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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic
A short novella that somehow manages to cover WWI, social and political developments in Icelandic society (including the passage of a major step toward independence from Denmark with the Act of Union in 1918) the Spanish flu ravaging the country, the importance of imported film (silent movie era), some volcano stuff, and the difficulties of growing up poor and gay in a society that does not accept you. Mani, our MC is 16 years old, gay, a film lover, and a sex worker.
This book gave me big vibes of somewhere between The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson and Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor. We have an emotionally enigmatic, distant protagonist (which I often struggle with), and a dispassionate third person narrator, and a grounding in a historical setting that serves to show the reader some of the emotional state of the MC, rather than narrate it out in inner monologue or dialogue.
It's not my favorite style of characterization, to be honest. But this book manages to cover a ton of ground in very short order, even with a decent amount of the narrative dedicated to sex scenes. I'm honestly really impressed at all the things that swirl around in the fabric of this story.
I think I recommend it. Note, it is a translation from Icelandic to English, but other reviews say it's good, so trusting that I'm reading a tone close to what the author intended. The final few sentences of the book have a really wonderful reveal, as well.
This book gave me big vibes of somewhere between The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson and Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor. We have an emotionally enigmatic, distant protagonist (which I often struggle with), and a dispassionate third person narrator, and a grounding in a historical setting that serves to show the reader some of the emotional state of the MC, rather than narrate it out in inner monologue or dialogue.
It's not my favorite style of characterization, to be honest. But this book manages to cover a ton of ground in very short order, even with a decent amount of the narrative dedicated to sex scenes. I'm honestly really impressed at all the things that swirl around in the fabric of this story.
I think I recommend it. Note, it is a translation from Icelandic to English, but other reviews say it's good, so trusting that I'm reading a tone close to what the author intended. The final few sentences of the book have a really wonderful reveal, as well.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Medical content
If history is absence, Sjón is consolation. If novels are grand, Sjón's are microscopic, hardly novels at all. If novels trace the beating pulse of human aspiration, however, Sjón's Moonstone is as grand as they come. To talk about sudden destructive fevers, film modernity, and queer Iceland in one breath begins to come close, but this is a novel that begs to be read on its own for justice.
Beautiful, simple story. Spare and affecting, a beautiful portrait of a character and a moment in history.
I'm not sure I've ever read book this quickly. It's hard to believe it's 160 pages. I read it in less than an hour.
I'm not sure I've ever read book this quickly. It's hard to believe it's 160 pages. I read it in less than an hour.
Went to bed very late once I had started reading this as it was a compelling read. Astonishingly simple and yet immensely complicated. To describe it as historical fiction does not do it justice. Instead it is a snapshot of a tiny period of history in which huge things happened. Seen through the eyes of a young man in Reykyavik, and with the backdrop of the early days of cinema, this book is atmospheric and beautiful, something that I find difficult to find in translations. It made me want to research the non-fictional people and events, and yet not to, as it would somehow spoil the ethereal, rather surreal nature of this book.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Read the book in Norwegian. The book was rather beautifully written and framed by Iceland’s history with films as vignettes. A main theme was the 1918-1920 flu pandemic (H1N1), which was on point in its description and cost in human lives throughout the book as well as infection prevention measures. Iceland’s independence was a minor theme. Above all, it was a sad and informative LBGTQ tale that beautifully came full circle in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
dark
informative
fast-paced