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abbie_'s review
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
First of all I would just like to appreciate the format of this book - it’s two short books, one a collection of short stories and one a novella, and instead of just following one another, you reach the middle and have to flip the book upside down and go back to the ‘start’ to start the next book. V fun!
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In terms of actual content, I found the novella, Minna Needs Rehearsal Space, a lot more compelling than the collection of short stories, Karate Chop. I’m writing this review almost two weeks after finishing the book (oops) and most of the stories from Karate Chop have not left much of an impression tbh. The exception being my favourite, the last, The Wadden Sea, where a young girl moves to the Danish coast with her chronically ill mother. There’s some great commentary on the difference in people’s treatment of others with visible versus invisible disabilities and illnesses. Looking back at my notes, I did also enjoy The Winter Garden and Flight. The tone of the stories is always very bleak, characters coming to stark realisations that everything is falling apart and that the status quo never really changes.
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Minna Needs Rehearsal Space absolutely gripped me though. It’s a 90 page novella all told in one sentence paragraphs - reminiscent of Facebook statuses of old (Minna pees. Minna fills her water bottle from the tap. Minna leaves the john.). I can see how this would grate on some people, but I was hooked and couldn’t get enough. I found it impressive how Nors managed to pack such emotional gut punches into these almost-robotic like sentences. Minna, in her thirties, unmarried and childless, is spiralling under the weight of the expectations placed on her, and her ‘failure’ to meet them. She’s also struggling to deal with her demanding older sister and workplace anxiety, and the short snappy sentences really convey the sense of building anxiety and Minna’s dwindling tolerance for it all.
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One I’d recommend for Minna alone! Probably 2 stars for the short story collection and 4 stars for Minna.
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#WomenInTranslation
guuran62's review against another edition
3.0
https://boklaadan.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/kantslag-minna-saknar-en-ovningslokal/
milliebrierley's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
eabha's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
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