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gintare_si's review against another edition
4.0
Dawn. There's no sunrise, no birdsong.
Light seeps over the water, through the branches. The sky is lying on the loch, filling the trees, heavy in the spaces between the pine needles, settling between blades of grass and mottling the pebbles on the beach. Although there's no distance between cloud and land, nowhere for rain to fall, it is raining the sounds of water on leaves and bark, on roofs and stones, windows and cars, become as constant as the sounds of blood and air in your own body.
You would notice soon enough if it stopped.
The beginning was the best part. Then I was moving forward looking for more of the same, but did not find it. However, it was a good read.
In preparation to read My Good Bright Woolf, an arc of a memoir, I read Summerwater on the longest days of the year, as it felt just right and seemed to about coincide with time of the narrative; though the weather and place, which play a very important role in the book, could not differ more - a heatwave in London while reading, and cold torrential neverending rain near a loch in Scotland, a true holiday where it's not, versus the one where different narrators feel stuck in what doesn't seem like a holiday at all, where it's supposed to be; and for short periods of time we are stuck in their heads: from children to old folk - reminiscing, contemplating, feeling, just living, here and now, for now, and then...
Light seeps over the water, through the branches. The sky is lying on the loch, filling the trees, heavy in the spaces between the pine needles, settling between blades of grass and mottling the pebbles on the beach. Although there's no distance between cloud and land, nowhere for rain to fall, it is raining the sounds of water on leaves and bark, on roofs and stones, windows and cars, become as constant as the sounds of blood and air in your own body.
You would notice soon enough if it stopped.
The beginning was the best part. Then I was moving forward looking for more of the same, but did not find it. However, it was a good read.
In preparation to read My Good Bright Woolf, an arc of a memoir, I read Summerwater on the longest days of the year, as it felt just right and seemed to about coincide with time of the narrative; though the weather and place, which play a very important role in the book, could not differ more - a heatwave in London while reading, and cold torrential neverending rain near a loch in Scotland, a true holiday where it's not, versus the one where different narrators feel stuck in what doesn't seem like a holiday at all, where it's supposed to be; and for short periods of time we are stuck in their heads: from children to old folk - reminiscing, contemplating, feeling, just living, here and now, for now, and then...
ilsek's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dijon_supply's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
grace_paz's review against another edition
4.0
“It’s pretty weird when you think about it, all these middle-class quiet people coming here to have less privacy, comfort and convenience than they do at home, how’s that a holiday?”
Literally yes. So me. Right now.
So I chose to read this speedy because i’m currently in a cabin in the middle of nowhere (Wales not Scotland) so thought the setting would be fitting and I tell you the rain is pouring just like it does throughout the entirety of this book.
“The Scottish sky is better at obscenity than any human voice.”
This is an easy read, a collection of characters are presented to us in an accessible, simple (but not dull) way; they are human, very relatable at times. I mean I can’t relate to an old woman but the way in which Moss writes her characters it honestly feels like I can. The almost entirety of the book is this narrative following different families on their rainy Scottish holiday and it’s filled with tiny moments of tension where you wander what the climax (if you like) will be.
“You would notice, soon enough, if it stopped.”
And you do notice. The ending is sudden and jarring, a complete slaughter of the natural peace we are offered but not in a way that I hate. The small natural interludes of wildlife we are gifted that weave between the main narrative suggest a sense of survival within the natural world, something that the characters have to overcome at the end of the novel.
This isn’t really a book I would usually pick up in regards to genre but I’ve read another book by Moss before and found her writing very accessible and her books make for nice speedy reads that feel very authentic to the UKs natural landscape (a place where me and my own family spend a lot of our holiday time!)
Literally yes. So me. Right now.
So I chose to read this speedy because i’m currently in a cabin in the middle of nowhere (Wales not Scotland) so thought the setting would be fitting and I tell you the rain is pouring just like it does throughout the entirety of this book.
“The Scottish sky is better at obscenity than any human voice.”
This is an easy read, a collection of characters are presented to us in an accessible, simple (but not dull) way; they are human, very relatable at times. I mean I can’t relate to an old woman but the way in which Moss writes her characters it honestly feels like I can. The almost entirety of the book is this narrative following different families on their rainy Scottish holiday and it’s filled with tiny moments of tension where you wander what the climax (if you like) will be.
“You would notice, soon enough, if it stopped.”
And you do notice. The ending is sudden and jarring, a complete slaughter of the natural peace we are offered but not in a way that I hate. The small natural interludes of wildlife we are gifted that weave between the main narrative suggest a sense of survival within the natural world, something that the characters have to overcome at the end of the novel.
This isn’t really a book I would usually pick up in regards to genre but I’ve read another book by Moss before and found her writing very accessible and her books make for nice speedy reads that feel very authentic to the UKs natural landscape (a place where me and my own family spend a lot of our holiday time!)
askatknits's review against another edition
4.0
The task of writing about the sometimes ugly side of humanity cannot be an easy task... however, Sarah Moss does so and she does so so well that you just can't stop reading. I saw myself in her writing, and so many people I know there as well. This book made me stop and think. It made me nod my head in agreement and consider the way that people, by nature, just irritate each other! The writing is just so beautiful and the humanity so real. I highly recommend this brilliant little story!
abijmieds's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Dementia, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, and Kidnapping
celiiina's review against another edition
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emmymk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
lqueijo's review against another edition
4.0
Não deixa de ser curiosa a capacidade que alguns escritores têm de surpreender com narrativas fora do comum.
Passado num único dia (chuvoso) num parque de cabanas de férias, cerca de um lago, Sarah Moss descreve-o sob a perspectiva de vários narradores. Até aqui, nada de novo...
Novidade, mesmo, é a capacidade que Sarah Moss tem de colocar por escrito aquilo que vai dentro da cabeça dos narradores. Entre divagações introspectivas acerca desse dia e pensamentos acerca de outros momentos da vida de alguns narradores quase faz o leitor sentir-se um "leitor de mentes" a "ouvir" os pensamentos de terceiros com situações que vão do triste ao hilariante.
Contra, só mesmo o final. Fraco, quase fazendo pensar que não há um elo comum a ligar todas as narrativas.
A ler, ainda assim.
Passado num único dia (chuvoso) num parque de cabanas de férias, cerca de um lago, Sarah Moss descreve-o sob a perspectiva de vários narradores. Até aqui, nada de novo...
Novidade, mesmo, é a capacidade que Sarah Moss tem de colocar por escrito aquilo que vai dentro da cabeça dos narradores. Entre divagações introspectivas acerca desse dia e pensamentos acerca de outros momentos da vida de alguns narradores quase faz o leitor sentir-se um "leitor de mentes" a "ouvir" os pensamentos de terceiros com situações que vão do triste ao hilariante.
Contra, só mesmo o final. Fraco, quase fazendo pensar que não há um elo comum a ligar todas as narrativas.
A ler, ainda assim.