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Willkommen in Amerika

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Die elfjährige Ellen lebt in einer hellen Familie. So betont es die Mutter, eine erfolgreiche, lebenslustige Schauspielerin. Wenn sie zu Hause ihren Unterricht hält, müssen die Türen geschlossen sein, und sie genießt ihre eigene Welt am Theater. Auch der große Bruder verbarrikadiert sich in seinem Zimmer, hört laute Musik und hat eine erste Freundin. Die Zeit ausgelassener Eishockeyspiele in der Diele der großen Wohnung ist vorbei, erst recht, als der Vater stirbt. Nach der Trennung der Eltern war er aggressiv geworden, und Ellen hat seinen Tod so sehr herbeigewünscht, dass sie nun aus Angst über die Macht ihrer Gedanken verstummt. Mit ihrem Schweigen schützt sie die dunkle Wahrheit ihres Ichs und fordert die Mutter zu einem Kräftemessen heraus.
Mit WILLKOMMEN IN AMERIKA ist Linda Boström Knausgård ein dichtes, poetisches Kammerspiel gelungen, ein Roman über Kunst und Macht aus der magischen Perspektive eines Kindes, der einen unwiderstehlichen Sog entwickelt.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published August 6, 2016

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3374 people want to read

About the author

Linda Boström Knausgård

7 books243 followers
Linda Boström Knausgård debuted with the poetry collection Gör mig behaglig för såret in 1998. Her prose debut is entitled Grand mal.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews
Profile Image for Jim Fonseca.
1,144 reviews8,289 followers
January 19, 2023
[Revised 1/18/23]

This book is translated from Swedish but it’s not what you think (or what I thought). It has nothing to do with Swedish immigrants in America. It’s the story of a severely depressed Swedish girl (around 11 years old) who has stopped speaking after her father’s death. She thinks she caused his death.

Her mother is a stage actress who one time dressed as the Statue of Liberty in a part and her crazy father, before her mother divorced him, would shout out those words and keep the family awake all night singing.

description

The girl has a devoted mother, but with her busy schedule, the mother’s not around very much. The girl is often home alone with her older brother who locks himself in his room playing music. He terrifies her, having used physical violence against her. The boy nails his door shut, pees in a bottle and comes out to take food left for him at his door.

The mother says this is a “family of light.” Is it? Or, as the girl thinks, is it a “family of darkness?” Is she as nuts as the other characters? She has terrible memories of her father burning down their vacation cabin and trying to cause a gas explosion in their house. Before he was institutionalized, while banned from the house, he occasionally snuck back in terrifying them after climbing up the drainpipe.

The girl knows she can speak but simply won’t do it. Before she stopped speaking she was a compulsive liar and wondered why she lied. Obviously her unwillingness to speak creates problems at school. Her mother is patient with her and gives her a notepad which the girl has used to communicate only a couple of times. There’s a brief respite when the boy brings a girlfriend home a few times and he and everyone else tries to ‘act normal.’

Are her difficulties genetic, from her father? That may be the main theme of the novel given that the author has bipolar disorder and frequently writes about it.

The young girl thinks:

“The genes come down hard in our family. Hard and without mercy.”

“Did I want to live? My mum asked me when the [birthday] cake was eaten. Did I?”

“My mum’s room, smelling always of stale smoke and naked body.”

description

A good story; a novella of 125 pages. The author, born in 1972, has written short stories, plays and a couple of novels. She has written eight novels although only are few are in English. The author has bipolar disorder and her mother was an actress, although we don’t know how autobiographical this story is. She also writes and produces radio documentaries.

Top photo of Stockholm from traveloffpath.com
The author from theguardian.com
Profile Image for s.penkevich.
1,578 reviews13.8k followers
September 24, 2023
We were a family of light,’ 11 year old Ellen says like a refrain in Linda Boström Knausgård’s Welcome to America’, but with each reiteration she wonders if they ‘were we actually a family of darkness? Tormented by secrets and turmoil?’ This slim bildungsroman is subtle and slight yet seeps into you with its moodiness and reflections on a family disjointed by mental health struggles and death. At the center is Ellen, who has ceased to speak since the death of her father, a death she fears she brought on by praying for him to die. Winner of Sweden’s prestigious August Prize, this second novel from Knausgård is quiet yet has teeth that sting as she examines the difficulties of accepting growing up and the changes it brings in family relations as well as a sharp look at guilt and the aftershock of death.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m bad. If there’s something wrong with me. My ability to empathise. Is there something lacking in me? Something important?

It is delightful to see Linda Boström Knausgård be able to have her own voice heard and employ biographical details into her own fiction, especially as so much of her private life has been published in the internationally successful My Struggle, a six volume autobiography from Swedish author Karl Ove Knausgård to whom Linda Boström was formerly married. She stood by him as he published, though has since expressed discomfort over how public her life became. ‘His view of me was so limited, he saw only what he wanted to see,’ she has stated, ‘it was as if he didn’t know me at all.’ One likely goes into this novel knowing she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 26, a condition shared by her father, and these elements are central to Welcome to America except now she is able to use her own stories as she sees fit. Here the mother is also a well-known actress, much like her own mother as well. While this book is not a response to My Struggle, it is still rewarding to hear her voice.

And what a voice it is, as this novel manages to be very succinct while also overflowing with emotion. On the outside the family appeared a successful family, the house always teeming with the children’s friends, and a well-known theater performer raising them, yet a tenebrous violence lurks under the surface. Ellen fears her brother for ‘his hands and his rage,’ and we slowly learn of the father suffering from illness in behaviors that range from wild singing and excessive drinking to burning down a cottage and possibly trying to gas the family. The family lived in fear of unexpected visits upon hospital releases and an anger at the mother for wanting a divorce.

It was me and God who’d killed my dad,’ she tells us, ‘we’d done it together, once and for all. God and me.’ There is on one hand a feeling of relief (she describes it as ecstasy), ‘like we’d been living under the foot of a giant pressing us down and now suddenly the giant was gone,’ yet the loss still presents itself and creates a somber sea-change in the family. Both children turn their emotions inward, withdrawing from the family and each other. Ellen bears the guilt of thinking his death was her own doing through her petitions to God, a heavy burden for a child of 11. Her guilt manifests as waking hallucinations, with her father visiting her in her room and speaking with her.
You should never ask for what you want. It disturbs the order of things. The way you really want them. You want to be disappointed. You want to be hurt and have to struggle to get over it.

Ellen’s guilt grows exponentially as she fears her behaviors are ‘attacking all the light with my darkness’ and harming her remaining family. ‘That was probably the worst thing: that I wouldn’t let her be there for me. That I wouldn’t accept anything of what she was giving.’ Which is a tragedy of suffering from mental illness, when you not only hurt inside but worry your own hurting is radiating into those you love. This is particularly difficult for Ellen when she sees how the darkness her father put into the world harmed her and her family, even though she is aware of his inner struggles.

Not quite a grown-up, but then not a child either. There was no going back, it felt so unreasonable.

What was so striking about this novel for me was the aspect of an 11-year old struggling with mental illness as well as being frightened at the prospects of growing up. With an 11-year old in my own household, I’ve witnessed firsthand the confusion of desiring to be older while also lamenting the loss of childhood.
Was that the difference between the child and the grown-up? To be able to let light in, and then not? What was I now? I wasn’t a grown-up. But I wasn’t a child either. I wasn’t yet a teenager, so I was a child. A child clinging to darkness. It was scary.

While Knausgård’s language occasionally feels too mature for the narrator, it still reflects a very incisive look at coming-of-age in a way a child of 11 would consider their life that reads quite well. Ellen often feels just outside her own understanding of events and her own actions and the reader is able to detect more impetus than is stated in the words, and it makes for a very empathetic read.

Living together was perhaps just that, shifting the centre of balance until everyone could stick it out.

Most heartbreaking is her slowly coming to realize ‘that was the thing about growing up. Certain things belong to certain times.’ This is a moving meditation on a child’s perspective of their mother as well. The mother seems to be the rock, but is hurting too (though does offer a notepad in case Ellen wants to communicate, an early moment to show her empathy and allow Ellen to heal in her own time). As the novel progresses we experience Ellen realizing how much the mother keeps hidden inside for the sake of the family, how much emotional labor goes unnoticed and how much physical labor is done without acknowledgement or thanks. Perhaps this is why most of her roles on the stage are very much about her body and having it boldly out there to acknowledge her personhood. The best metaphor in the novel, in this regard, is when she appears as Earth with rockets being fired into her.

We are a family of light’ and ultimately, this is a novel about family. Family facing hardships, family giving space for grieving, family finding each other and hoping to heal. We see how sex and romantic flings offer only a bandage and cannot contain the hurt underneath, eventually it must be dealt with. While occasionally the book feels slight and weightless even under intense emotional examinations, it still lands its blows at the right moments. Linda Boström Knausgård is a lovely writer and this made for a brief but well-crafted look at grief and coming-of-age.

