emziexjayne's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
septimusmith's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
DNF @ 50%
Repulsive with ugly erotism, and too gloomy for my taste.
DNF @ 50%
Repulsive with ugly erotism, and too gloomy for my taste.
fruitbatblues's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
jarichan's review against another edition
2.0
Dieses Buch habe ich vor x Jahren auf den Reader geworfen. Nun, da ich es endlich gelesen habe, denke ich, hätte es mir wohl besser gefallen, wenn ich es damals gleich gelesen hätte. Mein Lesegeschmack hat sich unterdessen nämlich geändert. Was mich davon abhielt, das E-Book zu entfernen? Die vielen positiven Rezensionen, die ich damals gelesen habe, die sagten, das Buch sei auch aus psychologischer Sicht interessant.
Leider wurde ich enttäuscht. Es kann gut sein, dass der Autor die Figuren sehr gut auslotet, aber da mir alle Charaktere fremd blieben, also nur geschriebene Worte auf fingiertem Papier blieben, kann ich das schwerlich beurteilen.
Da mir auch grundsätzlich Liebes- und Beziehungsgeschichten kaum zusagen, war ich ebenso am falschen Ort. Hinzu kam, dass ich in keinster Weise nachvollziehen konnte, was genau der Erzähler an Mitko so anziehend fand. Da mir das jedoch auch bei real existierenden Menschen oft geschieht, sind mir die Figuren vielleicht doch nicht so fremd geblieben.
Als ich am Ende des Buches erfuhr, dass der Autor aus einer dieser amerikanischen Schreibstuben stammt, in denen sie Schriftsteller züchten und ihnen beibringen, nach Schema F zu schreiben, wurde mir einiges klar. Mit diesen Zucht-Schreibern stand ich schon des Öfteren auf Kollisionskurs. Die liegen mir mit ihren sterilen Büchern einfach nicht.
Gefallen haben mir jedoch die immer wieder eingeschobenen bulgarischen Ausdrücke und Sätze. Das lässt den Handlungsort realer und greifbarer erscheinen und haucht auch den Charakteren mehr Leben ein.
Leider wurde ich enttäuscht. Es kann gut sein, dass der Autor die Figuren sehr gut auslotet, aber da mir alle Charaktere fremd blieben, also nur geschriebene Worte auf fingiertem Papier blieben, kann ich das schwerlich beurteilen.
Da mir auch grundsätzlich Liebes- und Beziehungsgeschichten kaum zusagen, war ich ebenso am falschen Ort. Hinzu kam, dass ich in keinster Weise nachvollziehen konnte, was genau der Erzähler an Mitko so anziehend fand. Da mir das jedoch auch bei real existierenden Menschen oft geschieht, sind mir die Figuren vielleicht doch nicht so fremd geblieben.
Als ich am Ende des Buches erfuhr, dass der Autor aus einer dieser amerikanischen Schreibstuben stammt, in denen sie Schriftsteller züchten und ihnen beibringen, nach Schema F zu schreiben, wurde mir einiges klar. Mit diesen Zucht-Schreibern stand ich schon des Öfteren auf Kollisionskurs. Die liegen mir mit ihren sterilen Büchern einfach nicht.
Gefallen haben mir jedoch die immer wieder eingeschobenen bulgarischen Ausdrücke und Sätze. Das lässt den Handlungsort realer und greifbarer erscheinen und haucht auch den Charakteren mehr Leben ein.
nweedle's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gwendolyn_kensinger's review against another edition
2.0
This story was quite different than I expected it to be. Maybe a bit too literary for my personal taste. In What Belongs to You an unnamed narrator documents his infatuation with a Bulgarian hustler, and the various settings and transactions involved. The story is told in 3 parts. In part one the narrator is cruising in a Soviet-era public toilet in the basement of the National Palace of Culture. There he meets Mitko and their arrangement is made. In the second part things with Mitko have progressed but it also tells us a bit more about the narrator as he receives a very heavy letter with news from back home. In the third part 2 years have passed and things with Mitko have been severed as much as they can when you’re obsessed.
This is not a happy book and things seem kind of messy and unclear. The narrator describes every piece of himself, his surroundings, and this unique, surreal relationship built on foreign words, sustained by desire and mutual needs that couldn't be more different. This story epitomizes the viscosity that comes from a relationship that is impossible to clearly define. The emotions feel real, but the story seems shallow.
pjv1013's review against another edition
4.0
A Bulgária, um norte-americano deslocado, sexualidade e homofobia, solidão e aprendizagem de vida são os ingredientes fundamentais dos dois livros de Garth Greenwell que li nestas férias: a novela "O que te pertence" (edição brasileira da Todavia de "What belongs to you") e o livros de contos Cleanness, que li no original inglês.
Com estes dois livros Garth Greenwell entrou numa lista restrita de escritores que quero acompanhar.
Detentor de uma escrita poderosa de significados, sentida e carregadas de sentimentos Greenwell não deixa de ser claro no modo como as relações humanas são complexas.
