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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I didn't have many expectations for this book, nor did I really know what it was about past a secret writers' society. This novel was so much more than that, and fantastically so. The story absolutely blew me away. It was incredibly unique and captivating and perfectly executed an aura of fantasy. The fantastical elements added an unexpected twist that still has me scratching my head.
All in all, this was an amazing read that soared onto my favorite books of 2015 list, and I'm definitely going to recommend this to everyone, readers or not.
All in all, this was an amazing read that soared onto my favorite books of 2015 list, and I'm definitely going to recommend this to everyone, readers or not.
Didn't really get far enough to rate. It seemed a great premise, but I couldn't stand how the main character dwelled constantly on: 1- her lips, 2-her "defective ovaries"/barren-ness, and 3- the colour of her nipples. Seriously. Urgh. Then I saw it had a male author and the female self-loathing tone got even more creepy.
Maybe it's a bad translation issue, but I think I'll give this one a miss.
One positive note, the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
Maybe it's a bad translation issue, but I think I'll give this one a miss.
One positive note, the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
I got really sucked into the mystery, that I finished 2/3 of the book in one night. But the ending fell flat to me and felt a bit like a cop out rather than actually resolving any of the plot threads. Some of the characters were interesting but I felt the main character was written quite male-gazey with a weird focus on her lips and nipples? Overall I did enjoy the magical realism mystery elements but it didn't quite stick the ending for me.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Titlen er måske lidt af en mundfuld, men det er intet imod indholdet af denne finurlige roman, der dybest set er en diskussion af litteraturens væsen.
Hovedpersonen, den unge kvinde Ella Milana, er efter endt studie vendt tilbage til sin hjemby, hvor hun vikarierer som finsklærer på det lokale gymnasium. Via en af sine elevers stile støder hun på det lokale bibliotek på en form for ‘bogpest’, der inficerer bøgerne omkring sig, så handlingen forandres i forskellig grad. Bibliotekaren på stedet er ganske uvillig til at hjælpe med oplysninger om fænomenet og derudover en kendt forfatter, der er med i byens berømte, men lukkede litterære selskab under ledelse af den sagnombruste børnebogsforfatter Laura Lumikko.
Alle i ikke bare Finland, men hele verden elsker og beundrer Lumikkos Væsensted-bøger om fantasifulde væsner som Bobo Knik-Knak, Vådlingen og den frygtede Rottekejser. Ella Milana har selv skrevet speciale om Lumikkos forfatterskab og er stadig i jævnlig kontakt med sin vejleder, en anerkendt Lumikko-ekspert.
Midt i hele dette litterære spændingsfelt begynder der at ske sære ting og sager, som for Ella Milanas vedkommende starter med bogpesten, men bestemt ikke slutter der, idet hun snart begynder at undersøge det litterære selskab nærmere.
Romanen stiller masser af spørgsmål om litteratur, forfatterrollen etc., men om den giver lige så mange svar, er nok op til den enkelte læser. Jeg forstår derfor også godt, hvis bogen ikke er for alle, da det er litterær fiktion med heftigt tryk på ‘litterær’. Personligt elskede jeg hvert et minut af denne lille perle og hygger mig stadig med at spekulere over dens mange spørgsmål og antydninger.
Hovedpersonen, den unge kvinde Ella Milana, er efter endt studie vendt tilbage til sin hjemby, hvor hun vikarierer som finsklærer på det lokale gymnasium. Via en af sine elevers stile støder hun på det lokale bibliotek på en form for ‘bogpest’, der inficerer bøgerne omkring sig, så handlingen forandres i forskellig grad. Bibliotekaren på stedet er ganske uvillig til at hjælpe med oplysninger om fænomenet og derudover en kendt forfatter, der er med i byens berømte, men lukkede litterære selskab under ledelse af den sagnombruste børnebogsforfatter Laura Lumikko.
Alle i ikke bare Finland, men hele verden elsker og beundrer Lumikkos Væsensted-bøger om fantasifulde væsner som Bobo Knik-Knak, Vådlingen og den frygtede Rottekejser. Ella Milana har selv skrevet speciale om Lumikkos forfatterskab og er stadig i jævnlig kontakt med sin vejleder, en anerkendt Lumikko-ekspert.
Midt i hele dette litterære spændingsfelt begynder der at ske sære ting og sager, som for Ella Milanas vedkommende starter med bogpesten, men bestemt ikke slutter der, idet hun snart begynder at undersøge det litterære selskab nærmere.
Romanen stiller masser af spørgsmål om litteratur, forfatterrollen etc., men om den giver lige så mange svar, er nok op til den enkelte læser. Jeg forstår derfor også godt, hvis bogen ikke er for alle, da det er litterær fiktion med heftigt tryk på ‘litterær’. Personligt elskede jeg hvert et minut af denne lille perle og hygger mig stadig med at spekulere over dens mange spørgsmål og antydninger.
Books are strange and wonderful things. On the surface, they are nothing more than tiny stacks of aging pages, each defaced by a perplexing pattern of black marks. Hold them the right way, however, and those black marks not only begin to take on meaning, but reveal entire worlds that cannot physically exist between pages. What's more, while the black marks themselves are fixed, their structure is fluid, revealing a new, subtly different world for each and every reader.
It really is a sort of magic, and that's what Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen has attempted to capture with The Rabbit Back Literature Society.
This is a story about stories . . . about experiences . . . and about the memories that connect them. On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than a quirky little mystery, prompted by the disappearance of a beloved author. Look a little deeper, however, and it soon reveals itself to be a story about the people behind the stories, and a story about where the stories come from. It's a story which is almost solely concerned with spilling the truth behind those stories, the reality behind those memories, but one which spills no truths of its own, leaving the reader to decide what the stories mean.
While I think the story could have been a bit tighter, and I found the premise of 'The Game' a bit artificial, I can't deny that the story hooked me early on, and kept me reading right through to the end. What happened to Laura White? What's up with the 'plague' of altered library books? Who was the mysterious tenth member? What's with all the mythological statues? Some mysteries are solved outright, while other solutions are merely hinted at, but it all makes for a satisfying read.
In terms of characters, Ella is a bit cold and distant to serve as a truly engaging narrator, but her distance does serve its purpose. As for Martti, Ingrid, Aura, and the other Society members, their eccentricities are their personalities, and even if they're really just pieces of a human jigsaw puzzle, it's thoroughly entertaining to see how those pieces fit together. I didn't necessarily buy some of the relationships, particularly that of Ella and Martti, but that discomfort of a part of the overall story experience. As for Laura White herself, she's both the most enigmatic and most fascinating character in the whole tale, and the more we learn about her past, the more we almost want her to remain missing . . . lest her return somehow damage the memories we've created on her behalf.
Go into The Rabbit Back Literature Society looking for a straightforward bit of narrative prose, and you're likely to be disappointed. Prepare yourself instead for a multi-layered character study, and a sort of imaginative treatise on the act of writing (and remembering), and you'll find a lot to appreciate here. It's quirky and odd, as likely to make you raise your eyebrows as curl your lips, but it really does work. The ending is just about perfect, tying up some loose ends I was sure had been forgotten, but never forgetting that, for each reader, it must end just a little bit differently.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
It really is a sort of magic, and that's what Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen has attempted to capture with The Rabbit Back Literature Society.
This is a story about stories . . . about experiences . . . and about the memories that connect them. On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than a quirky little mystery, prompted by the disappearance of a beloved author. Look a little deeper, however, and it soon reveals itself to be a story about the people behind the stories, and a story about where the stories come from. It's a story which is almost solely concerned with spilling the truth behind those stories, the reality behind those memories, but one which spills no truths of its own, leaving the reader to decide what the stories mean.
While I think the story could have been a bit tighter, and I found the premise of 'The Game' a bit artificial, I can't deny that the story hooked me early on, and kept me reading right through to the end. What happened to Laura White? What's up with the 'plague' of altered library books? Who was the mysterious tenth member? What's with all the mythological statues? Some mysteries are solved outright, while other solutions are merely hinted at, but it all makes for a satisfying read.
In terms of characters, Ella is a bit cold and distant to serve as a truly engaging narrator, but her distance does serve its purpose. As for Martti, Ingrid, Aura, and the other Society members, their eccentricities are their personalities, and even if they're really just pieces of a human jigsaw puzzle, it's thoroughly entertaining to see how those pieces fit together. I didn't necessarily buy some of the relationships, particularly that of Ella and Martti, but that discomfort of a part of the overall story experience. As for Laura White herself, she's both the most enigmatic and most fascinating character in the whole tale, and the more we learn about her past, the more we almost want her to remain missing . . . lest her return somehow damage the memories we've created on her behalf.
Go into The Rabbit Back Literature Society looking for a straightforward bit of narrative prose, and you're likely to be disappointed. Prepare yourself instead for a multi-layered character study, and a sort of imaginative treatise on the act of writing (and remembering), and you'll find a lot to appreciate here. It's quirky and odd, as likely to make you raise your eyebrows as curl your lips, but it really does work. The ending is just about perfect, tying up some loose ends I was sure had been forgotten, but never forgetting that, for each reader, it must end just a little bit differently.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Many other reviewers have hit the nail on the head: The Game meets Harry Potter.
This book was a lot of fun to read, but ultimately just felt like an enjoyable diversion. I was expecting more of a meditation on Harry Potter, in much the same way as Cabin in the Woods is both a horror movie and an analysis of horror movies. But this book never quite achieves the promised meta.
This book was a lot of fun to read, but ultimately just felt like an enjoyable diversion. I was expecting more of a meditation on Harry Potter, in much the same way as Cabin in the Woods is both a horror movie and an analysis of horror movies. But this book never quite achieves the promised meta.
More of a 3.5 in the end. I wasn't sure where this was going and I didn't feel there was much impetus behind the story until the closing chapters, but it was quite a delightful ending even if we are left with many questions unanswered.