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Sfinx
"Claire, Jag vet att min bitterhet består av frusen sorg och slocknad vrede. Men jag ska smälta bitterhetens is. Jag ska komma till min rätt igen. Stiga fram ur skuggorna, ja, det ska jag. Finklädd. Innan det mörknar för dina ögon ska du förstå vem jag är."
Hon, den första hustrun, riktar sig i brev till Claire, kvinnan hon inte kan släppa taget om, kvinnan som nu är gift med hennes Felix. Han, som skulle ha varit pappa till den son som aldrig föddes, han som kränkte och förnedrade och inte lämnade någon plåga oprövad.
Claire och Felix blir den himlakropp som allting kretsar kring, deras välstånd och lycka - Claires skönhet, sonen med de blåaste ögon - överskuggar till slut både det egna konstnärskapet och vardagen tillsammans med dottern Ma och blir till en stor bitterhet. Hon iakttar och smyger, tar sig in i familjens sommarhus, fläckar och smutsar ner. Hon kommer nära.
Christine Falkenland har skrivit en skrämmande roman om avund i dess ondskefullaste och lägsta form. Suggestivt, krypande och på ett skimrande exakt språk utforskar hon det mänskliga psykets solkigaste vrår.
Hon, den första hustrun, riktar sig i brev till Claire, kvinnan hon inte kan släppa taget om, kvinnan som nu är gift med hennes Felix. Han, som skulle ha varit pappa till den son som aldrig föddes, han som kränkte och förnedrade och inte lämnade någon plåga oprövad.
Claire och Felix blir den himlakropp som allting kretsar kring, deras välstånd och lycka - Claires skönhet, sonen med de blåaste ögon - överskuggar till slut både det egna konstnärskapet och vardagen tillsammans med dottern Ma och blir till en stor bitterhet. Hon iakttar och smyger, tar sig in i familjens sommarhus, fläckar och smutsar ner. Hon kommer nära.
Christine Falkenland har skrivit en skrämmande roman om avund i dess ondskefullaste och lägsta form. Suggestivt, krypande och på ett skimrande exakt språk utforskar hon det mänskliga psykets solkigaste vrår.
221 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 15, 2016
Tung att läsa, svår att betygsätta. Recension på bloggen: http://elilaserochskriver.se/sfinx-ch...
June 18, 2018
This is the first novel I read from author Christine Falkenland. The novel is about a divorced woman in her 40's, who learned that her ex-husband married a younger, better looking and richer woman than she can ever dream while her life seems miserable, boring and going nowhere. Thus, the woman becomes jealous and obessed with her ex-husband new wife to the point of writing her letters. The theme of a divorced woman jealous of her ex-s new wife is a common subject that many people can relate to and both ways (woman jealous of ex's new wife or husband jealous of ex's new husband).
The author wrote about this topic using the format of letters (book published in 2011 and even if nowadays emails are more often used than letters). The writing style is poetic despite the nature of the themes. Through these letters, readers can read the character's development of the narrator in details, can learn about the psychological impact of a bad marriage, a bad divorce and a future life still reliving the past to the point of insane obsession. It's an exploit from the author's perspective to write 103 letters with the same topic.
Unfortunately, after reading so many letters, I got exhausted and bored reading the same topic, the same negative feelings because it becomes way too repetitive. It was original in the beginning, but the effect goes down with the number of letters going up without any plot being built. It would have been better for the novel and readers that between several letters, there were texts, descriptions and dialogues to create a break in the format to get the story moving instead of just floating around the same theme over and over again. Furthurmore, the letters weren't dated at all such as "Monday June 18th 2018" because if it were, readers would know the frequency and overall duration of these letters and undertand better the depth of the obsession.
The novel deals with a topic readers can easily connect to. The format and writing style is creative in the beginning, but becomes too repetitive in the end. Small changes in the format would have made the novel an even greater and easier book to read.
The author wrote about this topic using the format of letters (book published in 2011 and even if nowadays emails are more often used than letters). The writing style is poetic despite the nature of the themes. Through these letters, readers can read the character's development of the narrator in details, can learn about the psychological impact of a bad marriage, a bad divorce and a future life still reliving the past to the point of insane obsession. It's an exploit from the author's perspective to write 103 letters with the same topic.
Unfortunately, after reading so many letters, I got exhausted and bored reading the same topic, the same negative feelings because it becomes way too repetitive. It was original in the beginning, but the effect goes down with the number of letters going up without any plot being built. It would have been better for the novel and readers that between several letters, there were texts, descriptions and dialogues to create a break in the format to get the story moving instead of just floating around the same theme over and over again. Furthurmore, the letters weren't dated at all such as "Monday June 18th 2018" because if it were, readers would know the frequency and overall duration of these letters and undertand better the depth of the obsession.
The novel deals with a topic readers can easily connect to. The format and writing style is creative in the beginning, but becomes too repetitive in the end. Small changes in the format would have made the novel an even greater and easier book to read.
July 10, 2016
För några år sedan var den här boken stor i bokbloggosfären. Jag hade nog inte riktigt klart för mig vad det var för typ av bok, men när jag hittade den på bokrean 2013 så slank den med. Lite förvånad, och besviken, blev jag när jag upptäckte att den är en sorts brevroman. Läs mer på min blogg
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews