blckstrs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The book is heart-wrenching and hauntingly beautiful. A must-read!
evadis's review against another edition
2.0
Nou daar gaan we dan: hier vond ik echt weinig aan. Ik leefde totaal niet mee met de verteller, het kon me allemaal bar weinig schelen wat hij meemaakte. Dit kwam deels door een soort ongeloofwaardigheid die om hem heen hing; voor mijn gevoel paste de schrijfstijl niet bij zijn identiteit. Een politieagent uit de middenklasse met een behoorlijke depressie en een alcoholprobleem schrijft in een dagboek en gebruikt daarbij constant de meest vergezochte metaforen. Het klopt gewoon niet. Mijn favoriete metafoor is toch wel "[...] terwijl je tegelijkertijd haar haren tussen het kraagje van haar blouse en haar blote huid als gouden tule tegen haar hals zag schuimen" - dat slaat toch nergens op?! Kan overigens ook aan de vertaling liggen.
Daarnaast vond het hele idee van de 'identiteit' van dit boek ongeloofwaardig. Het is me niet duidelijk wat het moet voorstellen. Het leest als een dagboek, maar is te weinig intiem om echt een dagboek te zijn. Ik heb niet het gevoel dat ik de verteller echt heb leren kennen. Bovendien zegt de verteller dat hij het aan Clémence heeft geschreven, maar hij zegt eigenlijk vrij weinig over of tegen haar. Ergens anders noemt hij dan weer dat hij niet alle brieven van Lysia opneemt want "de rest van de wereld hoeft het niet ook nog eens te zien". Welke rest van de wereld gaan zijn dagboek lezen?
En toch nog iets positiefs:
- Ik vind het hele idee en de setting van Grijze zielen wél interessant. Ik denk dat ik de verfilming maar ga kijken.
- De combinatie van de brieven van Lysia + de beschrijvingen van de verteller zorgden ervoor dat Destinat als een interessant, tragisch karakter werd neergezet. Dat kon ik zeker waarderen.
Daarnaast vond het hele idee van de 'identiteit' van dit boek ongeloofwaardig. Het is me niet duidelijk wat het moet voorstellen. Het leest als een dagboek, maar is te weinig intiem om echt een dagboek te zijn. Ik heb niet het gevoel dat ik de verteller echt heb leren kennen. Bovendien zegt de verteller dat hij het aan Clémence heeft geschreven, maar hij zegt eigenlijk vrij weinig over of tegen haar. Ergens anders noemt hij dan weer dat hij niet alle brieven van Lysia opneemt want "de rest van de wereld hoeft het niet ook nog eens te zien". Welke rest van de wereld gaan zijn dagboek lezen?
En toch nog iets positiefs:
- Ik vind het hele idee en de setting van Grijze zielen wél interessant. Ik denk dat ik de verfilming maar ga kijken.
- De combinatie van de brieven van Lysia + de beschrijvingen van de verteller zorgden ervoor dat Destinat als een interessant, tragisch karakter werd neergezet. Dat kon ik zeker waarderen.
chiarabra's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
alexsiddall's review against another edition
2.0
Mixed feelings about this book. Some elegant writing and telling insights, but I found it irritating and clunky in other ways. There are no characters, only caricatures: not a human contradiction in sight. It is interestingly structured but the whole thing feels completely artificial. I found it very unsatisfying. 'A masterpiece'? My arseterpiece.
ronanmcd's review against another edition
5.0
An extraordinary, delicate and soulful book. Full of the existential contradictions you'd expect and crave in good French writing, film & culture. To live, we must die.
To follow a whole book, reading in the belief that we alone, and separate from the characters, have the fuller understanding and correct suspicions in regards to a murder is one thing. To twist that back on us and say that the characters themselves, and not our more circumspect views, were correct is another thing altogether. But the true mastery is in doing that by having us all along follow a narrator who is himself deluded, but earnestly so. In another author's words that may stumble and fall but the conceit works here.
