Storytellers - Libroj.org

Bitlibro, 296 paĝoj

Lingvo: English

Eldonita de josephtailor.

ASIN:: B07P8Z74CC

(1 recenzo)

In March 1920 Icelandic days are short and cold, but the nights are long. For most, on those nights, funny, sad, and dramatic stories are told around the fire. But there is nothing dramatic about Gunnar, a hermit blacksmith who barely manages to make ends meet. He knows nobody will remember him – they already don’t. All he wants is peace, the company of his animals, and a steady supply of his medication. Sometimes he wonders what it would feel like to have a story of his own. He’s about to find out.

Sigurd – a man with a plan, a broken ankle, and shocking amounts of money – won’t talk about himself, but is happy to tell a story that just might get Gunnar killed. The blacksmith's other “friends” are just as eager to write him into stories of their own – from Brynhildur who wants to fix Gunnar, …

In March 1920 Icelandic days are short and cold, but the nights are long. For most, on those nights, funny, sad, and dramatic stories are told around the fire. But there is nothing dramatic about Gunnar, a hermit blacksmith who barely manages to make ends meet. He knows nobody will remember him – they already don’t. All he wants is peace, the company of his animals, and a steady supply of his medication. Sometimes he wonders what it would feel like to have a story of his own. He’s about to find out.

Sigurd – a man with a plan, a broken ankle, and shocking amounts of money – won’t talk about himself, but is happy to tell a story that just might get Gunnar killed. The blacksmith's other “friends” are just as eager to write him into stories of their own – from Brynhildur who wants to fix Gunnar, then marry him, his doctor who is on the precipice of calling for an intervention, The Conservative Women of Iceland who want to rehabilitate Gunnar’s “heathen ways” – even the wretched elf has plans for the blacksmith.

As his defenses begin to crumble, Gunnar decides that perhaps his life is due for a change – on his own terms. But can he avoid the endings others have in mind for him, and forge his own?

1 eldono

Stephanie Jane recenzis Storytellers de Bjørn Larssen

Good historical fiction

4 steloj

I loved Iceland when I visited briefly a few years ago although we didn't get to see the Northern Lights. The stunning display pictured on the Storytellers cover caught my eye and I'm glad to say that the story inside is just as powerful. Storytellers is set in the 1920s, with characters also remembering events from several decades before, and I was impressed with Larssen's historical portrayals. Rural Iceland wasn't at the cutting edge of the Jazz Age(!) and I got a good sense of the timelessness of life in this small community. The new doctor might have his new-fangled car and telephone, but no one else can ring him up and a good horse will amble faster on what passes for roads.

Misanthropic Gunnar is a great character! I could empathise with a lot of his emotions and actions - although I've never chatted with an elf. Initially I …

I loved Iceland when I visited briefly a few years ago although we didn't get to see the Northern Lights. The stunning display pictured on the Storytellers cover caught my eye and I'm glad to say that the story inside is just as powerful. Storytellers is set in the 1920s, with characters also remembering events from several decades before, and I was impressed with Larssen's historical portrayals. Rural Iceland wasn't at the cutting edge of the Jazz Age(!) and I got a good sense of the timelessness of life in this small community. The new doctor might have his new-fangled car and telephone, but no one else can ring him up and a good horse will amble faster on what passes for roads.

Misanthropic Gunnar is a great character! I could empathise with a lot of his emotions and actions - although I've never chatted with an elf. Initially I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy the story-within-a-story device, but once Sigurd's narrative caught my attention I was completely hooked. Everyone felt very real and believable especially determined Brynhildur and I loved the almost-Dickensian exaggeration of the Constipated Hags. It was difficult to believe that Storytellers is actually a debut novel. Larssen's assured prose and intricately woven plot lines made for an interesting and entertaining novel which I thoroughly enjoyed reading