3.5/5

Mum wiped my tears and said: Don’t ever be anything other than the way you are.
Profile Image for Adam Dalva.
Author 8 books2,091 followers
July 16, 2019
Update: my interview with Knausgård: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...

Review: Extremely peculiar, interesting novella, out September 2019 (more on it then). It wonderfully captures the inner life of a girl who has chosen to be mute, as family conflict and trauma and death circle around her. I read with great pleasure - my one issue is that it could have been (should have been?) longer. I fear this is going to be treated as a curiosity, due to the author's ex-husband, but this deserves to stand on its own.
Profile Image for Alex.andthebooks.
667 reviews2,761 followers
May 27, 2023
Koncepcja książki niezwykle mnie zaintrygowała, a jednak emocjonalna dojrzałość perspektywy 11-letniej dziewczynki nieco zaważyła na niższej ocenie. Ciężko było w to uwierzyć i się w tym odnaleźć. Mimo to doświadczenie traumy mnie poruszyło.
Profile Image for Mell Ferraz.
8 reviews947 followers
January 15, 2022
"Bem-vinda à América" é narrado por Ellen, uma criança de 11 anos que, após a separação dos pais e do falecimento do pai, decide parar de falar. Na realidade, de se comunicar, pois nem mesmo escrever ela quer. Simplesmente se recusa, e os adultos à sua volta passam a se preocupar. Menos a sua mãe, aparentemente, o que, no livro, não é algo negativo. Ao longo de suas (apenas) 100 páginas, acompanhamos os pensamentos de uma Ellen que revive esse momento tão conturbado de sua infância. A partir disso, ficamos sabendo de traumas, obscuridades e amadurecimentos precoces bastante dolorosos, mas condizentes com a situação por que a narradora passa e já passou. Em muitos momentos o drama familiar vivenciado por Ellen é sufocante, amedrontador, e foi impossível deixar o seu relato de lado até terminá-lo. Devorei em apenas um dia porque, além de breve, é uma narrativa psicologicamente complexa, e isso sempre me prende.
Profile Image for Paltia.
633 reviews109 followers
November 21, 2019
Here is a family that when viewed in early photographs appears to hold so much hope and promise. As we are all aware appearances can be deceptive. Linda Bostrom Knausgaard shares the story of a child named Ellen. Children’s hearts can be easily pierced. Once an overlay of guilt is added the results may prove catastrophic. At the start we learn that Ellen’s father has died. She believes with all her being that she is responsible. She says a prayer and wishes him dead. Her wish comes true. The subsequent feelings she experiences confuse and distort her memories. She shows her confusion by refusing to speak. There is much power in this choice. No one is clear on how to handle her tenacity. You can imagine her steady stare and steadfast perseverance when questioned by the headmaster. He can’t win this battle. She’s discovered the ultimate weapon to use in the face of adult chatter. Yet, she certainly has a story to tell. Trapped in her thoughts she begins to rearrange her life. We explore, along with Ellen, where hurt and desperation begins in a child’s mind and where it can take them. This zeroes in to acknowledge what children can experience when parental awareness and understanding are limited. Knausgaard clearly understands how a prison can be created from thoughts and what it might take to break free. Raw and candid in its honesty.
Profile Image for merixien.
660 reviews621 followers
October 3, 2021
Yazarın bundan önce Helios Felaketi kitabını okumuştum. Bı kitapta da benzer bir baba ölümü, dışarına tamamen kapanan bir kız çocuğu ve travmatize bir aile hikayesi var. Ellen, tanrı ile ortak olup babasını öldürür. Bu ölümün ardından kendisine yardım etmeye çalışan ve ailenin bütün parlaklığını üzerinde taşıyan annesine duyduğu kızgınlıkla çevresindeki herkesle iletişimini keser. Bu kitap da Ellen'ın bu yas sürecine ait bir monolog aslında. Yazarın şair kişiliğinin etkisi bu kitapta da kendisini gösteriyor, şiirsel bir anlatımı var. Ancak bu durum dahi anlatının ve trajedinin kasvetini hafifletmiyor. Çok karanlık ve ağır bir hikaye. Dünyaya kapalı, karanlık dönemlerinizde okumamanızı tavsiye ederim.
Profile Image for Paula Mota.
1,559 reviews527 followers
Read
January 31, 2023
#should I stay or should I go
#3 - GO!

Não, o apelido não engana.
O pai morre, a filha mais nova deixa de falar, o filho mais velho tranca-se no quarto, de porta pregada e tudo, e a mãe continua fresca e fofa. A escrita é boa, mas há aqui um abismo cultural intransponível. Para mim, não é normal...
Profile Image for June.
48 reviews27 followers
January 8, 2021
This dark pearl of a book was easily one of the most memorable I’ve read this year. “Welcome to America” is an imaginative portrait of a young girl who has stopped talking. The narrative is minimalistic, but the author’s clear, imagistic prose thrums with emotion, generating its own tension.
Highly recommended: It will work its way under your skin.
Profile Image for Kuszma.
2,755 reviews267 followers
July 18, 2021
Amiről nem lehet beszélni, arról hallgatni kell, mondá Wittgenstein. Ellen gyermekkora pedig pont olyan dolog, amiről nem lehet beszélni: zűrzavaros félelmek, bűntudatok világa, ami önkentes némaságot kíván. Ám ha Ellen nem is beszél, azért ír: kopogós, takarékos prózája - amiben ritka madár a bővített mondat - finom kontrasztot alkot zaklatott, fájdalmas környezetével. Ír, mert ezzel biztonságot teremt egy végletes bizonytalanságban, és reméli, ez megakadályozza a dolgok szétesését. Persze a döglött rombuszhal (e sirályok lakomája), ha élőnek is akarjuk látni, azért előbb-utóbb csak bűzölögni kezd. Nem biztos, hogy ezen változtat, ha szavakba foglaljuk.

Ui.: Mi értelme van azzal reklámozni egy könyvet, hogy Knausgard ex-felesége írta? Ilyen erővel az Auster-könyveket is promotálhatnák azzal, hogy Elton John telekszomszédja írta őket. (Feltéve persze, hogy Elton John és Paul Auster telekszomszédok.)
Profile Image for cypt.
674 reviews777 followers
May 17, 2021
Trumpas romanas (= apysaka, mačiau ir angliškai vadinama novella) apie vienuolikmetę mergaitę, kuri po tėvo mirties nekalba. Pasakojama jos balsu, visas tekstas - toks vidinis jos monologas; ne sąmonės srautas, ne chaotiškas - labai vientisas. Skaičiau ir girdėjau paeiliui du balsus, abu jie užkadriniai iš filmų: vienas - šunelis iš Fantastiškos Maronos istorijos, kitas - Jaunos Moters iš Kaufmano "I'm Thinking of Ending Things". Kažkaip jie abu buvo apie tą patį - pasimetimą, nuolatinį sukimą galvoje tų pačių siužetų, susivedančių į viena - manęs turbūt čia nereikia, kaip man išeiti. Lygiai tą patį nuolatos galvoja Knausgård mergaitė. Ji tiki, kad yra kalta dėl tėvo mirties (kažkada meldėsi, kad jis numirtų), ir dabar pati a) nori numirti, b) nenori užaugti, nenori, kad kas nors pasikeistų. Liūdna, kai galvoji, jog tam tikra prasme ji pagaliau pasijutusi ir laisva, nenori išeiti iš šios būsenos, kai pagaliau pagaliau nebegąsdina tėvas.

Ar tėvas buvo smurtinis - tarsi jo, bet skaitant buvo liūdna ir gražu, kad jo elgesys netampa pasakojimo kulminacija, nėra kažkokia paslaptis, kurią reikėtų atskleisti. Kitaip tariant, pasakojimo centras - ne smurtas ir prievarta / priespauda, o tai, kas tveria šalia, kaip gyvenama šalia to, kaip bijoma, kenčiama, nerimaujama. Atrodo labai sąžiningai pasirinktas žvilgsnis.

Tačiau kaip tiek Maronos, tiek Jaunos Moters, Ellen iš Knausgård romano balsas - tarsi ne jos, tarsi ne vienuolikmetės mergaitės; skaitydama vis bandžiau pamatyti ją - bet nepamačiau taip, kaip mačiau Lispector mažylę ar Mosfegh nuo pasaulio pavargusią merginą. Gal tas jos pasakojimo vientisumas, nuoseklumas, visada žinojimas ką pasakyti truputį nedera su, iš esmės, dar vaikiško amžiaus kalbėsena? Bet gal dera? Nežinau.

Tačiau 2: vis galvojau, kaip keista - pasirinkimas nekalbėti IR TADA 120 psl monologas, nuolatinis žodžių srautas, niekur nenutrūkstantis, visad žinantis, ką pasakyti. Truputį saugesnė knyga nei toji Lispector, nei kitos, kurios įmeta tave į baimę ir nejaukumą. Čia tu visada saugi Ellen pasakojime ir galvoje. Na pavyzdžiui:

I stopped talking when growing began to take up too much space inside me. I was sure I couldn't do both, grow and talk at the same time. I think perhaps I was the sort of person who liked to take charge, and it felt good to give that up. There were so many to keep track of. So many dreams to fulfil. Wish something of me, I could say. But I could never make any wish come true. Not really. (p. 13)

Tai va, ta tyla - ne būtinybė ar neišvengiamybė, o Ellen pasirinkimas. Labai gražu, kad ji beveik nekvestionuoja to pasirinkimo, tik bando jo laikytis. Labai gražu, kad pasirinkimas neturi istorijos su kulminacijom ir atomazgom - nėra kažkokios traumos, kurią tik reikia išspręsti ir jau viskas tikrai tikrai pasitaisys.

Kaip gali kažką pasirinkti ir to laikytis, kai tau vienuolika? Žinau, kad būna, kas gali ir to nevadina stebuklais. Nevadina ir Knausgård. Man pačiai tai svetimas pasakojimas, sunkiau suprantamas, bet įspūdingas - ne tiek tuo, ką pasakoja, kiek savo buvimu.
Profile Image for Sarah.
1,245 reviews35 followers
January 19, 2020
This elicited almost no reaction in me whatsoever, which is actually quite impressive if you think about it. Next!
Profile Image for Mayk Can Şişman.
354 reviews218 followers
November 22, 2021
İsveçli yazar Linda Boström Knausgård, Türkçeye çevrilen ikinci romanı ‘Amerika’ya Hoş Geldiniz’ ile benim için artık ‘Karl Ove Knausgård’ın eski eşi’ olmaktan çıktı, çok sevdiğim yazarlar listesine dahil oldu. Geçen yıl okuduğum ‘Helios Felaketi’ beni hiç beklemediğim kadar çok etkilemişti. Bu kitabı ise onunla güçlü bir bağ kurmama vesile oldu. Yine bir ebeveyn-çocuk ilişkisi var kitapta. Sakin, dingin ve mesafeli. ‘Helios Felaketi’ kadar sert ve okkalı değil belki ama hayatına bir kez olsun ‘daima susan’ birisini sığdıran herkesin kalbine ufak bir çizik atmayı başarıyor roman. Yakında çevrileceği duyurulan ‘Ekim Çocuğu’nu okumayı şimdiden iple çekiyorum…
Profile Image for Quirkyreader.
1,629 reviews6 followers
February 21, 2020
I won this book through a Publishers Weekly give away. Thank you PW and World Editions.

This was a rather fascinating read. It probes the mind of an 11 year old girl who is going through a major life event.

And it is also about her family around her , and how actions from one member have ripple effects.

To say anymore would spoil the story. So give it a read.
Profile Image for Matt.
752 reviews612 followers
July 21, 2017

I have not been talking for a long time. Everyone has got used to it. My mother, my brother. My father is dead, therefore I don't know what he would say. Perhaps it is inherited.

The second novella by Linda Boström Knausgård approaches themes from Helioskatastrofen from a different angle. There are no psychotic exceptional states this time, no stays in the hospital, and no mythology. There’s only a girl in the center of an impaired family who decided to stop talking after her father’s death for which she feels responsible because she prayed to God to let him die.

The stream-of-consciousness style with staccato sentences and strings of questions she puts to herself takes a little while to get used to. The ups and downs of her own illness does not cause waves as high as it did with her father in the end. Not yet. If we identify the girl with the author - and this can be done with good reason I think - we learn from the novels of her ex-husband, Karl Ove Knausgård, how the story of the “girl” continues.

Is this some kind of response to Min Kamp 6? We cannot know for sure, and, frankly, I don’t want to. The subject matter seems too dark for me and I think I have learned just about enough of this “bright family”...

