Cristi Cîrdei
I have been, for a few years now, resisting reading Fredrik Backman, on account of his writing not being my style. (I judged the book by its cover. I should have known better)
Now that I have read this book I can only say that I loved it. I have yet to be sold on the style, but that doesn't even matter. I love the story, the characters, the mind that conceived it all and every “idiot” that this book is about.
Fredrick Backman is, above all, a story teller. I couldn't help but wonder how it would be like siting next to him around a campfire or at a dinner table.
Like every book about people, this book made me cry and not just a few times. The last chapters made me want to bury my face in a pillow. (Maybe I should have waited to finish it alone in my bedroom and not on a train)
I don't plan on reading any other books by Fredrick Backman, but I somehow know this is not the last one.
Maybe I've set my expectations wrong.
That is not to say that this was a bad book or a poorly written one, but most of the time the stories didn't do it for me. I found the ideas the stories are built upon intriguing, but I personally felt that they weren't exploited to their real potential. The stories started with a good premise that got lost in a fog on the way.
The last stories (which were also the longest) are the ones that I enjoyed the most and the ones that felt complete and had a satisfactory ending.
As an end note, I couldn't but wonder how some of these stories would have looked like in a Ted Chiang book.
END OF THE YEAR BOOK OVERVIEW2022 – the year I got back into reading My thing this year (and the years to follow as I build my taste in books) has been people. Messy people. Strange people. Lonely people and misfits. Somehow this theme has aligned itself with the works of Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor, and the genre of gothic. More precisely southern gothic. A considerable number of books I've read this year were, coincidentally, set in the south of the United States. Besides the works of Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, and The Complete Stories respectively) I also read an emotional memoir, which I don't know how I stumbled upon but I am glad I did, of a man's journey away from his fundamentalist upbringing (the book that made me cry the most) and the journal of a journalist's quest through the Deep South to see for himself the struggles of African-Americans amid racial segregation.Other nonfiction books I read this year include an overview of the earth's history and a very interesting book on the origins of language (rocks and words, two of my all-time interest – readings on natural science are so fun)I also read some classics such as The Invisible Man, Lord of the Flies, and Animal Farm. And poetry. My first time reading proper poetry on my own enterprise. Brad Aaron Modlin and Pádraig Ó Tuama are two of the poets that graced my readings. Science fiction has made it on to the list again with the latest installment of an action-packed series I started in high school and Ted Chiang's collections of short stories.And talking about short stories, this has been the genre (apparently, I can call it that) that I enjoyed the most this year and has made a lasting impression on my taste in literature.The gothic novel The Devil All the Time (which I devoured) and the-most-beautiful One Hundred Years of Solitude (I couldn't imagine such a charming story could exist – I'm a rational person and all but a word permeated by magic like Macando doesn't sound bad at all) count among the books read in 2022. . . .Some conclusions I feel like this year I've been the most conscious and intentional with my readings and choices of books. I think it's safe to say that I've read the most beautiful literature of my life these past months and I hope this will be true in the years to follow as well.I've also extended my horizons this year, discovering some gems along the way and starting to build my taste in literature, and I learned some things about myself (or at least had them brought to my attention), which is definitely a win.In matter of books, this year has been a great one and I'm looking forward to the next one. . . .[bc:The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter 37380 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385265834l/37380.SY75.jpg 860196][bc:One Hundred Years of Solitude 320 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327881361l/320.SX50.jpg 3295655][bc:The Complete Stories 25630779 The Complete Stories Flannery O'Connor https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432988398l/25630779.SY75.jpg 886814][bc:The Dawn of Language: Axes, Lies,Midwifery and How We Came to Talk 58874484 The Dawn of Language Axes, Lies, Midwifery and How We Came to Talk Sverker Johansson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630157220l/58874484.SY75.jpg 71244753] [bc:Everyone at This Party Has Two Names 31851874 Everyone at This Party Has Two Names Brad Aaron Modlin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479244671l/31851874.SY75.jpg 52522532][bc:The Country Funeral 41713579 The Country Funeral John McGahern https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552103254l/41713579.SX50.jpg 65061353][bc:A River in Egypt 41713584 A River in Egypt David Means https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552103388l/41713584.SX50.jpg 65061357][bc:The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories 45791 The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories Carson McCullers https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388247157l/45791.SY75.jpg 952665][bc:Black Like Me 42603 Black Like Me John Howard Griffin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1311696842l/42603.SY75.jpg 2444552][bc:In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World 23398580 In the Shelter Finding a Home in the World Pádraig Ó Tuama https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414558660l/23398580.SY75.jpg 42955181][bc:Dark Age 29226553 Dark Age (Red Rising Saga, #5) Pierce Brown https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525464420l/29226553.SY75.jpg 49464237][bc:The Name of the Rose 119073 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415375471l/119073.SY75.jpg 3138328][bc:Întotdeauna diavolul 55260466 Întotdeauna diavolul Donald Ray Pollock https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599495800l/55260466.SY75.jpg 15005760][bc:Lord of the Flies 55304668 Lord of the Flies William Golding https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599874805l/55304668.SY75.jpg 2766512][bc:Where the Light Fell 56637947 Where the Light Fell Philip Yancey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617074089l/56637947.SX50.jpg 88500928][bc:Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind 23692271 Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595674533l/23692271.SY75.jpg 18962767][bc:A Little Life 22822858 A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1446469353l/22822858.SY75.jpg 42375710][a few of the books I enjoyed - visible on the Desktop Version]
"Woe to the man whose child is on the verge of a diagnosis"
The man in question is Cavanaugh. A father, standing with his son in a hospital room – the sweat chamber as the nurse called it. As little Gunner is tested for cystic fibrosis, his father tries to distract him, minute by minute, until he breaks into “a true breaker on the scream scale” and Cavanaugh sees himself forced to cup his hand over the boy's mouth.
This is the scene unfolding as the nurse enters the room, leading to a beautifully penned act of contemplation and introspection by a man “suspended between two sides of life”.
The few pages of this short story were enough to convince me of its value. I want more of what this story offered.
two kids talk about their inebriated mothers. one of them says something along the lines of: that's what alcoholics want — to die. it's just that some take the long road.
and: there is nothing you can do to help.
Shuggie Bain is a book about losing one's self to the coldness of addiction. losing what you were and what you could be, and losing the people you care about.
it is also about finding oneself. or rather, finding out that you are not actually lost, you just are. and you should start owning your self.
i liked this book. it is an emotional story. a good story, in its tragedy and realism.
i'm always going to be a nerd for things like this.language, words, and etymologies have been an interest of mine since childhood and the origins of something, be it the origin of the Universe or a nation, a rock or a system of thought is one of the most interesting things to learn about (isn't it.?); so when i saw a book on the origins of language i immediately picked it up.the book is divided into three main parts meant to set up a few generalities about language, to review the (biological) necessities for language to emerge, and lastly show how all the pieces fall into place and lead to the actual origins. [a: Sverker Johansson 842111 Sverker Johansson https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] uses knowledge from various fields and presents different theories and interpretations to give the reader a complete picture of the work that has been done in studying the origins of language while covering the various aspects/faces of the problem.the book is well structured (even though i had at some point some issues with this very matter) and insightful. it's a good summary of our current knowledge on the subject and has some sensible conclusions. as a popular, non-scholarly book it accomplishes what it sets to.also, my appreciation to [a: Cristian Iscrulescu 16256874 Cristian Iscrulescu https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] who did an outstanding job at translating and contextualizing this book from Swedish and into Romanian.
for me, one thing that made itself noticed is how whole and encompassing this book feels. it is not only a description of a topographical place or of a certain period, not only a story about a girl on one side and the entire world on the other. it is all of these and more.
it touches on every aspect of life. rich in themes and emotions conveyed.
what is also remarkable is that the author knows her space. no surprise Delia Owens is a wildlife scientist; she is more than capable to describe and tell stories about the marsh and the interconnections of the ecosystem.
the subplot of the Walker family is well built and i enjoyed it, probably, the most.
in the end, it is a well-written book and a good story.
i think i've just read the most beautiful thing written by man
the way that i love this book. from the first pages, i knew that it will enjoy it.
ghosts searching for water and company, flying carpets, yellow flowers raining from the sky, intoxicating beauty, obsessions of undoing for the sake of doing, and death. even death is curious in this enchanted world of Macondo.
generations come and generations go. no one remembers people from long ago and all the people yet to come, they too will be forgotten by those that come after them – time runs. it is a spinning wheel bound to break
' because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth.'
i am presently at a loss for words.
this story is as beautiful as it is tragic — and tragic it is. so many times have i had to stop and stare into the void because it was simply too much to take. it is beautiful in its depiction of friendship, love, and simply life; of finding reasons to keep going and bumping into walls that keep you from it.
it is heart-wrenching and also heart-warming.
i can see how Hanya Yanagihara's storytelling (in this instance) could be an issue for some readers but i, for some reason, enjoyed it. i still have some issues with the development of story and characters and the authenticity of feelings that this book supposedly tries to convey (minor issues i might add) but, for the time being, i'll keep my own counsel.
the fact that the book gave the reader an overview of an entire life, makes one think of one's own — how it's been and how it is going to be — and maybe, even make one consider living it more consciously; if there is something to walk away with from this reading.
altogether, i liked this book. it is unlike anything i've read (at least recently) and it might even find its place amongst this year's favourites.
‘We read books to know we are not alone.'
-William Nicholson
I love this book and I love it's characters; a bunch of misfits in whom I glimpsed pieces of myself.
Beautifully written, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is a story about alienation, about finding one's place in a world that seems to be made of a totally different material than one is made of, and about the longing for something, or someone, to make one feel listened to, feel seen, accepted, and loved.
It's a book you certainly have to come back to.
Carson McCullers is now on my radar and this will become one of my comfort books and one of my favourites.
this man has such a way with words. i swear he breathes poetry
it's a pleasure to read him. and an even greater one to listen to him. i might leave a link to a speech of his at St Paul's Cathedral in London on this very book. the speech that actually convinced me to buy the book
In the Shelter is, in the author's own words,
"a long essay in the art of trying to greet your life without fear, or even with fear, and to greet your fear with which you greet your life. to find a way to say: here is what's happening [...] an essay in the art and spirituality of language and its power to save or to destroy, to create or desecrate."
it is a book about finding one's place and telling the truth about it; whether or not it's a place one wishes to be in, because this is the first step to changing it, would one wish to do it. to name and greet the place one finds one's self at
"hello to here."
and hello to my silly attempts. hello to my obsessions. hello to the little things that make me smile. hello to wanting something different.
hello to all the new places.
for me, it's one of those books that, when finished, the first thought i have is 'i don't know what just happened but i know something great did. and i need to re-read it as soon as possible'
i am still new to poetry. this year i decided to read more of it and the few poems at the end of each chapter were a great start. i even have a few favourites and i'll definitely check out more of Pádraig's poetry