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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Los abismos de la vida, que son no solo físicos sino mentales o emocionales.
Este libro te deja pensando que tan posible es liberarse de las cargas de la familia y de los demonios que traen los recuerdos y los sentimientos. ¿Es posible recordar sin juzgar o duele recordar los sucesos del pasado con el dolor del presente?
Este libro te deja pensando que tan posible es liberarse de las cargas de la familia y de los demonios que traen los recuerdos y los sentimientos. ¿Es posible recordar sin juzgar o duele recordar los sucesos del pasado con el dolor del presente?
Claudia, una niña, nos cuenta desde su punto de vista el día a día de su familia, el conflicto de sus padres, sus sentimientos, miedos. Un libro corto, fácil de leer, entretenido.
dark
tense
Eight-year-old Claudia is one of the most captivating narrators I've read in a while. Her descriptions are imaginative, often delightful and sometimes heartbreaking. She understands the lives of the adults around her far better than she gets credit for and broaches grown-up topics in a very matter-of-fact, yet revealing way.
Her fears about her parents — that there's a darkness to her father she doesn't know because he's always working and has little to say when he is around, and that her mother's depression will push her over the edge (literally) — are heightened when the family stays at a friend’s house in the mountains for a stretch of time.
That whole section of the book is dizzying in its descriptions of steep roads, dense fog and, of course, the cliff that gives way to the deep, dark abyss. Adding to the delirium is Claudia's deepened fixation on death and the dead as her feelings of isolation and fears about her parents build. I would recommend this book based on this section alone, but really the entire story is superbly crafted. I'll be thinking about Claudia for a long time.
Her fears about her parents — that there's a darkness to her father she doesn't know because he's always working and has little to say when he is around, and that her mother's depression will push her over the edge (literally) — are heightened when the family stays at a friend’s house in the mountains for a stretch of time.
That whole section of the book is dizzying in its descriptions of steep roads, dense fog and, of course, the cliff that gives way to the deep, dark abyss. Adding to the delirium is Claudia's deepened fixation on death and the dead as her feelings of isolation and fears about her parents build. I would recommend this book based on this section alone, but really the entire story is superbly crafted. I'll be thinking about Claudia for a long time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
La historia desarrolla los temores de infancia, especialmente a la soledad y al abandono, en el marco del deseo de las mujeres acomodadas, aparentemente felices, que parecen huir del destino al que se encuentran atadas y desaparecer para siempre. Las dificultades y vaivenes de la vida adulta analizadas desde la óptica sensible y atenta de Claudia.
An outstanding book.
I was lucky enough to get this as an advanced copy from NetGalley.
It is the story of Claudia and her family told through the eyes of the child, Claudia. The story on the surface is that of a little girl trying to understand a world in which her mother seems to swing between caring and unfeeling within a matter of minutes.
However this book gives insight into depression, anxiety and suicide and its impact on a young girl. The voice of Claudia is compelling and utterly believable. Her struggle to comprehend her mother's withdrawal into depression and her father's ignorance at how bad things are is enough to make you want to reach through the pages and bang the parents heads together.
I honestly can't give this book enough praise. I could barely put it down but then I was fearful of what I might read next. It is certainly disturbing.
Throughout is the theme of the abyss which starts out as the view from the first floor balcony of her mother's plant infested living room. It becomes the block of flats that her mother's best friend lives in and on to the precipitous valley below the country retreat the family go to after a crisis occurs.
There's so much more to this book than in this review but if I went on you'd basically have the book.
Very very highly recommended.
I was lucky enough to get this as an advanced copy from NetGalley.
It is the story of Claudia and her family told through the eyes of the child, Claudia. The story on the surface is that of a little girl trying to understand a world in which her mother seems to swing between caring and unfeeling within a matter of minutes.
However this book gives insight into depression, anxiety and suicide and its impact on a young girl. The voice of Claudia is compelling and utterly believable. Her struggle to comprehend her mother's withdrawal into depression and her father's ignorance at how bad things are is enough to make you want to reach through the pages and bang the parents heads together.
I honestly can't give this book enough praise. I could barely put it down but then I was fearful of what I might read next. It is certainly disturbing.
Throughout is the theme of the abyss which starts out as the view from the first floor balcony of her mother's plant infested living room. It becomes the block of flats that her mother's best friend lives in and on to the precipitous valley below the country retreat the family go to after a crisis occurs.
