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A review by gbrewerw
Before the Feast by Saša Stanišić
5.0
Translated beautifully, this book is quirky and fantastical. The characters are shimmery, which I can't explain well, but they are both fully realized, and lightly present.
"A table stands outside the gate to the inner courtyard at Number 16, with a pink plastic box on it. The box is always out there, come rain, come ice, come night. The box contains eggs: ten for two euros. It's a fair price. Ditzsche has good chickens, healthy and well looked after, given special food and the devotion of an outsider. Chickens who smell like proper chickens. They warn Ditzsche of the arrival of a storm or a stranger. They keep quiet when the postman calls" (p. 194).
"A table stands outside the gate to the inner courtyard at Number 16, with a pink plastic box on it. The box is always out there, come rain, come ice, come night. The box contains eggs: ten for two euros. It's a fair price. Ditzsche has good chickens, healthy and well looked after, given special food and the devotion of an outsider. Chickens who smell like proper chickens. They warn Ditzsche of the arrival of a storm or a stranger. They keep quiet when the postman calls" (p. 194).