Scan barcode
A review by stacialithub
Bug by Giacomo Sartori
4.0
A pell-mell, strange, & wonderful story.
Told from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old deaf boy who has ADHD (or something similar, it's never specified; he has a lot of trouble in school not only because of his hearing disability but also because he has a very hard time staying still &/or concentrating; plus, he tends to act out aggressively on occasion), this has almost a manic, breathless style of storytelling & a bit of an unreliable narrator feel.
Since the 10-year-old is telling the story, it's never quite clear whether the AI is real or if the AI is really a product of his imagination as he tries to cope with school, his mom being in a coma, a distracted dad, etc.... Is it magical realism, an unreliable narrator, a set of "real" events, or some combo? I think there's enough wiggle room that different readers will come to different conclusions.
The author does a good job of showing some of the challenges the protagonist faces, being deaf in a hearing world, the difference a good aide can be at school vs. a bad one, a teacher who is accommodating (or not), the ennui of hospitals, & more. There's also an intriguing alignment/parallel of the protagonist & "Bug" (the AI) as both feel like "the other" in this strange world we inhabit, not always taken seriously, approached with caution by others, even while there's more to both of them than may be apparent on the surface.
There are some genuinely funny & sweet moments, along with a "life is a crazy ride" mentality. I enjoyed falling into this wild tale headfirst (but the pell-mell feeling of narration from the spinning brain of a 10-year-old's mind might not be a style everyone is going to like).
Kudos to translator Frederika Randall (who passed away in 2020: A Tribute to Frederika Randall, "Translator of the Unsaid") as I think she captured the wonder, fun, charm, & strangeness of this unique story.
Told from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old deaf boy who has ADHD (or something similar, it's never specified; he has a lot of trouble in school not only because of his hearing disability but also because he has a very hard time staying still &/or concentrating; plus, he tends to act out aggressively on occasion), this has almost a manic, breathless style of storytelling & a bit of an unreliable narrator feel.
Since the 10-year-old is telling the story, it's never quite clear whether the AI is real or if the AI is really a product of his imagination as he tries to cope with school, his mom being in a coma, a distracted dad, etc.... Is it magical realism, an unreliable narrator, a set of "real" events, or some combo? I think there's enough wiggle room that different readers will come to different conclusions.
The author does a good job of showing some of the challenges the protagonist faces, being deaf in a hearing world, the difference a good aide can be at school vs. a bad one, a teacher who is accommodating (or not), the ennui of hospitals, & more. There's also an intriguing alignment/parallel of the protagonist & "Bug" (the AI) as both feel like "the other" in this strange world we inhabit, not always taken seriously, approached with caution by others, even while there's more to both of them than may be apparent on the surface.
There are some genuinely funny & sweet moments, along with a "life is a crazy ride" mentality. I enjoyed falling into this wild tale headfirst (but the pell-mell feeling of narration from the spinning brain of a 10-year-old's mind might not be a style everyone is going to like).
Kudos to translator Frederika Randall (who passed away in 2020: A Tribute to Frederika Randall, "Translator of the Unsaid") as I think she captured the wonder, fun, charm, & strangeness of this unique story.