Reviews

This is a book of short stories that are inter-connected. We see many different viewpoints in one small town in Poland. The description is dark, sparse, poetic, and rarely happy. I really liked the novel. I think there was one of them that I didn't enjoy in the middle of the book, but there was something beautiful and sad that appealed to me. There seemed to be a lot of looking back at the past, which is something very prominent in this year's booker longest. This should have made the short list at least. I give this one a 4.5/5.

richardgeo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

youpie's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

anusha_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

BOOK 13: WHITE NIGHTS, URSZULA HONEK, Tr. KATE WEBSTER, LONGLISTED FOR #INTERNATIONALBOOKER2024

I'm awed by this brilliant piece of work. It could have been a novel, but it's a collection of short stories. There are thirteen interconnected stories. All the stories are rather gloomy, either depicting death, before or after. The lives of people in a small town surrounded by nature and forest are explored.

The end is the funeral, as it is in this book.

The relationships are confusing, and the narrative is rather detached; it projects a kind of restlessness and was probably created to have this effect.

Like a camera zooming into the lives of a few people and zooming out, things happen around a person in one story, but this same person pops up in a different story of another person, too.

To understand it better, it needs a reread!

The translation is flawless, and the approach is very different.

Some quotes to get the feel of the content:

"SURE, YOU CAN'T ALWAYS HAVE A GRIN ON YOUR FACE, BUT - AND PLEASE DON'T TELL NO ONE - I LAUGH SOMETIMES AT FUNERALS TOO. WHEN I SEE A SHRIVELLED-UP CORPSE IN HER BEST DRESS, I KNOW THAT UNDER THAT STIFF CRÊPE SHE'S WEARING HER PRETTIEST KNICKERS THAT WERE HANGING AROUND IN HER WARDROBE FOR A GOOD THIRTY YEARS. NOT FOR HER HUSBAND, BUT FOR DEATH."

"PROBABLY A FLASH OF LIGHTNING GOT HER, LIKE A STRAY BULLET. BUT WHERE SHE'D BEEN HIT IS ANYONE'S GUESS. IT'S A FAIRLY QUICK DEATH, BECAUSE WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES, YOU PROBABLY DON'T FEEL A THING, OR ONLY FOR A MOMENT. ISN'T THAT WHAT PEOPLE THINK?"