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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I'm asking you as a doctor: is it normal to replace a husband with a chicken, and not to miss anything about the husband, not even for half a minute?
This is advertised as a "story of undying love, loss, and resilience" but I would characterize it as a story of selfishness, cowardice, and stupidity. It's a little mortifying to consider the possibility that more than a tiny fraction of people in the real world might resemble the protagonists. Personally, the only character I found likable was the chicken.
Spoiler
(I'm delighted to report that the chicken gets a happy ending.)That said, the increasingly-salacious conversation between two cranky elderly people that constitutes the bulk of the book is completely absorbing, in much the same way that I imagine soap operas are.
Spoiler
Loriano and Nives have an affair and make plans to elope without warning their spouses. Nives tries to follow through, but Loriano either gets cold feet or was never sincere to begin with. Bizarrely, the book seems to want us to judge Nives to be entirely the victim and Loriano to be pure scum; even Loriano's wife, Donatella, instantly sympathizes with Nives when the affair is revealed. But both of them revealed their reckless disregard for others by having the affair in the first place. And both of them reaffirmed that disregard by their subsequent actions: Nives was ready to ghost her husband (there's no indication that he had wronged her), while Loriano just wanted to keep it all a secret and escape consequences. I think any morally sound handling of this situation would begin with each of them confessing the affair and being honest with their spouses about their intentions, whatever those intentions may be.Spoiler
At the end of their phone call, Nives has developed such a low opinion of Loriano (and a high opinion of Anteo by contrast) that she reinterprets her entire life, now pleased with how things went: "Six lives wouldn't be long enough to leaf through the golden album that has suddenly opened inside me." This strikes me as a paltry substitute for an actually happy life. Can a few years of belated gratefulness really make up for decades of bitter resentment?(crossposted from https://brokensandals.net/reviews/2022/nives)
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not sure what to say - a kooky, hilarious, bizarre read. It’s about a widow who brings a chicken inside to keep her company, one day the chicken freezes. The book is written almost entirely in dialogue but is utterly enthralling. I found some of the translations a bit clunky, but otherwise I loved it, would recommend!
Fantastic read! It's a slim book, so it's a chore to keep from entering spoiler territory, but here goes. In the opening paragraph, we learn (along with Nives) that her husband has suffered a stroke while feeding the pigs, which have begun to include him as their fodder.
Nives has a lot on her mind, and over the course of a couple of days (and a two-hour midnight phone call) she finds redemption without even necessarily looking for it. Hats off to Sacha Naspini for a memorable book. And I know I can't be the first to proclaim that this would make a remarkable play.
Four well-earned stars.
Nives has a lot on her mind, and over the course of a couple of days (and a two-hour midnight phone call) she finds redemption without even necessarily looking for it. Hats off to Sacha Naspini for a memorable book. And I know I can't be the first to proclaim that this would make a remarkable play.
Four well-earned stars.
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is brutal and castigating, and kinda funny at the same time. There's some oddity about a hen replacing a dead spouse, but it works. Don't mess with elderly women is the lesson here. Excellent. More, please.
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nach 50 Prozent abgebrochen. Den Beginn fand ich ja noch unterhaltsam aber das Telefonat dann gar nicht mehr. Die 66 jährige Protagonistin wirkt sehr verbittert und unsympathisch. Wäre ich der Mann, ihr Gesprächspartner im Telefonat, hätte ich längst aufgelegt.
10.06.2023
Merged review:
Nach 50 Prozent abgebrochen. Den Beginn fand ich ja noch unterhaltsam aber das Telefonat dann gar nicht mehr. Die 66 jährige Protagonistin wirkt sehr verbittert und unsympathisch. Wäre ich der Mann, ihr Gesprächspartner im Telefonat, hätte ich längst aufgelegt.
10.06.2023
10.06.2023
Merged review:
Nach 50 Prozent abgebrochen. Den Beginn fand ich ja noch unterhaltsam aber das Telefonat dann gar nicht mehr. Die 66 jährige Protagonistin wirkt sehr verbittert und unsympathisch. Wäre ich der Mann, ihr Gesprächspartner im Telefonat, hätte ich längst aufgelegt.
10.06.2023
funny
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes