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katyferenczydakin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
tibbelbibbel's review against another edition
3.0
Sååå himla deppig... okej att den är välskriven och det går lätt att läsa men den bara slukade mig i allt mörker och trots att det är mitt i sommaren blev det lite mycket. Är alla Stridsbergs böcker såhär?
gabrielas_goodreads's review against another edition
5.0
‘Everyone weeps apart from me, but something inside me has frozen. It isn’t just the tears, it is something else. A disillusionment so deep, so penetrating, the freezing point of blood, the ultimate Antarctica of love.’
I’ll start by saying that this is one of the most outstanding novels I have come across in a long time, it’s unlike anything I have ever read & I was instantly captivated by Stridsberg’s poetic prose, just such a vivid sense of place was depicted, pure emotive/raw writing – all of which has left me somewhat awestruck & now I find myself googling all her backlist titles. Truly a remarkable novel! I do just want to preface this review by saying that this will not be to everyone’s taste as it is on the darker side – however if you feel you want to give it a go, Stridsberg will take you on the most visceral journey that you will not forget for a while to come. In a nutshell it’s a chilling (quite literally) work of literary fantasy where our protagonist describes her own brutal murder & takes us on a journey depicting a life lived on the margins & those left behind in the wake of her untimely death.
Inni is a young woman of 24 years old living in Stockholm, an addict, a prostitute – working to secure that next fix. A life littered with regrets as post death she ‘visits’ those left behind & reflects on her life, the impact it had on those closest to her & the heartache she experiences with these realisations. Her story is dark & intense, as one may understand working the streets is dangerous in its own rights & Inni likens herself to Snow White as she reflects back on how she came to find herself in that particular car, with that particular man. Her reflections are chilling as its clear that she was unafraid, resigned to the fact that this was her fate & holds no desire to be saved. Stridsberg masterfully depicts the darkness that goes with a murder, how fragile our lives are & the power one person can have over a human life – add a dash of that Scandi Noir, yet without the gore – add the beauty of the environment (think lakes & forest) & how that may tie into the story to truly paint a picture for the reader.
I’m not sure I have experienced storytelling quite like this, at times it’s sentimental, at others regretful, philosophical & reflective -yet will leave you devastated for our protagonist, wishing she had been given a chance to redo it all when you realise she is a soft soul who was led astray. When the saying ‘You only have one life’ has never felt more apt. I would also like to mention that the translation was seamless & has reiterated why I have fallen head over heels for translated titles this year.
All in all, when I was reading this title I found that the loud noise of my life was silenced – its an all encompassing reading experience & after finishing I truly was speechless. I am tempted to read this one again, to see if there’s anything I can gleam from a second viewing – to absorb Stridsberg’s words all over. Needless to say this one will stay with me for a very long time, it’s a novel that changes the focus of your typical ‘murder’ novel & shines a spotlight on the life that was taken vs. the one who took it – that for me was the most beautiful aspect. One I cannot recommend enough, yet that recommendation comes with the warning of the subject matter explored – please be mindful.
Enormous thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy.
I’ll start by saying that this is one of the most outstanding novels I have come across in a long time, it’s unlike anything I have ever read & I was instantly captivated by Stridsberg’s poetic prose, just such a vivid sense of place was depicted, pure emotive/raw writing – all of which has left me somewhat awestruck & now I find myself googling all her backlist titles. Truly a remarkable novel! I do just want to preface this review by saying that this will not be to everyone’s taste as it is on the darker side – however if you feel you want to give it a go, Stridsberg will take you on the most visceral journey that you will not forget for a while to come. In a nutshell it’s a chilling (quite literally) work of literary fantasy where our protagonist describes her own brutal murder & takes us on a journey depicting a life lived on the margins & those left behind in the wake of her untimely death.
Inni is a young woman of 24 years old living in Stockholm, an addict, a prostitute – working to secure that next fix. A life littered with regrets as post death she ‘visits’ those left behind & reflects on her life, the impact it had on those closest to her & the heartache she experiences with these realisations. Her story is dark & intense, as one may understand working the streets is dangerous in its own rights & Inni likens herself to Snow White as she reflects back on how she came to find herself in that particular car, with that particular man. Her reflections are chilling as its clear that she was unafraid, resigned to the fact that this was her fate & holds no desire to be saved. Stridsberg masterfully depicts the darkness that goes with a murder, how fragile our lives are & the power one person can have over a human life – add a dash of that Scandi Noir, yet without the gore – add the beauty of the environment (think lakes & forest) & how that may tie into the story to truly paint a picture for the reader.
I’m not sure I have experienced storytelling quite like this, at times it’s sentimental, at others regretful, philosophical & reflective -yet will leave you devastated for our protagonist, wishing she had been given a chance to redo it all when you realise she is a soft soul who was led astray. When the saying ‘You only have one life’ has never felt more apt. I would also like to mention that the translation was seamless & has reiterated why I have fallen head over heels for translated titles this year.
All in all, when I was reading this title I found that the loud noise of my life was silenced – its an all encompassing reading experience & after finishing I truly was speechless. I am tempted to read this one again, to see if there’s anything I can gleam from a second viewing – to absorb Stridsberg’s words all over. Needless to say this one will stay with me for a very long time, it’s a novel that changes the focus of your typical ‘murder’ novel & shines a spotlight on the life that was taken vs. the one who took it – that for me was the most beautiful aspect. One I cannot recommend enough, yet that recommendation comes with the warning of the subject matter explored – please be mindful.
Enormous thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy.
lynsey's review against another edition
5.0
Inni lives her life on the margins, but it is a life that is full and complex, filled with different shades of dark and light… Until she is brutally murdered one summer’s day, on a lake shore at the heart of a distant, rain-washed forest.
On the surface, this is the story of the moment her life is violently extinguished – a moment that will never end, not ever – but it is also about the time before, and about the lives that carry on afterwards. It’s about her children, her parents, her childhood of neglect, her volatile adolescence, and the chain of choices, tragedies and accidents that lead her to a life on the streets and take her into the wrong crowd, the wrong places and, finally, the wrong car with the wrong person.
This book was heartrending, dark, bleak and it was disturbing but I LOVED it. The writing was just beautiful and very moving. Inni was a heroin addict but there was much more to her. Inni tells the reader her story, jumping between her childhood, adulthood, and the present when she is dead and watching over her parents and children, and she returns to her murder throughout, each time with more detail, some pretty horrible. I can't do this book enough justice, but one of my favourites of the year so far! Stunning.
On the surface, this is the story of the moment her life is violently extinguished – a moment that will never end, not ever – but it is also about the time before, and about the lives that carry on afterwards. It’s about her children, her parents, her childhood of neglect, her volatile adolescence, and the chain of choices, tragedies and accidents that lead her to a life on the streets and take her into the wrong crowd, the wrong places and, finally, the wrong car with the wrong person.
This book was heartrending, dark, bleak and it was disturbing but I LOVED it. The writing was just beautiful and very moving. Inni was a heroin addict but there was much more to her. Inni tells the reader her story, jumping between her childhood, adulthood, and the present when she is dead and watching over her parents and children, and she returns to her murder throughout, each time with more detail, some pretty horrible. I can't do this book enough justice, but one of my favourites of the year so far! Stunning.
kotabee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence
joth1006's review against another edition
Jag beundrar författarskap som utforskar samma tema genom olika motiv. Sara Stridsbergs är ett sådant författarskap: hennes handlar om en envis ljusstråle i ett obevekligt mörker.
missmesmerized's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Kristina is waiting to die, finally. She does not live anymore, she has been murdered and dismembered in the woods outside Stockholm, but she only really dies forever when her name will be spoken for the last time. So she floats in between the world and eternity, sees how her parents bury what has been found of her. She also visits her kids in their dreams, kids for whom she so hard wanted to be a good mother but unfortunately couldn’t be. Her life with Shane has always been a struggle and she somehow has always known that growing old wasn’t meant for her.
