Book Review: Reflections on the Boulevard by L.J. Ambrosio

Reflections on the Boulevard by L.J. Ambrosio is a book to read and treasure, with a narrative that is not at all obvious! There are various genre of books. Some are by well-known great writers and others by completely unknown authors. Some have exceptional literary quality and others are more ordinary, but there are a few that are interesting due to the adventures they describe.

L.J. Ambrosio continues from A Reservoir Man (2022), the story of Michael, a sixty-five year-old who unexpectedly meet a young man named Ron, who becomes his protege and journeys in a adventure with him throughout America and Europe. And this book is all full of experiences, dreams, courage, and adventures.

Michael represents the person who dared to challenge the unknown with the premise of succeeding in his intent. But we soon discover how difficult it is to make dreams come true and the courage needed to prove yourself.

A story that unfolds page after page through unusual characters and improbable situations, sometimes bordering on reality, which will push Michael to confront himself in an intense search for happiness. There are his personal ghosts to deal with, as well as a journey that is unexpected, also foreign, impetuous, complicated.

There are many faces that Michael meets on this journey, some are crossed only for a few minutes, others are destined to remain impressed much longer. An adventure that will lead the reader to deal with the protagonist, sometimes in a serious tone, sometimes more ironic, with some major issues such as, among others, religion, love, but also old age and relationships.

On the edge of a long life, the main virtues of Michael are loyalty and courage and that the most fascinating adventure that a reader can face is that of the enigma to be solved. Touching is the almost filial relationship that develops between Michael and Ron.

Many times, a simple hug, a look of sincere affection heals more than a thousand words. Because everyone, before anything else, has an irrepressible need for love. The life of the protagonist is transformed, through the acceptance of the absurdity of the other, into the ability to understand and give dignity to one's own and others' pain.

Day after day, the awareness grows in him that fragility, if watered by the spark of love and friendship, can become an excellent fertilizer to tame one's heart. And he no longer feels alone. This book, in my opinion, is a sublime canticle, a hymn to compassion, in its noblest meaning, of suffering with the other and walking towards salvation together with the other.

It is a book full of adventures in Michael’s world (exterior and interior) to be discovered with brilliant writing that is very pleasant to read. Reflections on the Boulevard is an engaging book that I read in one sitting. First, the protagonist, throws us into his world of trepidation, events, and journeys. We discover surprising introspective journeys resulting from unexpected events and chance encounters.

A wonderful novel, immediately enraptured by its well-articulated plot and well-told events that describe a journey full of scenarios for what we might expect. True, to such an extent that it can be considered that the writer has lived it, from the beginning, on his skin and that the characters that revolve around the story are real.

A trip is just a trip. We cannot expect to change ourselves if the will that governs the deepest caverns of our heart does not forcefully push us towards our metamorphosis. Reflections on the Boulevard is an incentive to overcome those rocks that we form slowly, letting the hesitations, fears and doubts that prevent us from taking flight settle.

Here you are. It’s a hymn to fly. Because the spectacle of the skies colliding with the open sea is something we should never give up; perched on the rock of our fears we lose something too precious; whole lives, which not lived become only regrets.

L.J. Ambrosio's book is very enjoyable and flowing; has the advantage of describing with great irony the ambitions, contradictory feelings and fears that lurk in the soul of each of us. The dialogues are a mixture of wit and drama, which enhance the characteristics of the characters that color the events of the novel.

With a precise, incisive language, Ambrosio paints reality hidden by appearance; the strength of hidden desires and the vacuity of ramblings; the moving life and the unusual reactions of those beings. I celebrate this step by L.J. Ambrosio, with the conviction that it constitutes the beginning of a promising journey towards multiple achievements.

Ambrosio's narrative disturbs, surprise, shake, due to the coupling of unexpected sequences, due to reactions that are beyond usual behavior, due to the sardonic events, as well as the frequent use of surreal images and situations, generally disconcerting, often abject, certainly revealing knowledge of the human condition.

One of the beautiful books I've read, it's not just a matter of a great writer, but a great story. Not only despite the volume to read, the text is very flowing, but each page seems to want to teach you a piece of life, the white whale that represents our dreams that seem ephemeral and unattainable.

Nothing was seen but a rough greenish-white dash of water, and light scattered puffs of vapors hovering over it and vanishing as they flew to leeward, like the vague mist that rises from the foam of the breakers. If you think this is one of the important points you are wrong. I wanted to write a totally random point to make you understand that the whole book is like this.

If you read it from the kindle, you won't know what not to highlight and so pregnant with meaning, so poetic despite the extremely flowing prose that you won't be able to stop reading. In a nutshell: Michael will make you thoughtful.

This is a simple book, in its complexity. A true book, which tells how, wonderfully, and surprisingly, in the depths of the soul, a seed can be born, a sprout of resurrection, understood as the infinite meaning of life. There is a hint of irony, mockery, a sad smile, a certain pity, in these texts where a scathing criticism of society is revealed, through the unveiling of the interior blemishes of men and women of all walks of life.

Reflections on the Boulevard is recommended for anyone looking for a story told like a fairy tale but with the power of real life. Abandon yourself in the seat of any car enjoy the most beautiful journey of all, that of life.