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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
The woman appears almost mysteriously, renting the little cottage recently left empty after the previous owner died. She keeps to herself and spends her time fixing up the place. Enter the young man on a journey with his dog, and they all find a quiet existence together.
This was a very quiet, slow-moving story. It sort of reminded me of a little known Sean Connery movie called Five Days One Summer. Just slow and meandering, light on the dialogue, picturesque.
The setting for this story is a very idyllic place, with things like “the kissing gate”, the stone circle, geese, pond, and charming bakers in town.
I had no idea how much of a "mystery" this story would be. The character Emily is mysterious. You don't know why she is at this cottage, and are given glimpses into her other life. You don't know who this boy is that shows up with his dog, or what his intentions are. What about the other characters? Who was the woman who lived in the cottage before Emily? And what about those darn geese and sheep? Who do they belong to?
There are allusions early on to Emily's failing health, but this isn't clarified until later on. Perhaps this is the reason she is so impersonal and nondescript. The boy is generally referred to as “the boy” and the dog as “the dog”. Names are rarely used. She doesn’t want to be personally involved, and wants to be alone.
My final word: This story was well-written, and beautifully descriptive, making it easy for me to see the green hills, stone walls, quaint cottage, elusive geese. I didn't realize just how much of a mysterious bent the story would carry, but I enjoyed it. And it really sparked an interest in Emily Dickinson, with little blurbs of Dickinson poetry throughout. My one complaint is that there were a few dangling plotlines that left me hanging. Characters and ideas would be introduced only to fade away, questions arose and were left unanswered. But overall I enjoyed it. If you enjoy a quiet story with beautiful scenery, give this one a shot.
This was a very quiet, slow-moving story. It sort of reminded me of a little known Sean Connery movie called Five Days One Summer. Just slow and meandering, light on the dialogue, picturesque.
The setting for this story is a very idyllic place, with things like “the kissing gate”, the stone circle, geese, pond, and charming bakers in town.
I had no idea how much of a "mystery" this story would be. The character Emily is mysterious. You don't know why she is at this cottage, and are given glimpses into her other life. You don't know who this boy is that shows up with his dog, or what his intentions are. What about the other characters? Who was the woman who lived in the cottage before Emily? And what about those darn geese and sheep? Who do they belong to?
There are allusions early on to Emily's failing health, but this isn't clarified until later on. Perhaps this is the reason she is so impersonal and nondescript. The boy is generally referred to as “the boy” and the dog as “the dog”. Names are rarely used. She doesn’t want to be personally involved, and wants to be alone.
My final word: This story was well-written, and beautifully descriptive, making it easy for me to see the green hills, stone walls, quaint cottage, elusive geese. I didn't realize just how much of a mysterious bent the story would carry, but I enjoyed it. And it really sparked an interest in Emily Dickinson, with little blurbs of Dickinson poetry throughout. My one complaint is that there were a few dangling plotlines that left me hanging. Characters and ideas would be introduced only to fade away, questions arose and were left unanswered. But overall I enjoyed it. If you enjoy a quiet story with beautiful scenery, give this one a shot.
This book will take a while to digest. It is the story of a woman who has run away. But she seems to have run toward something. At first, the story seems monastic in nature, a woman searching. But I suppose there are many types of monasteries. This story is not an easy read. Yet, it kept my attention.
Really beautiful writing about Snowdonia, I enjoyed the progressively tightening grip as different threads gently added wove a feeling of disquiet and pain. Reminded me of The Lighthouse and even a bit of All Quiet on the Orient Express.
Lang geleden gelezen. Vier sterren een gok, net als de drie voor Juni. Zou ze moeten herlezen.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
This was an astoundingly beautiful novel and the more I think on and reflect about it, the more I probably should bump it up to five stars on Goodreads rather than just four, but as I think those are mostly arbitrary I doubt I will do it. The ending, although, beautiful, was just a bit lackluster to me. This some how marred the overall beauty of the novel, even though the only thing it really did wrong was not give me the satisfying ending that I wanted.
For once, I’m going to say something great about a Goodreads review. Shocking, I know. When I went to mark this book off my list and to see how others rated it after I gave my rating, I happened to check out the first few reviews and the first review nailed my thoughts on this book with his first sentence:
“The Detour (or Ten White Geese as it is published in the US) is an extremely difficult book to review; instead, it is one that the reader must experience directly, yielding to its ebbs and flows, its offerings and its closures.”
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
For once, I’m going to say something great about a Goodreads review. Shocking, I know. When I went to mark this book off my list and to see how others rated it after I gave my rating, I happened to check out the first few reviews and the first review nailed my thoughts on this book with his first sentence:
“The Detour (or Ten White Geese as it is published in the US) is an extremely difficult book to review; instead, it is one that the reader must experience directly, yielding to its ebbs and flows, its offerings and its closures.”
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ten White Geese is a slim volume with a heavy presence. The book is full of questions, that are never answered. Overall, it is an account of a woman who abruptly moves to rural Wales, and what her life is like in the weeks after.
I found some of the explanations for her decision a bit stereotypical, and the mystery aspect was played up too much on the back cover. I occasionally had issues visualizing the placement of objects or bodies; perhaps this was due to it being a translation into English. Overall not a bad read, but only a particular type of reader -- who is interested in a character's internal world, first and foremost -- would enjoy it.
I found some of the explanations for her decision a bit stereotypical, and the mystery aspect was played up too much on the back cover. I occasionally had issues visualizing the placement of objects or bodies; perhaps this was due to it being a translation into English. Overall not a bad read, but only a particular type of reader -- who is interested in a character's internal world, first and foremost -- would enjoy it.
With his construction of an incredibly evocative landscape, Bakker convincingly eases the reader into a world of physical and mental grief. While sparse in his use of language, the author somehow still manages to conjure up a richness of story and place.
Futility, pain and sadness abound, but this novel avoids grinding down the reader too much. This is a quiet read, and has lingered in the mind since finishing it. I suspect that this is the point.
The ending is consistent with everything else we’ve seen, indeed inevitable and obvious, but the futility of it all frustrated me nonetheless!
A good read.
Futility, pain and sadness abound, but this novel avoids grinding down the reader too much. This is a quiet read, and has lingered in the mind since finishing it. I suspect that this is the point.
The ending is consistent with everything else we’ve seen, indeed inevitable and obvious, but the futility of it all frustrated me nonetheless!
A good read.
Prachtig. Sobere schrijfstijl. Echt Gerbrand Bakker, een van mijn favoriete schrijvers. Afstandelijk en onpersoonlijk waardoor de eenzaamheid en machteloosheid van de hoofdpersoon aan alle kanten van de bladzijden spat. Voor mij blijft Boven is het stil absoluut zijn beste boek, maar dit is ook een aanrader.