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Taking Flight
When Tito is a child, his grandmother teaches him how to weave magic around the ones you love in order to keep them close. She is the master and he is the pupil, exasperating Tito’s put-upon mother who, although exhausted from working long hours, is usually the focus of their mischief. As Tito grows older and his grandmother’s mind becomes less sound, their games take a dangerous turn. They both struggle with a particular spell, one that creates an illusion of illness to draw in love. But as the lines between magic and childish tales blur, so too do those between fantasy and reality. In this beautifully told drama of the bond between grandson and grandmother, J. T. Torres delicately explores the complexities of family bonds – in which love is need, and need becomes manipulation, along with the pain and difficulties of dementia and mental ill health.
160 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2021
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66 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 7, 2021
Torres voice is easy and flowing, creating a picture, an illusion he would say of possible interpretations of reality. He talks about how we create stories which help or hinder us in our days. How these stories take on their own momentum and become real and then we have to sort out what is real and what isn't because reality can be seen in a myriad of ways and beliefs easily turn into realities. We become what we tell ourselves we are and then we have to deal with that.
The ache here is that Torres also shows how we teach our children to do just like we do. How if we manipulate them, they learn to manipulate their own children. So a cycle is created and the stories, illusions continue.
an ARC gently given by author/publisher via Netgalley
The ache here is that Torres also shows how we teach our children to do just like we do. How if we manipulate them, they learn to manipulate their own children. So a cycle is created and the stories, illusions continue.
an ARC gently given by author/publisher via Netgalley
July 20, 2021
Take a deep breath, count to three and jump right in – the water’s lovely.
This is a brilliant read. A book about madness and love and need. Tito is the child of an unexpected and unlooked for pregnancy; he is an ‘accident’. He finds the love that is missing in his world in the figure of Nana, his crazy grandmother who murders her pet parrots and fills her world with illusions and fills Tito’s head with the dream of being a great illusionist himself.
Pretend – if that is what it is – slips into pure crazy as Tito grows into his teens and starts behaving like a dog, walking on all fours, urinating on his father’s rug and eating his food from a bowl placed on the floor. Tito thinks dogs are loved more than accidents. There is humour here but also pain.
‘…illusion occurs whenever a certain pleasant mental distraction relieves the heart from its anxieties and cares, and at the same time soothes it with a balm of manifold pleasures.’
Then Tito starts disappearing, the wind blowing through him as if he isn’t there. Everything in his world starts to fall apart and Tito must move away from his home to break free of the madness, to reverse the illusion and find himself again.
This is an intelligent, original and magical read – a whole world you never knew existed. Take a deep breath, count to three and jump right in – trust me, the water’s lovely (warning: this book will not leave you unmoved!).
This is a brilliant read. A book about madness and love and need. Tito is the child of an unexpected and unlooked for pregnancy; he is an ‘accident’. He finds the love that is missing in his world in the figure of Nana, his crazy grandmother who murders her pet parrots and fills her world with illusions and fills Tito’s head with the dream of being a great illusionist himself.
Pretend – if that is what it is – slips into pure crazy as Tito grows into his teens and starts behaving like a dog, walking on all fours, urinating on his father’s rug and eating his food from a bowl placed on the floor. Tito thinks dogs are loved more than accidents. There is humour here but also pain.
‘…illusion occurs whenever a certain pleasant mental distraction relieves the heart from its anxieties and cares, and at the same time soothes it with a balm of manifold pleasures.’
Then Tito starts disappearing, the wind blowing through him as if he isn’t there. Everything in his world starts to fall apart and Tito must move away from his home to break free of the madness, to reverse the illusion and find himself again.
This is an intelligent, original and magical read – a whole world you never knew existed. Take a deep breath, count to three and jump right in – trust me, the water’s lovely (warning: this book will not leave you unmoved!).
August 4, 2021
A special relationship with this grandmother informs Tito’s life and compensates for his parents’ coldness to him, but as his grandmother's mind succumbs to dementia so does Tito’s own grip on real life begin to fade, and he has to learn to navigate a new reality after quite literally starting to disappear. The downward spiral of his mental state is well-handled but I found the magic realism aspects of the story harder to accept and thus failed to truly connect with Tito’s plight. The meaning of family and the fragility of family bonds, what it means to be invisible, especially as an immigrant, and how to make sense of a fractured world are just some of the themes the author confronts. The writing and the pacing is good, but overall this just wasn’t one for me.
March 3, 2021
Amazing! I loved it!
July 22, 2021
‘In America, as an immigrant, we had to be invisible.’
Bit by bit, Tito is fading from existence. He has lost weight, and he is shorter than he was. Sometimes his body flickers like the pictures on an analogue TV. And sometimes he disappears altogether.
At home in Miami, Tito’s young life is in turmoil. Each of his parents seems to have rejected him, letting him know his birth was ‘an accident’ and referring to him as ‘your son’ when they argue. Finding refuge with his Cuban grandmother, Nana, he begins to learn about magic and the art of creating illusions. Illusions, she tells him, are meant to do good – to help others or oneself to see a situation more clearly. She warns, however, that there is also potential to do the opposite and to cloud or confuse a person’s ability to see at all.
Tito’s greatest desire, like that of any child, is to feel loved and valued. But his parents are distracted by pressures of work, by the worrying behaviour of Tito’s grandmother, and by their own marital struggles. In an attempt to gain his parents’ love and attention, and the love and attention of his teachers, Tito begins to self-harm, creating the illusion that he is bullied at school and abused at home. When the family move away from his beloved Nana, Tito’s behaviours escalate, becoming increasingly risky and bizarre. He swims in an alligator-infested pond. He drunkenly races his friend’s car through suburban streets. He pretends he is the family dog. Finally, in an effort to reverse his self-inflicted spell, he follows cryptic messages left by his grandfather, who disappeared after the Cuban Revolution, and flees far from home.
Combining philosophy with Cuban folklore, Taking Flight asks questions about illusions and reality, remembering and forgetting, and what it is to be truly visible and seen by those around us. At its core, it is a powerful story about the desperation of loneliness and the very basic need for unconditional love. It is funny in places, heart-breaking in others, and beautifully-written throughout.
Bit by bit, Tito is fading from existence. He has lost weight, and he is shorter than he was. Sometimes his body flickers like the pictures on an analogue TV. And sometimes he disappears altogether.
At home in Miami, Tito’s young life is in turmoil. Each of his parents seems to have rejected him, letting him know his birth was ‘an accident’ and referring to him as ‘your son’ when they argue. Finding refuge with his Cuban grandmother, Nana, he begins to learn about magic and the art of creating illusions. Illusions, she tells him, are meant to do good – to help others or oneself to see a situation more clearly. She warns, however, that there is also potential to do the opposite and to cloud or confuse a person’s ability to see at all.
Tito’s greatest desire, like that of any child, is to feel loved and valued. But his parents are distracted by pressures of work, by the worrying behaviour of Tito’s grandmother, and by their own marital struggles. In an attempt to gain his parents’ love and attention, and the love and attention of his teachers, Tito begins to self-harm, creating the illusion that he is bullied at school and abused at home. When the family move away from his beloved Nana, Tito’s behaviours escalate, becoming increasingly risky and bizarre. He swims in an alligator-infested pond. He drunkenly races his friend’s car through suburban streets. He pretends he is the family dog. Finally, in an effort to reverse his self-inflicted spell, he follows cryptic messages left by his grandfather, who disappeared after the Cuban Revolution, and flees far from home.
Combining philosophy with Cuban folklore, Taking Flight asks questions about illusions and reality, remembering and forgetting, and what it is to be truly visible and seen by those around us. At its core, it is a powerful story about the desperation of loneliness and the very basic need for unconditional love. It is funny in places, heart-breaking in others, and beautifully-written throughout.
October 14, 2021
I have read 3 other Fairlight Modern books and I have enjoyed them all. This one I found to be particularly challenging. Tito and his grandmother are an interesting pair. Tito's grandmother is an illusionist/magician and she teached her grandson, Tito the art of magic in between killing her parrots.
As her mind deteriorates, the lines between magic and delusion are less defined.
I did read a review of this book, because I had difficulty understanding Tito turning in to a dog? Walking on all fours, urinating on rugs?
I gather the symbolism exposes the depths of manipulation and illusion, which I realize was the point of the book.
I give the Author credit for an original, interesting work of fiction that is like no other book I have read.
I look forward to reading the other fairlight Modern Books.
Thank you NetGalley and Fairlight books for the opportunity to read and review this intriguing book.
jb/https://seniorbooklounge.blogspot.com/
As her mind deteriorates, the lines between magic and delusion are less defined.
I did read a review of this book, because I had difficulty understanding Tito turning in to a dog? Walking on all fours, urinating on rugs?
I gather the symbolism exposes the depths of manipulation and illusion, which I realize was the point of the book.
I give the Author credit for an original, interesting work of fiction that is like no other book I have read.
I look forward to reading the other fairlight Modern Books.
Thank you NetGalley and Fairlight books for the opportunity to read and review this intriguing book.
jb/https://seniorbooklounge.blogspot.com/
January 23, 2026
A lovely story that urges us to consider why we make ourselves invisible when we seek visibility. In only a few hundred pages, Torres, through Tito, helps the reader feel seen in a somewhat ironic way as Tito’s body slowly disappears. Touching upon the challenges of movement—both in terms of physical relocation (migration) and the transient nature of memories—Torres captures some of the most fundamental truths of the family dynamic in a way that is both imaginative and comforting.
July 3, 2021
A beautiful tale of family loyalty and love intermingled with the drama and sadness of mental illness and despair. Taking Flight is the story of Tito and his grandmother bound together by love, magic and their imaginations, all jeopardized when the grandmother's mind and well-being decline. What remains in this lovely novella is a story of strength and family devotion.
July 8, 2021
This short novella follows Tito and his Granny, on a journey through imagination, loyalty and mental illness. The story reminds us that we all can create stories that help us cope with our lives; but sometimes we can get muddled between which stories are true and which we imagine to be true.
The story flows well and the way that Torres writes, I find myself picturing the scenes as if I was a fly on the wall watching the story unfold.
Thank you Fairlight Books and JT Torres for a great wee read in exchange for an honest review.
The story flows well and the way that Torres writes, I find myself picturing the scenes as if I was a fly on the wall watching the story unfold.
Thank you Fairlight Books and JT Torres for a great wee read in exchange for an honest review.
March 26, 2024
I don’t really know what I just read
February 13, 2022
A haunting tale of the love between a grandmother and her grandson. A meditation on the difficulties of mental health, how a person suffers and the strain that it can put on those closest to them. The complexities of family and the individual relationships within it.
Blurred lines between magic and illusion throws the reader into the confusion that can ensue.
A harsh look at love, when the overriding need for that love and recognition leads to manipulation. The repercussions of when that behaviour becomes second place.
A powerful novella; Torres writing is taught and sparse, a catch your breath read. Its brevity in no way lessens its impact.
Blurred lines between magic and illusion throws the reader into the confusion that can ensue.
A harsh look at love, when the overriding need for that love and recognition leads to manipulation. The repercussions of when that behaviour becomes second place.
A powerful novella; Torres writing is taught and sparse, a catch your breath read. Its brevity in no way lessens its impact.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews