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troxellis's review
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
shksprsis's review
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
newyou's review
Øyehaug writes surreal stories masterfully. not all of them stuck out as much as the last (a tall order for a book of short stories anyway) but more than one have been bouncing around in my head weeks after reading them.
merelvbh's review
2.0
i’ve become quite an avid reader of short fiction over the past year and i really wanted to like this collection - which does have its own charm, it just wasn’t for me. i found the majority of the stories mindblowingly boring, with the notable exception of the first one, about a trip to ikea, and the one where the mother and son are connected by an umbilical cord. the intended surrealism fell short for me, the writing was unremarkable and every single woman in øyehaugs stories only lived and longed for men and relationships and have no thoughts or desires of their own.
lamusadelils's review
2.0
Algunos de los microcuentos son divertidos, pero es como si Gunnhild le hubiera dado mil vueltas a una misma trama y hubiera creado muchos minicuentitos con variaciones de la misma historia. Se vuelve repetitivo y va perdiendo efectividad.
Traté de tomarme un tiempo entre cada cuento y un par de ellos me agradaron, pero aun así siento que a la mayoria les faltó ser más trabajados.
Traté de tomarme un tiempo entre cada cuento y un par de ellos me agradaron, pero aun así siento que a la mayoria les faltó ser más trabajados.
ulrikworm's review against another edition
4.0
Denne novellesamling er en skattekammer af fantastiske, legende og til tider ret nørdet og bizarre historier. Jeg vil indrømme at ikke alle kunne jeg helt gennemskue, men når Øyehaug rammer plet så er det virkelig godt. Den ensomme Hjort, en angstfremkaldende tur til IKEA, en genial omvending af Woolfs klassiker Til Fyret og mange andre.
lauren_endnotes's review
4.0
Øyehaug is often described as a "master of short fiction" in her native Norway, and her works are now making their way into English translation.
Many - most? - of the stories are told in present tense, relying on the first-person narrator to describe the events in real time. This combined with the anxiety of her characters can be quite a ride. Opening with "Nice and Mild", we meet a man describing his trip to IKEA to buy blinds for his son's bedroom. Who knew this event could be so riddled with nerves! The stories are short - some only a few paragraphs of flash fiction, others 20+ pages. All read quickly and fast-paced.
Playing with surrealism, a bit of a erotica (surrealrotica?), some staged dramas/choruses, magical realism elements - this was a unique collection that greatly entertained and may be one of my favorite story collections of the year.
Øyehaug has a full-length novel (Wait, Blink) that I'm really interested to try after "dipping my toes" in here!
Many - most? - of the stories are told in present tense, relying on the first-person narrator to describe the events in real time. This combined with the anxiety of her characters can be quite a ride. Opening with "Nice and Mild", we meet a man describing his trip to IKEA to buy blinds for his son's bedroom. Who knew this event could be so riddled with nerves! The stories are short - some only a few paragraphs of flash fiction, others 20+ pages. All read quickly and fast-paced.
Playing with surrealism, a bit of a erotica (surrealrotica?), some staged dramas/choruses, magical realism elements - this was a unique collection that greatly entertained and may be one of my favorite story collections of the year.
Øyehaug has a full-length novel (Wait, Blink) that I'm really interested to try after "dipping my toes" in here!
samsam123's review against another edition
3.0
I picked up this slim volume of short stories on a whim, and was pleasantly surprised by it. The stories are very short, which I love , and give you snapshots in the lives, thoughts and experiences of people. It took me a while to realise that some, maybe all, of these stories shared the same characters and showed the story from another chatacter's perspective. Overall, these stories handle issues of anxiety in a deft way and really captures the interior mind.
vanityclear's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the last story (which was by far the longest), and several others were quite funny, but this breed of "fiction of the mundane"—or even its cousin, "absurd situations highlighting the mundane"—doesn't really appeal to me. If you like Lydia Davis, you'll like this, and I don't really like Lydia Davis all that much, except for in short (ha!) doses.