Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
L’autrice avance à son propre rythme pour nous raconter l'histoire touchante de jeune homme qui quitte son pays natal. Cela commence comme un road book, devient une retraite spirituelle et embranche sur une tendre histoire familiale. L'autrice a su me faire ralentir la cadence, calquer mon pas sur ses mots et m'emmener au bout du chemin, dans sa roseraie.
This was a lovely little coming of age story. Lobbi's journey of self-discovery reminds us of the universality of the human experience, especially the process of transitioning from youth to adulthood, which for most of us involves a good deal of ebb and flow as opposed to clear, linear steps. A quick and engaging read.
Slight and slightly weird and with some really irritating things - for instance: flying from Iceland, why would you land in unnamed-country-but-obviously-France, buy a car, then drive four days or whatever it was across Europe to another unnamed-country-but-probably-Italy, to park up the car and never use it? You would get the train, or Easyjet. And why go to such lengths not to mention the countries?
Why would a translator mangle a passage to this extent:
Ok, she doesn't have twenty fingers and probably has lace-up shoes on so getting her toes involved would be tricky but you know, even American readers have heard of metres. Or meters at least. There were a couple more instances of this sort, which mercifully I've forgotten now.
As for the perfect baby who is 'speaking Latin' at 8 months and doing puzzles and looks like the Christchild... yeah. Just too contrived. But there are aspects I did like, namely the sensitive development of the young father from cold-as-Iceland coolmeister who is totally cool with having a child he doesn't have anything to do with, to the warm and smitten father (however improbably expert and relaxed). And the obvious Icelandicness of the descriptions (even when not in Iceland).
Why would a translator mangle a passage to this extent:
Twenty feet, says the woman when I look up at the ceiling, indicating six with her fingers.
Ok, she doesn't have twenty fingers and probably has lace-up shoes on so getting her toes involved would be tricky but you know, even American readers have heard of metres. Or meters at least. There were a couple more instances of this sort, which mercifully I've forgotten now.
As for the perfect baby who is 'speaking Latin' at 8 months and doing puzzles and looks like the Christchild... yeah. Just too contrived. But there are aspects I did like, namely the sensitive development of the young father from cold-as-Iceland coolmeister who is totally cool with having a child he doesn't have anything to do with, to the warm and smitten father (however improbably expert and relaxed). And the obvious Icelandicness of the descriptions (even when not in Iceland).
i enjoyed this but it felt rather slight. i kept waiting for it to turn into something more, something bigger, but it never did.
3.5 stars rounded down.
This wasn’t a bad book by any means, it just felt as though the description/blurbs I read in advance of picking it up didn’t reflect what the book was actually about. Far less focus on re-establishing the roses/the garden, far more focus on interpersonal challenges and resolutions. Which is fine, it’s just not what I thought I was signing up for.
I also want to call shenanigans on the precociousness of the baby. Nine months and sort of speaking in two languages and walking? Nah.
This wasn’t a bad book by any means, it just felt as though the description/blurbs I read in advance of picking it up didn’t reflect what the book was actually about. Far less focus on re-establishing the roses/the garden, far more focus on interpersonal challenges and resolutions. Which is fine, it’s just not what I thought I was signing up for.
I also want to call shenanigans on the precociousness of the baby. Nine months and sort of speaking in two languages and walking? Nah.
I’m one away from reading all of this author’s translated works in one year. The novels are all crisply told, almost colloquially. This one is a bittersweet love story and a semi-sweet rose story, which really takes off once the child comes into the picture.
Thoroughly enjoyable. A quiet book - the kind in which it is easy to lose yourself, and return to whenever you find a stolen moment.
I read this book for school and am so pleased that I chose this one! Even though it is quite a while since I read it when I write this review, I still recall that I thought it discussed the "normal" (even though I don't see how hobbies, duties and such can be classified by gender) gender role quite well, whereas they have in a way been flipped. At first I didn't really notice this as a theme and it wasn't until I was writing the essay on the book and researching it where I read about this flip of roles. It was then that I, when I reread parts and thought back, where I could see what they meant. It has a religious element (it sets place in a monastery, so it doesn't come as a surprise) and even if I am not that religious it didn't bother me and did a lot for the story. It was an important factor for the development of Lobbis character. I know that some of what I am writing here is probably nonsense, but this is what I remember thinking of when reading it and working on my essay. But what's important is that I thought it was a great book, and I highly recommend it.
Ég las þessa fyrir skólann og var alveg rosalega glöð að hafa valið mér þessa bók! Þó svo að það sé nú nokkuð langt síðan ég las þessa bók þegar ég skrifa þessa umsögn, þá man ég að mér fannst hún taka nokkuð vel á þessum "normal" kynjahlutverkum. Þar sem Lobbi, hefur yndi af blómum og plöntum, er að sjá um dóttur sína, en þetta tvennt eitt er talið nokkuð "kvenkyns" sem auðvitað er virkilega brengluð hugmynd sem samfélagið hefur komið á legg, því ég tel nú að það sé nú ekki hægt að greina áhugamál, skyldur eða annað slíkt eftir kynjum. Mjög góð bók að mínu mati og létt að komast í gegnum hana.
Ég las þessa fyrir skólann og var alveg rosalega glöð að hafa valið mér þessa bók! Þó svo að það sé nú nokkuð langt síðan ég las þessa bók þegar ég skrifa þessa umsögn, þá man ég að mér fannst hún taka nokkuð vel á þessum "normal" kynjahlutverkum. Þar sem Lobbi, hefur yndi af blómum og plöntum, er að sjá um dóttur sína, en þetta tvennt eitt er talið nokkuð "kvenkyns" sem auðvitað er virkilega brengluð hugmynd sem samfélagið hefur komið á legg, því ég tel nú að það sé nú ekki hægt að greina áhugamál, skyldur eða annað slíkt eftir kynjum.
Spoiler
Þarna er einnig pabbi Lobba, sem er einstæður faðir sem þarf að sjá um tvíburabróður hans eftir að mamma þeirra deyr. Þetta er eitthvað sem ekki er oft talað um því einstæðir foreldrar eru oftast mömmur og lítið er talað um pabbana.
One merit of this charming story was that it inspired me to step outside and weed the garden. So I was away from screens for a while. Well, for half a day...
slow-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