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multilingualism's review against another edition
3.0
I was honestly so confused because I thought this book was about the author, but no, it was about a different entomologist. I was saddened by this. I also didn't learn anything about bugs!! I read this to learn more about insects.
brandur's review against another edition
2.0
Kind of an unusual stream of consciousness style of prose that touches shallowly upon a variety of different subjects and that's good for light and mildly interesting reading. Contains very little depth, structure, or cohesive narrative, and doesn't cover much about flies for that matter either.
jar7709's review against another edition
5.0
You know I love the odd ones, the experimental ones. This lovely little pseudo-nature-memoir has earned a place in my re-read someday pile. Like the scattered, unpredictable flight of his beloved hoverflies, Mr. Sjoberg flits from childhood to life and obsession on his 15 square kilometer Swedish island, and back again. Yes it is about those things, but it is also about what drives the collector of tiny, unusual things and the perfection of short, defined timescales. He also stops along the way to explore his dissatisfaction with travel...a lovely antidote to the Cult of Travel currently infecting my media and social feeds. It does take concentration to find the point in some of Mr. Sjoberg's anecdotes, perhaps like it takes concentration to determine one rare species of hoverfly from another, and casual readers perhaps will find that tiresome; but I share in some of the authors habits, I suspect, and therefore found this quite enjoyable. I highlighted many passages throughout for their wry humor and or insight, but I think this one sums up the effort in explaining his writing motivation: "Against all odds, some poor presbyopic chump takes a shot at it, maybe so he won’t make himself ill by sensing a truth no one else sees. And he falls flat on his face, of course, his truth as incomprehensible and strange as it was to begin with. But at least he’s tried." I'm glad he tried.
lisabarkand's review against another edition
4.0
Recommendation from Brian. Not just about flies surprisingly.
aikematilde's review against another edition
3.0
I wouldn't recommend this book, but I didn't dislike it at the same time. It was a strange book, different than what I expected and also differnt than what I usually read. But that was what made the experience so interesting. There were some parts that I really enjoyed and other parts that were tough to get through and that would make me wonder why I was actually reading this book. Sjöberg writes in an engaging way, because he could make me follow his information about hoverflies and Rene Malaise, whose importance is not really clear but who nontheless is VERY IMPORTANT to Sjöberg. The Fly Trap made me want to travel to Sweden, not to catch flies though, but to enjoy the beautiful nature where the writer also spends most of his days.
adrienneraniszewski's review against another edition
5.0
I'm crushing on Fredrik Sjöberg!
< my choice for #19 on Book Riot's 2015 Read Harder Challenge: a book that was originally published in another language. >
< my choice for #19 on Book Riot's 2015 Read Harder Challenge: a book that was originally published in another language. >
spacebee's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
2.0
briarfairchild's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a delight. It's slow and gentle and funny and really very interesting too.
stevendedalus's review against another edition
3.0
One of those weird charming, meandering texts where some guy living remotely ponders life questions using some esoteric subject to bounce off of. I honestly feel like I've read this book a bunch of different times in a bunch of different versions.
I mean it IS charming. It bounces around, it's self-deprecating, you learn a few things, and contemplate for a bit the deeper questions of life.
The ending of this one going off a bit into art history doesn't gel all that well with the previous 250 pages, but it wraps up satisfyingly enough. There's really nothing to hate, it jist feels like a retread and a type that the more I dwell on the less I like. It feels bland, a mad libs philosophy text which only works at a surface, first-read level.
I mean it IS charming. It bounces around, it's self-deprecating, you learn a few things, and contemplate for a bit the deeper questions of life.
The ending of this one going off a bit into art history doesn't gel all that well with the previous 250 pages, but it wraps up satisfyingly enough. There's really nothing to hate, it jist feels like a retread and a type that the more I dwell on the less I like. It feels bland, a mad libs philosophy text which only works at a surface, first-read level.