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ronanmcd's review
4.0
A powerful, moving but curious book.
Everything is fractured, broken and split(!) apart. The reasons behind the suicide, the town in which it is set, the purpose of any character's actions, the narrative and order. Everything jumps in and out of focus, and nothing is ever quite right.
And this is a fitting way to tell a story set in a town so forgotten, so depressed, that it holds its own back; the only way to leave it, let alone have a chance to succeed, is to leave. But the town draws the narrator back.
At every time the characters seem to have little say in their actions, as though habit formed their decisions.
It's a strange book. Wonderful and weird. The author writes poetry. That can't be coincidental to how this book turned out.
Everything is fractured, broken and split(!) apart. The reasons behind the suicide, the town in which it is set, the purpose of any character's actions, the narrative and order. Everything jumps in and out of focus, and nothing is ever quite right.
And this is a fitting way to tell a story set in a town so forgotten, so depressed, that it holds its own back; the only way to leave it, let alone have a chance to succeed, is to leave. But the town draws the narrator back.
At every time the characters seem to have little say in their actions, as though habit formed their decisions.
It's a strange book. Wonderful and weird. The author writes poetry. That can't be coincidental to how this book turned out.
natesea's review against another edition
3.0
This is a beautifully written, though distracted story about family and community survival in a war-torn corner of the world. Certain passages are more engaging than others, and the structure seems a bit disjointed. It would have worked better with a linear telling, though I suppose the disjointedness has poetic purpose. I'm not familiar with Slavic stories or writers, so maybe there is something lost in translation. That said, I liked the book, but not invested to speed through this lovely little tale.
thegel's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
marianne92's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
eeleniiv's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to love this book, however it took me sooo long to finish, months. Maybe it was because I wasn’t reading it consecutively, but the book became very confusing to me at times. I feel as if this was intentional, and I wish I spent more time trying to dissect and understand the strange yet beautiful layout, but I didn’t have the energy. There were times where I was completely confused, but there were also times I was caught off guard but these profound yet simple sentences. I would love to read more by this author, maybe some of her early poems. Her writing is beautiful, it was just hard for me to keep up at times.
mbest75's review
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
yllebarn's review against another edition
4.0
Jag har skrivit en recension på min blogg: http://hce.blo.gg/2018/june/olja-savicevic-adjo-cowboy-2.html
priyastoric's review against another edition
3.0
Recommended by a friend, I found Adios, Cowboy to be well written with a melancholic edge. The language, at times verges on the fantastic. I enjoyed the book, even though at times the seemingly off tangent description pulled us away from the main narrative.
emilyinherhead's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Something about the pacing and style of this story threw me off a little; there are enough flashbacks that I would sometimes lose track of where in the main narrative timeline I was. Still, I liked what the author did with genre, particularly how she mixed in some conventions of westerns and also a bit of mystery. There are also interesting relationship dynamics between family members, and some townspeople drama. Overall I liked this novel well enough, but I think I’d understand it better if I read it again.