sad and aching and tragically, probably far too common of a story in the 20th century. Men can't marry other men in 1969 - but they can still fall in love in a French cottage in Provence, cloaked in lavender and light, and they can still feel the intensity of this first love. This book may be short, but it is well worth your time to dedicate an afternoon to.

Amy Buckle

I picked up Tin Man at Gay’s the Word bookshop in London and it’s one of those ones I’d seen around a lot, so had always been intrigued. Trying to explain what this book is about is actually a bit tricky, so instead, I’ll leave the blurb here for you to read: It begins... read the full review here: https://www.amybucklesbookshelf.co.uk...

Caitlin Berger

I received this book through the Goodreads giveaway contest, which is always a lovely surprise. It didn’t grab my attention or keep me very interested until the second half of the book, unfortunately. It was a bit slow and aimless, which is fine as it’s kind of its own style, but it didn’t work for me. I have to say the language itself was beautiful and the premise was really really great, I just think it could’ve been laid out differently. 
If you are super eager to read it, go for it, but otherwise maybe don’t! :/

Mia McCoy

trin

Giovan

Marsh

leni

Elad Schulman

Mathieu Schwab

The unforgettable and achingly tender new novel from Sarah Winman, author of the international bestseller WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT and the Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller A YEAR OF MARVELLOUS WAYS. 'Exquisite' Joanna Cannon It begins with a painting won in a raffle: fifteen sunflowers, hung on the wall by a woman who believes that men and boys are capable of beautiful things. And then there are two boys, Ellis and Michael, who are inseparable. And the boys become men, and then Annie walks into their lives, and it changes nothing and everything. Tin Man sees Sarah Winman follow the acclaimed success of When God Was A Rabbit and A Year Of Marvellous Ways with a love letter to human kindness and friendship, loss and living.

Tin Man

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