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A review by josethi
Keep Saying Their Names: A novel by Simon Stranger
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Here are some of my thoughts.
I read a lot of ww2 books (being from Poland the topic was fed to us from an early age) but never from Norway. I always welcome new perspectives. Not to mention I usually enjoy Scandinavian literature.
The book is very... experimental for lack of a better. Parts in the second-person narrative that took me out of the story - provided brackets for it; a stream of consciousness feel in the third person that wasn't really it; the title that sort of make sense at the beginning but at the end is repeated (again-bracket function) that for me, totally lost the attachment to the story; not to mention why are we going through the alphabet? I guess it helped me judge how long it will take for the book to end. I could go on...
Maybe audiobook wasn't the best medium to get it. I don't mind the style experiments in poetry but I prefer direct prose.
All that is to say this book was not for me.
I gave the 2nd star for the topic and a very unusual main perspective. I would love to read this story in a more straightforward book.
I read a lot of ww2 books (being from Poland the topic was fed to us from an early age) but never from Norway. I always welcome new perspectives. Not to mention I usually enjoy Scandinavian literature.
The book is very... experimental for lack of a better. Parts in the second-person narrative that took me out of the story - provided brackets for it; a stream of consciousness feel in the third person that wasn't really it; the title that sort of make sense at the beginning but at the end is repeated (again-bracket function) that for me, totally lost the attachment to the story; not to mention why are we going through the alphabet? I guess it helped me judge how long it will take for the book to end. I could go on...
Maybe audiobook wasn't the best medium to get it. I don't mind the style experiments in poetry but I prefer direct prose.
All that is to say this book was not for me.
I gave the 2nd star for the topic and a very unusual main perspective. I would love to read this story in a more straightforward book.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Antisemitism