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fa_biene's reviews
471 reviews
My Friends: A Novel by Hisham Matar
4.5
Beautiful novel, wonderful prose.
Toward the end it seemed a bit rushed and lost its focus a bit (especially with the emails), but overall: gorgeous!
Toward the end it seemed a bit rushed and lost its focus a bit (especially with the emails), but overall: gorgeous!
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
4.0
I couldn't put this book down. It's well written, cleverly constructed and the setting in the woods, at a summer camp, works really well.
Moore handles the different POVs and the jumps in the timeline (1950s - 1975) confidently.
The ending was nicely done - I liked the image of Judy leaving Barbara on her island in peace. Bear dying in an accident was surprising and elevated the the Van Laars to a whole new level of evil, esp. regarding Alice.
Alice's tragic character (who we hear from as a narrator, too, in her drugged haze) is well written. It is clear she has given up and is numbing herself with pills and alcohol. -- Some reviewers have claimed that too many female characters are weak and victimised, but I disagree. Who wouldn't break, given what Alice is and was being put through? And Louise may be a bit cliched, but she isn't weak, just young, and we end with a very optimistic perspective. --
It is the Van Laars I took issue with. They remain flat and elusive (which is due to the POV of the narrators. The only Van Laar narrator we get is Alice). This is a deliberate choice, and works very well in terms of the novel's atmosphere, and the whole point it makes about the divide between rich and non-rich. It works less well on the level of the mystery. It' such an easy out, "they did it because of their reputation". Especially because we know nothing about them, and their motivations... But well, you gotta cut somewhere, I guess. :)
Moore handles the different POVs and the jumps in the timeline (1950s - 1975) confidently.
Alice's tragic character (who we hear from as a narrator, too, in her drugged haze) is well written. It is clear she has given up and is numbing herself with pills and alcohol. -- Some reviewers have claimed that too many female characters are weak and victimised, but I disagree. Who wouldn't break, given what Alice is and was being put through? And Louise may be a bit cliched, but she isn't weak, just young, and we end with a very optimistic perspective. --
It is the Van Laars I took issue with. They remain flat and elusive (which is due to the POV of the narrators. The only Van Laar narrator we get is Alice). This is a deliberate choice, and works very well in terms of the novel's atmosphere, and the whole point it makes about the divide between rich and non-rich. It works less well on the level of the mystery. It' such an easy out, "they did it because of their reputation". Especially because we know nothing about them, and their motivations... But well, you gotta cut somewhere, I guess. :)
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
2.0
Original idea - focuses on 8 teenage girl boxers as it narrates each match of a boxing tournament they participate in. Mostly, the chapters are made of short vignettes, jumping between each fighter's perspective. (Often so much so that I kept losing track of who ways who ).
Loved the corporeality and physicality, the description of the fighter's bodies in measures prose. Also liked some of the elements (the boys's red swimming trunk legs, for instance).
liked less: repetition, endlessly. Names. Metaphors. Asylistic elements. The characters kept blurring together. Tbh: I lost interest after about half of it.
The narrative voice was unclear and often didn't work at all in my opinion: The narrative kept leaving the respective matches in random moments, telling me about the girls' future lives. Why? Also, the last fight we witness from the POV of a reporter, and what's with the weirdly futuristic epilogue?
in sum: Parts were very nicely done, but overall, the novel remained overly repetitive and fragmented - it didn't come together in the end.
Loved the corporeality and physicality, the description of the fighter's bodies in measures prose. Also liked some of the elements (the boys's red swimming trunk legs, for instance).
liked less: repetition, endlessly. Names. Metaphors. Asylistic elements. The characters kept blurring together. Tbh: I lost interest after about half of it.
The narrative voice was unclear and often didn't work at all in my opinion: The narrative kept leaving the respective matches in random moments, telling me about the girls' future lives. Why? Also, the last fight we witness from the POV of a reporter, and what's with the weirdly futuristic epilogue?
in sum: Parts were very nicely done, but overall, the novel remained overly repetitive and fragmented - it didn't come together in the end.
