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bethamphetamine's review against another edition
4.0
It took a while for me to really get into the story because Eleanor annoyed me so much in the first 100 pages, but it turned out, she was very justified in her words and actions. This was one of the best, most satisfying character arcs I’ve read in a long time!
sarah_popss's review against another edition
4.0
For a while this book didn't hook me. I was interested but just didn't find myself caring about the story or the characters. Eventually though that did change, and overall, I really enjoyed the book. 3.5-4 ⭐ Probably 3.5 for a chunk of it, and then 4 towards the end.
sfgirlbybay's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book. I wasn't sure Eleanor might annoy me at first, but she easily won me over and I fell in love with her. Funny, and very bittersweet, I think anyone who suffers from a narcissistic mum and loneliness will really relate to Eleanor. I am curious to see this book come to life in a movie.
writerbeverly's review against another edition
4.0
Within page 1, it is clear that Eleanor is the farthest thing from fine. It's clear she's a survivor of PTSD, and has a nightmare mother who checks in and says horrible things to her every week. But she is hopeful, having developed a romantic attraction to a musician she saw in a club. And then there's her co-worker Raymond, with whom she enjoys a growing friendship.
It was clear to me she was in a big city, but escaped me that it was Glasgow, until I was about halfway through the book. Quite obviously NOT the USA, given the public transportation system, the store names, and the way when she suffered from an extended depressive period, she was supported in taking as much time off work as she needed, and welcomed back when she was ready to come back.
I liked it, and was certainly rooting for her, but if it was meant to be funny, I wasn't feeling it. It just seemed tragic, how unloved she seemed to have been, until she found her way out of her trauma.
It was clear to me she was in a big city, but escaped me that it was Glasgow, until I was about halfway through the book. Quite obviously NOT the USA, given the public transportation system, the store names, and the way when she suffered from an extended depressive period, she was supported in taking as much time off work as she needed, and welcomed back when she was ready to come back.
I liked it, and was certainly rooting for her, but if it was meant to be funny, I wasn't feeling it. It just seemed tragic, how unloved she seemed to have been, until she found her way out of her trauma.
bengatley's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
Took a while to get into, but really enjoyed it. The twists were things you could see coming, but written in a way that you wanted them to be true, and enjoyed them evolving.
Just a well written, hopeful and enjoyable book. Eleanor is such a fantastic character, and so loveable in so many ways.
Just a well written, hopeful and enjoyable book. Eleanor is such a fantastic character, and so loveable in so many ways.
chuli's review against another edition
3.0
Eleanor Oliphant vjen si sugjerimi I nje kolege pune te dashur dhe si nje lexim I tipit kam-10-dite-kohe-per-te-lexuar-dicka-para-se-te-nisem-ne-Shqiperi-besoj-duhet-dicka-e-lehte-por-jo-shume-e-lehte-sepse-tashme-ne-lexojme-libra-te-avancuar-por-jo-shume-te-avancuar-sepse-sduam-te-traumatizohemi-para-Shqiperise-por-te-lehte-dhe-me-vlere-sepse-do-merret-ne-biblioteke-ah-po-biblioteka-cfare-do-te-kete-ne-dispozicion-aty. Per te mos folur pastaj per udhetimin ne biblioteke. Ishte nje e shtune e zymte dhe e mbushur me shi ne Stokholm kur nje dikush vendos t'a luftoje merzine duke kaluar njehere nga biblioteka per kete librin ne fjale qe sipas faqes se internetit te bibliotekes, ishte ne dispozicion ne biblioteken e preferuar te ketij personit: Stadsbiblioteket. Shkon ky dikushi atje, dhe ky dikushi qe ta dini ju, e ka shume bezdi te rri te kerkoje gjera, si ne biblioteke ashtu edhe ne supermarkete apo dyqane kshuqe shkon direkt tek personeli dhe I pyet se ky eshte ky artikulli ne fjale sepse kjo eshte menyra me eficente, qartazi. Dhe gruaja qe punonte tek biblioteka I tha ketij dikushit qe libri nuk eshte ne dispozicion. Ca?!?!?!? Si mund te mos jete ne dispozicion kur faqja ne internet thote qe eshte ketu. Ketu. Epooo.... stafi I IT eshte perpjekur disa here ta rregulloje sistemin qe nuk e tregon sakte numrin. Librin mund ta kene sjelle ketu, por eshte I rezervuar, keshtu qe eshte ne dispozicion vetem per personin qe e ka rezervuar. Nese do, mund ta rezervosh edhe ti. Rezervimi eshte me leke, apo jo? Po. Epo, jo, faleminderit. Po shih, se libri eshte edhe ne biblioteken ne Kista. (Kista eshte nje perjetesi larg, duhet te marresh nje anije kozmike per te udhetuar atje, dhe udhetimi eshte ne erresire dhe ti nuk I sheh asnjehere yjet dhe kur arrin mund te te vrasin. Shkruaj emrin ketu per t'i regjistruar. Kista eshte edhe ku Ermali jeton - tani e kuptoni pse nuk shkoj shpesh here tek shtepia e tij: se jam nje llastice e qendres se qytetit). Po, shume faleminderit qe me tregon qe libri eshte ne Kista sepse pikerisht ate kam ndermend te bej, te harxhoj te shtunen time per kete. Dhe eshte fiks ajo qe bera, sepse kjo zonja ne sportel me tregoi qe nese e telefonon biblioteken e Kistes, mund ti kerkosh te ta rezervojne librin deri ne 3 dite pa asnje pagese dhe kjo ishte nje gjest kaq I embel qe ajo po me tregonte sesi te luftoja sistemin kapitalist qe po vret edhe simbolin e fundit te socializimit - bibliotekat - saqe shkova ne Kista dhe mora librin qe kishte emrin e bukur Basia mbi nje leter per mua :)))))
Eleanor nuk eshte nje personazh qe te ngjit menjehere - do kohen e vete qe te te ngjisi. Ne rastin tim, ishte dhe pak antipatike. Por fale Zotit kjo Vasja, qe harxhon goxha kohe ne instagram por se gjysmat e faqeve qe ndjek jane mbi psikologjine, e di qe kur ndjenja te tilla na shfaqen, jane ne fakt nje reflektim I dickaje qe kemi inat tek vetja jone dhe ajo cka une kisha frike tek vetja ime qe e shihja tek Eleanor eshte autizmi. Po perdor fjalen autizem si nje "cader" per te treguar se Eleanor kishte nje karakter te vecante dhe duke mos ditur dot se cfare eshte (kerkoj ndjese, nuk jam e gjitheditur, edhe pse kete imazh krijoj tek te tjeret. Mesa duket krijoj edhe imazhin e te qenurit top, nderkohe qe e vetmja gje qe kerkoj eshte... nejse). Le te kthehemi tek Eleanora. Sic thashe, personazhi I saj eshte nje person ne spektrin e autizmit qe jeton ne rutinen e saj. Nje nga faktoret qe ndikoi qe ta mbaroja kete liber per 3 dite (kini frike, armiq!) ishte fakti qe mendimet e Eleanor - qe ishin dhe kendveshtrimi qe rrefente librin - ishin kaq te lehta per t'u ndjekur dhe kaq te njohura sepse *drums rolling* ngjanin tej mase me mendimet e mia. Menyra sesi ishin organizuar, sesi perceptohej realiteti, sesi logjikohej. Dhe kjo me trembte. Eshte hera e dyte ne nje kohe te shkurter qe has media artistike mbi autizmin qe me ngjason me veten time dhe patjeter reagimi I pare eshte ta refuzoj "Kush une?? si mundem une te kem dicka te ngjashme me te??? ska shance!" por sa me shume e lexoja, e di si me dukej: sikur ke nje kolltuk te ri, dhe kur ulesh mbi te eshte I ftohte dhe I forte dhe i parehatshem dhe ti vrenjt vetullat mbi blerjen qe ke bere por sa me shume qendron aty, aq me shume zbutesh si ti, si kolltuku dhe perfundoni duke marre formen e njeri-tjetrit. Tani, mos ta ekzagjerojme, nuk eshte se une dhe Eleanora u puthitem keshtu, por te pakten, une u familjarizova me teper me temen e autizmit dhe ajo cka mesova eshte frika nga cenueshmeria. Autizmi nuk ka asgje te frikshme, sado thelle apo ceket te jem ne spektrin e tij. Eshte fakti I te qenurit e cenueshme qe me trembte e me tremb akoma, por sa me shume e pranoja cenueshmerine, aq me e forte ndihesha dhe mu be si pjese e lekures sime, si nje armature qe ishte krijuar fiks per mua. Ne fillim te librit, nese dikush do me thoshte qe je autike, do beja shakate e mia si nje menyre per tu mbrojtur teksa tani do thoja "po edhe? te gjithe jemi njerez kompleks.". Pak si herpesi, apo jo :) Ky liber eshte edhe nje shenje qe sduhet te lodhem te gjej veten tek heroinat e romaneve ruse por duhet te kerkoj tek librat e tanishem, se temat si autizmi qe mesa duket I perkasin karakterit tim "nuk ekzistonin" ne ato kohe (eshte shaka per gjithe ata qe thone qe semundjet jane shpikje te shekullit te fundit - ndonjehere duhet ta shpjegosh shakane qe te mos gjykojne si te prapambetur). Mirupafshim Ana Karenina dhe bija e kapitenit!
Le te flasim per librin tani (mire qe seshte recension I nje libri ky apo jo!). Eshte plot 3 yje te merituara. Prit - nuk e kam fjalen qe eshte I dobet, ka per tu permiresuar - jo, jo, ky liber e ka arritur potencialin e tij te plote dhe jane 3 yje dhe duhet te jete shume krenar per keto 3 yje se I ka fituar me djersen e ballit. Eshte njelloj si shoket, jo te gjithe shoket qe kemi ne kane 5 yje (ata qe ti I njeh qe kur hanit dhe bashke, dhe qe mund ti tregosh gjithcka dhe cfare nuk ke kaluar me ta dhe qe keni filluar dhe qeshni njelloj tani) por kemi plot shoke me 3 yje qe na pelqen te pijme caj me ta njehere ne kaq kohe, apo te dergojme nje mesazh ti pyesim si jane. Keshtu edhe me kete librin, nuk eshte nje Modigliani, por eshte nje histori interesante (dhe pastaj, Modigliani nuk arriti te nxjerre kaq shume fjale nga une). Nuk eshte nje lexim I lehte, duhet pranuar. Une jam nje person qe thith energjine e te tjereve shume lehte (e di, sduhet ta bej, por jam ende duke mesuar sesi te krijoj barriera - urraaa, me shume barriera) dhe ishte e veshtire te lexoje mbi temen qe trajtohej dhe kishte shume pjese te librit qe nuk u ndjeva mire dhe me duhet t'i fikja disi emocionet qe te mos I lija te me prishinin diten. Ky liber ka shume te tilla, por ka edhe shume momente defryese kur ti perfundon duke qeshur me ze. Eshte shume I zgjuar ne humor dhe pjesa ime e preferuar eshte kur dikush I panjohur troket ne deren e Eleanor dhe Eleanor e hap deren.
-"Jesus Christ!" - therret personi tjeter kur shikon gjendjen ne te cilen ishte Eleanor (hint: jo e mire)
-"Eleanor Oliphant." - pergjigjet Eleanor.
A nuk eshte humor gjenial?! Apo kur Eleanor ben shakane "Noone could miss the Oliphant in the room, could they?" Preken shume tema interesante per mua sepse Eleanor, njelloj si une, eshte mesuar qe te jete e pavaruar dhe e shkeptur nga njerezit sepse arrin dhe duhet ti beje gjithcka vete. Keshtu tema si pavaresia e tepruar, mungesa e shoqerise (nje mik eshte dikush qe te ndihmon duke te vene ne pah gjera - por kur je ti gjithmone ajo qe ve ne pah gjerat, a ia vlen ta kesh kete personin mik? - cit. vasja), veshtiresia e te kerkuarit per ndihme kur je mesuar ti perballosh gjithcka vetem - pra perseri tema e cenueshmerise. Nuk e di a do jete nje mesim qe do arrij ta aplikoj ne fusha te tjera se do me dali nga mendja pas disa ditesh, por eshte gjithsesi mire qe ky liber levizi disa ingranazhe ne trurin tim mbi kete teme. Heren tjeter, pas 5 ditesh apo 5 vitesh, do jete pak me pak I ndryshkur. U befasova nga fundi dhe nuk e prisja qe autorja te ishte aq e zgjuar, por ndoshta ajo eshte me e specializuar se une ne fushen e ceshtjeve mendore. Nuk e di a do t'a rekomandoja si liber, por jam e kenaqur qe e lexova dhe per sa kohe qe jam me e ditur tani sesa isha para se ta lexoja, eshte gjithmone nje fitore.
Meqe ra fjala, keto postimet e mia ketu jane si postimet e atyre blogereve mbi receta ushqimore: postojne 500 fjale mbi nje histori qe askujt nuk I plasi ta lexoj dhe te gjithe kalojne direkt tek receta. Keshtu blogeret mund edhe te rrefehen per vrasje qe kane kryer dhe askush nuk do e marre vesh se askush nuk I lexon ato. Ne nje fare forme askush nuk I lexon keto postimet e mia ketu dhe askush nuk do e marre vesh per kete pjese. Mund te nis te flas per djemte me te cilet dal, per spiralen, per traumat e mia dhe askush nuk do e dinte ndonjehere. Te them te drejten, nuk eshte aspak e trishte. Shpeshhere, per te bere dicka, duhet te largohesh nga njerezit qe njeh sepse nuk performon dot duke e ditur qe personat qe ti I njeh po te vezhgojne, por kur e ben me te panjohur, je nje mjeshtre. Per mua kjo eshte njelloj si te flas suedisht psh, qe perpara kusherinjve te mi te famshem ne Eskilstuna nuk e bej dot, por para kolegeve brockullis si te dua. Nuk e kam menduar asnjehere ne kete forme...
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Eleanor Oliphant comes as the suggestion of a dear work colleague and a reading of the type i-have-10-days-left-to-read-something-before-i-leave-for-Albania -i-guess-it-needs-to-be-something-light-but-not-too-light-because-nowadays-we-read-advanced-books-but-not-too-advanced-because-we-dont-want-to-get-traumatized-before-travelling-to-Albania-but-something-light-and-valuable-because-it-is-gonna-get-picked-up-at-the-library-ah-i.wonder-what-will-be-available-at-the-library. Let's not even mention the trip to the library. It was a gloomy Saturday full of rain in Stockholm when someone decided to fight boredom by passing by the librarian for the book we are talking about which according to the website of the library was available at the favourite library of this person: The City Library. This someone goes there and this someone, for your information, loathes having to search for items in places like the library or supermarket or shops so this person goes directly to the personnel and asks them where is the article this person is looking for because this is the most efficient way, obviously. The woman who was working at the library told this someone that the book might not be available. WHAT??? How can it not be available when the website says that it is in here? HERE. Well… the IT staff has tried many times to no avail to fix the system as it is not displaying the number (of available books) correctly. The book might have been brought here but it is reserved, there is someone in the queue, so it is available only for the person who has booked it. If you want, you can reserve it too. The reservation costs money, doesn't it? Yes. Well, no thank you. Well, you can find the book at the library in Kista. (Kista is an eternity away, you have to travel by rocketship to go there, and the trip is all in darkness and you never get to see the stars even though you are on a rocket ship and when you arrive there, you can get killed. Write your name here to get registered. Kista is also where Ermal lives - now you can understand why I don't go to his place often: because I'm a spoiled downtown girl.) Yes, thank you very much for pointing out that the book is in Kista because that is exactly what I plan on doing, wasting my saturday for this (sarcasm). And that is exactly what I ended up doing, because this nice lady at the booth told me that if i call the library at Kista, I can ask them to reserve the book up to 3 days without any fee and this was such a sweet gesture that she was telling me how to fight capitalism which is killing even the last symbol of socialism - libraries - so that i ended up going to Kista and pick up the book which had the wonderful name Basia written on a paper for me :)))
Eleanor is not an easy to like character - it takes some time for someone to like her. In my case, she was also a bit antipathetical. But thank God that this vasja, that spends a lot of time in instagram but half of the pages she follows are related to psychology, knows that when such feelings arise, they are in fact a reflection of something which we hate on ourselves and what i feared about myself that i saw on Eleanor was autism. I am using the word autism as an “umbrella” to show that Eleanor had a special character and I do not know the specifics of it (i apologize, i am not omniscient even though i create this image to others. As it seems, I also extrude lovely top energy, whereas the only thing I would like is to be… anyway). Let's get back to Eleanor. As i said, her character is that of a person in the autism spectrum which lives her routine. One of the factors that helped finish this book in 3 days (be afraid, oh enemies of mine!) was the fact that Eleanor’s thoughts - which were the point of view that told the book - were so easy to follow and so familiar because *drums rolling*: they looked a lot like mine. The way the thoughts were organized, how reality was perceived, how the logic worked. And this scared me. It was the second time in a short time that I encountered artistic media on autism which resembled myself and of course the first reaction would be to be in denial “Who me??? How can I have something similar to him/her??? No fucking way!!!” but the more i read, you know what it felt like: like a new couch which when you sit upon it, it is cold and hard and uncomfortable and you become grumpy on the purchase but the longer you stay there, the softer you and the couch become and you end up taking the shape of one another. Now, let's not get carried away, it's not like Eleanor and I ended up being like that, but at least, I got to be more familiar with autism and what I learned was fear of vulnerability. There is nothing fearful about autism itself, no matter how shallow or deep one is in the spectrum. It is the fact of being vulnerable that scared me and still scares me, but the more I accepted vulnerability, the stronger I felt and it became like a second skin, a kind of shield created just for me. At the beginning of the book, if someone would have told me that I am autistic, I would joke about it as a defense mechanism whereas now I'd say “yes. And? We are all complex people.” A little bit like herpes, right? :) This book is a sign that i should give up trying to find myself in the heroines of russian novels but i have to look in modern books because subjects like autism which seem to belong to my character “did not exist” at that time (im joking my sounding similar to those who say that such things are inventions of the last century - sometimes it's better to dissect the frog so that others don't misunderstand you). Farewell Anna Karenina and the captain’s daughter!
Let's talk about the book now (thank god that this is not a book review, right?!) It has fully deserved 3 stars. Wait - I am not saying that it's a weak book and it needs improvement - no, no, this book has reached its full potential and has earned 3 stars and it should be proud of those 3 stars because it worked its ass off to get those stars. Its like friends, not everyone is a 5 star friend (those that you know since the time you ate dirt together, that you can tell them everything and you have been through all kinds of shit and now even your laughter is similar) but we do in fact have friends which are 3 star friends which we enjoy a cup of tea once in a while, or send a message asking how they are. It is the same with this book, it's not a Modigliani, but it's an interesting story (and in the end, Modigliani didn't manage to get so many words out of me). It was not an easy read, one has to admit. I am the kind of person who absorbs other people’s energy easily ( i know, i shouldn't do it, but i am still learning how to shield myself from it - yaaay, even more walls are gonna be build for me to shield myself) and it was difficult to read about the topic and there were a lot of parts in the book where i didnt feel comfortable, like something was sitting on my chest, so i had to turn off my emotions so that it wouldn't ruin my day. This book has a lot of those moments, but there are a lot of funny ones too where you end up laughing out loud. The humour was witty and my favorite part was when a stranger knocks on eleanor’s door and she opens the door
“Jesus Christ!” - says the person when he sees eleanor who looked like shit
“Eleanor Oliphant.” - replied Eleanor.
Isn't it genius? Or when Eleanor jokes about how “no one can miss the Oliphant in the room”. There were a lot of interesting topics for me because Elanor, who like me, is used to being independent and disconnected from people because she manages (has to) do everything on her own. So topics like ultra independence, lack of friends (a friend is someone who helps you by pointing things out to you - but what happens when you are the one who always points out things to a person, is it worth still being friends with this person? - cit. Vasja), struggling to reach out and ask for help when you are used to handling everything on your own - so again the topic of vulnerability. I don't know if this will be a lesson that I will apply in other fields or it will slip out of my mind after a couple of days, but it is in the end a good thing that this book managed to move some gears in my brain on this topic. Next time, after 5 days or 5 years, my brain will be less rusted. I was surprised by the ending and i didnt expect for the author to be that smart (to have that kind of ending) but maybe she is more specialised than I am in the field of mental health. I am not certain if i would recommend this as a book, but i am happy that i read it and as long as i am more knowledgeable now than i was before i had read this book, it is a victory.
By the way, my posts here are like the posts of those bloggers about food recipes: they write a gazillion words on some story that no one cares about and everyone just scrolls down to the recipe immediately. They can even confess to a crime and no one would find out because no one reads that part. Similarly, no one reads my posts here and no one will find out about this part of mine. I can talk about guys I date, the hormone or copper spiral, my traumas and no one would ever know. Honestly, it's not sad at all. Sometimes, to do something, you need to get away from being in the spotlight of the people you know because you can't perform well under such a spotlight, but when you perform in front of a stranger, you're flawless.
Eleanor nuk eshte nje personazh qe te ngjit menjehere - do kohen e vete qe te te ngjisi. Ne rastin tim, ishte dhe pak antipatike. Por fale Zotit kjo Vasja, qe harxhon goxha kohe ne instagram por se gjysmat e faqeve qe ndjek jane mbi psikologjine, e di qe kur ndjenja te tilla na shfaqen, jane ne fakt nje reflektim I dickaje qe kemi inat tek vetja jone dhe ajo cka une kisha frike tek vetja ime qe e shihja tek Eleanor eshte autizmi. Po perdor fjalen autizem si nje "cader" per te treguar se Eleanor kishte nje karakter te vecante dhe duke mos ditur dot se cfare eshte (kerkoj ndjese, nuk jam e gjitheditur, edhe pse kete imazh krijoj tek te tjeret. Mesa duket krijoj edhe imazhin e te qenurit top, nderkohe qe e vetmja gje qe kerkoj eshte... nejse). Le te kthehemi tek Eleanora. Sic thashe, personazhi I saj eshte nje person ne spektrin e autizmit qe jeton ne rutinen e saj. Nje nga faktoret qe ndikoi qe ta mbaroja kete liber per 3 dite (kini frike, armiq!) ishte fakti qe mendimet e Eleanor - qe ishin dhe kendveshtrimi qe rrefente librin - ishin kaq te lehta per t'u ndjekur dhe kaq te njohura sepse *drums rolling* ngjanin tej mase me mendimet e mia. Menyra sesi ishin organizuar, sesi perceptohej realiteti, sesi logjikohej. Dhe kjo me trembte. Eshte hera e dyte ne nje kohe te shkurter qe has media artistike mbi autizmin qe me ngjason me veten time dhe patjeter reagimi I pare eshte ta refuzoj "Kush une?? si mundem une te kem dicka te ngjashme me te??? ska shance!" por sa me shume e lexoja, e di si me dukej: sikur ke nje kolltuk te ri, dhe kur ulesh mbi te eshte I ftohte dhe I forte dhe i parehatshem dhe ti vrenjt vetullat mbi blerjen qe ke bere por sa me shume qendron aty, aq me shume zbutesh si ti, si kolltuku dhe perfundoni duke marre formen e njeri-tjetrit. Tani, mos ta ekzagjerojme, nuk eshte se une dhe Eleanora u puthitem keshtu, por te pakten, une u familjarizova me teper me temen e autizmit dhe ajo cka mesova eshte frika nga cenueshmeria. Autizmi nuk ka asgje te frikshme, sado thelle apo ceket te jem ne spektrin e tij. Eshte fakti I te qenurit e cenueshme qe me trembte e me tremb akoma, por sa me shume e pranoja cenueshmerine, aq me e forte ndihesha dhe mu be si pjese e lekures sime, si nje armature qe ishte krijuar fiks per mua. Ne fillim te librit, nese dikush do me thoshte qe je autike, do beja shakate e mia si nje menyre per tu mbrojtur teksa tani do thoja "po edhe? te gjithe jemi njerez kompleks.". Pak si herpesi, apo jo :) Ky liber eshte edhe nje shenje qe sduhet te lodhem te gjej veten tek heroinat e romaneve ruse por duhet te kerkoj tek librat e tanishem, se temat si autizmi qe mesa duket I perkasin karakterit tim "nuk ekzistonin" ne ato kohe (eshte shaka per gjithe ata qe thone qe semundjet jane shpikje te shekullit te fundit - ndonjehere duhet ta shpjegosh shakane qe te mos gjykojne si te prapambetur). Mirupafshim Ana Karenina dhe bija e kapitenit!
