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sianjkh's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
this was a weird one. for being based in a residential school for intellectually disabled children it is rarely brought up outside of talks of "normal" kids. i found the writing style added to the general ambience and setting (that being said, i wonder how much of the book was lost in translation). it's overall incredibly cinematic and it makes perfect sense that the author is a director. i wish there was more action, more anything really. i wish the characters has been described more and I wish Lela was able to see her plan through
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Car accident, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Blood, Child abuse, and Child death
studiouspoppy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
i did not expect to like this book this much. idk what to say
caffee's review
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
karinlib's review against another edition
2.0
This is on the 2021 Booker International Prize Long List. I read this because it is set in the outskirts of Tbilisi, Georgia. The book takes place just after Georgia's Independence, in a residential school for Intellectually Disabled Children. A place where parents drop off their children and rarely return.
According to some of the reviews I read, Peirene Press publishes books that are typically 200 pages or less, so that one can read them in the space of a film. It's true, it didn't take long to read, but I wanted more.
According to some of the reviews I read, Peirene Press publishes books that are typically 200 pages or less, so that one can read them in the space of a film. It's true, it didn't take long to read, but I wanted more.
ginnydw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
alexisreading23's review against another edition
TW: SA, CSA, r*pe, abuse, violence
Lela grew up in a school for intellectually disabled children where she now works having aged out at eighteen. Although the school caters for children with learning difficulties, the narrative focuses less on this aspect and more on the school as a sort of dumping ground for children with parents either unable or unwilling to care for them.
Populated by negligent or abusive carers, hardened and cruel children, the school witnesses acts of extreme violence and abuse, perpetrated by adults against the kids and by kids against each other. The story delivers a harsh stroke of reality in its depiction of how children in the care system are failed by the adults around them, exploited or abused and at the very best, left without any kind of support or guidance towards forging a life for themselves beyond the school's walls. The Pear Field of the novel's name becomes a symbol of the life prospects lying before the school's children: what looks to be promising is really surrounded by difficult obstacles, and once reached, yields fruit that rots and is foul to the tongue.
Although this was a really harrowing read at times, there were moments of tenderness as we witness the ways in which some of the school's children care for each other and make the best of their circumstances. I emphasise that people should make sure to check content warnings if they think that might affect their experience of reading but I think this was a very important book and I'm glad to have read it.
Lela grew up in a school for intellectually disabled children where she now works having aged out at eighteen. Although the school caters for children with learning difficulties, the narrative focuses less on this aspect and more on the school as a sort of dumping ground for children with parents either unable or unwilling to care for them.
Populated by negligent or abusive carers, hardened and cruel children, the school witnesses acts of extreme violence and abuse, perpetrated by adults against the kids and by kids against each other. The story delivers a harsh stroke of reality in its depiction of how children in the care system are failed by the adults around them, exploited or abused and at the very best, left without any kind of support or guidance towards forging a life for themselves beyond the school's walls. The Pear Field of the novel's name becomes a symbol of the life prospects lying before the school's children: what looks to be promising is really surrounded by difficult obstacles, and once reached, yields fruit that rots and is foul to the tongue.
Although this was a really harrowing read at times, there were moments of tenderness as we witness the ways in which some of the school's children care for each other and make the best of their circumstances. I emphasise that people should make sure to check content warnings if they think that might affect their experience of reading but I think this was a very important book and I'm glad to have read it.
rafamar's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Foram necessários alguns dias de distanciamento para conseguir escrever sobre este livro. E porquê? Porque a narrativa é dura, cruel, retrata a vida numa escola para crianças com deficiências/abadonadas na Geórgia.
Tudo é desesperança, personificada no charco de pereiras eternamente atoladas em terreno pantanoso. As pêras, magníficas à vista, quando saboreadas são horrendas porque cresceram a absorver a água pútrida. Não é isto uma metáfora para a "escola de idiotas"?
Quem consegue amadurecer e tornar-se um fruto delicioso se o meio envolvente é degradante?
A escrita da autora é desapaixonada, as emoções que senti foram provenientes da empatia que estabeleci com as personagens.
O livro deixou-me um sentimento de desamparo e melancolia.
Vale a pena ler.
Tudo é desesperança, personificada no charco de pereiras eternamente atoladas em terreno pantanoso. As pêras, magníficas à vista, quando saboreadas são horrendas porque cresceram a absorver a água pútrida. Não é isto uma metáfora para a "escola de idiotas"?
Quem consegue amadurecer e tornar-se um fruto delicioso se o meio envolvente é degradante?
A escrita da autora é desapaixonada, as emoções que senti foram provenientes da empatia que estabeleci com as personagens.
O livro deixou-me um sentimento de desamparo e melancolia.
Vale a pena ler.
pjv1013's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5