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manuvarela's review against another edition
4.0
Está bueno ver, cómo en un formato epistolar, escrito para alguien que ya no está, se nos revela la figura de una mujer, su familia, sus orígenes, su pensamiento, sus relaciones.
thoughtsonbooks's review against another edition
5.0
This is a near perfect book. I am so in awe that I have been staring at the screen for a while trying to put my thoughts and feelings into words, preferably coherent ones. Sometimes there comes along a book that feels true in a way that is rarely achieved. It seems like Jens Christian Grøndahl boiled down life and refined it to fit it into this short 176 page long novel.
Recently widowed Ellinor addresses her late best friend (and her late husband's first wife) to talk about her feelings, her life, their friendship, loss, love and everything inbetween. While she knows that Anna cannot hear her, she still finds solace in this one-sided conversation. Her life is an ordinary one but what the author made of it is absolutely awe-inspiring. He chooses just the rights words and phrases to make this story extraordinary while still grounded in reality.
I loved the characters created here; especially Ellinor is a wonderful person and I enjoyed spending time in her head a whole lot. She is introspective and thoughtful, she is witty and lovely, but most of all she just seems so immensely real that I feel like I really got to know her, flaws and strengths and all. Her family feels real in a way that side characters rarely feel as well and while they drove me nuts in parts (as they drive Ellinor nuts as well) I cannot deny knowing people like them.
The circular nature of the narrative structure works so beautifully I am tempted to immediately reread the book as I am sure it would add an even extra layer. Every description is on point and there is no sentence that feels superfluous. The whole book is so tightly woven and sparsely told in just my favourite way. I cannot recommend this book enough!
_____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Twelve Books in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
Recently widowed Ellinor addresses her late best friend (and her late husband's first wife) to talk about her feelings, her life, their friendship, loss, love and everything inbetween. While she knows that Anna cannot hear her, she still finds solace in this one-sided conversation. Her life is an ordinary one but what the author made of it is absolutely awe-inspiring. He chooses just the rights words and phrases to make this story extraordinary while still grounded in reality.
I loved the characters created here; especially Ellinor is a wonderful person and I enjoyed spending time in her head a whole lot. She is introspective and thoughtful, she is witty and lovely, but most of all she just seems so immensely real that I feel like I really got to know her, flaws and strengths and all. Her family feels real in a way that side characters rarely feel as well and while they drove me nuts in parts (as they drive Ellinor nuts as well) I cannot deny knowing people like them.
The circular nature of the narrative structure works so beautifully I am tempted to immediately reread the book as I am sure it would add an even extra layer. Every description is on point and there is no sentence that feels superfluous. The whole book is so tightly woven and sparsely told in just my favourite way. I cannot recommend this book enough!
_____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Twelve Books in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
littlebookbird's review
3.0
A good line from the text to sum it up: “There’s no reason to exaggerate or, to put it differently, you would search in vain for a deeper reason except that it was her, it was him. ... Don’t we make ourselves poorer, with all our knowledge, than we need to be, only because we can?”
anazapatag's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kayteeolson's review
5.0
Favorite quotes from Often I Am Happy:
"Tears rose to my eyes because I felt him behind me for a second, slightly bent over, slightly stooping, with a sweater tied around his shoulders, not feeling the least bit cold even though atumn had set in beyond all measure."
"I missed him as I was riding home on my bike. I miss him all the time, but it is something different that I miss about him at different times. His body next to me in bed, the sound of his steps, the familiar timbre of his voice in the familiar rooms. Without him, they're just somewhere. His way of sighing, which wasn't an expression of fatigue or despair but only, how to put it, a pneumatic effect of his composure."
"We went to movies and kissed in the light of inane narratives flickering past. We were protagonists ourselves, and I'd never felt that way before, as if my life meant something."
"You were my country, first one, then the other, and now I am stateless."
"Tears rose to my eyes because I felt him behind me for a second, slightly bent over, slightly stooping, with a sweater tied around his shoulders, not feeling the least bit cold even though atumn had set in beyond all measure."
"I missed him as I was riding home on my bike. I miss him all the time, but it is something different that I miss about him at different times. His body next to me in bed, the sound of his steps, the familiar timbre of his voice in the familiar rooms. Without him, they're just somewhere. His way of sighing, which wasn't an expression of fatigue or despair but only, how to put it, a pneumatic effect of his composure."
"We went to movies and kissed in the light of inane narratives flickering past. We were protagonists ourselves, and I'd never felt that way before, as if my life meant something."
"You were my country, first one, then the other, and now I am stateless."
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