There's so much more to this book than in this review but if I went on you'd basically have the book.
Very very highly recommended.
Solid novel. Our protagonist, Claudia, is a little girl growing up in a fairly stable home, however her mother is beset by lethargy and depression (one of the likely Abysses of the title) that comes in waves and affects Claudia more than anyone else. That is until her mother meets Claudia's aunt's new husband and they begin a casual, not-nearly-clandestine-enough affair. This affair and its subsequent discovery and dissolution is the catalyst for the rest of the novel which, despite being from a child's perspective, is surprisingly intuitive and perceptive. The real centerpiece of this book for me was the family vacation. Claudia's feelings toward her mother seem to vacillate, not unfairly, between empathy and frustration to a little bit of anger. Her mother again suffers bouts of depression, and, when the long lost body of a missing friend is discovered, we see Claudia's mother sort of idealize it. One night, Claudia finds her mother walking the grounds of the vacation home and drunkenly approaching a cliff. Claudia fears her mother is suicidal and wants to go home but when her father dismisses her worries, she, unbeknownst to her family, throws her doll over the cliff as a ploy. When her parents realize the doll is missing, they inquire:
"Where's Paulina?" she asked. "Isn't she going to eat with us tonight?"
"Paulina's gone."
"What do you mean?"
"She jumped off the cliff."
[...}
"Why?" my mother asked.
My father was staring at me.
"Because she didn't want to go on living anymore."
Unsure what to say, they stared at me.
"Some people just want to die," I added.
[...]
"Claudia," she asked, "do you want to die?"
My response: a gesture that meant nothing.
The ploy worked, they went home the next day. It really seemed to re-charge the family and her mother legitimately apologized, got a job, etc. But we get the hint that she got the job so she could try and be near her ex-lover, it was near his work after all. Eventually, she quits the job and sort of reverts back to her sadness.
Strong, strong book.
"Where's Paulina?" she asked. "Isn't she going to eat with us tonight?"
"Paulina's gone."
"What do you mean?"
"She jumped off the cliff."
[...}
"Why?" my mother asked.
My father was staring at me.
"Because she didn't want to go on living anymore."
Unsure what to say, they stared at me.
"Some people just want to die," I added.
[...]
"Claudia," she asked, "do you want to die?"
My response: a gesture that meant nothing.
The ploy worked, they went home the next day. It really seemed to re-charge the family and her mother legitimately apologized, got a job, etc. But we get the hint that she got the job so she could try and be near her ex-lover, it was near his work after all. Eventually, she quits the job and sort of reverts back to her sadness.
Strong, strong book.
Uma das coisas mais intensas da escrita de Pilar Quintana, na minha opinião, é a personificação da natureza. E neste livro, a força da natureza humana é algo muito interessante de se observar e como isso se funde a história, aos personagens, como a neblina de Cali.
Achei um livro muito intenso. Me vi muito na pequena Cláudia. Uma criança tão sensitiva aos problemas dos adultos. Às vezes, muito mais do que eles próprios. Interessante ver como ela compreende o mundo e mistura as realidades, que é o que fazemos com muita facilidade quando somos crianças. Somos muito impressionáveis, sensível e atentos, despretensiosamente... atentos.
Por outro lado, esperava um pouco mais de ritmo na narrativa, mas isso se deve à minha grande expectativa depois de La perra. Esse livro tem um outro ritmo, um outro sabor, mas sinto que vem de um lugar tão profundo e úmido. Fala de uma natureza densa, perigosa, arisca e mais do que tudo, humana.
Achei um livro muito intenso. Me vi muito na pequena Cláudia. Uma criança tão sensitiva aos problemas dos adultos. Às vezes, muito mais do que eles próprios. Interessante ver como ela compreende o mundo e mistura as realidades, que é o que fazemos com muita facilidade quando somos crianças. Somos muito impressionáveis, sensível e atentos, despretensiosamente... atentos.
Por outro lado, esperava um pouco mais de ritmo na narrativa, mas isso se deve à minha grande expectativa depois de La perra. Esse livro tem um outro ritmo, um outro sabor, mas sinto que vem de um lugar tão profundo e úmido. Fala de uma natureza densa, perigosa, arisca e mais do que tudo, humana.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book uses a child narrator in a brilliant way, allowing us to perceive the world through both the complexities of the adult world, and the ways that we often try to shield children from what they can often understand. The book was tense and interesting throughout.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes