The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman's Life
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15
Ratings1
Average rating3
Winner of the Brage Prize, the most prestigious award in Norwegian Literature, The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman's Life is a quiet, beautiful exploration of solitude and how we relate to other beings. It has been lauded by European critics for doing something very rare: offering deep pleasure and joy in reading with little theatrics. Having grown up as an only child in Northern Sweden, Lydia is used to isolation and being on her own. She fills her days with her love of animals, nature, and hard work. She eventually settles into a career as a vet in rural Norway and embraces the rhythms of rural life. In a series of poetic sketches, Lydia tends to the animals in her community, spends time with her aging parents, and falls in love. Despite an increasing need for closer human contact that begins to encroach on her contented solitude, ultimately it is Lydia's satisfaction with her inner life that speaks of an elegance and hope often lost in these clamoring times. Written in concise prose, the gravity and tranquility of this novel make it a gift--a soothing, contemplative offering about the depths of our inner worlds.
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I have been going through my old NetGalley backlog, finding the books that have expired at my local library. This one is from April 2023, so not too old compared to other, but my taste in books has changed quite drastically since then!
SO, you get the story of a Swedish vet who grew up on a farm with distant parents, and who starts her career in the Norwegian countryside. She talks about nature, enjoys her independence, her home, and her garden, works hard and is content with the value she provides to the community. She pretty much keeps to herself and is very introverted. At one point, she meets an old woman who lives deep in the wood, and it feels like an inspiration, an important moment to tell her that she could do it herself, living on her own and being content with her life!
After that, the writing felt a bit off, so I checked who the author was, and discovered it was a man! So that got me guarded, to write about the inner life of a woman ‘authentically'. And oh my, the more I read, the more the book lost stars and got boring. I liked it so much at first, but then I just wanted it to end.
I thought it would be a book about an introverted woman who loves her job as a vet, loves her life in the countryside surrounded with nature, who continues to be her own independent self. But in the end, after finishing the book, it feels more like a book about a vet who starts her career alone, then met a man, and than had a baby girl, who - we are hinted - might become a vet herself. Way less interesting!
Also, the guy was one dimensional, we didn't really know anything about him. He is like a white bed sheet drying in the sun. I don't get it, this absence of communication. I don't need a lot to happen in books, but this one was just too basic. It lost itself in its writing.
Edit: Was she really lonely? She was. She was happier in the days leading to her boyfriend's visit. What frustrates me with this book? That she could have had a life on her own but decides to find a partner and form a family? Maybe? Maybe it was interesting that maybe parts of her life hinted to her self-independence, but in the end she found a man that resembled both her parents, her mom with the love of arts and the plays on the radio, her dad with the practically and her difficulty to talk to him? Maybe the guy was the man for her. A good balance. What of this book now? Did it work? Yes. Was I still bored half-way through it? Yes. Did I wish the story had taken a different approach? Yes as well. It is what it is. 3 stars.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
