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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
wow aquest llibre m’ha tingut en tensió tota l’estona, sobretot al final, quan a cada minut que passava semblava que el pare podia tornar en qualsevol moment, tot i que a la vegada era impossible, però l’autora aconsegueix transmetre aquesta por dels fills i la mare i de veritat que he sentit aquest neguit a mesura que la protagonista explicava històries de com era el seu pare. a més és un llibre curt que aconsegueix mantenir constant aquesta tensió i ha estat molt bé. tampoc li dono 5 estrelles perquè el final és una mica obert i poc concret, però m’ha sorprès i m’ha agradat molt!
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Das Bild das sich durch das ganze Buch gehalten hat, wie die Familie auf den Vater wartend am Esstisch saßen und srinen Einfluss Revue passieren und reflektiert hat, hat das Buch meiner Meinung nach zusammengehalten und interessant gemacht. Ein bürgerlich-normalfamiliäres setting mit nicht unbedingt spannender Geschichte, aber das unterdrückte Verhältnis zu dem Vater und wie sie sich mit der Zeit "getraut" haben der Wut Raum zu lassen war eine gute Analogie und ein seeeeehr seichter feministischer Ansatz - das Schlussplädoyer zur Mutter hat mir gefallen.
Stilistisch war es nicht mein Fall und machte es etwas anstrengend zu lesen
Stilistisch war es nicht mein Fall und machte es etwas anstrengend zu lesen
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Uf. UF. UFFFF.
Tremendo libro. Muy bueno, muy recomendable. La exposición de las dinámicas de maltrato son tan sutiles y a la vez tan claras y evidentes que a ratos duelen físicamente. Y lo peor es que todes conocemos a alguien que ha sufrido algo parecido o similar. EL ritmo de lectura es asfixiante y absorbente a la vez, todo un acierto, casi es como si el propio libro quisiera repiquetear como las valvas de los mejillones.
Tremendo libro. Muy bueno, muy recomendable. La exposición de las dinámicas de maltrato son tan sutiles y a la vez tan claras y evidentes que a ratos duelen físicamente. Y lo peor es que todes conocemos a alguien que ha sufrido algo parecido o similar. EL ritmo de lectura es asfixiante y absorbente a la vez, todo un acierto, casi es como si el propio libro quisiera repiquetear como las valvas de los mejillones.
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Symbolic Novella of Rebellion
Review of the Peirene Press English translation eBook edition (2013) of the German language original [b:Das Muschelessen|2090772|Das Muschelessen|Birgit Vanderbeke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437025979l/2090772._SY75_.jpg|192385] (1990)
I read The Mussel Feast as part of the Translated Fiction Online Book Club which has been organized by Peirene Press and 5 other UK independent publishers for a 6 week period (March 26 to April 30, 2020) during this current world pandemic situation.
The first book club meeting was held Thurs. March 26, 2020 via the Zoom application with about 87 online attendees and started with Peirene Press publishing assistant Maddie Rogers interviewing translator Jaime Bulloch about The Mussel Feast interspersed with group member questions submitted by the Chat function. The club then split into breakout groups for a period and then reconvened for a wrap-up. It all flowed very smoothly I thought and I was impressed by the Zoom app.
The Mussel Feast was written in mid-1989 during the time of the disintegration of the Communist Eastern Europe Bloc and the Soviet Union with the iconic fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 yet to come. The story describes a mother, daughter and son who have prepared a feast of mussels, chips and wine in expectation of their father's return to celebrate a promotion. As the father does not appear (he has probably gone off drinking with work cronies), the family stews about his past injustices and abuse. The food gradually goes bad as the rest of the family drink the wine and begin to openly rebel against the father's hypocritical expectations of how they should behave as a "perfect" family.
The teenage daughter is the prime narrator although we have flashbacks to incidents with the mother and son as well. The rebellion against a tyrannical patriarchy is obviously also symbolic of the rebellion of peoples in the Eastern Bloc to the façade of the idealistic view of communism which disguised a rotting system beneath the surface.
During the book club, Jamie Bulloch talked about how he had been approached by Peirene Press to do the translation in 2013 and his experiences with it. The German original in the meantime has become a standard read in German high school curricula. I enjoyed the dark humour of The Mussel Feast and was especially happy with the success of the book club and look forward to its further readings and meetings.
Trivia and Links
The Mussel Feast is one of the books in the Best 100 Women in Translation list which was voted on last year (2019) during Women in Translation (WIT) month. It will eventually be one of the group reads in the Goodreads Best 100 WIT group where each of the books are being read in turn.
Review of the Peirene Press English translation eBook edition (2013) of the German language original [b:Das Muschelessen|2090772|Das Muschelessen|Birgit Vanderbeke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437025979l/2090772._SY75_.jpg|192385] (1990)
I read The Mussel Feast as part of the Translated Fiction Online Book Club which has been organized by Peirene Press and 5 other UK independent publishers for a 6 week period (March 26 to April 30, 2020) during this current world pandemic situation.
The first book club meeting was held Thurs. March 26, 2020 via the Zoom application with about 87 online attendees and started with Peirene Press publishing assistant Maddie Rogers interviewing translator Jaime Bulloch about The Mussel Feast interspersed with group member questions submitted by the Chat function. The club then split into breakout groups for a period and then reconvened for a wrap-up. It all flowed very smoothly I thought and I was impressed by the Zoom app.
The Mussel Feast was written in mid-1989 during the time of the disintegration of the Communist Eastern Europe Bloc and the Soviet Union with the iconic fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 yet to come. The story describes a mother, daughter and son who have prepared a feast of mussels, chips and wine in expectation of their father's return to celebrate a promotion. As the father does not appear (he has probably gone off drinking with work cronies), the family stews about his past injustices and abuse. The food gradually goes bad as the rest of the family drink the wine and begin to openly rebel against the father's hypocritical expectations of how they should behave as a "perfect" family.
The teenage daughter is the prime narrator although we have flashbacks to incidents with the mother and son as well. The rebellion against a tyrannical patriarchy is obviously also symbolic of the rebellion of peoples in the Eastern Bloc to the façade of the idealistic view of communism which disguised a rotting system beneath the surface.
During the book club, Jamie Bulloch talked about how he had been approached by Peirene Press to do the translation in 2013 and his experiences with it. The German original in the meantime has become a standard read in German high school curricula. I enjoyed the dark humour of The Mussel Feast and was especially happy with the success of the book club and look forward to its further readings and meetings.
Trivia and Links
The Mussel Feast is one of the books in the Best 100 Women in Translation list which was voted on last year (2019) during Women in Translation (WIT) month. It will eventually be one of the group reads in the Goodreads Best 100 WIT group where each of the books are being read in turn.
Ein sehr gutes Buch, muss ich sagen, die richtige Länge, die richtigen Worte, das rechte Ende. Es ist nicht einfach so präzise zu sein :)
Libro molto bello, devo dire, la giusta lunghezza, le giuste parole ed il giusto finale. Non é mica semplice essere cosí precisi :)
Libro molto bello, devo dire, la giusta lunghezza, le giuste parole ed il giusto finale. Non é mica semplice essere cosí precisi :)
The ruptures of a dysfunctional family - overseen by a domineering, hypocritical father - as an allegory of what it takes to stimulate political revolution. Well worth a look.