Books you're reading (55 Viewers)
- Thread starter mikhail
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Kader Abdolah - The House of the Mosque
Never heard of the guy before, but someone saw it fit to put the book into my hands, so I read it. I should say translations into Norwegian are sometimes botched (as in fine literature comes out very ordinary), so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But short of that the guy does not strike me as a good storyteller. I don't know to what extent it's fiction and thus I should give him credit for a plot that is put together nicely, or it's a retelling of actual facts in which case well he didn't have to come up with it.
But aside from the rich cast of characters, each of whom finds his or her end in one way or another, there is a dramatic lack of flow about the writing. On average, once or twice per page he will finish a paragraph, put in a newline, and then the story continues having magically advanced some time into the future without bothering telling the part in between. I've never seen anything like it. He recounts events, short stories, but there's no complete story here. Completely disjointed.
Anyway, aside from that. Well, the book seems to have been well received, good history lesson too, they say. I'm not exactly in a position to judge, but I can see that being the case, although I think the animated "Persepolis" does a better job. It starts sometime in the 60s or 70s and continues just about to present time, I think.
Oddly enough, somewhere in Holland they already voted this the second best ever Dutch book, which I find bemusing. Granted it's the only Dutch book I'm familiar with so far, but I would not call this great literature by any stretch of the imagination.
Never heard of the guy before, but someone saw it fit to put the book into my hands, so I read it. I should say translations into Norwegian are sometimes botched (as in fine literature comes out very ordinary), so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But short of that the guy does not strike me as a good storyteller. I don't know to what extent it's fiction and thus I should give him credit for a plot that is put together nicely, or it's a retelling of actual facts in which case well he didn't have to come up with it.
But aside from the rich cast of characters, each of whom finds his or her end in one way or another, there is a dramatic lack of flow about the writing. On average, once or twice per page he will finish a paragraph, put in a newline, and then the story continues having magically advanced some time into the future without bothering telling the part in between. I've never seen anything like it. He recounts events, short stories, but there's no complete story here. Completely disjointed.
Anyway, aside from that. Well, the book seems to have been well received, good history lesson too, they say. I'm not exactly in a position to judge, but I can see that being the case, although I think the animated "Persepolis" does a better job. It starts sometime in the 60s or 70s and continues just about to present time, I think.
Oddly enough, somewhere in Holland they already voted this the second best ever Dutch book, which I find bemusing. Granted it's the only Dutch book I'm familiar with so far, but I would not call this great literature by any stretch of the imagination.
What a review.
wtf
I can swear that this thread was replaced with another one!
am I hallucinating?
I can swear that this thread was replaced with another one!
am I hallucinating?
I'm reading The Ionian Mission, by Patrick O'Brien, and loving it. He's the finest historical novelist I've ever read - interesting characters, masterful pacing and remarkable period authenticity.
