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michelereise's review against another edition
4.0
This is a difficult review to write. I loved the book but disliked the characters.
Reading this book was like reading Wuthering Heights. The writing was superb and as a reader I could appreciate the artistry of the way the author put the words together. However, I very much dislike the two main characters. Their personalities grated on me while their story intrigued me. The story is a sad and beautiful story that was well written. The characters however, for me, were so hard to like. I wanted to cheer for Lili and her transition from Einar but in the end I just saw a childish addict. I wanted to like Gerda and applaud her for her love and support of Einar and Lili, instead I found her to be self absorbed and controlling. I do recommend this book because it is beautifully written and a story worth knowing.
Reading this book was like reading Wuthering Heights. The writing was superb and as a reader I could appreciate the artistry of the way the author put the words together. However, I very much dislike the two main characters. Their personalities grated on me while their story intrigued me. The story is a sad and beautiful story that was well written. The characters however, for me, were so hard to like. I wanted to cheer for Lili and her transition from Einar but in the end I just saw a childish addict. I wanted to like Gerda and applaud her for her love and support of Einar and Lili, instead I found her to be self absorbed and controlling. I do recommend this book because it is beautifully written and a story worth knowing.
majkaem's review against another edition
4.0
Tento príbeh som videla prv v sfilmovanej verzii, takže bolo pre mňa veľmi ľahké vizualizovať si hlavné postavy, alebo prostredie v ktorom sa nachádzali.
Príbeh je inšpirovaný skutočným príbehom ale autobiografiu nečakajte. Ako nás aj samotný autor upozornil na konci knihy, veľa vecí bola fikcia, ale základ príbehu ostával nemenný.
Neviem si predstaviť, aké ťažké to muselo byť pre takého človeka ako bol Einar. Narodiť sa v 20 rokoch minulého storočia, narodiť sa do zlého tela a snažiť sa všetko prežiť.
Aj v dnešnej modernej dobe, má LGBTI+ komunita ťažkosti a nie každý ich prijíma s radosťou. Neviem si ani predstaviť aké to muselo byť v roku 1929.
Mojou obľúbenou postavou však bola Greta, Einarová manželka.
Od začiatku stála na strane svojho manžela a sledovala jeho premenu na Lili. Musela to byť neskutočne silná žena, že sa prizerala a podporovala svojho manžela v premene. Musela si v hlave poriadne rozmyslieť či jej je prednejšie vlastné šťastie a to, že nestratí manžela, alebo šťastie Lili, ktorá bola uväznená v tele Einara.
V knihe som sa dozvedela viac informácií ako vo filme a hlavne som sa mohla pozrieť aj do mysle samotných hlavných postáv.
Príbeh je inšpirovaný skutočným príbehom ale autobiografiu nečakajte. Ako nás aj samotný autor upozornil na konci knihy, veľa vecí bola fikcia, ale základ príbehu ostával nemenný.
Neviem si predstaviť, aké ťažké to muselo byť pre takého človeka ako bol Einar. Narodiť sa v 20 rokoch minulého storočia, narodiť sa do zlého tela a snažiť sa všetko prežiť.
Aj v dnešnej modernej dobe, má LGBTI+ komunita ťažkosti a nie každý ich prijíma s radosťou. Neviem si ani predstaviť aké to muselo byť v roku 1929.
Mojou obľúbenou postavou však bola Greta, Einarová manželka.
Od začiatku stála na strane svojho manžela a sledovala jeho premenu na Lili. Musela to byť neskutočne silná žena, že sa prizerala a podporovala svojho manžela v premene. Musela si v hlave poriadne rozmyslieť či jej je prednejšie vlastné šťastie a to, že nestratí manžela, alebo šťastie Lili, ktorá bola uväznená v tele Einara.
V knihe som sa dozvedela viac informácií ako vo filme a hlavne som sa mohla pozrieť aj do mysle samotných hlavných postáv.
amandaxhafaj's review
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alittlelou's review
4.0
I adore this story so much. It's my comfort movie that I watch it all the time, and I've read this book twice now. Although the writing is a LITTLE hard to read, compared to the smoothness of the movie, I love this book. The book has more substance to it, and I wish the movie was a better representation of the book. Just like Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman, I think that reading this book and getting all of the details first, and truly understanding all the beauty in their story really only makes the movie better. This is definitely one of those stories. You 100% should read this book or watch this movie, but I think it would be worth your time to do both.
daddyprentiss's review against another edition
3.0
This is a beautifully written book. Even though it’s a work of fiction, it’s clear that the author did a lot of research on the real Lili Elbe, the first woman to undergo gender confirmation surgery.
I just didn’t love it. It felt like a book I’d be forced to read in a high school English class. The writing was tedious and simile-saturated to every last unimportant detail. The info dump chapters were boring, and at times I was forced to remind myself that I was supposed to care for the characters. I can appreciate the importance of the story being told, but I was kind of bored while reading the whole thing. The main theme was the only thing keeping me attached- had this not been a queer story, I would have given up around chapter 2.
All in all, I would highly recommend this book to folks who like this style of literature. I don’t regret reading the book, but it’s also not one I’ll be picking up for a reread.
I just didn’t love it. It felt like a book I’d be forced to read in a high school English class. The writing was tedious and simile-saturated to every last unimportant detail. The info dump chapters were boring, and at times I was forced to remind myself that I was supposed to care for the characters. I can appreciate the importance of the story being told, but I was kind of bored while reading the whole thing. The main theme was the only thing keeping me attached- had this not been a queer story, I would have given up around chapter 2.
All in all, I would highly recommend this book to folks who like this style of literature. I don’t regret reading the book, but it’s also not one I’ll be picking up for a reread.
katieem's review
1.0
This book was completely unrealistic. I mean if your husband decides to change sexes on you, don’t you think you may have a little bit of a reaction to it? I was kinda hoping for a little more internal dialogue as well.
jcpdiesel21's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting, thought-provoking take on identity based on the life of a brave, groundbreaking individual. While I didn't find the writing to be particularly brilliant and several details are inexplicably changed to satisfy a wider audience, Ebershoff does a fairly good job of stitching together existing information about Lili Elbe into a compelling narrative to tell her story. What I appreciated most about this book is the way that Lili's journey is relayed equally from Greta's point of view; too often the spouse or partner gets lost in the focus on the main individual's struggle, and these people are affected nearly as much and add welcome dimension to the story.
thereistime's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this book, it was written so elegantly and there were some really beautiful passages. The characters seemed so real and the whole story was set up in a way that was more like a snapshot of Lily's life, which had a before and after, rather than the journey from Einar to Lily with a beginning and end which I loved.
ktxx22's review
2.0
Boring. I would have never made it through this novel had I read it. That being said it was hard to listen to even. I enjoyed the premises of this book discussing serious matters in regards to gender identification, but that's about it. The characters were snorefest extraordinaire.