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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
challenging
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence
Ich hatte nicht erwartet wie stark mich das Buch mitnehmen und bewegen würde. Hier wird wirklich reflektiert wie das Patriarchat im Kleinbürgerlichen die Familien schädigt und am Ende wird die Struktur durch die Tochter und Familie zu Fall gebracht. Die Beschreibungen der Gewalt des Vaters durch waren so roh aber für sie selbstverständlich das es sich wie eine Klatsche angefühlt hat bei Lesen. Ein richtiger Weckruf
A gift in a neat edition from Peirene. Hopefully not a comment on my role in the family.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The core concept and the characters in this book are compelling. It makes me want to put the father in a meat grinder which speaks to the dark reality this book portrays. But oh my god I can't get over the prose. I know it serves a purpose but it's so style-over-substance. It's really annoying and the worst part about it is, it turns what could be a story about a meal with the conversation being the centerpiece (the daughter could have her excretion of words THERE) of the novel into 130 pages of exposition dumping. I just don't understand the creative choice here.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the second book by Birgit Vanderbeke which I have read, after [b:You Would Have Missed Me|41945033|You Would Have Missed Me|Birgit Vanderbeke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537368463l/41945033._SY75_.jpg|48206890], also published by Peirene Press. And actually this book is Birgit Vanderbeke’s debut book, first published in 1990. She wrote this in August 1989, just several months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, an eventuality which changed the political landscape of Germany and Europe at that time. After reading this book, I began to get a sense of Peirene Press’s mission to publish what they termed as ‘literary cinema’. The two novellas by Birgit Vanderbeke which I have read contains only around 100-and-so pages, ideal to be devoured in around two hours in a single sitting, roughly the same amount of time that we’d spend watching a film.
The novella started with a mussel feast to celebrate the promotion of a father in a family that is, to say in its straightforward term: dysfunctional. It began before 6 pm of the day, as the mother prepared mussel feast which is enjoyable to the father and the narrator’s brother. The narrator and her mom didn’t enjoy the feast, which would show how the household is dominated by the men’s interests. The monologue from the narrator actually only describes the happenings between 6 pm, which was their anticipated time of the arrival of the father, and 10 pm as ended by endless phone calls which made the family realised that so much time has passed and it was time to move on.
Coming to this novella from reading You Would Have Missed Me, I could not help but seeing the lines which connect the two stories, albeit not explicitly mentioned by Birgit Vanderbeke. The father figure is largely absent, as the narrator terms him as a person who’s strived to achieve perfection in everything and largely logical in his thinking process. Whereas the mother is a figure who is being exploited for menial tasks in the household and has to play being ‘wifey’ when the father is home. Unlike in You Would Have Missed Me, there’s a younger brother figure in this book, who’s described as a total failure by the father’s standard as he got Fours in his school report cards most of the time.
The author still tries to draw a sharp contrast between life in West Germany and in East Germany where both the narrator’s grandmothers still lived. In it, we can see how former East German refugees who have settled in the West tried to fit into the new society, as shown by the behaviours of the father who did his best with respects to clothing, as well as covering his lacks of Western knowledge by buying whole subscriptions of Der Spiegel, classical music concert, and volumes of encyclopaedia by Ziegler. Whereas the mother remains true to her sole interests, only playing ‘wifey’ during the time the father is home.
It’s not as thrilling experience as reading You Would Have Missed Me. Actually, this novella feels more like a description of a normal life of a West German family if we did not take the cue of the period when this story is written (that is, August 1989) as well as the fact that Birgit Vanderbeke left East Germany as a child with her family to settle in the West. However, it would be worthwhile to read for anyone interested to analyse the circumstances surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall and the gradual process that preceded the historical event.
The novella started with a mussel feast to celebrate the promotion of a father in a family that is, to say in its straightforward term: dysfunctional. It began before 6 pm of the day, as the mother prepared mussel feast which is enjoyable to the father and the narrator’s brother. The narrator and her mom didn’t enjoy the feast, which would show how the household is dominated by the men’s interests. The monologue from the narrator actually only describes the happenings between 6 pm, which was their anticipated time of the arrival of the father, and 10 pm as ended by endless phone calls which made the family realised that so much time has passed and it was time to move on.
Coming to this novella from reading You Would Have Missed Me, I could not help but seeing the lines which connect the two stories, albeit not explicitly mentioned by Birgit Vanderbeke. The father figure is largely absent, as the narrator terms him as a person who’s strived to achieve perfection in everything and largely logical in his thinking process. Whereas the mother is a figure who is being exploited for menial tasks in the household and has to play being ‘wifey’ when the father is home. Unlike in You Would Have Missed Me, there’s a younger brother figure in this book, who’s described as a total failure by the father’s standard as he got Fours in his school report cards most of the time.
The author still tries to draw a sharp contrast between life in West Germany and in East Germany where both the narrator’s grandmothers still lived. In it, we can see how former East German refugees who have settled in the West tried to fit into the new society, as shown by the behaviours of the father who did his best with respects to clothing, as well as covering his lacks of Western knowledge by buying whole subscriptions of Der Spiegel, classical music concert, and volumes of encyclopaedia by Ziegler. Whereas the mother remains true to her sole interests, only playing ‘wifey’ during the time the father is home.
It’s not as thrilling experience as reading You Would Have Missed Me. Actually, this novella feels more like a description of a normal life of a West German family if we did not take the cue of the period when this story is written (that is, August 1989) as well as the fact that Birgit Vanderbeke left East Germany as a child with her family to settle in the West. However, it would be worthwhile to read for anyone interested to analyse the circumstances surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall and the gradual process that preceded the historical event.
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Los mejillones para cenar como metáfora de todo aquello que hacemos por contentar a aquel que nunca puede estar contento. ¿Y qué ocurre cuándo ya ni esto es suficiente?
Una novela contenida en su narración desbordada, con esa forma de hablar tan de la infancia en la que los temas se encadenan sin respirar y vuelven una y otra vez al mismo lugar. Única. Recomendable para leer en todos los institutos y recordar que para cambiar algo hay que empezar por mirar a nuestro alrededor.
Una novela contenida en su narración desbordada, con esa forma de hablar tan de la infancia en la que los temas se encadenan sin respirar y vuelven una y otra vez al mismo lugar. Única. Recomendable para leer en todos los institutos y recordar que para cambiar algo hay que empezar por mirar a nuestro alrededor.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
reflective
tense
dark
emotional
tense