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Book2Dragon's Reviews > Beartown
Beartown (Beartown, #1)
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by
I would give the turn on revenge a 5*, but this was a difficult, heart-wrenching read. Lots of good instruction on what not to do as regards alcohol, justice, sports obsession, and gossip. Also, good lessons on being who you truly are, and the pain that comes from hiding that in order to fit in or to become popular.
Teen years are fraught with dangers, and parents try to do their best. Sometimes their own issues get in the way. I found it really interesting how some of the (main) characters are not given names. Only "Kevin's dad" or "the mom."
I also notched down one star because of the vulgar language which was overdone, and too prevalent. I can tolerate some profanity and some sexism, but not sure this extent was necessary.
Still, Backman is a fantastic writer and I will likely read the sequel (once I recover).
Teen years are fraught with dangers, and parents try to do their best. Sometimes their own issues get in the way. I found it really interesting how some of the (main) characters are not given names. Only "Kevin's dad" or "the mom."
I also notched down one star because of the vulgar language which was overdone, and too prevalent. I can tolerate some profanity and some sexism, but not sure this extent was necessary.
Still, Backman is a fantastic writer and I will likely read the sequel (once I recover).
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Quotes Book2Dragon Liked
“Never trust people who don't have something in their lives that they love beyond all reason.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“All adults have days when we feel completely drained. When we no longer know quite what we spend so much time fighting for, when reality and everyday worries overwhelm us and we wonder how much longer we’re going to be able to carry on. The wonderful thing is that we can all live through far more days like that without breaking than we think. The terrible thing is that we never know exactly how many.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“She’s fifteen, above the age of consent, and he’s seventeen, but he’s still “the boy� in every conversation. She’s “the young woman�.
Words are not small things.”
― Beartown
Words are not small things.”
― Beartown
“Religion is something between you and other people; it’s full of interpretations and theories and opinions. But faith . . . that’s just between you and God.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“Another morning comes. It always does. Time always moves at the same rate, only feelings have different speeds. Every day can mark a whole lifetime or a single heartbeat, depending on who you spend it with. *”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“The only thing the sport gives us are moments. But what the hell is life, Peter, apart from moments?”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“The love a parent feels for a child is strange. There is a starting point to our love for everyone else, but not this person. This one we have always loved, we loved them before they even existed. No matter how well prepared they are, all moms and dads experience a moment of total shock, when the tidal wave of feelings first washed through them, knocking them off their feet. It's incomprehensible because there's nothing to compare it to. It's like trying to describe sand between your toes or snowflakes on your tongue to someone who's lived their whole life in a dark room. It sends the soul flying.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“There are few words that are harder to explain than "loyalty." It's always regarded as a positive characteristic, because a lot of people would say that many of the best things people do for each other occur precisely because of loyalty. The only problem is that many of the very worst things we do to each other occur because of the same thing.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“For the perpetrator, rape lasts just a matter of minutes. For the victim, it never stops.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“One of the plainest truths about both towns and individuals is that they usually don't turn into what we tell them to be, but what they are told they are.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“It doesn't take long to persuade each other to stop seeing a person as a person. And when enough people are quiet for long enough, a handful of voices can give the impression that everyone is screaming.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“She is told all the things she shouldn’t have done: She shouldn’t have waited so long before going to the police. She shouldn’t have gotten rid of the clothes she was wearing. Shouldn’t have showered. Shouldn’t have drunk alcohol. Shouldn’t have put herself in that situation. Shouldn’t have gone into the room, up the stairs, given him the impression. If only she hadn’t existed, then none of this would have happened, why didn’t she think of that?”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“Being a parent makes you feel like a blanket that’s always too small. No matter how hard you try to cover everyone,”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“The very worst events in life have that effect on a family: we always remember, more sharply than anything else, the last happy moments before everything fell apart.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“What you create, others can destroy. Create anyway. Because in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and anyone else anyway.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“Difficult questions, simple answers. What is a community?