Sara Stridsberg’s novel is – despite the cruelty of the topic – wonderfully written and a poetic masterpiece. It opens with a description of what Kristina feels last, how she perceives nature during her last minutes when she is to become a part of the lake and the earth. It is also the story of a drug addict, a young woman who comes from a struggling family and does not find herself a place in the world and quickly relies on diverse substances to help her forget the darkness she finds outside and inside herself. It is a life lost, a life which could have become so much but didn’t.
It is heart-breaking to read the young woman’s account. How casually she tells the reader that at first, nobody misses her, neither her mother, nor her father who hasn’t seen her for years, nor her children. Yet, the later live a new life and her daughter might hardly remember her, too early in her life was she taken away and put into a foster family. Yet, this was the best Kristina could do for her, at least once in her life she did something right despite the feeling of loss.
When she was pregnant, she wanted to get clean, to be a good mother, to care for Valle and Solveig. However, the craving was always too strong, harshness of life always brought her back to the drugs. She feels ashamed for not having been able to care for the kids. But she has always lived in the darkness and the rare rays of light couldn’t lead her to another life.
A life not lived and yet, as humans, we are just a blink in eternity. In 2019, “The Antarctica of Love” was awarded Sveriges Radios Romanpris, a Swedish literary prize for the best novel of the year. It wasn’t the first time Stridsberg’s work was highly appreciated. She uses language in a unique way which does not only touch you profoundly but goes deep down into you and reaches you at your core having the novel make a deep impression that stings.
elundh's review against another edition
2.0
Det känns nästan som hädelse att ranka boken lågt när den fått så många femstjärniga recensioner. Till allas tröst kan jag nämna att jag rankar böcker på Goodreads för min egen skull och inte utifrån några allmänna litterära kvalitéer (i den grad man nu kan säga att det finns sådana).
Kanske var det fel tid i livet för mig att läsa den här boken. Jag önskade att den skulle ta slut i samma stund som jag började. Inte för att alla historier måste vara glättiga för att jag ska kunna uppskatta dem. Visserligen vill en del av mig ständigt säga upp kontakten med verkligheten och fly till ett evigt hobbitland, men en del av mig springer också ofta med huvudet före in i true crime.
Detta är inte true crime. Men parallellerna till ett verkligt fall som många redan pekat ut är svåra att bortse ifrån. Som en kritik av samhällets frossande i kvinnors lemlästade kroppar så fyllde boken sin funktion i att jag vill ta en lång, lång paus från just true crime. Dock så kunde jag inte låta bli att känna att boken också gottade sig i de mest tragiska, smutsiga och skrämmandet detaljerna. Jag kan förstå avsikten att ge offret en röst och att spegla verkligheten så som den är för många, men tänker att det kanske hade varit bättre att tydligare hålla sig till en fiktiv karaktär än någon som så enkelt kan kopplas samman med en verklig person. Också det att vi ständigt kastas tillbaka till dödsögonblicket och styckningen får mig att känna att boken handlar minst lika mycket om den groteskt lemlästade kvinnokroppen som kvinnans livshistoria och berättelse.
Sedan kan jag heller inte förneka att min smärttröskel antagligen var ganska låg vid tiden för läsningen. Ville nästan slänga boken ifrån mig när den först erbjöd en gnutta ljus och hopp till de efterlevande karaktärerna för att sedan slita det ifrån dem. Realistiskt? Antagligen, i många fall. Men det var visst inte vad jag ville ha just nu visade det sig under läsningens gång.
Också språket som så många applåderat gjorde mig nästan irriterad. Jag har vaga minnen från när jag läste Drömfakulteten, men jag kan inte minnas att det var något jag störde mig på då. Jag är också ofta ett oförklarligt stort fan av utbroderade beskrivningar om naturen, tankar och inget särskilt. Men i sammanhanget kändes det konstlat och jag blev en smula uttråkad när det kom till den sjunde beskrivningen av en och samma situation.
Det jag kan säga till den som funderar på att läsa boken - gör det i rätt sinnesstämning. Att det är tung läsning kan nog ingen förneka.