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Astoņu Ziedlapu Roze (2007)

by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir(Favorite Author)

3.67 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Jāņa Rozes apgāds

review 1: First off the blurb on this book does not accurately reflect the book at all. In fact it is incredibly misleading and wrong. 0/10 for the blurb.The book itself attempts to be interesting, but its not, and it ends abruptly. The prose itself was mostly-well written enough to keep me reading, but after finishing I'm left thinking - ok that was seriously pointless. It was OK. Some nice prose. Abrupt ending. No real point to the story. Not recommended.
review 2: I read the Italian translation (nota al traduttore e all'editore: su "do" di "io do" l'accento NON ci va. Ma insomma, dove avete studiato??).This is the story of the Icelandic Forrest Gump. He has a retarded brother, but he has some serious issues too. I disagree with many reviewers who see him as a real, re... moregular, almost typical 22 yo man. Let's put it out there before anyone misses it: this guy is border-line autistic. Things happen to him and to his body often as if he was watching them on a screen. Yes teenagers live a bit like that, but they don't rationalize that condition constantly like this guy does, and they tend to express themselves in one way or the other, while this guy is totally passive. Now, is that particularly Icelandic? Or is this something the author wanted to create? I don't know. I know that, aside from the normal issues of a twenty year old, this man has other, very peculiar issues: very serious communication problems, and as I said, some autistic traits. Let me be frank. If this simple, delicate book was not from an Icelandic author, I don't know if anyone would have published it. The young father with baby plot has been used many times, and with better, more coherent results, by Nick Hornby and other writers. "Iceland! Iceland!" is the reason why I, and probably many others, ended up reading this book. On the other hand, simpliciy and quiet are the actual charm of the book, so I understand the readers who fell in love with it for its soothing effect. But quiet and delicate are attributes that very easily overlap with bland and diluted. Nothing stands out in the whole story, nothing jumps off the page, an idea, an individual, a feeling. It is like one of those sweet melodies that might be pleasant to listen to while they're playing, but that once finished are immediately forgotten. less

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