Thank you very much @netgalley for this Advanced Reader Copy of The World and All It Holds. This is a book that starts in Sarajevo in 1914+at the start of World War I, and goes through to Jerusalem in 2001. I had a hard time following and ended up not finishing this one. Possibly I will try it again another time.

This is historical fiction and LGBTQ. Although not for me, I did finish the book.

This is a love story during war times.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the copy of this book.

Thank you to Net Galley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This is the story of Rafael Pinto and the great love of his life. Archduke Franz Ferdinand is in Sarajevo in June 1914 and Rafael is living a life that he didn't quite expect. But then the Archduke is assassinated and war breaks out sending him to the trenches in Galicia. There he meets Osman, another soldier, and they fall madly in love. They escape the trenches, survive the world that it has become and travel far and wide. At a certain point, they are separated and Pinto takes on the responsibilities of their life, even if he's not quite sure of the truth. Pinto lives in Shanghai for many years and his love affair with Osman survives on in his mind (and in reality?). Through it all, Osman is with him and it is this love that keeps him going. I wasn't sure how much I was going to like this story when I started it but ended up liking it more than expected as the storytelling was very good.

I tried to get into this book, but couldn't finish it. Wasn't a bad book or badly written, just wasn't for me.

I'd wanted to read Aleksandar Hemon before but never got around to it (so many books, so little time), so I'm not sure how this compares to his others. The novel begins with the assassination of the Archduke that begins WWI and destroys the complacent life of Rafael Pinto, a gay Jewish apothecary who finds himself conscripted and falls in love with a Muslim soldier named Osman. Despite war and tragedy, Rafael carries on, and his life takes many twists and turns. Ultimately, this is a story of how war impacts individuals, and how the stories we tell ourselves keep us going.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Epic is something of an understatement for this massive and splendid historical novel that embraces decades and continents and endless love. Its romance between Pinto and Oscan is undying and heart wrenching. The wars, the bloodshed, the suffering and endurance are graphic, terrible and probably excessive. But in this rich panoply of a book, full of heart and language and detail, the achievement is so delightful that the occasional missteps or omissions can be forgiven. It’s tremendous.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC!

This is a story of life - at once heartbreaking, and at once brimming to the rim with love. This is not an easy read, it is dark and filled with suffering, but there is also love. And along with love came the pain from distance. It's just impossible to fully summarize my thoughts about this book except to say the book was certainly impressive.

I was just rereading “Islands” which is written in these evocative fragments. The family story is ostensibly about a trip to Mljet, but there’s a lot of history woven in, as well.

The World and All That it Holds by Aleksandar Hemon is an extraordinary work of historical fiction that begins on the cusp of World War One and follows one man and his “family” through the end of World War Two and beyond, from Europe to China and myriad other countries and continents. Among many honors Mr. Heron has received, his previous novel and one of his short story collections were finalists for the 2008 National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. I am grateful to Mr. Heron, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD, and NetGalley for providing me an advanced digital copy for my honest review.

Most of the book is so brilliantly written as to be mesmerizing, and it swept me along, page after page, eager to read more. HOWEVER, and this is a HUGE CAVEAT and DRAWBACK, the book contains numerous, frustrating, distracting words and entire lines and phrases of text in varying foreign languages that interrupt the story’s flow so as to have made me want to stop reading at the beginning of the book and made it tiresome at times. I tried looking up some of the words, but even that was difficult; a glossary by the author would have been helpful. Finally, I had to decide just to skip over and ignore these words and phrases so as to enjoy the whole of the book. If it weren’t for these annoying distractions, I would call this book a masterpiece.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for providing me with a copy of this book to review.

I am going to start this review being honest. I got 20% into the book and I couldn't go any further. Although the scenery changes, this whole book seems to be just nonstop about the main character Pinto talking about the man he's fallen in love with during the war and repeatedly talking about rubbing his chest, along with other descriptions of his physical appearance and how he feels.

I absolutely love reading a love story like this, growing together during the horrors of war and the tumultuous times, but it felt like I was reading the same page over and over and over.

I rated it 2 stars because I at least got through 1/5

I have really enjoyed other works from Hemon but found this a bit of a struggle and a whole lot more work for me as a reader than I normally want when reading a novel.

To be honest, this was a struggle for me to get through but I did hang in there and finished. I did not understand the parts that were in different languages. However, the writing was amazing and the story itself was beautiful. The love story between the characters was heartwarming set in the brutality of war.

I could barely get through the first chapter of this book. The summary sounded so interesting to me, but the opening was such a slog. Again, the quotes from this book are so beautiful, I'm hoping I am able to pick it up some day with more momentum.

It was, mostly, a good read; however, this is a dense, -dense-, book. It took me what felt like ages to get through it even despite the beautiful writing and my own interest in the plot and characters. Speaking of characters, they were truly the best part of these one. I cared about them, who they were, and I cared about what happened to them, who they became. Will I reread this? Based on the affinity I have for the characters alone, absolutely.

Maybe it'll be an easier read to get through next time!

Overall, I recommend giving this one a shot!

I first became interested in this book because one of my favorite writers, David Mitchell, gave it a glowing review, and I was not disappointed. This is a widely expansive novel, one that traverses much of Europe and Asia in the first half of the 20th century. It's full of beautifully crafted sentences, and the story itself is multilayered and complex and beautiful even as it tackles some horrific subject matter.

Wow where to begin!

I think I'll start by saying this book exceeded my expectations- really it blew them all out of the water. I expected a typical war story and received something truly beautiful and moving in so, so many ways. I will be recommending this book to friends and family alike. The story struck close to home and Hemon's writing brought the characters and their experienced to the forefront of it all. At no point did I feel it was too much of one thing, a beautiful blend of agony and passion, tears and joys.

I genuinely don't know what to say about this novel, it made me feel so many things that it is still hard to collect my thoughts when I talk about it.

As always, thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux and MCD for the eARC!

I have to admit - it took me awhile to get into this book even though there were parts in the beginning I really liked. But I picked it up again and finished it and could not put it down -- I finished the second half in one sitting and was still thinking and dreaming about it for days after. This is the kind of book that stays with you and makes you think -- I really appreciate books that do that. This is a beautiful love story between two men (One is Jewish and one is Muslim) and the narrative unfolds right before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria who was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary - this is what triggered World War !. The narrative propels forward through wars, escape, becoming a refugee and ending up in Shanghai during World War II. The premise is trying to "go home again" and finding that home as we remembered no longer exists. The epilogue was incredible and in it the author inserts himself and without spoiling anything, I wondered if it was all based on a true story or somehow more of a fable or metaphor about history, country and family. In the end, it almost does not matter to me because I cared so much about the characters that I felt that they were real. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux and MCD for an ARC and I voluntarily left this honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this new work. Wow is where I start! The writing style is unlike anything that I have been exposed to before. What a complete joy to read! The story of the book and the story of the author himself are both compelling. The author wrote this in his adopted language, English! This was a terrific read. Will definitely be spreading the word on this to my reader friends. Highly recommended. You will not forget this.

This is a hard read. One the one hand this book is a master class in beautiful, evocative writing that tells the story of Rafael Pinto and his love for both Osman and Rahela with such aching poignancy that it’s hard not to shed at least a few tears and become wholeheartedly invested in their plight. But, be warned, Hemon puts our heroes through an onslaught of misery, tragedy, and horror that is so relentless that even the reader starts to lose hope and even some enthusiasm for continuing the journey. Overall, this is a wonderful book but not for the faint of heart.

Aleksander Hemon’s newest epic novel The World and All That It Holds starts with Archduke Franz Ferdinand visiting Sarajevo in 1914 and getting assassinated on the street in front of the main character, Rafael Pinto. This event changes everything for Pinto, a Bosnian Jew, who goes to war and falls in love with another soldier, Osman, who becomes his partner his entire life, even when they are torn apart. The novel sweeps through four decades of Pinto going to war, being a prisoner, and eventually trying to figure out how to get back home to Sarajevo, with hopes that he will somehow reunite with his family. The journey that Rafael Pinto takes is one that is heartbreaking, dangerous, and at times desperate.

Rafael’s journey, accompanied by various miles traveled, various opiates ingested, and various unsavory characters befriended, is one that is wonderfully written by Aleksander Hemon. Most of Hemon’s writings involve wars in Europe, particularly Bosnia, and these stories really bring the grit, gore, and danger of the situations to life. There are many times through this novel when I did not know if this scene was the end for Rafael because I did not know how much more a human could take. Some of the finest moments are with Rafael and Osman, who whispers to him in the bunkers during battle, while in prison and starving, and even when they are separated. Osman’s voice is the voice that warns him to get out some dangerous situations, to look out for certain people. The connection that these two men have, as lovers, as companions, and as lifelong guardians, has a tenacity that makes you hope everything works out for them in the end. When I examine the title The World and All That It Holds, it can be taken literally, but there is also another meaning. We are presented with Rafael’s world, and by the end, we are shown everything that Rafael holds dear. His home, his family, his drugs, but most importantly his love.

For as beautiful and as compelling as this story is, some of the writing did leave me in the dark. There are many many instances of phrases, songs, and conversations in German, French, Spanjol, and Bosnian, without any hints of translation. Even though the book is very lyrical and wonderfully written, the language changes are so frequent that it pulls me out of the story, where I have to stop and translate the text. I wanted to be closer to this story, this world, and it is obvious that the different languages also represent the entire world that Pinto lives in, but it made it harder for me to stay engaged and focused on his journey.

I received this as a ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.