It is the sum total of our choices.”
― Beartown
It is the sum total of our choices.”
― Beartown
“And after all those hours in the locker room, all those nights on the team bus, all the conversations and all the jokes and the blood, sweat, and tears, the boy didn’t dare tell his coach his biggest secret.
That’s betrayal. David knows it’s a huge betrayal. There’s no other way to explain how much a grown man must have failed as a person if such a warrior of a boy could believe that his coach would be less proud of him if he were gay.
David hates himself for not being better than his dad. That’s the job of sons.”
― Beartown
That’s betrayal. David knows it’s a huge betrayal. There’s no other way to explain how much a grown man must have failed as a person if such a warrior of a boy could believe that his coach would be less proud of him if he were gay.
David hates himself for not being better than his dad. That’s the job of sons.”
― Beartown
“Anything that grows closely enough to what it loves will eventually share the same roots. We can talk about loss, we can treat it and give it time, but biology still forces us to live according to certain rules: plants that are split down the middle don't heal, they die.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“A simple truth, repeated as often as it is ignored, is that if you tell a child it can do absolutely anything, or that it can’t do anything at all, you will in all likelihood be proven right. *”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“For me, culture is as much about what we encourage as what we actually permit.� David asked what he meant by that, and Sune replied: “That most people don’t do what we tell them to. They do what we let them get away with.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“There are two things that are particularly good at reminding us how old we are: children and sports.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“And when enough people are quiet for long enough, a handful of voices can give the impression that everyone is screaming.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“People say she's gone mad, because that's what people who know nothing about loneliness call it.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“You never stop being scared of falling from the top, because when you close your eyes you can still feel the pain from each and every step of the way up.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“Not a second has passed since she had children without her feeling like a bad mother. For everything. For not understanding, for being impatient, for not knowing everything, not making better packed lunches, for still wanting more out of life than just being a mother.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“Is that why you’re here? To talk about that? Sweet Jesus . . . you men. It’s never your fault, is it? When are you going to admit that it isn’t ‘hockey� that raises these boys, it’s YOU LOT? In every time and every place, I’ve come across men who blame their own stupidity on crap they themselves have invented. ‘Religion causes wars,� ‘guns kill people,� it’s all the same old bullshit!� “I didn’t mea . . . ,� Sune tries, but has to duck when she tries to slap him again. “Keep your trap shut when I’m talking! Fucking men! YOU’RE the problem! Religion doesn’t fight, guns don’t kill, and you need to be very fucking clear that hockey has never raped anyone! But do you know who do? Fight and kill and rape?� Sune clears his throat. “Men?� “MEN! It’s always fucking men!”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“Some of you were born with talent, some weren't. Some of you are lucky and got everything for free, some of you got nothing. But remember, when you're out on the ice you're all equals. And there's one thing you need to know: desire always beats luck.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
“Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil. The easiest way to unite a group isn’t through love, because love is hard. It makes demands. Hate is simple.”
― Beartown
― Beartown
Reading Progress
December 24, 2019
– Shelved
(Paperback Edition)
December 24, 2019
– Shelved as:
to-read
(Paperback Edition)
May 1, 2023
–
Started Reading
May 1, 2023
– Shelved
May 10, 2023
–
Finished Reading
May 11, 2023
– Shelved as:
fiction
May 11, 2023
– Shelved as:
owned
May 11, 2023
– Shelved as:
romance
May 11, 2023
– Shelved as:
sports
May 11, 2023
– Shelved as:
tragedy
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by
Rowan
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rated it 4 stars
May 22, 2023 06:11PM
Wonderful review! ☺️ Certainly a read that you need a recovery from Haha I’m looking forward to starting the sequel soon.
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Got this one for Christmas -- can't wait to get to it.
Rowan wrote: "Wonderful review! ☺️ Certainly a read that you need a recovery from Haha I’m looking forward to starting the sequel soon."Thanks for the kudos.