Essa complexidade é retratada de um modo puro, duro, sem panaceias ou floreados. É uma complexidade tanta vezes dolorosa, feia e má. Uma complexidade cheia de jogos sexuais - descritos sem pudor - e de artimanhas emocionais.
Por isso mesmo mesmo ele não se fuga a falar de prostituição masculina e de engates em espaço urbano (cruising) como o faz magistralmente na novela "O que te pertence". Tal como não se fuga a descrição apurada de uma sessão de dominação no conto "Gospodar"; ou a uma intensa e descritiva intervenção política em torno de uma manifestação no conto "Decent People".
Tendo ambos os livros um perfil autobiográfico assumido ficamos curioso com o R., namorado açoriano do narrador, personagem presente em 4 dos 9 contos de "Cleanness". Quem seria este jovem quente? Rui, Rodrigo, Roberto?
Com estes dois livros Garth Greenwell entrou numa lista restrita de escritores que quero acompanhar.
Detentor de uma escrita poderosa de significados, sentida e carregadas de sentimentos Greenwell não deixa de ser claro no modo como as relações humanas são complexas.
Essa complexidade é retratada de um modo puro, duro, sem panaceias ou floreados. É uma complexidade tanta vezes dolorosa, feia e má. Uma complexidade cheia de jogos sexuais - descritos sem pudor - e de artimanhas emocionais.
Por isso mesmo mesmo ele não se fuga a falar de prostituição masculina e de engates em espaço urbano (cruising) como o faz magistralmente na novela "O que te pertence". Tal como não se fuga a descrição apurada de uma sessão de dominação no conto "Gospodar"; ou a uma intensa e descritiva intervenção política em torno de uma manifestação no conto "Decent People".
Tendo ambos os livros um perfil autobiográfico assumido ficamos curioso com o R., namorado açoriano do narrador, personagem presente em 4 dos 9 contos de "Cleanness". Quem seria este jovem quente? Rui, Rodrigo, Roberto?
alisarae's review against another edition
5.0
I can't get over how much I liked this novel. Following the POV of the narrator (/author? it comes across as heavily autobiographical), an American teacher in Bulgaria, we track his relationship with a gay Bulgarian prostitute. The writing is so detailed and vivid—it perfectly captures the sensation of isolation an expat feels in a country where you only half-understand what people are communicating.
I liked these quotes:
"Maybe they were a mistake, my years in this country, maybe the illness I had caught was just a confirmation of it. What had I done but extend my rootlessness, the series of false starts that became more difficult to defend as I got older?"
"I didn't understand the bitterness with which I had spoken, the bitterness not just toward the woman but toward the place, this country I had chosen; I hadn't known I felt it, and I wondered how deep it went."
"I would write a poem about him, and then it would be the poem I remembered, which would be both true and false at once, the image i made replacing the real image. Making poems was a way of loving things, I had always thought, of preserving them, of living moments twice; or more than that, it was a way of living more fully."
"Love isn't just a matter of looking at someone, I think now, but also of looking with them, of facing what they face..."
I liked these quotes:
"Maybe they were a mistake, my years in this country, maybe the illness I had caught was just a confirmation of it. What had I done but extend my rootlessness, the series of false starts that became more difficult to defend as I got older?"
"I didn't understand the bitterness with which I had spoken, the bitterness not just toward the woman but toward the place, this country I had chosen; I hadn't known I felt it, and I wondered how deep it went."
"I would write a poem about him, and then it would be the poem I remembered, which would be both true and false at once, the image i made replacing the real image. Making poems was a way of loving things, I had always thought, of preserving them, of living moments twice; or more than that, it was a way of living more fully."
"Love isn't just a matter of looking at someone, I think now, but also of looking with them, of facing what they face..."
carmenere's review against another edition
3.0
Thoughts.............. An expat American teaching in Bulgaria is drawn inexplicably to a fellow, Mitko, in a rest room who sells what the expat is hoping to acquire. It's quite obvious from the start that Mitko desires nice things and will do what he needs to in order to get them. A homosexual relationship begins between the two in explicit language. Over the course of time the expat gets more than he bargained for from Mitko and each time he gives him money and sends him on his way, Mitko returns.
Frankly, I have never read a book like this before. It was enlightening and I grew sympathetic to the American's and Mitko's alienation.
Looking back, the expat recalls his childhood, his confused initial feelings of sexuality and the reactions from his parents, especially his father, who did not offer the support and understanding the young man required.
Perhaps, the author in writing this book, wants to shed light on an unfamiliar topic and if so, I think he's succeeded
Frankly, I have never read a book like this before. It was enlightening and I grew sympathetic to the American's and Mitko's alienation.
Looking back, the expat recalls his childhood, his confused initial feelings of sexuality and the reactions from his parents, especially his father, who did not offer the support and understanding the young man required.
Perhaps, the author in writing this book, wants to shed light on an unfamiliar topic and if so, I think he's succeeded