Thursday, January 29, 2009

To Siberia - Per Petterson

This book has such a beautiful cover, I could hardly pass it up. Set in Denmark, it is the story of an older woman looking back on her life, her relationship with her brother, the Nazi occupation, and her chaotic family. This is a story I enjoyed for the language of the writing, but not so much for the actual plot. I kept wanting to skip ahead - which was sometimes done for me, since from chapter to chapter the narrator marches ahead in time without explanation. In an attempt to deal with her uncertain future, the narrator long to go to Siberia, while her brother dreams of life in Morocco. Yet, despite the magnitude of their hopes, ultimately, their lives reflect desolation and helplessness. This is one I would put on my "real literature" shelf, but not one that would make it on to my "to read again" shelf.

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