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A review by jessferg
The Greenhouse by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
4.0
I always find it hard to write about books that don't have a plot, per se, because it ends up feeling like I'm saying they are dull when that's not true at all. Case and point: The Greenhouse.
Essentially the story can be described as "A young man road trips to a monastery where he plans to restore an overgrown rose garden. Along the way he gets appendicitis, gives a lift to a teenager, and reflects on the death of his mother and the birth of his daughter."
Who would read that? (I mean, besides me, obviously.) And yet it's really a lovely character-driven story with well-rounded emotions and actions. His involvement, or lack thereof, with the mother of his child is an interesting piece of the puzzle and while in the beginning it's a bit confusing (and slightly maddening) in the end it becomes quite an important part of the story and the character's development.
I love reading this kind of thing between a bunch of non-fiction or after a highly-strung plot line - it resets what I'm reading for and reminds me that the best stories are the ones that are the truest to real life.
Essentially the story can be described as "A young man road trips to a monastery where he plans to restore an overgrown rose garden. Along the way he gets appendicitis, gives a lift to a teenager, and reflects on the death of his mother and the birth of his daughter."
Who would read that? (I mean, besides me, obviously.) And yet it's really a lovely character-driven story with well-rounded emotions and actions. His involvement, or lack thereof, with the mother of his child is an interesting piece of the puzzle and while in the beginning it's a bit confusing (and slightly maddening) in the end it becomes quite an important part of the story and the character's development.
I love reading this kind of thing between a bunch of non-fiction or after a highly-strung plot line - it resets what I'm reading for and reminds me that the best stories are the ones that are the truest to real life.