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pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
I wish I was going to be present for the conversation about this book with the Hanover Book group. The more I think about this, the more questions I have. Which is why this has been a popular book discussion title.
There is so much I don't know - why exactly had Trond always wanted a place like this one? Why did this place start all the old memories coming back? Why does Trond remember the words to the end of The Tale of Two Cities, but his daughter is remembering the beginning to David Copperfield?
Petterson has such wonderful phrasing, his translator did a great job. I may have to listen to this if it is available on CD.
There is so much I don't know - why exactly had Trond always wanted a place like this one? Why did this place start all the old memories coming back? Why does Trond remember the words to the end of The Tale of Two Cities, but his daughter is remembering the beginning to David Copperfield?
Petterson has such wonderful phrasing, his translator did a great job. I may have to listen to this if it is available on CD.
harryhas29's review against another edition
4.0
All the pleasure of Stardew Valley's secluded farming lifestyle with the added reminder that the ones you love the most might abandon you. But it's okay -- you'll probably abandon someone too.
greglhoward's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those old-man-reflecting-on-his-life sort of books. And it's charming, poetic, and thought-provoking, just like you want such a book to be. But it's not my favorite such book because it's too scattered. It's almost like talking to a real person, and listening to them tell a bunch of interrelated stories, but without having a point or a theme in mind.
maud's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mindyt's review against another edition
4.0
This book started out a little slow, but ended up being a bit of a page-turner. I was pleasantly surprised!
_rusalka's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a fantastic example of what I am loving about Scandinavian lit at this point in time. I was hesitant about it when a friend of mine recommended the book. I mean, the premise doesn't sound overly interesting. A story of two boys and they steal horses one morning, and then "their lives change forever". Not really a gripping concept, not to mention that phrase is over done. But I am glad I stuck with it.
The plot really is about one boy Jonas, and the summer in 1948 he spends with his dad in the Norwegian woods. It's not one event that changes the direction of Jonas' life, but the discoveries that Jonas finds out over the course of the whole summer, along with events that occur that change him and his family.
The narrative is mainly told between Jonas now as an old man, and him in the summer of 1948. But there are flashbacks to just before and after that summer as well. It's not told in a horrible overworked way, but flows almost seamlessly between them all.
It's just a beautiful little book. It takes a simple story and twists and turns it into something intricate and compelling. I'm also really lucky that these last few reads had such a beautifully feeling of place, and this book is no different. You feel like you can reach out and touch the Norwegian trees, the tiny little creek and it's rowboat, the fir needles under your feet, see the almost unending twilight in the northern Norwegian summer.
Treat yourself and read it.
For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/
The plot really is about one boy Jonas, and the summer in 1948 he spends with his dad in the Norwegian woods. It's not one event that changes the direction of Jonas' life, but the discoveries that Jonas finds out over the course of the whole summer, along with events that occur that change him and his family.
The narrative is mainly told between Jonas now as an old man, and him in the summer of 1948. But there are flashbacks to just before and after that summer as well. It's not told in a horrible overworked way, but flows almost seamlessly between them all.
It's just a beautiful little book. It takes a simple story and twists and turns it into something intricate and compelling. I'm also really lucky that these last few reads had such a beautifully feeling of place, and this book is no different. You feel like you can reach out and touch the Norwegian trees, the tiny little creek and it's rowboat, the fir needles under your feet, see the almost unending twilight in the northern Norwegian summer.
Treat yourself and read it.
For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/
bertacreus's review against another edition
3.0
En aquesta novel·la, ens trobem un home que viu sol en una cabana, a Noruega, i mentre es prepara per a l'hivern que comença a despuntar, l'assalten records d'un estiu en què la seva vida va girar en sec. A partir dels paissatges i del seu dia a dia amb la natura, ens endinsem en unes històries fosques però també plenes de moments gloriosos, que van configurant el trencaclosques d'aquell estiu.
Petterson té una manera d'escriure molt descriptiva. Si bé a mi això molts cops m'avorreix i em tira enrere, en aquest cas no ha estat així en general (tot i que quan es posa a parlar de motoserres...), ja que les descripcions són importants per a la trama, l'emmarquen i li donen tots els matisos per entendre'n la profunditat. Li agrada entrar en detalls de processos tan simples com la manera de parar la taula, cosa que m'estranya que m'hagi entrat tan bé (però sí, crec que això precisament ho domina a la perfecció). Després de la lectura vaig pensar que segurament aquestes pauses emocionals anaven bé per contrarrestar altres situacions més intenses i emotives.
La història en si m'ha agradat i m'ha atrapat de bon principi, però també és veritat que pel simple fet de ser tan escandinava ja tenia punts a favor abans de començar. La simbiosi de la naturalesa, els personatges i les trames m'ha semblat de les coses més boniques del llibre, molt rodó tot. Penso que Petterson domina l'art de la novel·la, i segurament per això al final de vegades penso que cau en algun tòpic (també a nivell narratiu). En tot cas, m'ha semblat una d'aquelles novel·les per obrir durant les vacances i deixar-se endur riu avall.
Petterson té una manera d'escriure molt descriptiva. Si bé a mi això molts cops m'avorreix i em tira enrere, en aquest cas no ha estat així en general (tot i que quan es posa a parlar de motoserres...), ja que les descripcions són importants per a la trama, l'emmarquen i li donen tots els matisos per entendre'n la profunditat. Li agrada entrar en detalls de processos tan simples com la manera de parar la taula, cosa que m'estranya que m'hagi entrat tan bé (però sí, crec que això precisament ho domina a la perfecció). Després de la lectura vaig pensar que segurament aquestes pauses emocionals anaven bé per contrarrestar altres situacions més intenses i emotives.
La història en si m'ha agradat i m'ha atrapat de bon principi, però també és veritat que pel simple fet de ser tan escandinava ja tenia punts a favor abans de començar. La simbiosi de la naturalesa, els personatges i les trames m'ha semblat de les coses més boniques del llibre, molt rodó tot. Penso que Petterson domina l'art de la novel·la, i segurament per això al final de vegades penso que cau en algun tòpic (també a nivell narratiu). En tot cas, m'ha semblat una d'aquelles novel·les per obrir durant les vacances i deixar-se endur riu avall.
shelznh's review against another edition
4.0
I really savored this book. It was quiet and contemplative. I certainly would love to exile myself to rural Norway now. I'm also a big fan of so-called run-on sentences so the translation was super as far I am concerned and only added to the lure of the story. Definitely recommend!
kteddycurr's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written all around. I love stories that reveal themselves in different times in pieces.
liberrydude's review against another edition
3.0
A very deceiving title and also rambling and strange novel. At times I was mesmerized by the descriptions of mood, time, and memory and other times the prose with run-on sentences was annoying. It's a story of two times: the present (circa 1998 or so) as a 67 year old man retires to the country to live in solitude with his dog; the other time is 1948 Norway when a young boy is in the country up by Trondheim near the Swedish border living with his dad and doing manly things in the forest and along the river. Trond, the principal character, we never really come to know. We think we know him but his entire life between these two benchmarks is not revealed. The title refers to an incident in which Trond and his friend try to "steal" a rich neighbor's horses. They were just going to joy ride the horses. Not much happens. Trond gets thrown into some bushes. But their lives take a turn shortly afterwards when Trond discovers his dad is having an affair with his friend's mom and his friend accidentally leaves a gun out in the house and one of his twin brothers kills the other twin. Now in 1998 Trond has returned to the country area where all the drama occurred and finds his neighbor is the surviving twin brother. So we go back and forth between the two times and it's not always easy to know when you've made the transition between the times. The reader is trying to discern the issues Trond has with his father who it turns out might have been a hero with the Norwegian resistance during World War II. Trond loved his dad but has also been abandoned by his dad. The story ends with Trond and his mom going to Sweden to get some money from the sale of floated timber that the absent father had sent them. I just thought it strange to end the story with the mother as the entire book had been about Trond and his dad. Still I enjoyed the book. It was different and had a Western (cowboy) feel to it. Reminded me of John Updike or Thomas McGuane.