Was man von hier aus sehen kann by Mariana Leky
2.0
Originell. Schrullige Figuren, oft liebenswert. aber trotzdem nicht mein Fall.
Besonders toll:
Die Freundschaft von Luise und Martin. Der Optiker. Selma. Alaska. Die Bildbände.
Weniger toll:
Flache Charaktere. Der ganze Plot um Frederik. Kitsch. Kalenderspruch-Pseudo-Tiefgang. Der "magische Realismus", der m.M.n. nicht wirklich zum tragen kommt.
Besonders toll:
Die Freundschaft von Luise und Martin. Der Optiker. Selma. Alaska. Die Bildbände.
Weniger toll:
Flache Charaktere. Der ganze Plot um Frederik. Kitsch. Kalenderspruch-Pseudo-Tiefgang. Der "magische Realismus", der m.M.n. nicht wirklich zum tragen kommt.
Wild Houses by Colin Barrett
3.5
Lovely writing, though some of the similes felt a bit heavy-handed. The pacing is nicely done, the plot moves along smoothly and I loved the setting in rural Ireland.
Still - something was missing, the novel never quite "caught me". Possible reasons: The plot felt a bit trivial and drew on quite a lot of tropes. Some of the characters were rather stereotypical and uninteresting, in the sense that I didn't feel the need to follow their thoughts and try to understand their motivations. A bit... Forgettable?
I don't know.
But I look forward to reading whatever Barrett comes up with next - the writing really is brilliant.
Still - something was missing, the novel never quite "caught me". Possible reasons: The plot felt a bit trivial and drew on quite a lot of tropes. Some of the characters were rather stereotypical and uninteresting, in the sense that I didn't feel the need to follow their thoughts and try to understand their motivations. A bit... Forgettable?
I don't know.
But I look forward to reading whatever Barrett comes up with next - the writing really is brilliant.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
4.5
Wow.
The writing is phenomenal. Surprising similies, beautifully visual and funny scenes (e.g the giraffes, the foot, ....).
As for plot, characters, story: this is an ambitious novel with lots and lots of food for thought and I loved the first half. Cyrus is a fascinating character and the reader is privy to his thoughts, doubts and worries. The dream-sequences work well in adding on layers to his character. However, I felt some of the other charactery were less developed - their "POV-chapters" blending into one another, being too similar in tone, voice & content. Also, the ending fell a bit flat for me.
But still.. lots to think about.
Definitely worth the hype.
The writing is phenomenal. Surprising similies, beautifully visual and funny scenes (e.g the giraffes, the foot, ....).
As for plot, characters, story: this is an ambitious novel with lots and lots of food for thought and I loved the first half. Cyrus is a fascinating character and the reader is privy to his thoughts, doubts and worries. The dream-sequences work well in adding on layers to his character. However, I felt some of the other charactery were less developed - their "POV-chapters" blending into one another, being too similar in tone, voice & content. Also, the ending fell a bit flat for me.
But still.. lots to think about.
Definitely worth the hype.
Revolution der Verbundenheit: Wie weibliche Solidarität die Gesellschaft verändert by Franziska Schutzbach
4.5
Vielschichtig. Hoffnungsvoll. Mutig. Kritisch Und vor allem - wichtig! - selbstkritisch. Eröffnet Perspektiven und ermöglicht es, Gedankengänge zu verfolgen ("mitzudenken") ohne je zu schwafeln oder einen Wahrheitsanspruch zu konstatieren. Gibt Antworten, reflektiert sie und stellt viele kluge Fragen.
Riesige Leseempfehlung!
Z.t. etwas repetitiv, daher 4.5.
Proper review may follow.
Riesige Leseempfehlung!
Z.t. etwas repetitiv, daher 4.5.
Proper review may follow.