Turbulence has proven to be an interesting concept, well executed. While I did not find that every story had identical power, most made me think afterward or caused me to consider something in my own life. This collection of linked stories takes an unusual point for connection: characters either meet while traveling by plane or meet a character from one story who has traveled to the next destination/story.

These men and women are linked as parents and children, as lovers or the spurned, as siblings, as bosses and employees, as friends, etc. The stories relate sadness, fear, hopefulness, tragedy, secrets, much of the gamut of the human condition. Some of the tales really drew me in emotionally and I was sorry these ended so quickly.

Turbulence is a quick read, definitely a one day book unless you spread it out as I did. It moves at the pace of modern life I’d say, with a population on the move across countries and continents, with families and friends widely separated often seeing each other infrequently. The more I think about it, the more I see in this book. Recommended.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I love books that have consistent themes, and this is one of the best written books I have read in a while. The characters were easy to identify with, and the turbulence in their lifes are conflicts we all experience.

Reviewers seem to have responded warmly to this ‘high concept’ novel of linked stories. For me, it was less of a triumph. Yes, the tales are often intensely visualized and sometimes strike a psychological chord. At others, though, they seem abrupt or less unusual. It felt a bit neat.
Most of the scenes are melancholic. Some are plangent. Parents and children dominate. The prose is very easy. Very readable, not very memorable.

I think what was really great about this book was how well developed it was for such a short story. It had such intricate detail that left me feeling satisfied in the end. Can't ask for better than that. I like how each story was connected somehow, and I think the setting of the short stories made it all the better. Superb!

Turbulence is a striking novel, a fresh story that feels like many stories. It begins with a flight from London to Madrid. She talks to a seatmate and the next chapter follows him. And the third chapter follows another person he encounters, continuing a chain of human connection that takes us around the world and back to London in twelve luscious vignettes.



I enjoyed Turbulence a lot. It was short and easy, a book I read in one sitting. Szalay quickly sets up each new chapter, connecting us to the last chapter. The scenarios are natural, though sometimes dramatic. But then for many people, there are often dramatic reasons for flying from one place to another.

Turbulence is an excellent short novel that left me wanting to know more about every single one of the people whose stories were one leg of this round-the-world trip.

I received an e-galley of Turbulence from the publisher through NetGalley.

Turbulence at Scribner | Simon & Schuster
David Szalay author bio

This novel made up of interconnected stories turned out to be a very enjoyable read. Turbulance starts out with a story about one person encountering another passenger during turbulence. We see that interaction and then in the next chapter the secondary character becomes the primary and a new secondary is introduced. The domino effect takes us through succeeding stories until we come full circle. I appreciated the complexity of the plotting. The drawback for me was that the characters seemed too lightly drawn (which fits the short vignette I believe). I like to spend my time with more fully developed characters. I have to say the concept is interesting and the book was entertaining. 3.5
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

What an enthralling quick little read! Coming in at 160 pages and only a dozen chapters, I flew through my first experience with Szalay. As indicated by the title, the first chapter of the book starts with two characters experiencing severe turbulence while in mid-air on a flight. This mode of transport works as a chain link throughout the book as characters literally travel around the globe by plane. What is unique, however, is the way the Szalay uses each chapter as a hand-off to a new character’s story. In this way every chapter reads almost like a short story, connected to the previous chapter by a common character but also extending out in its own new direction.

Let’s move past the literal presence of turbulence in this book, though. What really grabbed me is not just the turbulence on the plane or even the turbulent life events that each of the characters are facing ... it is the focus on relationships, on the ways in which people enter each other’s lives and connect and struggle with one another. My main take-away is this: Life is turbulent. We all have struggles that we must face and try to overcome. Yet we are all alike in that way, no matter who we are or where we are in the world.

Szalay’s writing is focused, genuine, and relatable. He does not amplify or overplay the characters for the sake of the story. Rather, each vignette works as an authentic study of the character(s) in a moment in time - facing a diagnosis of cancer, the loss of a child, the birth of a child, a marital affair, and much more. I definitely recommend Turbulence if you are looking for an understated read with crisp prose and layers of underlying meaning.

Many thanks to Scribner Books and NetGalley for the free advance copy of this book! All opinions expressed here are my own.

Turbulence is a collection of short stories, each connected through flights and characters. As one short story ends, another begins centered around a flight and a character from the previous story. I found I really enjoyed this style, and the way the stories were small snapshots into a moment in the character’s life. The themes were just connected enough to make this a cohesive collection of stories, while still highlighting individual characters.

I'd heard a lot about this book and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Thank you Netgalley and Scribner for sharing a copy. Being a fan of short stories, I liked the idea of a book with interconnected stories through various flights. But I found this one underwhelming. While it was interesting how the characters were linked and things came full circle, their stories were not particularly interesting.
The description of the book as "this wondrous, profoundly moving novel" is quite misleading as it didn't live up to that, in my opinion. The interactions are described as "brief, but electrifying" but to me it was far from that.Two stars for this one based on the goodreads.com scale as it was okay and I wouldn't say I liked it.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I have always loved books that bounce between multiple narrators and viewpoints, and Turbulence was no exception. However, the part of these types of books I enjoy most is getting to the common thread between characters, and this one stopped just short of that. It was beautifully written and left me wanting more of the story. The ended felt very abrupt.

I wasn't sure how I would like a book had us meeting people for only a short time, before sending us off with another person for a short time, over and over again. But I really liked this book despite not getting to know more about each person and what would happen in their life after our brief meeting. I became so used to the structure of the book that I didn't want it to be over and wondered how I would feel when we'd come to end of our journey.

The author did a good job of circling us to a conclusion that I felt gave me closure, despite there not being a real ending to the story. It continues on, with some likeable characters and some unlikeable characters, giving us just a glimpse into the life of each traveler. I plan to read the author's earlier book, All That is Man because I enjoyed how he dealt with the characters in this book, so much.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for this ARC.

What a little jewel of a book! I was intrigued by the premise - 12 characters somehow connected with one another. Exquisitely written, Szalay uses the vehicle of air flights, focusing on one character per flight and showing how each connects somehow with the next. He cleverly uses airport flight codes as the chapter headings, with each flight leaving where the last one left off - until we come all the way full-circle.

I really enjoyed these characters and figuring out how they connected to the others. My only complaint with this book is that it left me wanting more! And that's not a bad thing for a book to do!

Partly short story, partly connected vignettes (think "Winesburg, Ohio"), this book is an interesting tale of different lives, connected by necessity of flights from different cities across the world. It took me a bit to feel connected to this book, but once I got into it, the book flew by. The lives cut across class, circumstance, culture, gender, etc. A fascinating kind of zoom-in on people. One gets the sense that you are learning about the private lives of people that you might only consider as a bystander on Earth, looking up at a passing airplane, wondering who might be on board and where they might be coming from. Fascinating device!

This is an odd, quirky book. Short, but provocative, I am still thinking about it days later. Yet, some might see it as forgettable. I think it depends on your mood, and your purpose in reading it. Here's the premise: twelve vignettes of twelve plane rides with twelve characters telling twelve stories of interaction. That's it. No great whodunnit, no great passion, no great over-arching thematic message; it just contains the world as we pass by each other and make those small connections that make us a global society. I do think it would be an intriguing book club choices, but yes, odd and quirky.

After discovering author, David Szalay a couple of years ago, I was very excited to read his latest book, Turbulence.
Twelve chapters are cleverly titled with departure and arrival airport codes. The first chapter lays the ground work of relating a story as to why the character has traveled to their destination. Each proceeding chapter builds on the story preceding it. Usually, a character has traveled by plane to get to a destination for a specific reason but once at their destination they are faced with tragedy, deception, infidelity and sadness making the stories a bit depressing.
We see through the well written stories that, on every continent, humans share the same struggle, We are not so different after all.
I was hoping the story would bring the characters full circle but instead we return to the airport where the book began which, in a sense, infers there will be more stories with each go round.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for allowing me to read this e-ARC.

A very cleverly constructed compilation of interconnected short stories, each of which is imaginative, with original characters in memorable situations. This is a quick read, but it brings up so many issues about modern life that you may find yourself thinking about some of these characters for a while.

This lovely, aptly titled short story collection reminded me of a video about compassion often shown to new healthcare professionals where random people walk in, out, and around a hospital and the captions above their heads read “found something on her mammogram”, “wife’s surgery went well”, “scared about his appointment”, “waiting three hours to be seen”, etc. In a similar vein, the loosely linked stories in this book follow random people, some related and some not, during flights or travel to various places around the world. They are fleeting glimpses at singular moments of those people’s lives that feel like mere snapshots and leave the rest to the imagination.

I travel by air several times a year and spend the requisite amount of time at airports accordingly. I am also a people watcher and during longer layovers, enjoy sitting with a glass of beer and observing those around me. I have often wondered what goes on in people’s lives at any given time and what their thoughts are preoccupied with. This slim volume does exactly that. The stories are very short and almost read like flash fiction, but they are by no means simple. Somehow, in barely a few pages, the author effortlessly portrays complex lives and emotions and how (something I’ve always believed) we are all connected to the rest of the world and likely frequently cross paths with people who are suffering greatly or going through challenges that we couldn’t begin to imagine. Like the health care video, these stories remind us to be kinder, more patient, more compassionate, and less judgmental. I loved every single one of them and once I caught up with the structure of the book, it was fairly easy to figure out who the next story would feature and I couldn’t wait to find out what their story would be. Highly recommended, especially to those who enjoy short story collections.

Many thanks to Scribner and Netgalley for providing a review copy of the book.

Wonderful vignettes in this novella by Booker Prize Shortlist's David Szalay. Essentially we get a tiny glimpse of each person's life, with the loose thread of connecting airports bringing them together. Beautifully written. If this were a food, I'd call it palate-cleansing.

Short, thought provoking read about what travel can mean for different people and also how a series of seemingly meaningless interactions can connect a group of strangers while in different parts of the world. Think "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" but with ordinary people on a global scale. I read it on a 2 hour flight and it was a perfect travel companion. I'll be recommending this book to our customers browsing in the travel section as an add on purchase for their upcoming trip. Thank you to Netgalley for providing a digital advanced readers copy of Turbulence in exchange for my unbiased opinion.