Hannah Tinti

[[Hannah Tinti]] has written two novels and I've read both of them this year. She is an excellent writer. Both of her books have slightly fantastical plots with great characters and a lot of depth. This, her newest book, is about Samuel Hawley who is dealing with the repercussions of a life of crime and trying to raise his daughter. The book alternates between present day and Hawley's past, exploring the incidents that have caused his many scars. As his past is revealed by the author, his show more daughter, Loo, is finding out about her father in her own way.

As much as I loved the writing and creativity of this book, it was a little violent for my taste. You know from the beginning that someone who lives this sort of reckless life is not going to have a happy outcome and I found that sort of depressing. But I still think that everyone should give [[Hannah Tinti]] a chance as I find her writing appealing and impressive. show less

Hannah Tinti's THE GOOD THIEF is a delightful and compelling read, the kind of novel I think of as "an entertainment," as opposed to serious literary fiction. That said, I loved it, and could not stop reading it. The protagonist is a 12 year-old orphan named Ren, who is missing one hand. It is a story filled with monks and murderers, thieves and liars, grave robbers and widows. Oh and there's a giant, and a dwarf too. And a mousetrap factory run by a cruel boss. It's a tough story to show more summarize, and doing that would spoil it, so I'm not even going to try. It's very Dickensian, only more. Think, say, a blend of Oliver Twist and The Princess Bride, and a young boy searching for family. Trust me. It's a humdinger of a story. You wanna lose yourself in a fantastical soup of weird characters and unlikely adventures in a bygone time? Then this is the book for you. A mesmerizing read.

- Tim Bazzett, author the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

I really liked this novel set in the early 1900s America about a young orphan named Ren and what happens to him when he's adopted by a man, Benjamin Nab, claiming to be his older brother. Ren showed up at the orphanage as a baby missing one hand and this man has a long, detailed story about how it happened and what happened to their parents.

Ren is a good kid. This man is obviously a liar and we soon find out that he's also a thief. But throughout the book, even when put in unbelievably show more awful situations and even through some questionable decisions, Ren is a good person and people like him almost immediately. He's not a goody-two-shoes or saccharine-sweet, he's just the kind of person that people trust and feel connected to.

The books hinges on this idea of lies vs. truth that we're introduced to by Benjamin. This was the key concept for me - that the truth is the most horrifying scenario for these characters. After leaving the orphanage, Benjamin tells Ren the "real story" about their parents and it is absolutely gruesome. Ren says:

"I don't want to hear anymore"
"All right." Benjamin let go. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"No."
The man reached over, took hold of the lantern, and blew it out. Night enveloped the barn. "Well," he said at last to the darkness between them, "that's when you know it's the truth."

I really loved Tinti's writing and I will definitely read her new book that just came out. This was her first novel and it is really well done. It doesn't get five stars because parts were a little gory for my taste (they spend time as grave robbers and there's lots of violence) but it was definitely part of the story, not gratuitous. The book has this great Dickens feel without trying too hard to be a Dickens remake. The characters are fantastic and I like the underlying themes. I'd highly recommend this. show less

Cójase una cantidad generosa de Charles Dickens. Añádase un buen chorrito de Robert Louis Stevenson y una pizca de Mark Twain. Y, como ingrediente secreto, unas gotas de Tim Burton. Y el resultado es 'El buen ladrón', primera novela de Hannah Tinti, si no contamos su libro de relatos 'Animales sueltos'.

La historia nos cuenta las aventuras y desventuras de un huérfano, Ren, de doce años, que vive en el orfanato Saint Anthony en Nueva Inglaterra desde que tiene memoria, y cuyos únicos show more recuerdos son el cuello de un traje de bebé, con las iniciales REN bordadas, y la falta de su mano izquierda, que no sabe como perdió. Hasta que un buen día, aparece por el orfanato Benjamin Nab, diciendo ser el hermano de Ren, con la intención de llevárselo. A partir de aquí empezará una nueva vida para el bueno de Ren, en la que no faltarán amigos y enemigos, un enano, una patrona la mar de peculiar, ladrones de tumbas, borrachos, fabricantes de ratoneras, y hasta un gigante.

La prosa de Hannah Tinti no es muy recargada ni barroca, todo lo contrario, es concisa y precisa y evocadora, y trata de relatar, desde el punto de vista de nuestro héroe y protagonista, su particular paso por la desconfianza y el temor, hasta llegar a ser un personaje con cierto desparpajo. Y es que Ren es un chico con buen corazón.

'Un buen ladrón' es todo un homenaje a las novelas clásicas y de aventuras decimonónicas, con ciertos tientes del gótico americano. show less