Reviews round-up
The Book of Records
by Madeleine Thien
5 of 6 critics positive
7 reviews: 1 rave, 4 positives, 1 mixed; 1 not stating a verdict in public
What the critics said
“a dazzling fable of migration”
The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien review – a dazzling fable of migration
“voyagers embrace humanity”
Review: Madeleine Thien’s voyagers embrace humanity. That makes them outlaws
“a sobering meditation on the human condition”
The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien: a sobering meditation on the human condition
“collapses centuries and geographies in an ambitious family saga”
A Father and Daughter Caught in the No Man’s Land of Migration (Published 2025)
“a poignant meditation on loss and its meanings”
‘The Book of Records’ is a poignant meditation on loss and its meanings
“highly vivid, if ideas-heavy”
Fancy a fictional train-ride with the best of Europe’s philosophers?
Verdicts are read from each outlet's own headline and summary; quotes are their words, credited and linked. Where a paywalled summary does not give the critic's view, we say so rather than guess. How it works.
