John Mauro's Reviews > The Saint of Bright Doors
The Saint of Bright Doors
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I had high hopes for The Saint of Bright Doors, but unfortunately it did not work for me. I found the book to be overly pretentious for my taste, and the main plot points all felt so arbitrary. The reader is asked to accept the nonsensical and go with the flow because...that's just the way it is in this overly self-serious novel, apparently. As much as I wanted to like this novel, I just couldn't connect with it. I hope other readers will enjoy it more.
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Reading Progress
January 28, 2023
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January 28, 2023
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January 28, 2023
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January 28, 2023
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, K. I generally love magical realism books, but for me this novel was much too far removed from reality to earn the "realism" moniker. Hope you enjoyed the book more than I did! Best wishes.
It sounds like many of the plot points are references to Sri Lankan Buddhism. The main character is meant to be Buddha's son. Haven't read it yet but from reading other reviews I've decided that this novel requires I brush up on the lore of the religion and culture it is set in. In that light, much of it may make more sense to a westerner like me.
I like your use of the word arbitrary. That's exactly how it felt to me. An arbitrary plot about characters who the author failed to make me care about and who seemed to have no goals other than I'm not going to do the think I'm supposed to do. It seems they were there as devices to showcase the worldbuilding, but even that was a disappointment to me - lots of imagination without sophistication.
Though magic realism is rather difficult to neatly define, I would certainly qualify Vajra's novel here as within its wiggly definition.