Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.
Sto caricando le informazioni... The Parson's Widowdi Marja-Liisa Vartio
Nessuno Sto caricando le informazioni...
Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. This novel is set in a small Finnish village in the early 20th century. Most of the story consists of two women, the older Adele (the parson's widow) and her younger maid Alma arguing. Each has a different recollection of the past, sometimes of minor details (the color of an apron) but also about the major events of their lives, the lives of their relatives, and the lives of their fellow villagers. Since the two often disagree with each other, we basically have a novel with two unreliable narrators telling the story as an argumentative conversation. There is a lot of humor in this book. One of the recurring disagreements between the women is how to care for the extensive stuffed bird collection left to Adele by her husband--what is the best way to dust a stuffed owl? Despite these injections of humor, the novel nevertheless has serious themes. The Parson's family is in constant conflict with Adele, over property ownership and other issues. Adele has addiction issues. Alma is not entirely stable either. There are issues of sexual abuse and class issues. There is also the question of the Parson's sanity and deteriorating reputation in the years before his death. (In fact the novel opens with a fire in the parsonage several years before the parson's death, when he is running around yelling for Adele to "save the birds", as others are trying to save the church records.) This is considered the best novel of respected Finnish writer Vartio. I highly recommend it. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Appartiene alle Collane Editoriali
After the publication of The Parson's Widow, Vartio's fifth novel, Finnish critics hailed it as a masterpiece, her finest literary achievement. This is the first opportunity for English readers to become acquainted with her unforgettable characters: the eccentric widow of a country parson, her maid Alma, and the other inhabitants of a rural village. Readers will discover the passions that lie beneath the villagers' reserve and formality, and that from time to time break through the polite surface with devastating results. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Discussioni correntiNessunoCopertine popolari
Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)894.54133Literature Literature of other languages Altaic, Finno-Ugric, Uralic and Dravidian languages Fenno-Ugric languages Fennic languages Finnish Finnish fiction 1900–2000Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
Sei tu?Diventa un autore di LibraryThing. |
I appreciated this book and may try reading it again some day, but I had a hard time connecting to it. The characters are intentionally hard people to like and the book dwells in dialogue so the reader only gets the characters' perspectives which makes it hard to escape their annoying habits and perceptions. I'm glad I read it though and think it deserves to be more widely read. There are interesting themes and it has a creative way of exploring the characters. ( )