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A review by anusha_reads
The Details by Ia Genberg
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
#IBPCHALLENGE2024 BOOK 1: THE DETAILS, IA GENBERG, TR. KIRA JOSEFSSON, LONGLISTED FOR #INTERNATIONALBOOKER2024
It's a short book that reads like a memoir and is beautifully crafted but stands out from the previous Booker Prize nominations due to its uniqueness.
The story unfolds across four chapters, each focusing on a person who impacted the unnamed narrator's life. It mirrors the chapters in our own lives that conclude but remain eternally in our memories.
The narrator, laid down with malaria, feels compelled to read Paul Auster’s “The New York Trilogy,” a book inscribed by her ex-girlfriend Johanna.
The opening lines of the book, “AFTER A FEW DAYS OF THE VIRUS IN MY BODY I COME DOWN WITH A FEVER, WHICH IS FOLLOWED BY AN URGE TO RETURN TO A PARTICULAR NOVEL,” – set the tone for this exploration.
QOTD: DO YOU HAVE THE URGE TO RETURN TO A NOVEL YOU’VE READ EARLIER? WHICH ONE?
The narrative touches on relatable themes such as relationships, memories, love for reading, and mental health. The narrator comes across as a detached person, with the voice lacking warmth, intentional,maybe?
The protagonist is portrayed as both a writer and an avid reader, with friends who share her literary tastes. Their discussions about books, whether in agreement or disagreement, add a layer of enjoyment to the narrative.
“LITERATURE WAS OUR FAVOURITE GAME”
The story introduces characters like Nikki, the narrator's former roommate; Alejandro, her ex-lover who serves as a benchmark for future relationships; and Birgitte, her mother who struggles with mental illness after the narrator's birth.
I particularly enjoyed the parts that revolved around books, featuring authors such as Kundera, Oates, Bukowski, Lessing, Siri Hustvedt, and various Swedish authors like Birgitta Trotzig and Selma Lagerlof and more.
The translation of the book is seamless, capturing the essence as if it were originally written in English. A translator's note at the end reveals that it is Ia Genberg's fourth novel, written after a career shift from journalism to nursing, preserving her writing for fiction.
I was intrigued by the cover adorned with four torn photographs, which might be the four chapters.
She begins the book with a fever. What does the fever represent? A yearning for books? Missing her ex? Or just a deluge of memories?
“AS FAR AS THE DEAD ARE CONCERNED, CHRONOLOGY HAS NO IMPORT AND ALL THAT MATTERS ARE THE DETAIL,THE DEGREE OF DENSITY, THIS HOW AND WHAT AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH WHO.”
It is a very unusual book that evokes an incomplete feeling, which is probably intentional, as it lacks closure.
It's a short book that reads like a memoir and is beautifully crafted but stands out from the previous Booker Prize nominations due to its uniqueness.
The story unfolds across four chapters, each focusing on a person who impacted the unnamed narrator's life. It mirrors the chapters in our own lives that conclude but remain eternally in our memories.
The narrator, laid down with malaria, feels compelled to read Paul Auster’s “The New York Trilogy,” a book inscribed by her ex-girlfriend Johanna.
The opening lines of the book, “AFTER A FEW DAYS OF THE VIRUS IN MY BODY I COME DOWN WITH A FEVER, WHICH IS FOLLOWED BY AN URGE TO RETURN TO A PARTICULAR NOVEL,” – set the tone for this exploration.
QOTD: DO YOU HAVE THE URGE TO RETURN TO A NOVEL YOU’VE READ EARLIER? WHICH ONE?
The narrative touches on relatable themes such as relationships, memories, love for reading, and mental health. The narrator comes across as a detached person, with the voice lacking warmth, intentional,maybe?
The protagonist is portrayed as both a writer and an avid reader, with friends who share her literary tastes. Their discussions about books, whether in agreement or disagreement, add a layer of enjoyment to the narrative.
“LITERATURE WAS OUR FAVOURITE GAME”
The story introduces characters like Nikki, the narrator's former roommate; Alejandro, her ex-lover who serves as a benchmark for future relationships; and Birgitte, her mother who struggles with mental illness after the narrator's birth.
I particularly enjoyed the parts that revolved around books, featuring authors such as Kundera, Oates, Bukowski, Lessing, Siri Hustvedt, and various Swedish authors like Birgitta Trotzig and Selma Lagerlof and more.
The translation of the book is seamless, capturing the essence as if it were originally written in English. A translator's note at the end reveals that it is Ia Genberg's fourth novel, written after a career shift from journalism to nursing, preserving her writing for fiction.
I was intrigued by the cover adorned with four torn photographs, which might be the four chapters.
She begins the book with a fever. What does the fever represent? A yearning for books? Missing her ex? Or just a deluge of memories?
“AS FAR AS THE DEAD ARE CONCERNED, CHRONOLOGY HAS NO IMPORT AND ALL THAT MATTERS ARE THE DETAIL,THE DEGREE OF DENSITY, THIS HOW AND WHAT AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH WHO.”
It is a very unusual book that evokes an incomplete feeling, which is probably intentional, as it lacks closure.