Le te flasim per librin tani (mire qe seshte recension I nje libri ky apo jo!). Eshte plot 3 yje te merituara. Prit - nuk e kam fjalen qe eshte I dobet, ka per tu permiresuar - jo, jo, ky liber e ka arritur potencialin e tij te plote dhe jane 3 yje dhe duhet te jete shume krenar per keto 3 yje se I ka fituar me djersen e ballit. Eshte njelloj si shoket, jo te gjithe shoket qe kemi ne kane 5 yje (ata qe ti I njeh qe kur hanit dhe bashke, dhe qe mund ti tregosh gjithcka dhe cfare nuk ke kaluar me ta dhe qe keni filluar dhe qeshni njelloj tani) por kemi plot shoke me 3 yje qe na pelqen te pijme caj me ta njehere ne kaq kohe, apo te dergojme nje mesazh ti pyesim si jane. Keshtu edhe me kete librin, nuk eshte nje Modigliani, por eshte nje histori interesante (dhe pastaj, Modigliani nuk arriti te nxjerre kaq shume fjale nga une). Nuk eshte nje lexim I lehte, duhet pranuar. Une jam nje person qe thith energjine e te tjereve shume lehte (e di, sduhet ta bej, por jam ende duke mesuar sesi te krijoj barriera - urraaa, me shume barriera) dhe ishte e veshtire te lexoje mbi temen qe trajtohej dhe kishte shume pjese te librit qe nuk u ndjeva mire dhe me duhet t'i fikja disi emocionet qe te mos I lija te me prishinin diten. Ky liber ka shume te tilla, por ka edhe shume momente defryese kur ti perfundon duke qeshur me ze. Eshte shume I zgjuar ne humor dhe pjesa ime e preferuar eshte kur dikush I panjohur troket ne deren e Eleanor dhe Eleanor e hap deren.
-"Jesus Christ!" - therret personi tjeter kur shikon gjendjen ne te cilen ishte Eleanor (hint: jo e mire)
-"Eleanor Oliphant." - pergjigjet Eleanor.
A nuk eshte humor gjenial?! Apo kur Eleanor ben shakane "Noone could miss the Oliphant in the room, could they?" Preken shume tema interesante per mua sepse Eleanor, njelloj si une, eshte mesuar qe te jete e pavaruar dhe e shkeptur nga njerezit sepse arrin dhe duhet ti beje gjithcka vete. Keshtu tema si pavaresia e tepruar, mungesa e shoqerise (nje mik eshte dikush qe te ndihmon duke te vene ne pah gjera - por kur je ti gjithmone ajo qe ve ne pah gjerat, a ia vlen ta kesh kete personin mik? - cit. vasja), veshtiresia e te kerkuarit per ndihme kur je mesuar ti perballosh gjithcka vetem - pra perseri tema e cenueshmerise. Nuk e di a do jete nje mesim qe do arrij ta aplikoj ne fusha te tjera se do me dali nga mendja pas disa ditesh, por eshte gjithsesi mire qe ky liber levizi disa ingranazhe ne trurin tim mbi kete teme. Heren tjeter, pas 5 ditesh apo 5 vitesh, do jete pak me pak I ndryshkur. U befasova nga fundi dhe nuk e prisja qe autorja te ishte aq e zgjuar, por ndoshta ajo eshte me e specializuar se une ne fushen e ceshtjeve mendore. Nuk e di a do t'a rekomandoja si liber, por jam e kenaqur qe e lexova dhe per sa kohe qe jam me e ditur tani sesa isha para se ta lexoja, eshte gjithmone nje fitore.
Meqe ra fjala, keto postimet e mia ketu jane si postimet e atyre blogereve mbi receta ushqimore: postojne 500 fjale mbi nje histori qe askujt nuk I plasi ta lexoj dhe te gjithe kalojne direkt tek receta. Keshtu blogeret mund edhe te rrefehen per vrasje qe kane kryer dhe askush nuk do e marre vesh se askush nuk I lexon ato. Ne nje fare forme askush nuk I lexon keto postimet e mia ketu dhe askush nuk do e marre vesh per kete pjese. Mund te nis te flas per djemte me te cilet dal, per spiralen, per traumat e mia dhe askush nuk do e dinte ndonjehere. Te them te drejten, nuk eshte aspak e trishte. Shpeshhere, per te bere dicka, duhet te largohesh nga njerezit qe njeh sepse nuk performon dot duke e ditur qe personat qe ti I njeh po te vezhgojne, por kur e ben me te panjohur, je nje mjeshtre. Per mua kjo eshte njelloj si te flas suedisht psh, qe perpara kusherinjve te mi te famshem ne Eskilstuna nuk e bej dot, por para kolegeve brockullis si te dua. Nuk e kam menduar asnjehere ne kete forme...
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Eleanor Oliphant comes as the suggestion of a dear work colleague and a reading of the type i-have-10-days-left-to-read-something-before-i-leave-for-Albania -i-guess-it-needs-to-be-something-light-but-not-too-light-because-nowadays-we-read-advanced-books-but-not-too-advanced-because-we-dont-want-to-get-traumatized-before-travelling-to-Albania-but-something-light-and-valuable-because-it-is-gonna-get-picked-up-at-the-library-ah-i.wonder-what-will-be-available-at-the-library. Let's not even mention the trip to the library. It was a gloomy Saturday full of rain in Stockholm when someone decided to fight boredom by passing by the librarian for the book we are talking about which according to the website of the library was available at the favourite library of this person: The City Library. This someone goes there and this someone, for your information, loathes having to search for items in places like the library or supermarket or shops so this person goes directly to the personnel and asks them where is the article this person is looking for because this is the most efficient way, obviously. The woman who was working at the library told this someone that the book might not be available. WHAT??? How can it not be available when the website says that it is in here? HERE. Well… the IT staff has tried many times to no avail to fix the system as it is not displaying the number (of available books) correctly. The book might have been brought here but it is reserved, there is someone in the queue, so it is available only for the person who has booked it. If you want, you can reserve it too. The reservation costs money, doesn't it? Yes. Well, no thank you. Well, you can find the book at the library in Kista. (Kista is an eternity away, you have to travel by rocketship to go there, and the trip is all in darkness and you never get to see the stars even though you are on a rocket ship and when you arrive there, you can get killed. Write your name here to get registered. Kista is also where Ermal lives - now you can understand why I don't go to his place often: because I'm a spoiled downtown girl.) Yes, thank you very much for pointing out that the book is in Kista because that is exactly what I plan on doing, wasting my saturday for this (sarcasm). And that is exactly what I ended up doing, because this nice lady at the booth told me that if i call the library at Kista, I can ask them to reserve the book up to 3 days without any fee and this was such a sweet gesture that she was telling me how to fight capitalism which is killing even the last symbol of socialism - libraries - so that i ended up going to Kista and pick up the book which had the wonderful name Basia written on a paper for me :)))
Eleanor is not an easy to like character - it takes some time for someone to like her. In my case, she was also a bit antipathetical. But thank God that this vasja, that spends a lot of time in instagram but half of the pages she follows are related to psychology, knows that when such feelings arise, they are in fact a reflection of something which we hate on ourselves and what i feared about myself that i saw on Eleanor was autism. I am using the word autism as an “umbrella” to show that Eleanor had a special character and I do not know the specifics of it (i apologize, i am not omniscient even though i create this image to others. As it seems, I also extrude lovely top energy, whereas the only thing I would like is to be… anyway). Let's get back to Eleanor. As i said, her character is that of a person in the autism spectrum which lives her routine. One of the factors that helped finish this book in 3 days (be afraid, oh enemies of mine!) was the fact that Eleanor’s thoughts - which were the point of view that told the book - were so easy to follow and so familiar because *drums rolling*: they looked a lot like mine. The way the thoughts were organized, how reality was perceived, how the logic worked. And this scared me. It was the second time in a short time that I encountered artistic media on autism which resembled myself and of course the first reaction would be to be in denial “Who me??? How can I have something similar to him/her??? No fucking way!!!” but the more i read, you know what it felt like: like a new couch which when you sit upon it, it is cold and hard and uncomfortable and you become grumpy on the purchase but the longer you stay there, the softer you and the couch become and you end up taking the shape of one another. Now, let's not get carried away, it's not like Eleanor and I ended up being like that, but at least, I got to be more familiar with autism and what I learned was fear of vulnerability. There is nothing fearful about autism itself, no matter how shallow or deep one is in the spectrum. It is the fact of being vulnerable that scared me and still scares me, but the more I accepted vulnerability, the stronger I felt and it became like a second skin, a kind of shield created just for me. At the beginning of the book, if someone would have told me that I am autistic, I would joke about it as a defense mechanism whereas now I'd say “yes. And? We are all complex people.” A little bit like herpes, right? :) This book is a sign that i should give up trying to find myself in the heroines of russian novels but i have to look in modern books because subjects like autism which seem to belong to my character “did not exist” at that time (im joking my sounding similar to those who say that such things are inventions of the last century - sometimes it's better to dissect the frog so that others don't misunderstand you). Farewell Anna Karenina and the captain’s daughter!
Let's talk about the book now (thank god that this is not a book review, right?!) It has fully deserved 3 stars. Wait - I am not saying that it's a weak book and it needs improvement - no, no, this book has reached its full potential and has earned 3 stars and it should be proud of those 3 stars because it worked its ass off to get those stars. Its like friends, not everyone is a 5 star friend (those that you know since the time you ate dirt together, that you can tell them everything and you have been through all kinds of shit and now even your laughter is similar) but we do in fact have friends which are 3 star friends which we enjoy a cup of tea once in a while, or send a message asking how they are. It is the same with this book, it's not a Modigliani, but it's an interesting story (and in the end, Modigliani didn't manage to get so many words out of me). It was not an easy read, one has to admit. I am the kind of person who absorbs other people’s energy easily ( i know, i shouldn't do it, but i am still learning how to shield myself from it - yaaay, even more walls are gonna be build for me to shield myself) and it was difficult to read about the topic and there were a lot of parts in the book where i didnt feel comfortable, like something was sitting on my chest, so i had to turn off my emotions so that it wouldn't ruin my day. This book has a lot of those moments, but there are a lot of funny ones too where you end up laughing out loud. The humour was witty and my favorite part was when a stranger knocks on eleanor’s door and she opens the door
“Jesus Christ!” - says the person when he sees eleanor who looked like shit
“Eleanor Oliphant.” - replied Eleanor.
Isn't it genius? Or when Eleanor jokes about how “no one can miss the Oliphant in the room”. There were a lot of interesting topics for me because Elanor, who like me, is used to being independent and disconnected from people because she manages (has to) do everything on her own. So topics like ultra independence, lack of friends (a friend is someone who helps you by pointing things out to you - but what happens when you are the one who always points out things to a person, is it worth still being friends with this person? - cit. Vasja), struggling to reach out and ask for help when you are used to handling everything on your own - so again the topic of vulnerability. I don't know if this will be a lesson that I will apply in other fields or it will slip out of my mind after a couple of days, but it is in the end a good thing that this book managed to move some gears in my brain on this topic. Next time, after 5 days or 5 years, my brain will be less rusted. I was surprised by the ending and i didnt expect for the author to be that smart (to have that kind of ending) but maybe she is more specialised than I am in the field of mental health. I am not certain if i would recommend this as a book, but i am happy that i read it and as long as i am more knowledgeable now than i was before i had read this book, it is a victory.
By the way, my posts here are like the posts of those bloggers about food recipes: they write a gazillion words on some story that no one cares about and everyone just scrolls down to the recipe immediately. They can even confess to a crime and no one would find out because no one reads that part. Similarly, no one reads my posts here and no one will find out about this part of mine. I can talk about guys I date, the hormone or copper spiral, my traumas and no one would ever know. Honestly, it's not sad at all. Sometimes, to do something, you need to get away from being in the spotlight of the people you know because you can't perform well under such a spotlight, but when you perform in front of a stranger, you're flawless.
stephaniedc's review against another edition
4.0
I was expecting this book to be quirky and lighthearted and while Eleanor is certainly quirky, this is not a lighthearted book. The first half of the book was so full of embarrassing moments that made me cringe, and I cried my way through the second half. I very much enjoyed it overall but had to take a lot of breaks to recover from Eleanor’s social awkwardness. A very quick read.
morticium's review against another edition
4.0
For the first 3/4 of the book, I was fairly uninterested in Eleanor and was prepared to drop the book at any moment. However, for some inexplicable reason at the time of reading, I kept reading. Typically, I drop a book if the first 50 pages do not captivate me. Perhaps, unconsciously, I didn’t know what I was fully getting myself into and so was curious enough to see it to the end.
Now thinking back on the entirety of the book after finishing it, I believe my initial disinterest was a fear of having a characters inner thoughts being a little too uncanny. I found myself relating to Eleanor at several instances and that bothered me. Her moment of describing that if there was a perfume of school supplies, she would roll her face in it being particularly relatable.
Overall, “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” is a wonderful book that pleasantly surprised me. I’m glad I read until the end. While at first, I thought the pace too slow, it seems just right to meandering-ly lure the reader into a sense of abstract normal before a twist.
Now thinking back on the entirety of the book after finishing it, I believe my initial disinterest was a fear of having a characters inner thoughts being a little too uncanny. I found myself relating to Eleanor at several instances and that bothered me. Her moment of describing that if there was a perfume of school supplies, she would roll her face in it being particularly relatable.
Overall, “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” is a wonderful book that pleasantly surprised me. I’m glad I read until the end. While at first, I thought the pace too slow, it seems just right to meandering-ly lure the reader into a sense of abstract normal before a twist.