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A review by sloatsj
Dina's Book by Herbjørg Wassmo
3.0
This is a dramatic story about Dina, who at the age of 5 inadvertently causes a vat of hot lye to engulf her mother, causing her excruciating death. Dina is then neglected by her father, a sheriff, who doesn’t know what to do with her, and spends her life haunted by her mother’s screams and ghostly presence. While Dina’s in her early teens, her father finds a tutor for her who’s a bit of a godsend, teaching her arithmetic and music. He also learns about the tragedy, and tells the girl her mother is better off, having gone to a better place, which in a way makes Dina feel it’s ok to mete out her own biblical justice for years to come. She’s able to do so by the power she acquires through marrying a rich merchant at age 15, whom she soon sends to his death.
There is an appeal in the strong female character - undaunted, unconventional, feminist, brave. She’s also not very easy to like. I had to ask myself several times if I was being unfair and if I’d give a man more leeway, but no: if anything, I’d probably hold all that ‘lording it around’ more against a man than a woman. And Dina has a good point in a lot of cases, but she is selfish and often unsympathetic.
The good points about this story are the characters, the plot and the Norwegian landscape. It’s a sensuous book full of hot meals, birch branches, rowan berries, snow, fires, the smell of stables, blood, sex, and the sea. It has some satisfying moments.
On the downside I wasn’t crazy about the style. A bit of short internal monologue is frequently interjected that invariably starts “I am Dina,” followed by what Dina could do or her experiences. It’s a little over the top, as if Dina were a goddess declaring herself. And the sex scenes were awkward, as sex scenes often are, sometimes dressed up in metaphors about “spears” and “fish” such. I was soon judging guys by the size of their penises.
This was a good wintertime read and engaging, but I didn’t think it was a great work of literature. If you are interested in potent female characters, Norway or the shipping trade, it’s worth a read.
There is an appeal in the strong female character - undaunted, unconventional, feminist, brave. She’s also not very easy to like. I had to ask myself several times if I was being unfair and if I’d give a man more leeway, but no: if anything, I’d probably hold all that ‘lording it around’ more against a man than a woman. And Dina has a good point in a lot of cases, but she is selfish and often unsympathetic.
The good points about this story are the characters, the plot and the Norwegian landscape. It’s a sensuous book full of hot meals, birch branches, rowan berries, snow, fires, the smell of stables, blood, sex, and the sea. It has some satisfying moments.
On the downside I wasn’t crazy about the style. A bit of short internal monologue is frequently interjected that invariably starts “I am Dina,” followed by what Dina could do or her experiences. It’s a little over the top, as if Dina were a goddess declaring herself. And the sex scenes were awkward, as sex scenes often are, sometimes dressed up in metaphors about “spears” and “fish” such. I was soon judging guys by the size of their penises.
This was a good wintertime read and engaging, but I didn’t think it was a great work of literature. If you are interested in potent female characters, Norway or the shipping trade, it’s worth a read.