Kensington Gardens

This is a wonderful interwoven tale of J.M. Barrie/Peter Pan and a fictional author and his character (Peter Hook/Jim Yang). Fact and fiction blend smoothly and it doesn't matter what is real and what is invented. Go with the flow.

I haven't finished this book yet but I have a lot to say about what I've read so far so this may be an unfinished, ongoing review. The narrator of this book is Peter Hook ('though I haven't yet heard his name) who lives in contemporary London. He is an author of books with a main character named Jim Yang who time travels using a machine which resembles a bicycle. He especially likes to travel to the Victorian era to visit/spy on James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. James Barrie is a very odd isolated man, rejected by his mother as a young child, lonely and alone. He's a writer who moves to London to pursue his career. The story is interesting in the contrasts from contemporary to Victorian, but that is not what I hear as I read this. show more

First, consider that Rodrigo Fresan was one of Roberto Bolano's contemporaries and friends. As I read sections where he talks about about some idea that he's mulling around, I wonder if he and Bolano read and discussed their work, their thoughts (no doubt at all). I can hear these discussions in places in Kensington Gardens. They have very different subjects, the poetry scene in Mexico City in the 1970s, the Juarez murders are Bolano's big subjects while Fresan writes about literary characters and authors. Okay, Bolano's Nazi Literature in America is about literary characters and authors but with an edge, a different feeling than this book but the approach has similarities.

I will edit this review later but before I stop writing I want to comment on Fresan's ability to adapt his writing to English characters of different eras. Considering that he is Chilean and contemporary, I think he's quite talented when it comes to hearing/seeing another voice. His descriptive narrative and ability to paint interesting stories with words makes this book well worth my time. show less

Very skilfully, he tells the story of James Matthew Barry, the creator of Peter Pan...

http://www.literaryagenda.com/rodrigo-fresan-kensington-gardens/