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De Eerste Echte Leugen (2011)

by Marina Mander(Favorite Author)

3.05 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Anthos

review 1: Super short read but actually probably would have sat better with me as a short story. I really liked the premise - told from the perspective of a young boy who discovers his mother dead in her bed and decides not to tell anyone for fear he will be sent to an orphanage. Certainly some heartbreaking moments for the boy. The language wasn't as true to a child's perspective as other books I've read (Room, Mockingbird) which I was ok with (also because it was a translation from Italian) but if it had to be a novel, I wish they would have done what they could to tell us a little more about the mom and kid's back story.
review 2: What a wonderful wee book. For something that thematically has so much in common with stories like, say, Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garde... moren, the treatment couldn’t be more different. The grim reality is permeated by the protagonist’s point of view. We experience everything from Luca’s perspective, entering the charming world of this young boy, full of imagination and fear. I loved how almost all the delicious comparisons he makes are based on the animal world (“(…) the front tyre went flat, going pssss, the sound of a butterfly fart”). And the cat; all the adventures with Blue the cat, together with Luca’s acute powers of observation, really made me smile. The story is heartbreaking and funny, and oozes an incredible love for words. less

Download links for: De eerste echte leugen

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