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Profile Image for Hulyacln.
981 reviews569 followers
August 30, 2023
‘Büyümek, içimde fazla yer kaplamaya başladığında konuşmayı bıraktım. Hem konuşup hem büyüyemeyeceğimden emindim.’
.
Bir kız, bir oğlan, anne ve baba. Dört kişilik ‘aydınlık’ bir aile. Öyle görünse de kapılarının içinden geçtiğinizde başka bir evrene adım atmış olabilirsiniz. Büyük şeylerin döndüğü ama konuşulmadığı, duvarların birçok sessizliği hapsettiği bir ev.
Amerika’ya Hoş Geldiniz bir kız çocuğunun ailesinde yaşamın nasıl döndüğünü anlattığı bir metin. Çok net ve can yakıcı bir yanı da var. Linda Boström’ün otobiyografik özellikler taşıyan bu kısa hikayesi okumaya değer. Konuşulmayan aileleri düşünmek için özellikle..
.
Ali Arda çevirisi, Bülent Erkmen kapak tasarımıyla ~
Profile Image for Mariota.
824 reviews42 followers
March 19, 2021
No hay mucho más que decir aparte de lo que cuenta la sinopsis: una familia atormentada por el padre aún después de muerto. La niña que guarda un secreto y que cree que ella ha tenido la culpa la todo. La madre que intenta hacer reflotar a sus dos hijos. El hermano que se refugia en la música y en la soledad. Una niña que se niega a hablar, a expresar lo que ella siente y que quizás, haciéndolo la libere y pueda volver a vivir.
Un libro bien escrito. Corto, pero no hace falta decir más.
Profile Image for Johan Thilander.
493 reviews40 followers
Read
August 31, 2019
Fin liten kortroman om en flicka som bär sin familjs sorg och disharmoni, som ett slags Gregor Samsa-figur.


Klart är att jag tycker bra mycket bättre om Linda än Karl Ove - hur kunde hon stå ut med honom så länge?
Profile Image for marta (sezon literacki).
361 reviews1,414 followers
October 14, 2020
W książce mamy do czynienia z perspektywą jedenastoletniej dziewczynki, jednak jej dobór słów, sposób konstruowania zdań oraz dojrzałość emocjonalna wskazują raczej na dorosłą, dojrzałą kobietę. Zgrzytał mi ten brak spójności i odebrał tej historii wiarygodność w moich oczach. Warto jednak zaznaczyć, że przeżycia i traumy, których doświadczyła Ellen są bolesne i przejmujące, w dużej mierze oddające doświadczenia samej autorki. Ale lepiej chyba byłoby przedstawić je z punktu widzenia osoby dorosłej, wspominającej swoje dzieciństwo, niż dziecięcą wizję życia przedstawiać w tak złożony sposób.
Profile Image for Hákon Gunnarsson.
Author 29 books159 followers
January 25, 2020
Now that was a weird one. After the dad dies a girl stops talking altogether, her brother starts to nail the door to his room shut, and the mom keeps trying to be happy. And despite the title it hasn't got anything to do with America.

The whole thing makes sense once one is into the story, and it is quite beautiful in places. It's written in a stream of consciousness that really fits the subject, and the voice feels real. It is a short one, a novella, but perhaps a little too short.
Profile Image for Raluca Oana.
74 reviews33 followers
November 30, 2024
O poveste emoționantă despre o familie în care abuzurile și problemele părinților îi afectează pe cei mici.

Probabil mulți dintre voi ați fost supuși certurilor dintre părinți, ceea ce nu e un lucru bun.

Acest lucru poate afecta emoțional copilul.

Mi-a plăcut această poveste, m-a făcut să mă simt vulnerabilă, empatică și în același timp m-a făcut să mă gândesc cât de mult înseamnă să știi cum să gestionezi anumite lucruri.

Merită citită!
Profile Image for Boris.
499 reviews181 followers
April 19, 2021
Много ми напомня на "Неудобството на вечерта" на Марийке Лукас Райневелд. Но честно казано не искам и нямам нужда повече да чета такива книги. Особено когато са скучно написани, какъвто е случаят с Линда Наусгард. Изобщо не ми хареса. Ако знаех, че ще е нещо такова, по-скоро щях да пропусна.
Profile Image for Eylül Görmüş.
701 reviews4,243 followers
December 10, 2022
"Dileklerinin yerine gelmesini istediğini sanıyor insan. İstemiyor aslında. Hem de hiç istemiyor. Düzeni bozuyor çünkü. Gerçekten arzu ettiğin düzeni. Hayal kırıklığına uğramak istiyor insan. İncinmek, hayatta kalmaya çabalamak."

