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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I kept waiting for something to actually happen. The dog was the best part.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
simply put, this is a beautiful story.
it was so easy to escape to this norwegian landscape and feel that you actually knew what it would be like to live there. although the writing is succinct it is so rich in effect. i can easily recall images and passages from the text (and that's saying a lot me).
this book was wonderful- front to back
it was so easy to escape to this norwegian landscape and feel that you actually knew what it would be like to live there. although the writing is succinct it is so rich in effect. i can easily recall images and passages from the text (and that's saying a lot me).
this book was wonderful- front to back
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
DNF
I got about a third of the way through this and decided I couldn't finish it. There was a nice beginning, with concise prose creating an atmosphere of isolation in the Norwegian countryside, the narrator Trond's recollection of his friend Jon, and Jon's intriguingly bizarre behavior while they are "out stealing horses," but it didn't take long to start rambling for pages and pages about farming with his dad, with not much else going on. There's little dialogue, probably because most of it is the narrator relating memories from decades ago. Still, just Trond talking all the time gets old.
I had thought this would be more like several anecdotes from when he was a teenager. I was curious about the spectacular conclusion that the reviews promised, but I'm unwilling to sit through more chapters of painful detail about how to make hay to get to it. 2 stars for decent description otherwise and atmosphere-building.
I got about a third of the way through this and decided I couldn't finish it. There was a nice beginning, with concise prose creating an atmosphere of isolation in the Norwegian countryside, the narrator Trond's recollection of his friend Jon, and Jon's intriguingly bizarre behavior while they are "out stealing horses," but it didn't take long to start rambling for pages and pages about farming with his dad, with not much else going on. There's little dialogue, probably because most of it is the narrator relating memories from decades ago. Still, just Trond talking all the time gets old.
I had thought this would be more like several anecdotes from when he was a teenager. I was curious about the spectacular conclusion that the reviews promised, but I'm unwilling to sit through more chapters of painful detail about how to make hay to get to it. 2 stars for decent description otherwise and atmosphere-building.
A long overdue reading of Pet Petterson's book. I waiver between a 4 & 5 star ratiing. (ever notice I am stingy with the 5 star?) I need to ruminate more, as I just finished the book, but I did love it.
I can understand how this book merits awards as the writing is the type we often find in award winning books. This does not mean, however, that it's a likable book. The MC struggles with knowing who he is and I found it exhausting as I was forced to struggle along with him throughout the entire book. It's a shorter book than normal, but that's no excuse not to fully develop the characters. It seemed as though there was a gray gauze over all the characters that never lifted. The reader was given just the bare minimum detail, which led to me not really taking much of an interest in their lives. This book continually switches from present day to past. Unlike most books that move back and forth in time, this one did not have smooth transitions, so there were times it when I would not realize it had switched time frames until after a few confusing paragraphs. I adore all the factors within this book: horses, rural life, Norway, coming of age stories, war heroes, conflicted love, and struggling characters, but somehow this book was very depressing and left me flat.
I think I may have missed something with this book.
Petterson's story, if it can really be called that, is partly about the incidents that occurred one summer in the life of the narrator Trond. Staying in a forest cabin with his father, Trond interacts with locals, rides horses and helps his father with logging. This is all told as dream-like memories by the much older Trond as he takes stock of his life as it begins to wind to a close and assesses the way these forming years affected him.
About a third of the way through I was in love with the novel - the gorgeous setting of northern Norway, the spare and beautiful prose, the tender coming-of-age story. But it just stops flat. Petterson introduces several plotlines that lead nowhere, loads of characters find no resolution and it all becomes a bit dull.
Now, that may well all be true to real life but I'm not sure I want it from a novel. And I can live without five-page descriptions of an old man getting out of bed on a morning.
Petterson's story, if it can really be called that, is partly about the incidents that occurred one summer in the life of the narrator Trond. Staying in a forest cabin with his father, Trond interacts with locals, rides horses and helps his father with logging. This is all told as dream-like memories by the much older Trond as he takes stock of his life as it begins to wind to a close and assesses the way these forming years affected him.
About a third of the way through I was in love with the novel - the gorgeous setting of northern Norway, the spare and beautiful prose, the tender coming-of-age story. But it just stops flat. Petterson introduces several plotlines that lead nowhere, loads of characters find no resolution and it all becomes a bit dull.
Now, that may well all be true to real life but I'm not sure I want it from a novel. And I can live without five-page descriptions of an old man getting out of bed on a morning.
Youth, maturity, melancholy, relationships and acceptance. As one reviewer said, "Bloody Hell".
emotional
reflective
slow-paced