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A review by smuds2
Good Will Come from the Sea by Christos Ikonomou
3.0
DNF'ed after "I'll Swallow Your Dreams" and "Kill The German", but I'm putting it as read because it's my life and I can do what I want.
I don't know much about contemporary Greek culture, or the issues they face. I basically just know that the debt crisis existed and exists, which meant I tried to shoe-horn many of the potential concepts into that framework of understanding - a framework that ultimately felt lacking. There was so much I missed in the first couple of stories, or at least that I felt I missed - and only felt like I scratched the surface of understanding because of that minute frame of reference.
Like I got some of the typical "jobless hopeless underclass" vibes, I understood some of the insular cultural implications of living on an island. But take the first story for instance - how are they foreigners? What is the implication behind an island person calling a mainland Greek person a foreigner? Is it similar to Mainers calling people "from away"? I don't know - and it felt integral to the story.
There were some general philosophical musings I found interesting - like the "what does it mean to know something bad is happening and what to do something but dont because my legs don't work? How is that different than not doing it because I live in community that reinforces that behavior? In both cases there is someone that recognizes that something that is happening should not happen, wants to stop it, and yet can't."
In the position where I didn't have the context behind the story, the writing would have had to carry the day - and this style just wasn't for me. And that judgement is not through any fault of the author or translator - it seems like a smooth writing and reading experience - just not what I enjoy.
I don't know much about contemporary Greek culture, or the issues they face. I basically just know that the debt crisis existed and exists, which meant I tried to shoe-horn many of the potential concepts into that framework of understanding - a framework that ultimately felt lacking. There was so much I missed in the first couple of stories, or at least that I felt I missed - and only felt like I scratched the surface of understanding because of that minute frame of reference.
Like I got some of the typical "jobless hopeless underclass" vibes, I understood some of the insular cultural implications of living on an island. But take the first story for instance - how are they foreigners? What is the implication behind an island person calling a mainland Greek person a foreigner? Is it similar to Mainers calling people "from away"? I don't know - and it felt integral to the story.
There were some general philosophical musings I found interesting - like the "what does it mean to know something bad is happening and what to do something but dont because my legs don't work? How is that different than not doing it because I live in community that reinforces that behavior? In both cases there is someone that recognizes that something that is happening should not happen, wants to stop it, and yet can't."
In the position where I didn't have the context behind the story, the writing would have had to carry the day - and this style just wasn't for me. And that judgement is not through any fault of the author or translator - it seems like a smooth writing and reading experience - just not what I enjoy.