Take a photo of a barcode or cover
aliceyy 's review for:
The Danish Girl
by David Ebershoff
*actual rating 4.5, rounded to 5*
Beautifully written with intricate characters, The Danish Girl kept me interested the whole time. Even though it's one of those stories that last for years, it wasn't a slow book at all. It was really progressive and developed - that development being really natural.
The relationship between Lili and Greta is simply one of a kind. I love that. What marriage means to them is very personal, their love goes beyond the average couple. Their relationship is very difficult to describe, as it changes so extraordinarily, they change so extraordinarily - it is just so unique. So yes, I love the characters, I love the story and I understand their decisions.
That being said, at times the story seemed very imaginative...as in, I sometimes would think, can this really happen? You know, is this legit?! - kind of thing. It is 'very loosely' based on the actual artist Lili Elbe though, so it's fine I guess. Honestly, I just loved the story so much that I pretty much overlooked all that. But afterwards you might look back and question the realism a little.
I also don't understand how Lili could marry Greta when she supposedly always knew that she's a girl inside? I mean, does that mean she just realised this? They've been married for years, and she's lived more than 30 years of her life as a guy already, and I don't think she was purposely trying to hide her inner woman whilst knowing that she is a woman within. Because then how could she marry another woman? She was attracted to Greta, so does that make her bisexual?
The novel concludes with an open ending. I did feel like the story was meant to end there. As in, I didn't feel like 'omg what it just ended like that?!' but none the less, that vagueness made me think about all the questions I had.
The Danish Girl definitely is a novel that makes the reader think, transcending the conventional, even for modern times, let alone the novel being set in the 1900s.
Beautifully written with intricate characters, The Danish Girl kept me interested the whole time. Even though it's one of those stories that last for years, it wasn't a slow book at all. It was really progressive and developed - that development being really natural.
The relationship between Lili and Greta is simply one of a kind. I love that. What marriage means to them is very personal, their love goes beyond the average couple. Their relationship is very difficult to describe, as it changes so extraordinarily, they change so extraordinarily - it is just so unique. So yes, I love the characters, I love the story and I understand their decisions.
That being said, at times the story seemed very imaginative...as in, I sometimes would think, can this really happen? You know, is this legit?! - kind of thing. It is 'very loosely' based on the actual artist Lili Elbe though, so it's fine I guess. Honestly, I just loved the story so much that I pretty much overlooked all that. But afterwards you might look back and question the realism a little.
I also don't understand how Lili could marry Greta when she supposedly always knew that she's a girl inside? I mean, does that mean she just realised this? They've been married for years, and she's lived more than 30 years of her life as a guy already, and I don't think she was purposely trying to hide her inner woman whilst knowing that she is a woman within. Because then how could she marry another woman? She was attracted to Greta, so does that make her bisexual?
The novel concludes with an open ending. I did feel like the story was meant to end there. As in, I didn't feel like 'omg what it just ended like that?!' but none the less, that vagueness made me think about all the questions I had.
The Danish Girl definitely is a novel that makes the reader think, transcending the conventional, even for modern times, let alone the novel being set in the 1900s.