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sophiealexandras's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
evamalta's review
Bought this book at Reikjavik airport - l had some time to kill before my flight and, naturally, wandered into the bookshop and thought that it was the perfect opportunity to buy something from an Icelandic writer.
The experience I had in Iceland, road tripping for a week, surely helped me to better imagine and visualise the story, but also, to understand it.
Summer Light, and then Comes Night is a story about an Icelandic village told by the village itself. “We” is the collective voice that tells you about the individual “I”s that live in the village, in a story that explores human nature, in all its natural emotions to its supernatural experiences:
A mystery created by dreams, a family tragedy, a haunted warehouse, an illicit affair gone sour, lovers separated and rejoined, people being happy with the small things, people being desperate with the small things, an anxious person that wonders about the mummies from 4000 years ago.
The authors writes in an interesting way (that kind of reminded me of Portuguese author Saramago, due to the personal use of punctuation). The writing is descriptive, funny and poetic, and the reading experience is very enjoyable.
After being in Iceland, I could better understand how magic realism is the only way to really tell a story about life in the island - of the nature, isolation, and the dichotomy of light and dark. It is a magical place indeed, that can be romanticised or demonised, as the reality is probably both.
The experience I had in Iceland, road tripping for a week, surely helped me to better imagine and visualise the story, but also, to understand it.
Summer Light, and then Comes Night is a story about an Icelandic village told by the village itself. “We” is the collective voice that tells you about the individual “I”s that live in the village, in a story that explores human nature, in all its natural emotions to its supernatural experiences:
A mystery created by dreams, a family tragedy, a haunted warehouse, an illicit affair gone sour, lovers separated and rejoined, people being happy with the small things, people being desperate with the small things, an anxious person that wonders about the mummies from 4000 years ago.
The authors writes in an interesting way (that kind of reminded me of Portuguese author Saramago, due to the personal use of punctuation). The writing is descriptive, funny and poetic, and the reading experience is very enjoyable.
After being in Iceland, I could better understand how magic realism is the only way to really tell a story about life in the island - of the nature, isolation, and the dichotomy of light and dark. It is a magical place indeed, that can be romanticised or demonised, as the reality is probably both.
difran's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
aruarian_melody's review against another edition
The writing style didn't work for me at all (mostly sentence structure) and after a serious first red flag concerning how women were described I checked some reviews. Looks like many people pointed out misogynistic writing, so I'll honor my first personal red flag and move on to another book.
ccate's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ellin's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mpswans1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
rpych2's review against another edition
4.0
I actually have a story about how I came to read this book. I previously worked for the publisher of the English translation, and saw it presented at the company’s internal sales conference. After starting a job at the publishing house I’m current at shortly after, I lost track of it despite thinking I’d want to read this. Now about three years later, I finally read it and I’ll say it was worth the wait.
This was a beautifully written novel and a lovely story of a small and close knit village and it’s characters. It’s very character driven despite its different events that happen around the village throughout the years. It’s something I thought that Ulysses should be, shorter and better at conveying the world is full of small and beautiful moments every single day and that every life is worth living.
This was a beautifully written novel and a lovely story of a small and close knit village and it’s characters. It’s very character driven despite its different events that happen around the village throughout the years. It’s something I thought that Ulysses should be, shorter and better at conveying the world is full of small and beautiful moments every single day and that every life is worth living.
sophiefrancoiselucie's review against another edition
I really can’t read the way women are described. They’re all sexualised and that’s just not something I can read at the moment. Maybe the other stories would be different, but life’s too short to spend time sharing the point of view of someone you don’t want to do anything with.