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sidharthan 's review for:
The Discomfort of Evening
by Lucas Rijneveld
I approached this book with an abundance of caution. Not only had it won the Booker, it also seemed to have a precocious young child as the protagonist - a combination that surely meant that I wouldn't enjoy the book. It managed to surprise me though.
Coming off a very plot-heavy book (Gomorrah by Lakshmi Saravanakumar), the contrast of there being almost no plot at all in this book was all the more startling. I am generally a fan of slow-burn books that take their time building the atmosphere and letting us get really familiar with the characters. This book works for the most part, but there are times when even my patience was tested. It felt like a little bit of editing here and there could have helped. But now that I think about it, I wouldn't know which part to remove. All the little incidents and observations slowly add on to the big picture.
I also liked that Marieke didn't shy away from talking about the sexuality of the adolescent children and the dangerous experiments that they do around it. The kids also are willfully cruel and the author does not shy away from describing these moments in great detail. It all portrays a great picture of how mental health and grief can work in very insidious ways. At the same time, it felt like a commentary about how being in a hyper-religious family that doesn't openly talk about anything can affect your perception of things.
The author has actually done a great job capturing the feel on a young girl living on a farm and coming to terms with her world and especially death. So the few places where the voice of the author comes to the forefront over that of a child, take you out of it. These felt almost like breaks in continuity. The protagonist makes some observations about life and death that seem to come from a place of much more experience. It felt like she was coming back to this point of her life later and adding her observations about it as an adult. This just happens in a few places and are mostly forgivable. But given that the mood of the piece is the only thing that keeps us going, these interruptions are noteworthy.
The final part and the ending were the best for me. The interruptions you felt previously are completely absent here. What's more, you actually get a lot of plot movement (for this book at least). This was another book where the ending redeemed a lot of the book. If it hadn't been for it, I might have rated the book a lot less. It gets intensely emotional. You want to reach out into the book and help the characters in some way but you just feel absolutely helpless as a looker-on just reading the book. It was also very explosive as a climax and something I feel will stay on with me. I am never going to stop wondering what happened after that. Having said that, I wouldn't want a direct sequel for this. It has to remain this way for it to hold its impact.
Overall, this is without doubt a great achievement for a debut novel, and a very, very intense read. I almost want Marieke to never to write again and be one of those one-time wonders. But if they do happen to write again, I am sure I will be waiting to read:)
Coming off a very plot-heavy book (Gomorrah by Lakshmi Saravanakumar), the contrast of there being almost no plot at all in this book was all the more startling. I am generally a fan of slow-burn books that take their time building the atmosphere and letting us get really familiar with the characters. This book works for the most part, but there are times when even my patience was tested. It felt like a little bit of editing here and there could have helped. But now that I think about it, I wouldn't know which part to remove. All the little incidents and observations slowly add on to the big picture.
I also liked that Marieke didn't shy away from talking about the sexuality of the adolescent children and the dangerous experiments that they do around it. The kids also are willfully cruel and the author does not shy away from describing these moments in great detail. It all portrays a great picture of how mental health and grief can work in very insidious ways. At the same time, it felt like a commentary about how being in a hyper-religious family that doesn't openly talk about anything can affect your perception of things.
The author has actually done a great job capturing the feel on a young girl living on a farm and coming to terms with her world and especially death. So the few places where the voice of the author comes to the forefront over that of a child, take you out of it. These felt almost like breaks in continuity. The protagonist makes some observations about life and death that seem to come from a place of much more experience. It felt like she was coming back to this point of her life later and adding her observations about it as an adult. This just happens in a few places and are mostly forgivable. But given that the mood of the piece is the only thing that keeps us going, these interruptions are noteworthy.
The final part and the ending were the best for me. The interruptions you felt previously are completely absent here. What's more, you actually get a lot of plot movement (for this book at least). This was another book where the ending redeemed a lot of the book. If it hadn't been for it, I might have rated the book a lot less. It gets intensely emotional. You want to reach out into the book and help the characters in some way but you just feel absolutely helpless as a looker-on just reading the book. It was also very explosive as a climax and something I feel will stay on with me. I am never going to stop wondering what happened after that. Having said that, I wouldn't want a direct sequel for this. It has to remain this way for it to hold its impact.
Overall, this is without doubt a great achievement for a debut novel, and a very, very intense read. I almost want Marieke to never to write again and be one of those one-time wonders. But if they do happen to write again, I am sure I will be waiting to read:)