Kristopher JansmaCritiques

This is a beautiful, haunting, multi-generational story about a family in the Netherlands and their experiences during WW2 and the German occupation. It is told in different perspectives and timelines with a folk talk told by eels included as well. It sounds like it shouldn't work, but it does. It's sad and inspirational at the same time. Most of the WW2 novels I have read focused on England, France and Italy. This one is different and in a good way.

Meike grows up with her family in the Netherlands and experiences what happens when her family has to get by and do what they can to survive while her town is occupied by Nazis. Later we learn about her life after the war and her child and grandchild. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Very entertaining, and I didn't know where we were going the whole time. A writer who maybe isn't a very good writer keeps butting heads with a peer, and steals his ideas over the years. Or maybe he's a bad writer who is stealing identities and globe trotting? There are two halves to this story and they tie together so neatly at the end.

A debut novel, the style, substance, metaphors and literary sense reminds us writing is a craft, not an obligation. Kris takes on a personal journey, which I suspect is based on his life, sans the NY college lectures he conducts. Like all good stories, we experience trials and tribulations and the jealousy of two friends who like most, come from different worlds. Relationships key, we learn the importance of leopard spots, an appropriate metaphor for our souls. Two chapters in particular stand out, though my personal choices may not reflect yours. The literary quotes chosen to begin each chapter are carefully selected demonstrating the author's respect, knowledge and wit.

I'm a fan, plain and simple. This is what storytelling and brilliant writing is about; HIGHLY recommended!!

This book, which I'd purchased, was a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Foundation Fiction Award and Honorable Mention for the PEN/Hemingway Award.

The book is written by an original storyteller with a love of language.

This fictional tale of audacious prose stirs the heart and imagination. The settings and scenery ( clubs, theater, villages, cars, college) enhance the plot as we witness the differences between indirect and direct communication.

Throughout the manuscript, we glance at the fallible and untrustworthy narrator who steals identities.

My favorite part of the writing was the juxtaposition between the aspiring novelists' characters which caused me to challenge my perspective.

This story comes full circle at an airport terminal.½

I had the distinct impression on finishing Leopards that I'd just spent time - 250 pages worth of it - inside the crazy mind of a writer. I began caring more about the actual craft of writing more than about the fictional (or are they?) characters in the book.

A phrase has been coined for the time I live in: these are "post-truth" times. Identities and narratives are invented and disseminated on the internet. Sifting through the post-truth detritus can be exhausting while people seem more entertained by the allure of invented conspiracy theories and faux news commentary. These times are ripe to delve along with Jansma into an exploration of what is truth, and what fiction?

Did the narrator ever reveal his true name?

All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened... -Ernest Hemingway

Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold. -Leo Tolstoy

The truth is beautiful. Without doubt; and so are lies. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chapter 1: What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence. -Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus

Chapter 2: Writing, at its best, is a lonely life...For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day. -Ernest Hemingway

Chapter 3: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither can you do good, who are accustomed to doing evil. -JER. 13:23

Chapter 4: What truth? You see where truth is, and where untruth is, but I seem to have lost my sight and see nothing. -Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard

Chapter 5: By God, if I ever cracked, I'd try to make the world crack with me. Listen! The world only exists through your apprehension of it, and so it's much better to say that it's not you that's cracked -- it's the Grand Canyon. -F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up

Chapter 6: It is good to know the truth, but it is better to speak of palm trees. -Arab Proverb

Chapter 7: The far east. Lovely spot it must be: the garden of the world, big lazy leavers to float about on, cactuses, flowery meads, snaky lianas they call them. Wonder is it like that. Those Cinghalese lobbing around in the sun, in dolce far niente. Not doing a hand's turn all day. Sleep six months out of twelve. Too hot to quarrel. Influence of the climate. Lethargy. Flowers of idleness. -James Joyce, Ulysses

Chapter 8: [He] met his own image walking in the garden. / That apparition, sole of men, he saw. For know there are two worlds of life and death: / One that which thou beholdest; but the other / Is underneath the grave, where do inhabit / The shadows of all forms that think and live, / Till death unite them and they part no more ... -Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound

Chapter 9: It is entirely conceivable that life's splendor forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, but its right name, it will come. This is the essence of magic, which does not create but summons. -Franz Kafka, Diaries

Chapter 10: Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. - Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Contemporary fiction is just not my thing.

I kind of wish I'd read this instead of listened to it, because it would've been helpful to flip back to previous pages/sections. This book is a shape-shifter, but fascinating because of it. The unreliable narrator, whose name changes frequently to suit various circumstances tells us early on that he wants to "tell the truth, but tell it Slant" after his freshman creative writing prof quotes Emily Dickinson. That leaves the reader wondering what of this fiction is "true"? We are warned though that the narrator aspires to be a writer, that he finds material in all the people and situations around him and that he lies effortlessly. At the heart of the story are the three books he has written but lost, the trio of his friendship/love affair with Julian/jeffrey/Anton, another aspiring writer and Evelyn, the unattainable successful NY actress whom he loves idealistically. There are repeating motifs of time and art and gold (his watch, a painting) and following this thread helps to connect some of the narrative that morphs with different worldwide locations and aliases. It telescopes into stories within stories -- and presents the challenge to remember which one is the "fiction." Very cleverly done, but if you don't like the "meta" approach or non-linear stories, not for you.

I think I’m beginning to understand the unity of the book; the first time I spread them out over so much time that the chapters, which are so like short stories that I started to think of them almost in that way.

No, but Billy Littleford is Julian McGann, Betsey Littleford is Evelyn Lynn Madison Demont. (Jan Sokol is Rodrigo, Shelly is Suzanne White.)

I think it’s great. It’s the Old Brain gone wild. [The irrational brain. The dreamer.]

The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards is a brilliant novel that unfolds like a set of Russian nesting dolls: each chapter unveils more details about the characters and the plot, but with each chapter Jansma's unreliable protagonist leaves the reader with more questions than answers. What is truth? What is a lie?

This novel is also a beautiful love letter to writing, and explores the relationship between the writer and the written word in such a way that I was left inspired to pick up my pen.

"She pressed against me, half of her pressed up against just half of me. I half passed out." I'm in love with Sir Percival Glyde! (I'm only on page 20!)

Evelyn is quite the muse. Julian and SPG are quite the odd couple. smacks of Fitz - Hemingway tumultuous relationship. Also the Evelyn character sits in the shadow of Lady Brett of The Sun Also Rises. Especially evident when she dismisses the Mitchell character, a thinly veiled jab at Michael Phillips.

The story is a story wrapped in a story. telling the truth with a slant, as the protagonist is fond of repeating. Ad nauseam.

Added bonus, NYC a backdrop and a Holden Caulfield feel to the main character, Pinkerton.

This novel concerns four close college friends who move to New York, where they remain best friends. Sara's organized (she's the least developed of the five main characters) and she loves George, a schlumpy astronomer with a drinking problem. Jacob is fun when he's in the mood, with a cutting wit and he's mysterious and unpredictable. Irene is the free-spirited, brilliant artist who never discusses her past; a manic pixie dream girl that they all love so much. And then there's William, who was never worthy of being included into their group when they were in college, but begins a relationship with Irene when they meet up again at a holiday party.

I'm not going to be very nice to this book. The quality of the writing is good; Jansma knows how to write a sentence that stays out of the way of what he's trying to say, and there's some interesting writing segments at the beginning and end of the novel that bring Joshua Ferris's Then We Came to the End to mind. The heart of the novel is fine, if done to death already; four friends graduate and discover adulthood is complex and not as easy as they thought. It was in the execution that this book fell flat for me. It's predictable and not different enough from all the other novels by MFA holders living in Brooklyn to stand out.

The first segment of the novel is the tragic tale of the untimely illness and death of one of the characters. Nothing new is said, although the parts about chemotherapy felt educational. The second segment involves a character with the same name as a character in the first segment, although this character is a very different person. This segment is the story of a guy who grows up a bit and finds purpose in trying to help out one of the patients at the psychiatric institute where he works. The final segment is about two other characters who have to get over their deep feelings of grief and move on with their lives.

There are female characters in this book, but Jansma leaves them as ciphers and objects of some variation of affection rather than fully rounded characters. He's kind to them, though, and may well move beyond this in later novels. Jansma shows promise and it would be interesting to see what he does when he isn't writing about stock situations and characters and allows his imagination to do more.

Works of fiction about the fiction writer's struggle to find a voice and get words down on paper are more likely to find a sympathetic audience among other writers than among general readers, who may not care much about that particular struggle. Such a book is The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, the first novel by Kristopher Jansma. Jansma's narrator is indeed a fiction writer, one who starts his writing career early, to fill the time while awaiting the return of his mother from her job as an airline hostess. It is in the airline terminal where he writes, and loses, his first manuscript. But he is also, in broader terms, a creator—unreliable and shape-shifting and something of a charlatan—whose most noteworthy and audacious fictional creation might be his own life. We never learn this young man's name, instead following him through a series of adventures under various aliases and guises as he pursues his art, the lost love of his life, and his best friend, also a writer but a much more successful one. These adventures take place in various locales in the US, Africa and Europe. The novel is clever, playful and endlessly inventive, crammed with exotic settings and elaborate incident, peppered with references to other authors and literary works, and told with verve and self-deprecating humour. Throughout, Jansma’s narrator maintains an ironic distance, from both the reader and what’s happening on the page, as if to imply “all this happened but it is not necessarily true.” In the end, the book’s circular structure takes us back where we started, to the airline terminal, where, instead of a lost manuscript, a different manuscript is waiting to be found. The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, as the title suggests, is also a book about the fluid nature of identity and the ways in which we alter ourselves to accommodate shifting realities. The book is sometimes confusing. It is the antithesis of a straightforward narrative, and some readers may find its deliberate disjointedness frustrating. But it also entertains, at times grandly, in the cheeky, subversive and highly self-conscious manner of, say, a movie about making movies.

