martin’s Reviews > Rabenliebe > Status Update

Nearly there. Beginning to wonder if the author realised that a reader might be repelled rather than fascinated by this novel

Definitely a book that is best read a few pages a day rather than in large chunks. In that way it reminds me of Joyce’s Ulysses

Love hate relationship with this novel. Incredibly inventive language and he has a real gift for describing people places and feelings in unexpected and perceptive ways. The inclusion of children’s songs and rhymes (some of which I guess are his own creations) is also fascinating. On the downside there is perhaps too much repetition - of ideas rather than words - and the plot moves painfully slowly

Making progress. He’s been transferred to a home for older children, become institutionalised as a “home” boy rather than a village boy and then adopted by a couple who do child-rearing by numbers and have no empathy for him.

Not easy going and, if it weren’t so autobiographical, all this wallowing in abuse and emotional damage would feel excessive, but this is not just Dickensian exaggeration - instead it is an attempt to purge himself of the experience. I like the insertion (without warning) of nursery rhymes and poems. The news excerpts about child abandonment, orphanages and adoption are fascinating, if a little gloomy