İskandinav edebiyatı yine üzmedi. Daha önce okuduğum "Helios Felaketi" eserinden çok etkilendiğim İsveçli yazar Linda Boström Knausgård'ın dilimize çevrilen ikinci eseri "Amerika'ya Hoşgeldiniz" küçücük fakat çok çarpıcı bir metin.

Susmaya karar veren bir kız çocuğunun ağzından ailesinin ve kendisinin öyküsünü okuyoruz. "Biz aydınlık bir aileydik" diyor 11 yaşındaki Ellen. Öyleler mi hakikaten? Yahut, aydınlık aile var mı gerçekten?

Knausgård, tıpkı Helios Felaketi'ndeki gibi burada da yine ebeveyn-çocuk ilişkisine odaklanıyor ve ondaki kadar sert biçimde olmasa da yine "deliliğin" tanımlarını ve sınırlarını didikliyor. Yazarın; dikkat çekici, ışıltılı ancak zaman zaman ulaşılmaz bir anne ve mutsuz, başarısız ve hatta yer yer zavallı bir baba ile büyüyen Ellen'ın zihninde bizi çıkardığı gezinti çok etkileyici.

Ellen sanki zaten kimsenin kendisini duymadığını düşündüğü için susuyor gibi - "zaten beni gören, işiten yok, da olur" diyen bir çocuk o sanki. Küçük kızın kısa, kesik cümlelerinin hepsine sinmiş bir hüzün var. Büyümenin, çocuklukla vedalaşmak zorunda olmanın ve bunu yaparken içinde büyüdüğü ailenin o aydınlık halinin aslında gerçek olmadığını, o dengede gözüken şeyin bir anda yıkılabilecek bir şey olduğunu fark etmenin hüznü.

Zaman zaman kendi kendimize yaratıp kendimizi içine kapattığımız zihinsel hapisanelerimizin öyküsü biraz da bu. İskandinav edebiyatının bu karanlık, net, mesafeli, süssüz ve bir o kadar da gerçek halini çok seviyorum ben. Bu kitap da bu türün çok çok iyi yazılmış ve epey güçlü bir örneği olarak aklımda yerini aldı. İyi ki okudum.
Profile Image for Anca Zaharia.
Author 30 books602 followers
October 17, 2020
În acelaşi timp, tocmai pentru că lasă destul loc pentru interpretări, cititorul cu imaginaţie are posibilitatea de a umple spaţiile dintre propoziţiile scurte ale fetei cu presupuneri despre ce i s-ar fi putut întâmpla acesteia, despre şi mai multe sentimente care ar putea să o încerce pe aceasta în drumul ei deseori dificil spre o tăcere absolută. Lindei Boström Knausgård i-a reuşit unul dintre acele romane care poate fi citit la aproape orice vârstă (de la adolescenţi în sus l-aş recomanda eu) pentru că de fiecare dată se poate desfăşura în faţa ochilor într-un mod complet diferit, modelat mai ales de experienţele prin care trece cititorul în fiecare etapă a vieţii.

Recenzia integrală: https://ancazaharia.ro/2020/10/ferici...
Profile Image for Doug.
2,477 reviews862 followers
October 8, 2019
2.5, rounded down.

Not sure now what impelled me to read this, probably just the premise of a child wanting to shut out the world by refusing to talk (I can relate!). Reviews have called this 'minimal' and 'very subtle' - I would say it was so light as to be evanescent; oftentimes there was so little there that I would have trouble concentrating and have to re-read whole sections as it just wasn't making ANY impact. It ISN'T actively horrible, it's just that I doubt I will remember much about it by week's end.
Profile Image for Trzcionka.
778 reviews96 followers
September 19, 2020
Obawiam się, że nie wyłapałam sensu tej historii, ewentualnie książka jest o niczym. Do końca dnia zapomnę, że to przeczytałam.
Przyciągnął mnie pomysł dziecka, które przestaje mówić po rodzinnej tragedii. Wydaje się to być ciekawym początkiem dla dobrej książki i interesujących przemyśleń. Niestety tutaj nic mnie nie zaskoczyło ani nie wywołało emocji (na co najbardziej liczyłam).
To mało interesujący potok wspomnień dziecka/młodej dziewczyny przyćmionych utratą ojca oraz dziwną relacją z bratem i matką. Nie wiem do jakich wniosków miały doprowadzić te przemyślenia głównej bohaterki prócz tego, że nie radzi sobie w życiu. Perspektywy matki i brata brak, a może by trochę pomogły w zrozumieniu zamysłu autorki.
Profile Image for patsy_thebooklover.
654 reviews244 followers
September 10, 2020
Lubię narrację pierwszoosobową. Lubię podążać za wylewającym się z czyjejś głowy strumieniem świadomości. Lubię też, gdy mimo pewnych różnic między mną a bohaterem/bohaterką są oni w stanie mnie zainteresować, zafascynować. Lubię nawet to uczucie pewnego sympatyzowania z bohaterami/bohaterkami, którzy z pozoru zupełnie nie są 'moimi' ludźmi. To są właśnie te doświadczenia, za jakie jestem wdzięczna literaturze.

Nie muszę lubić głównego/ej bohatera/rki, by książka mi się podobała, ale muszę czuć jakieś do nich przyciąganie. W przypadku 'Witajcie w Ameryce', czyli opowieści prowadzonej z perspektywy 11-letniej dziewczynki, która ze znanych tylko sobie przyczyn przestaje mówić, tego przyciągania nie było. To króciutka książka, w całości poświęcona monologowi dziewczynki, która mimo że nie mówi to jednak ma coś do powiedzenia. Styl zdaje się podążać za wiekiem narratorki, choć są też w tej wypowiedzi fragmenty warte zaznaczenia, jak choćby pojawiający się w większości wpisów o książce cytat o powodach milczenia związanych z zajmowaniem przez dorastanie zbyt dużo miejsca. Spodobał mi się też fragment o nocy, w którym bohaterka mówi, że lubiła 'wszechogarniającą ciszę i uczucie, że wszystko się zatrzymało, żeby zebrać siły przed porankiem.'

Linda Knausgard mnie nie zainteresowała i nie sprawiła, że miałam ochotę przeczytać tę książkę za jednym posiedzeniem. Coś w tej opowieści trzymało mnie na dystans i nie pozwalało zainteresować się losem dziewczynki bardziej. Nie wywołała we mnie żadnych emocji, nie spowodowała żadnych przemyśleń. No, przeleciała mi ta Linda przez palce.

Krótkie książki mają to do siebie, że przez to, że są krótkie, oferują mało miejsca i czasu na to, by odkryć ich wyjątkowość. Ja w ogóle mam wrażenie, że mikropowieści pisze się trudniej i trudno jest napisać naprawdę dobrą mikropowieść. Linda Knausgard na tych 108 stronach nie przekonała mnie, że jako pisarka potrafi stworzyć mikroświat/bohaterów/język, które każą mi się zatrzymać i wziąć głęboki oddech.
Profile Image for Mary.
465 reviews933 followers
March 16, 2020
This wasn’t bad, but it didn’t leave much of an impact. I think it was just too brief. The “She thinks she may have killed her dad” bit didn’t turn out to be what I thought. Having said that, (misplaced) guilt is probably the most powerful and destructive force I’ve ever come across. It absolutely destroys. The little girl in this story is almost eaten alive by it. The mother’s neglect and preoccupation with appearances “We’re a family of light!” - the abusive brother – the deeply troubled father. There was a lot here. They all destroyed her. It was just too brief.
Profile Image for Jovi Ene.
Author 2 books276 followers
October 2, 2020
Ce traume ascunde o fetiță de doar 11 ani care s-a decis, dintr-o dată, să nu mai vorbească? Ce o determină pe o ființă să se închidă în sine și să nu mai stabilească relații cu cei din jur? Ce o face să se maturizeze brusc și să stabilească o relație personală cu Dumnezeu, rugându-l pe acesta să îi ucidă pe unii, inclusiv pe ea, și să le procure fericire altora?
Un roman trist, sensibil, melancolic, pe alocuri chiar crud, dar cu o voce narativă puternică, matură, în ciuda fragilității vârstei și a întâmplărilor din viața sa și a familiei sale.
Profile Image for psk.okuyor.
49 reviews11 followers
April 28, 2023
İşveçli yazar ile arkadaşım Çağla sayesinde tanıştım ve tam anlamıyla tutuldum..Sırada ki kitabımın Helios Felaketi olmasını istiyorum. 11 yaşındaki Ellen’in aile ilişkilerini anlatıyor. Sert , alkolik , psikolojik rahatsızlıkları olan bir baba.. Işıltılı bir anne! Sinmiş bir çocukluk.. Sade, samimi ve bir o kadar karanlık, otobiyografik izler taşıyan bir metin. Yazarın hayatını ve yaşadığı psikolojik sorunları da düşününce kendisi ile bağ kurmama sebep oldu.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews

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