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nila's Reviews (526)
I did not undestand this book. It's a compilation of different stories, and judging by the title 'DBY' which reads to 'debut', I thought it would involve the sexual debut of various characters. The characters' and their stories are all intertwined, but I don't understand how the title applied to the story, as it was not as I expected. It's a mediocre read, but it did not do much for me.
Twelve-year-old Hans Thomas lives alone with his father, a man who likes to give his son lessons about Life and has a penchant for philosophy. Hans Thomas' mother left when he was four (to find' herself) and the story begins when father and son set off on a trip to Greece, where she now lives, to try to persuade her to come home. En rout, in Switzerland, Hans Thomas is given a magnifying glass by a dwarf at a petrol station, and the next day he finds a tiny book in his bread roll which can only be read with a magnifying glass. How did the book come to be there? Why does the dwarf keep showing up? It is all very perplxing and Hans Thomas has enough to cope with, with the daunting prospect of seeing his mother. Now his journey has turned into an encounter withthe unfathomable...or does it all have a logical explanation? [Taken from play.com]
This was the book that got me into philosophy. I haven't read the translation, as the book is originally in Norwegian. A great read, and very innovative that engages the reader!
This was the book that got me into philosophy. I haven't read the translation, as the book is originally in Norwegian. A great read, and very innovative that engages the reader!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I cannot believe I let this book sit on my shelf for 7+ year's before reading it. Oh well, I can actually believe it, cause I read it in English first and absolutely could not keep up with the economic terms and jargon so I gave up.
The book starts out quite slowly, Larsson definitely has a pacing-issue, but it picks up once Lisbeth Salander shows up, and then goes to another level when she and Mikael joins forces. Maybe it's on purpose... I did deduct one star for the weird product placements and the random English intersections and phrases, which were quite honestly cringy. At least you didn't have to suffer through that, English readers.
I have to say that if you're sensitive to sexual violence, rape and torture descriptions, you should think twice before reading this. I've read plenty of reviews where people comment on the amount of violence, especially sexual violence, against women. I've also read some people describe it as torture porn. The Norwegian (and Swedish) title is Men Who Hate Women, and thinking about the women in this book, I think it's perfect.
Lisbeth, Erika, Harriet, Cecilia, and Pernilla are all women who are "hated". Lisbeth is stuck in a bureaucratic system that is in place to protect her, but instead the men in the system are taking advantage of the system and subsequently her. Erika is a hard-working boss of a magazine that exposes financial crimes and other "serious issues". She is sexually liberated and in control of her life, and yet the media always portray her as a bitch and focus merely on her appearance. And all the Vanger-women are trapped in a family with a lot of f***** up men, and have to live with that.
Even so, all the women make their own decisions on how to handle these issues, instead of staying in the boxes that society has put them in, and I really enjoyed that. Sometimes they don't do the right thing, but we want flawed characters, right? Lisbeth confronting Armand about their relationship, and working on her own terms. Cecilia decided to engage in a sexual relationship with Mikael (and ended it when she no longer felt comfortable) even though she's been slut-shamed by her father since she was 20.
Larsson also writes a lot of different types of men, so I don't think the "Man-hater" comments are right either. Mikael is a "good-guy" but he's not a good father, and he knows it. He also is not very good at deciphering other people's emotions. Henrik is a desperate man with a lot of success behind him, but he is also willing to cover up all the skeletons in his family's closet for the sake of his business (I mean Harriet, but the business benefits from this too).
All in all, I'm really excited to read the other books in the series
The book starts out quite slowly, Larsson definitely has a pacing-issue, but it picks up once Lisbeth Salander shows up, and then goes to another level when she and Mikael joins forces. Maybe it's on purpose... I did deduct one star for the weird product placements and the random English intersections and phrases, which were quite honestly cringy. At least you didn't have to suffer through that, English readers.
I have to say that if you're sensitive to sexual violence, rape and torture descriptions, you should think twice before reading this. I've read plenty of reviews where people comment on the amount of violence, especially sexual violence, against women. I've also read some people describe it as torture porn. The Norwegian (and Swedish) title is Men Who Hate Women, and thinking about the women in this book, I think it's perfect.
Even so, all the women make their own decisions on how to handle these issues, instead of staying in the boxes that society has put them in, and I really enjoyed that. Sometimes they don't do the right thing, but we want flawed characters, right? Lisbeth confronting Armand about their relationship, and working on her own terms. Cecilia decided to engage in a sexual relationship with Mikael (and ended it when she no longer felt comfortable) even though she's been slut-shamed by her father since she was 20.
Larsson also writes a lot of different types of men, so I don't think the "Man-hater" comments are right either. Mikael is a "good-guy" but he's not a good father, and he knows it. He also is not very good at deciphering other people's emotions. Henrik is a desperate man with a lot of success behind him, but he is also willing to cover up all the skeletons in his family's closet for the sake of his business (I mean Harriet, but the business benefits from this too).
All in all, I'm really excited to read the other books in the series
I have always avoided autobiographies/memoirs because I was sure I wouldn't enjoy them. I do however love comedy, and so I've decided to try reading more memoirs by funny people. I read Carrie Fisher's book earlier this year and next on my list was this book.
And it did not disappoint.
This book is thoughtfully written, Noah is not assuming anything about the reader. I got the feeling he wasn't interested in just telling HIS own story, but he was careful to put his early life and upbringing in the context of South Africa's history and culture. Each chapter starts with a kind of history lesson before diving into a story from his own life and then ending with him reflecting on what that event meant to him and how he thinks about it now while living a completely different life in New York. He's basically holding your hand and guiding you through he while thing. And though a lot of the times it is genuinely sad and scary, it is somehow also hilarious?
Also his mom is just amazing, you should read it just to know her story.
This book ended up being something completely different than what I expected, and I'm finding it difficult to review it because I just wanna tell everyone to read it because it's simply great.
And it did not disappoint.
This book is thoughtfully written, Noah is not assuming anything about the reader. I got the feeling he wasn't interested in just telling HIS own story, but he was careful to put his early life and upbringing in the context of South Africa's history and culture. Each chapter starts with a kind of history lesson before diving into a story from his own life and then ending with him reflecting on what that event meant to him and how he thinks about it now while living a completely different life in New York. He's basically holding your hand and guiding you through he while thing. And though a lot of the times it is genuinely sad and scary, it is somehow also hilarious?
Also his mom is just amazing, you should read it just to know her story.
This book ended up being something completely different than what I expected, and I'm finding it difficult to review it because I just wanna tell everyone to read it because it's simply great.
This collection of short-stories are best enjoyed if you read the whole collection. By themselves, each story might seems incomplete and rushed, but the last story really tied everything together, and took this from a 3,0 to a 3,5-rating.
