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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Haven't been this angry while reading a book in a while
The sentences were so long that I anytime I wanted to stop reading, I did it at the end of whatever sentence I was currently ploughing through.
It was really just a book about an abusive father. That's it.
It was really just a book about an abusive father. That's it.
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A mother and her two teenage children are preparing a feast of mussels, their customary meal for celebrations. The daughter doesn’t much care for mussels, nor does the mother, but this is what they do. They must act like a proper family. But the father doesn’t come home when expected and the truths of their proper family come out.
The Mussel Feast is narrated by the daughter and starts off with the actions of preparing and cooking the mussels. There is a fantastic passage where the mussels start to scream and she contemplates them being cooked alive. When the father doesn’t return, her thoughts start to wander and the novella is a slow reveal of their lives. A normal family on the outside but living under a controlling father; one obsessed with being proper. When alone the family can act how they like but as soon as he is present, they put on their masks.
The Mussel Feast is one of the most studied texts in Germany. Written just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, it shows a family that have escaped the East, trading one form of control for another. Birgit Vanderbeke wrote it to explore how revolutions start, how one thought can snowball into realisation and defiance. There are quite a lot of run-on sentences and paragraphs that run into pages, which reflects the daughter’s train of thought. It’s a short yet completely absorbing read.
The Mussel Feast is narrated by the daughter and starts off with the actions of preparing and cooking the mussels. There is a fantastic passage where the mussels start to scream and she contemplates them being cooked alive. When the father doesn’t return, her thoughts start to wander and the novella is a slow reveal of their lives. A normal family on the outside but living under a controlling father; one obsessed with being proper. When alone the family can act how they like but as soon as he is present, they put on their masks.
The Mussel Feast is one of the most studied texts in Germany. Written just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, it shows a family that have escaped the East, trading one form of control for another. Birgit Vanderbeke wrote it to explore how revolutions start, how one thought can snowball into realisation and defiance. There are quite a lot of run-on sentences and paragraphs that run into pages, which reflects the daughter’s train of thought. It’s a short yet completely absorbing read.
Anfangs fand ich die ständigen Wiederholungen enervierend, wie ein schlechterer Thomas Bernhard. Aber, ebenfalls wie bei Bernhard, entwickelt sich ein eigener Reiz, wenn man erst einmal richtig in der etwa 100 Seiten langen Erzählung drin ist.
Wie Vanderbeke eine dysfunktionale Familie mit einem Patriarchen schildert, hat mich immer mal wieder sehr an meine eigene Familie erinnert. Vorstellung und Wirklichkeit passen nicht zusammen und im Versuch, passend zu machen, was nicht passen kann, zerstört der Vater letztlich jedes Vertrauen und wird, völlig zurecht, von seiner Familie mehr und mehr dekonstruiert und in seiner Fehlerhaftigkeit vorgeführt.
Wie Vanderbeke eine dysfunktionale Familie mit einem Patriarchen schildert, hat mich immer mal wieder sehr an meine eigene Familie erinnert. Vorstellung und Wirklichkeit passen nicht zusammen und im Versuch, passend zu machen, was nicht passen kann, zerstört der Vater letztlich jedes Vertrauen und wird, völlig zurecht, von seiner Familie mehr und mehr dekonstruiert und in seiner Fehlerhaftigkeit vorgeführt.
Està mooolt bé és els millors petits plaers sens dubte però això de que no tingui ja no capitols sinó un simple PUNT I APART es fa duríssim
*****5.0*****
A teenage brother and sister, along with their mother are waiting for their father to return home. They are at the dinner table with a pot of cooked mussel. As they are waiting, mother and kids get on with talking, slowly unraveling a picture which is hidden inside a simple act of "waiting for the father for dinner".
Narrated through the words of the teenage daughter, we come to know what the family members go through to manage a cordial behaviour on the outside when there is a lot of abuse from the father, who has his own notions about a proper family. The family members change themselves accordingly to their father's moods and tries their best to reach upto their standards while suppressing their own wishes.
But as the evening progresses, slowly the mother and her kids start to hope that the father might not return, maybe forever. And slowly they start to lay down all their pretenses and start talking more clearly about their father. They are willing to come out of his clutches and are almost relieved that he is not coming back.
This book was an ultimate shocker which I picked up on a whim. I liked how I was almost dreading the ending. An excellent read.
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced