Reviews - Il libro dell'oca

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1.92k reviews for:

Why did I read this? Because it was part of the Goodreads Summer Challenge for acclaimed reads. That’s the only reason. Otherwise I would have never picked this up and I really should have just DNFed it.

This book was slow and weird. Every single character bothered me. No one had any redeeming qualities. I kept hoping I’d eventually connect with someone or care about something but I didn’t.

The story follows Agnès, a French farm girl, who becomes famous for a book she and her intense and unsettling friend Fabienne wrote together. It’s supposed to be a reflection on girlhood, grief, manipulation and power but honestly it just felt flat. I found myself waiting for something to happen and when it did it felt hollow.

I finished it only because of the challenge. One star. Never again.

tyrina's review against another edition

3.0

emotional slow-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

dunforde's review against another edition

4.0

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

patif0367's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

hongjoongie's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark mysterious reflective

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

We never seriously carried out any of our plans. It was enough to feel that we could, if we wanted, make things happen.

How do I measure Fabienne's presence in my life-by the years we were together, or by the years we have been apart, her shadow elongating as time goes by, always touching me?

Sometimes you hear people say so-and-so has lived well, and so-and-so has had a dull life. They are missing a key point when they say that. Any experience is experience, any life a life. A day in a cloister can be as dramatic and fatal as a day on a battlefield.

Through her hands I had heard her pain: there was something immense in her, bigger, sharper, more permanent, than the life we lived. She could neither find nor make a world to accommodate that immense being.

What starts off as a story of a somewhat toxic, codependent relationship morphs into a deeper examination of writing and authorship, how to expand life through storytelling, the relationship between author and reader, and what makes a story interesting and sympathetic. Need to reread to fully understand. One of the best covers ever though.