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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Amazing. The structure is unusual, pivoting between two characters between paragraphs, but the tension and interior work is amazing. I loved this!
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i’m at a loss, man—speechless to say the least. what the hell was that ending.
jon???????????? omg that poor boy :(((
i liked the characters and jon was so endearing :( i liked vibeke too bc she was different from most mothers i’ve read but i’m still in such shock. the way this was written was so interesting bc even tho it was slow, it wasn’t boring. and w each paragraph the tension was buzzing consistently until it built up to the “climax”. but this story made me feel really sad. it’s one of those cases where you can see the ending coming right from the beginning but you hope and hope it doesn’t but then it does in a way that’s just devastating.
idk. my stomach hurts from reading this and i won’t be able to forget it. i’ll be thinking ab this book for a very long time.
i liked the characters and jon was so endearing :( i liked vibeke too bc she was different from most mothers i’ve read but i’m still in such shock. the way this was written was so interesting bc even tho it was slow, it wasn’t boring. and w each paragraph the tension was buzzing consistently until it built up to the “climax”. but this story made me feel really sad. it’s one of those cases where you can see the ending coming right from the beginning but you hope and hope it doesn’t but then it does in a way that’s just devastating.
idk. my stomach hurts from reading this and i won’t be able to forget it. i’ll be thinking ab this book for a very long time.
Great writing, you glide through this story, judging the characters and their decisions, the mother especially if course. But also you feel warmth for both and hope for the best for them. Would definitely recommend.
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Haunting" is an apt word for this novel. And more than just that; Orstavik captures the isolation and loneliness of True Winter (Scandinavian, which isn't too different from a Minnesota winter).
The cold seeps into every page, into both Jon and his mother's bodies.
There are moments of deep disturbia in Jon's unexplained facial tics, his reading about human torture, the sexual images he sees in a music video...
Meanwhile his mother is having an entire night away from home, without him, without even a thought of her son. She is in a fantasy in which we see her build a false connection with a festival worker she befriends, a lonely story in and of itself. But when it's alongside Jon's narrative - his sad, sad belief that his mother must be making a cake for his ninth birthday - it's even more stark and lonely.
Definitely going to check out some of her other writing.
The cold seeps into every page, into both Jon and his mother's bodies.
There are moments of deep disturbia in Jon's unexplained facial tics, his reading about human torture, the sexual images he sees in a music video...
Meanwhile his mother is having an entire night away from home, without him, without even a thought of her son. She is in a fantasy in which we see her build a false connection with a festival worker she befriends, a lonely story in and of itself. But when it's alongside Jon's narrative - his sad, sad belief that his mother must be making a cake for his ninth birthday - it's even more stark and lonely.
Spoiler
And I believe we're meant to assume Jon freezes to death at the end on the doorstep...while his mother sleeps in her bed mere feet away. Brutal.Definitely going to check out some of her other writing.
Αν και στην αρχή ήμουν αρνητική, καθώς αναφέρει και την παραμικρή κίνηση που κάνουν οι ήρωές της, μέχρι το βούρτσισμα των δοντιών, στο τέλος με κέρδισε με τη γραφή της. Οι χαρακτήρες των πρωταγωνιστών και οι μεταξύ τους σχέσεις καλοδουλεμένες με μαεστρία και λεπτομέρεια. Τους αγαπάει τους ήρωες της η Ερστάβικ, παρά τις ατέλειές τους.
If Sarah Jessica Parker shares it… I for sure have to find it…thanks to my local library for having a copy of this tiny but mighty Title!
Love…
As a mom it’s hard to tackle a book in one sitting but in this case at 180 pages I did the work! This story takes place during a single night about a mother and son… they are new to a town in Norway. The mother Vibeke was headed out to the library but since it was closed found herself at a traveling carnival. Her son John left early to sell lottery tickets for his sports club. Both of them come in contact with an array of characters as you follow them through the night.
Vibeke can easily be portrayed as self absorbed but I also felt like her turn of the evening was real/relatable in some aspects. While poor John senses the good in all that is happening around him.
I felt loneliness from these two characters in very different ways.
Love…
As a mom it’s hard to tackle a book in one sitting but in this case at 180 pages I did the work! This story takes place during a single night about a mother and son… they are new to a town in Norway. The mother Vibeke was headed out to the library but since it was closed found herself at a traveling carnival. Her son John left early to sell lottery tickets for his sports club. Both of them come in contact with an array of characters as you follow them through the night.
Vibeke can easily be portrayed as self absorbed but I also felt like her turn of the evening was real/relatable in some aspects. While poor John senses the good in all that is happening around him.
I felt loneliness from these two characters in very different ways.
This is a really short novel (novella?) About a mother and son who go about their day. The tone is really creepy, I was on pins and needles waiting to find out what would happen to them as their day diverged from each other. Very tense and suspenseful, with sparse language. Fits the read harder 2019 book in translation by a woman.
A Norwegian story set during the winter, over the course of single cold night. A mother and her eight-year old son live very separate lives, as they venture out on their own one evening without the other knowing. The mother’s self-obsession leads her to spend her evening at a carnival fair looking for love. Meanwhile, the son thinks of his mother and the toy train he’s expecting to get on his birthday the very next day. Both encounter strangers during the night, and the story slowly becomes more eerie and unsettling as it reaches the fatal end.