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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's Dick Proenneke meets Ingmar Bergman. Sort of.
How a book so small can pack in so much detail, time, and events is kind of amazing.
The thing I liked best about this story was how the descriptions of the physical were set alongside the descriptions of the emotional/psychological, and how the two interact (or don't) with each other.
How a book so small can pack in so much detail, time, and events is kind of amazing.
The thing I liked best about this story was how the descriptions of the physical were set alongside the descriptions of the emotional/psychological, and how the two interact (or don't) with each other.
A great reflection on memory and meaning. Where does emotion fit into this? Also great father/son book.
I read this for book club and really enjoyed it. At some points I thought the translation was a little awkward, but it was a nice little book with a great story spanning 60 years. Looking forward to the discussion it produces.
I read this book one chapter a day. It took me long to finish it, yes, but I won't have it any other way. I literally absorbed the words the author wrote, the translated ones of course. Each time I picked it up, I dived into the book, almost to breathe in the air of Norway, and the same yet different air of Sweden, and when I resurfaced, I was a slightly different person, in that I felt things differently, and I looked at things differently, much like Trond did after he stopped waiting at the railway station for his father to come home. It was the way Trond thought about and said things. It was his frankness. It was the words that when strung together described mundane things in a way that was not prosaic at all. It was the realness of the characters. But most of all, it was the way Per Petterson dealt with something grave and profound without giving away the actual feelings of the characters, but only a mere hint that alluded towards the presence of those feelings that made me feel like I might just fall in love with the book by its end. And so I did; the closing lines did it for me.
“...everything felt fine at that moment; the suit was fine, and the town was fine to walk in, along the cobblestone street, and we do decide for ourselves when it will hurt.”
“...everything felt fine at that moment; the suit was fine, and the town was fine to walk in, along the cobblestone street, and we do decide for ourselves when it will hurt.”
I still can't decide. Sometimes it moved too slowly for me. The descriptions are unique, but there are a lot of runons it felt like. On the other hand, there WERE moments that really shocked me and made me keep reading.
Read it. Oh my God just read it already. Gorgeous narrative, beautiful. Just. Oh my God why are you still reading this?!
Wonderfully written book of a man looking back, it shares the wisdom of an older man and also the naivety of his awakening to what really is going on around him as teenager and how the former continues to affect him as an adult. It is about the things we learn as we grow and the mystery of how each individual uses those learnings to carve out a life. Brilliant.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes