Eduardo Santiago
Friend of mine has a three-inch tattoo on her inner wrist in honor of a friend who suicided. It's simple: the word “enough,” lower-case, clean, a permanent daily reminder that every one of us is so. (Okay, most of us.) This book is a somewhat longer, less in-your-face but equally impactful refresher.
Fierce beginning, captivating from the first page. And although the tone swings wildly, from snarky to tender to funny to somber, the writing never lets go of you. I found and made time to read and read more. Bakman has grown up since that wretched Ove book: he understands longing, grief, laughter, and the fragility of human communication. He writes elegantly, has a gift for quirky similes and turns of phrase, and uses misdirection cleverly: so many times I thought I knew where he was going, and was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. Smith's translation is delightful.
I found the book deeply comforting. Realistic about the soulcrushingness of life but more so how we uplift each other. The tension of keeping our defenses raised, the indescribable freedom of lowering them among loved ones. How our life paths are altered by the smallest things and how, together, we bring out the best in one another. And how we are already enough. Am forever indebted to A. for urging me to read this
Friend of mine has a three-inch tattoo on her inner wrist in honor of a friend who suicided. It's simple: the word “enough,” lower-case, clean, a permanent daily reminder that every one of us is so. (Okay, most of us.) This book is a somewhat longer, less in-your-face but equally impactful refresher.
Fierce beginning, captivating from the first page. And although the tone swings wildly, from snarky to tender to funny to somber, the writing never lets go of you. I found and made time to read and read more. Bakman has grown up since that wretched Ove book: he understands longing, grief, laughter, and the fragility of human communication. He writes elegantly, has a gift for quirky similes and turns of phrase, and uses misdirection cleverly: so many times I thought I knew where he was going, and was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. Smith's translation is delightful.
I found the book deeply comforting. Realistic about the soulcrushingness of life but more so how we uplift each other. The tension of keeping our defenses raised, the indescribable freedom of lowering them among loved ones. How our life paths are altered by the smallest things and how, together, we bring out the best in one another. And how we are already enough. Am forever indebted to A. for urging me to read this