In addition, tacking on at the very end that the narrator whom we have been trusting all along is a filicide seems hamfisted. But that is to examine it at a remove. It fits with the flow, and again emphasises just how deluded we have been.
This is, after all is said and done, a murder mystery. It is one that leaves the reader firmly in the grip of the idea that to know something truly is not the normal way of life. We live in shades of grey.
To follow a whole book, reading in the belief that we alone, and separate from the characters, have the fuller understanding and correct suspicions in regards to a murder is one thing. To twist that back on us and say that the characters themselves, and not our more circumspect views, were correct is another thing altogether. But the true mastery is in doing that by having us all along follow a narrator who is himself deluded, but earnestly so. In another author's words that may stumble and fall but the conceit works here.
In addition, tacking on at the very end that the narrator whom we have been trusting all along is a filicide seems hamfisted. But that is to examine it at a remove. It fits with the flow, and again emphasises just how deluded we have been.
This is, after all is said and done, a murder mystery. It is one that leaves the reader firmly in the grip of the idea that to know something truly is not the normal way of life. We live in shades of grey.
dajna's review against another edition
3.0
Mi aspettavo qualcosa in più: la storia è grigia, ma non le anime che la vivono. Anzi, i personaggi sono ben caratterizzati, degli stereotipi non eccessivamente stereotipicizzati. La lettura assomiglia a una passeggiata per il paese in compagnia di un suo abitante, triste e stanco. Si parla tanto di morte e poco di vita, nonostante la guerra non arrivi mai sul serio in questa sonnacchiosa comunità. Persino i feriti e i mutilati, dopo lo shock iniziale dei concittadini nel vederli, diventano un'abitudine da circoscrivere alla casa di cura.
Mi aspettavo un giallo, ho trovato la biografia di un anonimo paesino del nord della Francia che non si indigna più di tanto per le brutture della vita.
Mi aspettavo un giallo, ho trovato la biografia di un anonimo paesino del nord della Francia che non si indigna più di tanto per le brutture della vita.
paulataua's review against another edition
4.0
The novel is set in a small French village just behind the front lines during the first world war. A young girl is found murdered, and a policeman is called to the scene of the crime. The policeman then begins to narrate the circumstance of another murder that took place years earlier and might be related. One could be forgiven for thinking that this is a work of detective fiction and there’s a sense in which it is, but as the policemen meanders his way towards the solution, we are treated to a meditation on death, to the agony that comes from losing someone close, and to the unpredictable nature of our existences. Life….
… doesn’t give you warnings. It jumbles everything up so you can’t pick and choose, and bloody moments follow moments of grace, just like that. It can make you wonder if man isn’t like one of those pebbles that lie on the road, lying in the same place for entire days until someone kicks it and sends it sailing through the air for no reason. And what can a pebble do?
It is an emotionally powerful story that is beautifully written. It is slow, but I was drawn into it and had no desire for it to go any faster. I read each chapter in French to experience the beauty of the language and then in English to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I really enjoyed it and will definitely read more of Claudel’s work in the near future.
… doesn’t give you warnings. It jumbles everything up so you can’t pick and choose, and bloody moments follow moments of grace, just like that. It can make you wonder if man isn’t like one of those pebbles that lie on the road, lying in the same place for entire days until someone kicks it and sends it sailing through the air for no reason. And what can a pebble do?
It is an emotionally powerful story that is beautifully written. It is slow, but I was drawn into it and had no desire for it to go any faster. I read each chapter in French to experience the beauty of the language and then in English to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I really enjoyed it and will definitely read more of Claudel’s work in the near future.
cynthiak's review against another edition
4.0
J'ai d'abord mis 2 étoiles car j'ai détesté ce livre. L'histoire m'a profondément déplu, ce qui veut dire que l'auteur a atteint son objectif. L'écriture est incroyable. En conclusion, 4 étoiles.