Ég las þessa bók aðallega vegna þess að hún er tvímála, íslensk og norsk, og mig langaði að sjá hvernig norskan mín væri. Ljóðin eru ágæt, þó svo þau Ég las þessa bók aðallega vegna þess að hún er tvímála, íslensk og norsk, og mig langaði að sjá hvernig norskan mín væri. Ljóðin eru ágæt, þó svo þau séu full niðurtálguð fyrir minn smekk.
Samt er afstaða hans Tor Ulven til náttúrunnar eitthvað sem ég tengi mjög sterkt við. Þessi mikla áhersla á að við erum hluti náttúrunnar og ekki yfir hana að hafin og að hún verði hérna eftir að við verðum farin, rýmar mjög vel við það hvenig ég sé heiminn í kringum mig.
En samt held ég að ég muni sjálfsagt ekki leita mikið í þessa bók eftir að ég er búinn með hana einu sinni. Þetta er bara svo knappt. Ljóðin sem hann skrifaði undir lok ferilsins eru aðeins lengri og mér fannst þau að vissu leyti betri, bara vegna þess að hugmyndir fengu þar rými til að anda. Áhugaverður lestur....more
I have always know about the Norwegian Nobel prize winner Knut Hamsun, but I hadn't really got around to read anything of his. Perhaps because I have I have always know about the Norwegian Nobel prize winner Knut Hamsun, but I hadn't really got around to read anything of his. Perhaps because I have had the impression that he might be depressing. Think about it, his most famous book is called Hunger. That's a subject that is hardly going to be a laugh riot.
Then I came across this book, the blurb sounded fun, and it said that he took a turn in his writing with it. So I thought I might as well give it a try.
And I don't regret that. It is a fun book. It is more then hundred years old, and it shows it age in a certain places, but not as many as one might think. It hasn't aged that badly. It is not funny in the same way as Wodehouse was. It is more subdued humour. There is a mystery at the heart of this novel, not murder but theft, and as in good mysteries it resolves it at the end. That is never the main thing though. It is the characters much more than the mystery.
And perhaps it is not just about the characters themselves, but the society they live in. The romantic problems, the tension between some characters, the pride, the hubris, and the place itself. There perhaps isn't much there that I haven't read in some other work, but it is all very well done. He seems to have been a good story teller. So good that I may have to read Hunger some day....more
Okay, I think I just became a fan of Maja Lunde. I am liking her climate quartet so much that I know I will read the rest of it no matter how good theOkay, I think I just became a fan of Maja Lunde. I am liking her climate quartet so much that I know I will read the rest of it no matter how good the third book turns out to be.
This story takes place during two, or perhaps three time periods. One revolves around David who is a climate refugee in France in 2041. He travels with his daughter Lou through the drying up world, uncertain of where his wife and son is, uncertain of the future, uncertain of what will happen to him and his daughter.
The other revolves around Signe, a old activist, who in 2017 is still trying to make a difference in the fight against ecological disasters, this time she is back in her home country Norway where a former lover, Magnus, is selling off pieces of the glacier on his land. While all that is going on she is recollecting her life as a kid, and young woman in Norway, in 1950s, and 1960s, and how she became an activist.
I’ve read a few novels that one can categorize as climate fiction. What I like so much about Lunde’s work is that one doesn’t get a simple fight between good, and evil. None of it is that simple. There aren’t even any heroes, nor villains here, just people trying to do make the best of their lives. That means of course that there isn’t that much suspense in these stories, even though it takes partly place in a post apocalyptic world. The story moves rather slowly through that world, but of course with some dramatic moments in between.
What I feel I get instead of suspense is a story that is believable, even painfully so. At no point did I get the feeling that this couldn’t happen, and I thought that was very well done. It’s just a story of flawed humans in a realistic setting. Partly this is because the whole thing is so well grounded in science. There is one thing though, it is unlikely that France will have got so dry in 2041. This is sped up to be able to make the building of the novel work better.
The characterization is just well done. These characters are very much alive, real, not just black and white stereotypes. The build up of it is also quite good. It’s quite interesting how the story of Signe and David touch lightly at the end. I’m still not sure if it ends on as positive note as the first novel in this series. It’s more open ended, and gives one the change to decide what one thinks will happen next. In short, I like this novel, and I’m going to continue to read this series....more
Three characters living in three different countries, in three different time periods. The biologist William in 1852 England, the beekeeper George in Three characters living in three different countries, in three different time periods. The biologist William in 1852 England, the beekeeper George in 2007 USA, and worker Tao in 2098 China. What these three stories have in common are bees.
In a sense it is a story about climate change, but it is also about bees. The way modern beekeeping started, how it started to collapse, and the result of that. Tao is a worker in China doing what bees used to do, pollinate by hand flowers of fruit trees.
It is not a suspenseful story, not thrilling. I think the right word would be engaging. What Maja Lunde does so well with this story is to show a believable time line of how collapse happens. She does it by building believable, yet flawed character that the reader can identify with.
A lot of climate fiction is firmly embedded in science fiction. This is light on the science, though it explains the science behind beekeeping quite well. The focus is on the characters in the situation, rather than the science.
I really liked it. I really liked the way Maja Lunde manages to connect these stories even though they seem very far apart. I really liked the characters, and the story even though a lot of it made me sad. Not all of the story is sad though. In fact, there are other parts in it that made me laugh.
I think it is a very good read, and as this is part of a series, I have more books written in a similar wain about climate change to look forwards to....more
What happens when a family with no interest in the rat race lives surrounded by people obsessed with it? That’s kind of what this book is about. The AWhat happens when a family with no interest in the rat race lives surrounded by people obsessed with it? That’s kind of what this book is about. The Andersen’s live in what the rest of the neighborhood thinks is poverty, while the others are living the middle class dream. Some are more militant about the difference than others.
It’s a comedy, but it’s got a slight point beyond making the reader laugh. It’s fifty years old, and it does show its age in certain things like the attitude towards marriage, but for most parts it has aged pretty well. I don’t think it is laugh out loud funny, it more amiable read. The outcome is a bit predictable, but I still like this book, and have read it twice now,...more