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aunbrey's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
ellierumoo's review
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
scrittrice's review
5.0
Basically, I love this book. I found it on a hostel in Perth and picked it up because I needed something to read that day. Things could have gone poorly, but this book and I were obviously fated to be together. The characters were multi-dimensional, a widowed librarian with the perfect sterile, intellectual, middle-class life. And the other is a bachelor dairy farmer, lonely and buried under the work and debts of his farm. The crux of the story is their need for each other, but their mammoth differences that make it difficult. I loved Mazetti's prose, poetic but realistic. She pinpoints some of the small parts of human psyche and relationships, and I had no problems with Benny being written by a woman. I felt torn between wanting them to work things out, and wanting them to stay with their jobs and values, and felt alright with the ending, though many other readers here have said they didn't like the ending. Mazetti said that different cultures have different expectations for stories, so American women want the fairy tale ending, and Russian men find the female lead horrifyingly feminist. I was a little afraid to recommend this book to people because I loved it so much, and I often love things that are slightly terrible. But internet research has shown that this book was a best-seller in Sweden, which may not make it a great work of literature, but shows it has mass appeal. Mazetti has written several books of various types and for various ages, though only two have been translated into English. The sequel to Benny and Shrimp hasn't been translated into English, but I think that this book could stand on it's own, as just a sweet glimpse into the lives of two people for a few months.
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