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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
In this slender novel by German author Birgit Vanderbeke, a son, daughter and their mother wait for the man of the house to return from a business trip. For this reunion dinner, the mother has prepared mussels. As they prepare the mussel feast and then wait for his arrival, they begin to talk to each other. Narrated by the daughter, the book begins by giving a picture of a household that relaxes a bit when the father is out of town, with informal mealtimes and an easier routine, but there are soon ominous hints that life with this man is maybe harsher than is usual. As they wait at the table around the bowl of mussels, the three unhappy family members finally begin to speak honestly with one another and as the hour grows later and later, and it becomes evident that something has happened, the mood grows more convivial as what life is like for them with their father and husband is slowly revealed to be worse and worse.
The Mussel Feast reminds me of Herman Koch's The Dinner in its slowly rising level of unpleasantness. It's not over-blown, however, and the narrator is all too reliable. The story is told in one, breathless segment, with few paragraph breaks and enormous run-on sentences. This is a masterful work, with the sense of growing dread perfectly controlled right through the book's final sentences.
The Mussel Feast was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the winner of which will be announced later this month.
The Mussel Feast reminds me of Herman Koch's The Dinner in its slowly rising level of unpleasantness. It's not over-blown, however, and the narrator is all too reliable. The story is told in one, breathless segment, with few paragraph breaks and enormous run-on sentences. This is a masterful work, with the sense of growing dread perfectly controlled right through the book's final sentences.
The Mussel Feast was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the winner of which will be announced later this month.
Kurzmeinung / Leseerlebnis
Sätze, die sich über zwei Seiten erstrecken und fehlende Absätze sind nicht mein liebstes Stilmittel. Aber da das Buch nur 109 Seiten umfasst und einem relativ schnell klar wird, dass es im. Wesentlichen nur darum geht, zu erfahren, warum der Vater noch nicht aufgetaucht ist, ist die Geschichte relativ gut verpackt.
Leider hat trotz der guten Schreibweise die Autorin meiner Meinung nach am Ende nicht geliefert.
Sätze, die sich über zwei Seiten erstrecken und fehlende Absätze sind nicht mein liebstes Stilmittel. Aber da das Buch nur 109 Seiten umfasst und einem relativ schnell klar wird, dass es im. Wesentlichen nur darum geht, zu erfahren, warum der Vater noch nicht aufgetaucht ist, ist die Geschichte relativ gut verpackt.
Leider hat trotz der guten Schreibweise die Autorin meiner Meinung nach am Ende nicht geliefert.
The Man of the House has made it to the top! The promotion he has obsessed over is finally his. All he must do now is return from his business trip, walk into his home, and celebrate with his family, sharing a bottle of Spätlese wine and a feast of his favorite food: mussels.
He won't make it home.
And as his wife and children await him, a growing picture of the idealist who wanted the perfect family and the top job begins to look more and more like a monster. The resolve of the daughter/speaker as well as that of her mother begins to stiffen. Freedom trumps idealism. The weakest of the family find that they have, well, muscle.
This is a fascinating story, but the allegory of fin de siecle East Germany is what makes this a classic. The year, 1989, marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik. There were state celebrations throughout the summer of this state, founded on ideals of community and brotherhood--i.e. "family."
But beneath these ideals was brutality, limits on freedom to travel and express one's self. The 40th anniversary celebrations were still going on when Germans began to march, the Berlin Wall was hacked apart by sledgehammers, the family rejected its father/state. A less than a year later the Fatherland had been unified.
This makes The Mussel Feast worth reading twice: one for the merit of the tale itself, a second time for glimpses into the Zeitgeist that transformed the world in 1989-90.
He won't make it home.
And as his wife and children await him, a growing picture of the idealist who wanted the perfect family and the top job begins to look more and more like a monster. The resolve of the daughter/speaker as well as that of her mother begins to stiffen. Freedom trumps idealism. The weakest of the family find that they have, well, muscle.
This is a fascinating story, but the allegory of fin de siecle East Germany is what makes this a classic. The year, 1989, marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik. There were state celebrations throughout the summer of this state, founded on ideals of community and brotherhood--i.e. "family."
But beneath these ideals was brutality, limits on freedom to travel and express one's self. The 40th anniversary celebrations were still going on when Germans began to march, the Berlin Wall was hacked apart by sledgehammers, the family rejected its father/state. A less than a year later the Fatherland had been unified.
This makes The Mussel Feast worth reading twice: one for the merit of the tale itself, a second time for glimpses into the Zeitgeist that transformed the world in 1989-90.
The last few pages really ratcheted up the tension that was barely there for the majority of the novel. It takes the form as a remembrance, our narrator focusing primarily on memories of her father and his...rigidity. There's something underlying here that infers abuse...namely, that when dad is late for dinner (scheduled for seven), no one gets up, no one starts to eat lest he be disappointed when arrives. Eight o'clock, nine o'clock pass and they remained rooted to their chairs, getting more and more drunk (that's mom, brother, and our narrator). She says, "In all that time we never looked at the clock." That's pretty disturbing, to just sit there for three hours.
The phone rings at a quarter to ten, our narrator realizes she's chewed her fingernails bloody and mom confesses that she wanted to poison them. No one picks up the phone and mom gets rid of her mussel dinner. Of the phone ringing, the narrator said, "the Day of Judgment begins at a quarter to ten," and said, "the phone skythed into our wickedness." They seem afraid for their lives. WTH
The phone rings at a quarter to ten, our narrator realizes she's chewed her fingernails bloody and mom confesses that she wanted to poison them. No one picks up the phone and mom gets rid of her mussel dinner. Of the phone ringing, the narrator said, "the Day of Judgment begins at a quarter to ten," and said, "the phone skythed into our wickedness." They seem afraid for their lives. WTH
Amazing prose, very lyrically written. A story of a family that the father pretty much runs. A father who is always moody, annoyed and disappointed in his wife and children. A father who dictates every single movement of the family unit.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-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
3.5 bintang.
inti cerita dan narasinya bagus, penokohannya juga oke. monolognya menarik dan tidak membosankan. tapi...
yang ga jelas adalah...
sebenernya ini tentang Tembok Berlin atau feminisme? ndak jelas arahnya.
repiu lengkap menyusul di blog.
inti cerita dan narasinya bagus, penokohannya juga oke. monolognya menarik dan tidak membosankan. tapi...
yang ga jelas adalah...
sebenernya ini tentang Tembok Berlin atau feminisme? ndak jelas arahnya.
repiu lengkap menyusul di blog.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes