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3llieh's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
millermk1229's review
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up. An interesting little read about life and death in 1980s Albania, with some absurdism and existentialism thrown in.
jackiebranz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
sean67's review against another edition
3.0
Was very reminiscent of other novels I have read set in similar settings, and the era. Not that it is bad, but just it felt like I had read it all before.
court_of_stars's review
1.0
Sometimes, when I am at the library, I go through the new book section to see if anything stands out to me or appears remotely interesting. I am very familiar with the phrase never judge a book by it's cover, but that is the first thing I see and it draws me in. From the darkened image of the girl falling, to the font of the title "A Girl in Exile" to the color of the background, or the author's name (Ismail Kadare) in red, it called out to me. I read the inside jacket and decided that it had piqued my interest and I would give it a go.
It was 177 pages of a man's descent into madness that ended with him wanting to marry a dead girls spirit (spoiler alert)... No interesting content. No surprises. Nothing engaging.
I know the translation from Albanian to English brings with it its own issues, but there was so much reading and rereading to figure out who was talking, what they were talking about, and why I gave a flying fart about it.
I will still continue seeing out foreign authors as I want to expand my knowledge, but this was rough. I should have stopped reading before I started. I cannot recommend this. At all. To anyone.
Happy Reading (Anything else)!
It was 177 pages of a man's descent into madness that ended with him wanting to marry a dead girls spirit (spoiler alert)... No interesting content. No surprises. Nothing engaging.
I know the translation from Albanian to English brings with it its own issues, but there was so much reading and rereading to figure out who was talking, what they were talking about, and why I gave a flying fart about it.
I will still continue seeing out foreign authors as I want to expand my knowledge, but this was rough. I should have stopped reading before I started. I cannot recommend this. At all. To anyone.
Happy Reading (Anything else)!
sgunther's review against another edition
3.0
I always hesitate to write negative-leaning reviews for books in translation, especially ones from places I know next to nothing about; I simply lack the cultural context necessary to get the full experience. But that is exactly what I am trying to remedy by reading more international literature; so here I am, stupidly saying the only two words that come to mind when I try to assess this book (and no, it doesn't help that it's now been over four months since I read it): paradoxically, "interesting" and "boring." (The latter not necessarily through any fault of its own—again, I am far from being the ideal reader.) Interesting because I have never been to Albania in any sense, and because the story is fairly thought-provoking; boring because the main character isn't very engaging, and because the little we learn about Linda B. herself isn't enough to make me care much about her either.