Kristopher Jansma's follows with his second novel, WHY WE CAME TO THE CITY, a poignant, coming-of-age tale, of five twenty-something friends after 9/11 in New York City. Beginning at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis—recession; from tragedy, life, loss, grief, and friendship.

A journey to adulthood. A dream. Success. Failure. Misfortune. Crisis. Loss. Grief. The ashes. Survival. Mortality. A city can take from us and give. Sometimes we need to say good-bye. Both personal and professionally.

My city is not your city. A different city than the one we knew. What happened to the city fifty years before? A city where we lost and loved. New York has always been about the American dream.

Jansma writes with stunning literary prose, with deep insights, mixed with humor-- a close group of friends. Five years after college: They are flawed. Sara- editor; boyfriend astronomer -George, poet -Jacob, investment banker-William, and Irene, artist. They are at a party toasting the new year. However, as they make their way through the city -- life’s unexpected twists. turns, and tragedies.

Irene is diagnosed with bone cancer and forced to undergo draining chemotherapy sessions. They each confront their own demons, fears, and issues. Rethinking and exploring their dreams, ambitions, hopes, love, careers, and aspirations. If there could be a do over. Time. How to be someone new. Get through the tough times with support of one another.

From the romance with the city, love, passion, and cancer. How the cancer and surrounding elements affect the group--grief, discovery, reconciliation.

As mentioned in several online articles, the storyline reflects similarities of the author’s personal life from moving to New York City as a young man, grad school at Columbia, fell in love and got married, and – along with his fiancé – cared for his sister in his cramped one-bedroom apartment as she battled cancer. His ever-changing relationship with the city while considering moving to the suburbs.

Not only is the book related to New York City, the themes and experiences are relevant to cities everywhere.

“We came to the city because we wished to live haphazardly, to reach for only the least realistic of our desires, and to see if we could not learn what our failures had to teach, and not, when we came to live, discover that we had never died.”

Life can be based on Idealism (based on a conception of things as they should be, or wish them to be with a tendency to be imaginary or visionary), OR Realism (based on a conception of things as they are, regardless of how one wants them to be---practical and pragmatic.

These perspectives also have an impact on how individuals deal with success or failure in their lives. It is very rare to find someone who is a complete and absolute idealist or realist. Events in our life change our perspectives.

Beautifully written, moving, and absorbing will make the reader reflect upon the moment, and appreciate life and those around you --in the present.

I listened to the audiobook, and Edoardo Ballerini delivered an engaging performance.

Why We Came To The City is an interesting look at a group of Friends as they move through the stages of early adulthood. At the center of the group is a couple who have been together since college and are planning their wedding. Around them are an artist, a poet, and a literature major who went into a financial field and is doing well. All of these characters are struggling with something, and money isn't always at the center of these trials. The book addresses disillusionment and acceptance from different angles as the group experiences loss as well as triumph.

Note: I was given a free ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A few years back, I had the great fortune of receiving an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of Kristopher Jansma's The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards. I enjoyed it. It was filled with breathtaking sentences and magic. The structure, the metafictional elements, the style—it all reminded me a tad of David Mitchell, but in no way did I feel Jansma was trying to emulate Mitchell; Jansma had a voice all his own. I was hooked.

So I was excited to get my hands on a copy of Jansma's follow-up, Why We Came to the City. Once again, I had the pleasure of finding an ARC. What an amazing novel it is. And, oh, how so different from the author's earlier work.

Why We Came to the City is the tale of five friends, in their twenties, trying to make a life in New York City. One of the friends has an inscrutable past that haunts her. Then tragedy strikes and everyone must chose if they'll collapse under the strain or press on. Sound familiar? Yeah, it's a trendy premise, right? Most notable is last year's buzz book, A Little Life. But in all the ways I felt A Little Life failed—unbelievable scenarios, incomprehensible characters, a disconnect from realism—this book succeeds. These are realistic characters with realistic struggles who are put into realistic scenarios. Given Jansma's previous novel, I was quite surprised by all this realism myself.

But oh how gorgeous it is. These kinds of stories are the reason I read. Primarily, I read because I want to feel, I want to have empathy for someone from a different walk of life. Why We Came to the City reached deep into my chest and pulled out my beating heart. I admit, I was a little disappointed that Jansma barely tapped the magical style he so clearly is skilled in, but the magic of this novel happens in the heart, not the brain.

I really hope this one takes off. Obviously, it's too early to award any “Best of the Year” prizes, but I think this one will make quite a few of the lists. It's a beautifully rendered story and so much more accessible than its contemporaries.

writing itself is great but story was too choppy for my taste

An audacious book, and I forgot if that means I should rate it higher or lower. So meta, writing about writers and including their stories about writers. When I was younger,I'd have been really impressed by this book but now, I was impressed anyway, despite being off-put (put off?) by the ambition and envy and narcissism of the writers and their insanity (out of touch with fictional reality?) and the exotic details which were chosen for their exoticness and yet, because it's all so meta, are remarked upon at the same time. I was impressed that the author had the nerve to write this for I certainly wouldn't have had the nerve to even consider it but then I was impressed by the necessary bravery. Painstakingly researched, or at least appearing to be, or whatever passes for that in the age of Wikipedia, I either learned or mislearned, or felt like I was learning so much about the (fictional) world. Yes, I'll read his next book, even though I'll feel I was suckered in to doing so.

There were parts of this book that were amazing,as good as anything I've ever read. There were other parts that were tedious. The characters are not the most likeable, but then who is, if you really get to know them. That being said, you can't get to know these characters very well because they lie, pretend, and posture all the way through their lives. Which is kind of the point of the story.

I will read more Kristopher Jansma.

The narrator - who claims to be the author - of this book describes his coming of age as a storyteller and writer. As a teenager, he learns the joys of pretending to be something he is not, and he channels that joy into his writing. He becomes close friends with his biggest competitor, who is also a writer. He has an on-again-off-again relationship with an actress. This book explores those relationships, but more than anything, it explores the narrator's on-again-off-again relationship with the truth. He is so busy making up stories about his own life that it is hard to tell what he believes and what he does not, and hard to tell how fictional the book is.

The writing is delightful - the book is worth reading for the writing alone. The themes of truth and fiction become very meta, as a writer writes a novel about a writer inventing stories and perhaps believing them.

The series of vignettes raises many questions while grappling with different versions of the truth and relationships among the three main characters. With unreliable narration moving forward in time, the plot is nonetheless anything but linear, as we watch what happens to the main character from the age of 8 at Terminal B at Raleigh's airport to New York to Africa, Iceland, Luxumbourg and full circle back to Terminal B.--or at least what we think happens.

The unreliable narrator and writer of Kristopher Jansma’s The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards tells readers upfront that figuring out the reality of his life will mean reading between the lines of his dramatic and imaginatively penned stories. The result is a deeply moving exploration of love, friendship and the often confounding and counter intuitive nature of truth and storytelling.

Found the book disjointed; never felt connected to the narrator who waffled from being dependent to an overly confident liar. Just didn't see the point in the relationship with the other two; a male writer who was generally despondent and a female actress who marries a prince. It starts out as a good read, but soon falls apart. I'm surprised others seem to find it a great read.

I enjoyed this, though it was really all over the place. And there's the issue, when a young author is writing as a young author, of wondering how much of the style is the "author's" and how much is the author's. Parts of it were very good, and then parts got a little histrionic, and but since the story dealt with young histrionic types it mostly worked, though it had its exhausting moments. Ice fishing in upstate New York, Southern country clubs, the Grand Canyon, Sri Lanka, Africa... that's a lot of ground to cover.

Jansma takes on an interesting meta kind of conceit, playing around with the idea of source material and truth-telling and how and what gets converted into fiction -- the book is set up as a series of tightly linked stories, or maybe they're really just chapters. Some of them work well and feel complete in their own right, some less so on both counts, but it was still pretty readable.½

This book was very different from almost any other book I have read. At the very end I finally understood the publisher's note at the beginning of the book that states, "If you believe you are the author of this book, please contact Haslett & Grouse Publishers (New York, New York) at your first convenience.

The writing is clever, funny, bold, and yet always leaves one wondering, what is fact and what if fiction?

The story is basically about a young writer trying to reinvent himself. Along his journey, we met the people closest to him. Each chapter is set up about a small part of his life that reads like a story. This was an original, very engaging read.
I received the book as part of the Goodreads giveaway program in exchange for a review.

In The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards: A Novel, Jansma builds a story containing fictions upon fictions through an unreliable narrator and somehow ends up with a story about truth. The unnamed narrator is the ultimate con-artist/story-teller who is preoccupied with his own story to the detriment of all his relationships, but possibly finds some redemption in the end.

Bromance, love story, adventure, meta-fiction all wrapped up in the unchangeable spots of a leopard.