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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Another absolutely wonderful, sweet book from this Icelandic author. I read it pretty much in one day - very easy to do. The story involves a 22 year-old man, Lobbi, who decides to leave his childhood home and older father and autistic twin brother to embark on a personal journey of his own. Being a tremendous lover of gardening - a hobby lovingly instilled in him by his mother, who died tragically in a car accident years before - he travels to a remote European monastery to restore their famed rose garden. As with many of Ólafsdóttir's books, this book is about a journey - both literally and, eventually, figuratively/emotionally. Lobbi is also the father of a 9 month-old baby girl - the product of a one-night fling in his mother's greenhouse with a friend of a friend. While, in the beginning, he is rather detached emotionally in regards to his relationship to the child and her mother, Lobbi discovers that no matter how far he travels from his home, he cannot escape his familial ties... and the ultimate, beautiful surprise of the love of a child and woman. A quiet, tender, subtle book that I absolutely loved. I recommend all of her books - they are somewhat quirky, but so rewarding. Side note: I also enjoy her apparent love of food and of preparing meals, which always seems to play a central role in many of her stories.
Un peu déçue après tout le bien qu'on m'avait dit de ce livre. J'aime énormément l'autrice et ses autres romans, dont 'La vérité sur la lumière' et 'Miss Islande, bien meilleurs à mes yeux.
Ce qui m'a le plus gêné sont certaines réflexions genrées, stéréotypées ou machistes que l'on retrouve assez souvent au fil du roman. Je n'aurais sûrement pas eu ce ressenti si j'avais lu ce livre il y a 10 ans. Mes lectures plus féministes ont définitivement augmenté mon seuil de tolérance face à certains écrits.
J'ai noté entre autres ces 3 exemples qui m'ont surpris :
"Être un homme, c'est pouvoir dire à une femme de ne pas se faire de soucis superflus."
"Les femmes sont comme ça. Elles surgissent tout à coup devant vous, au seuil d'une nouvelle vie, un marmot sur les bras pour vous signaler que c'est à votre tour d'endosser la responsabilité d'une conception intempestive, d'un enfant-accident."
"On a toujours peur de l'aptitude des femmes à l'interprétation. Anna n'est pourtant pas du genre à vérifier le pourcentage de matières grasses pour vous regarder ensuite d'un air accusateur, comme on en a entendu des exemples."
Cela dit, j'apprécie toujours autant la place que prend la cuisine dans ces romans. J'adore la multitude de petits détails, de listes d'ingrédients, de recettes expliquées.
Ce qui m'a le plus gêné sont certaines réflexions genrées, stéréotypées ou machistes que l'on retrouve assez souvent au fil du roman. Je n'aurais sûrement pas eu ce ressenti si j'avais lu ce livre il y a 10 ans. Mes lectures plus féministes ont définitivement augmenté mon seuil de tolérance face à certains écrits.
J'ai noté entre autres ces 3 exemples qui m'ont surpris :
"Être un homme, c'est pouvoir dire à une femme de ne pas se faire de soucis superflus."
"Les femmes sont comme ça. Elles surgissent tout à coup devant vous, au seuil d'une nouvelle vie, un marmot sur les bras pour vous signaler que c'est à votre tour d'endosser la responsabilité d'une conception intempestive, d'un enfant-accident."
"On a toujours peur de l'aptitude des femmes à l'interprétation. Anna n'est pourtant pas du genre à vérifier le pourcentage de matières grasses pour vous regarder ensuite d'un air accusateur, comme on en a entendu des exemples."
Cela dit, j'apprécie toujours autant la place que prend la cuisine dans ces romans. J'adore la multitude de petits détails, de listes d'ingrédients, de recettes expliquées.
The only reason I started to read this book was because the author is Icelandic and so am I. it was slow to start, but I ended up really enjoying it!
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A sweet story with good sentiments. I love the atmosphere, timeless and foggy. Foggy because no place is named (I don't even think Iceland is named), because most characters are lost, as is the rose garden, the village at "the end of the world" etc... I really love each and every settings of the story. And timeless because even tho it was written in 2007, no XXI century technologie is used (no cellphones, no internet, etc) and it doesn't even feel out of context because of the atmosphere.
Beside that, the storyline is quite straight forward, half realistic (like the dad-son relationship, the lovestory) half tale (the portrait, the rose garden).
It gave me the good mood I was looking for.
Beside that, the storyline is quite straight forward, half realistic (like the dad-son relationship, the lovestory) half tale (the portrait, the rose garden).
It gave me the good mood I was looking for.
The first half or so, set in Iceland, was beautiful. However, the rest didn't ring true at all - almost a wish fulfillment for the increasingly flawed, solipsistic narrator.
Very unusual story of a young Icelandic man who is figuring out what to do with his life. He misses his deceased mother and learns he is to be the father of a child resulting froma single encounter with a woman. He journeys to another country to restore an ancient rose garden.
Parts of the story feel fable-like, particularly because the countries through which he journeys and languages that are spoken are not named. There are archetypal forsts and religious allusions. It sounds cluttered but is actually a spare, meditative story. Unique, beautiful, recommended.
Parts of the story feel fable-like, particularly because the countries through which he journeys and languages that are spoken are not named. There are archetypal forsts and religious allusions. It sounds cluttered but is actually a spare, meditative story. Unique, beautiful, recommended.
Although beginning in Iceland, The Greenhouse by Audur Ava Olafsdottir transcends the boundaries of love, loss, and finding oneself. A quiet and slow-paced meditation on life, readers follow along with 22-year-old Lobbi as he journeys to save a monastic garden upon the death of his mother and birth of his daughter--an unexpected outcome of a one night stand.
Add in a drunkard, film buff monk, a Christ-like child, a father overcome with grief and insecurity, a lost genetics student, and an autistic brother for the perfect soul healing cast of characters.
For more travel book reviews, check out The Uncorked Librarian at theuncorkedlibrarian.com.
Add in a drunkard, film buff monk, a Christ-like child, a father overcome with grief and insecurity, a lost genetics student, and an autistic brother for the perfect soul healing cast of characters.
For more travel book reviews, check out The Uncorked Librarian at theuncorkedlibrarian.com.
A really sweet story. Beautiful language, stunning imagery. Short chapters so that even though there was not a lot of 'action' in the book it was not long and drawn out. Recommended.
I wanted to give up on this book, but then the author would throw in a line that would explain life in terms that I never could. What really drove me to almost complete abandonment—and also why it took me so long to finish—was that the narrator was so annoying. He says—talking about himself—towards the end of the novel: “Man might be a bit of an overstatement, overgrown teenager might be more like it.” This quote epitomizes the character of the narrator and why I find him to be so annoying.
What amuses me: the author is a woman. Yet, she seems to have captured the "overgrown teenage [boy]" perfectly.
Beautiful but a slog.
What amuses me: the author is a woman. Yet, she seems to have captured the "overgrown teenage [boy]" perfectly.
Beautiful but a slog.