I love the premise of the book, the setting, and the atmosphere. I think the writing is quite good as well, but it鈥檚 hard to tell because the audiobooI love the premise of the book, the setting, and the atmosphere. I think the writing is quite good as well, but it鈥檚 hard to tell because the audiobook narrator pretty much ruined it. I鈥檓 guessing they chose him for the native language spoken, but鈥� his weird and poorly timed narration ruined the rest! Why didn鈥檛 they just let some Canadian or American maul the native language bits like they do with all other languages, even big ones, like French? Or have someone else say those sentences?
I wish I had read this one myself. I鈥檓 guessing I鈥檇 have given it 4 stars then. ...more
Super easy to just fly through and perfectly fine as a palate cleanser, but this book is just鈥� too much. Every aspect of the story is horribly exaggerSuper easy to just fly through and perfectly fine as a palate cleanser, but this book is just鈥� too much. Every aspect of the story is horribly exaggerated. It basically reads like a parody of a female fantasy.
I鈥檇 love to find something bookstore related that has some substance to it. ...more
At the start I really didn鈥檛 think I would like this book. Being so atheist I can鈥檛 be bothered even thinking about the fact that I鈥檓 atheist, I foundAt the start I really didn鈥檛 think I would like this book. Being so atheist I can鈥檛 be bothered even thinking about the fact that I鈥檓 atheist, I found the female narrator鈥檚 fright at the beginning a bit difficult to believe, and then the main character鈥檚 satanophobia was also really difficult to get behind. But the story won me over! In the end I found it quite brilliant, and not as simplistic as it first appeared. Great storytelling about possible madness - or the Devil. The audiobook was also very well made. ...more
You never quite know what you get with modern Norwegian authors. It can dense, weird prose, with an author who is trying way Delightfully disturbing!
You never quite know what you get with modern Norwegian authors. It can dense, weird prose, with an author who is trying way too hard to come across as intellectual. Or remarkably strange interactions that make you doubt the author has, in fact, ever interacted with other people in Norway. Another possibility is loose fragments in nynorsk, that could make you suspect there was nothing else worthwhile to publish in nynorsk that year to fill the quota鈥�
But this! This is actually 100% effortless, elegant Norwegian (this author knows how people speak!), in a 100% plausible setting (despite the subject matter!!) that simply makes you forget to be skeptical about human cloning all of a sudden being legal in Norway.
The book is not very long and you can easily finish it in one sitting, but it manages to build up a creepy atmosphere, where both mother and daughter go from being boring, ordinary people to somewhat repulsive and thoroughly disconcerting. Loved it! ...more
I liked this one, but it felt unfinished and very fragmented, and perhaps that鈥檚 the whole point, since it鈥檚 just an Outline. You never really get to I liked this one, but it felt unfinished and very fragmented, and perhaps that鈥檚 the whole point, since it鈥檚 just an Outline. You never really get to know the narrator, but the side characters are all very interesting. I鈥檇 like to read more about them all, practically.
The translation felt very unnatural though, stilted and weird, and it makes me wonder how often Cusk used the word 芦meaty禄 or 芦fleshy禄 or whatever it was that just kept being translated as kj酶ttfull. Over and over and over again. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever seen this word used in a book before but whenever I encounter it from now on I鈥檒l think about Rachel Cusk. Unfortunately....more
So I gave up at page 240 because I simply couldn鈥檛 take it anymore. I will donate this book somewhere because it鈥檚 so bad I don鈥檛 want it in my house.So I gave up at page 240 because I simply couldn鈥檛 take it anymore. I will donate this book somewhere because it鈥檚 so bad I don鈥檛 want it in my house.
This is some of the worst writing I鈥檝e ever encountered. I am so incredibly sick of having to go through every single painstaking thought that goes through this woman鈥檚 head (it鈥檚 basically the same thought over and over anyway) and of people randomly not believing her or whatever. I have a hard time just explaining what鈥檚 wrong with this book because it鈥檚 EVERYTHING. How did this book ever become popular?! It鈥檚 like one of those detective stories you read when you were 8 only it鈥檚 supposedly for adults?!? ...more
This is the first time I didn't completely fall in love with a Rainbow Rowell book. I liked the story at first, especially the "then" parts, but the sThis is the first time I didn't completely fall in love with a Rainbow Rowell book. I liked the story at first, especially the "then" parts, but the second half just really dragged... Shiloh's multitude of weird hangups about everything ended up with getting on my nerves, even though I do find her apprehension of pushing the responsibility of her kids on someone else admirable (more people should think like that). Mostly this book just reminded me how much I hate reading about women with kids....more
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