Scan barcode
A review by jenbsbooks
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
emotional
sad
5.0
I love Backman books! I'll admit though, when I first checked this out from the library and listened to it ... I liked it, I was confused though. I had some moments when I felt myself tearing up. I didn't feel like I could write a review right then, I didn't know what to say. I wanted to read it as well. The narration was wonderful, but I think I needed to see it and ponder it more than I could with my initial listen. I had to wait a while for the e-book hold to come in. I started reading, and immediately choked up. It's Backham's standard 3rd person/present tense. The slightly disconnected feel, as if we are watching a scene from above ... the way it starts "There’s a hospital room at the end of a life where someone, right in the middle of the floor, has pitched a green tent. A person wakes up inside it, breathless and afraid, not knowing where he is. A young man sitting next to him whispers: “Don’t be scared.”
The book IS confusing, but I think that's part of the experience. It jumps around in time, and in places, some real, some not. Names aren't always given ... there is a father and a son, a grandfather and grandson. Love (especially the narration, spot on perfection) how the grandfather calls him "NoahNoah" ... "Grandpa always calls him “Noahnoah” because he likes his grandson’s name twice as much as everyone else’s." The relationship between Grandpa and Noah is so precious. "Our good-bye doesn’t have to be like that, you’ll be able to keep redoing it until it’s perfect" and ...
“And I don’t think you need to be scared of forgetting me,” the boy says after a moment’s consideration.
“No?”
The corners of the boy’s mouth reach his earlobes.
“No. Because if you forget me then you’ll just get the chance to get to know me again. And you’ll like that, because I’m actually a pretty cool person to get to know.”
Grandpa is dealing with dementia, he's forgetting ... how sweet are those comments by the little grandson? He also mentions that it's perfect for telling Grandpa secrets. Grandpa spends quite a bit of time in his head, and his grandson joins him there, as well as grandpa's wife who has passed on. It's sweet. It's terrifying. It's so sad.
The book IS confusing, but I think that's part of the experience. It jumps around in time, and in places, some real, some not. Names aren't always given ... there is a father and a son, a grandfather and grandson. Love (especially the narration, spot on perfection) how the grandfather calls him "NoahNoah" ... "Grandpa always calls him “Noahnoah” because he likes his grandson’s name twice as much as everyone else’s." The relationship between Grandpa and Noah is so precious. "Our good-bye doesn’t have to be like that, you’ll be able to keep redoing it until it’s perfect" and ...
“And I don’t think you need to be scared of forgetting me,” the boy says after a moment’s consideration.
“No?”
The corners of the boy’s mouth reach his earlobes.
“No. Because if you forget me then you’ll just get the chance to get to know me again. And you’ll like that, because I’m actually a pretty cool person to get to know.”
Grandpa is dealing with dementia, he's forgetting ... how sweet are those comments by the little grandson? He also mentions that it's perfect for telling Grandpa secrets. Grandpa spends quite a bit of time in his head, and his grandson joins him there, as well as grandpa's wife who has passed on. It's sweet. It's terrifying. It's so sad.