Rachel Hartman! I have so, so much love and respect for Rachel Hartman.
The troll book, oh gosh. I read it super fast while briefly in the US (and thus reveling in brief access to so many books I can't get from the library in the UK), so I'm not sure I remember it cogently enough to say much.
I was on the fence about it for a while, but by the end I would say I liked it. It was definitely weird! And for a while it looked like it was going to go in a pedophilia direction, which...yikes. No. But so then I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, and I actually did feel like I would call it a "love" story in a way, but sort of a familial love instead? (Trying to be a bit vague so as to not entirely spoil it for anyone who might see this and be interested in reading it.)
Also, the translation felt pretty clunky – unnatural dialogue and such. It put me off enough that I wasn't sure I would be able to stand to read the book, but I powered through.
More, though, I would love to hear YOUR thoughts, since you've written a paper about it! You obviously know and have thought about the book much more than I have.
By the way, have you read much or anything by Sjón? (For an example of the opposite: the English translator of his work, Victoria Cribb, is great!)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2018-07-09 08:09 pm (UTC)The troll book, oh gosh. I read it super fast while briefly in the US (and thus reveling in brief access to so many books I can't get from the library in the UK), so I'm not sure I remember it cogently enough to say much.
I was on the fence about it for a while, but by the end I would say I liked it. It was definitely weird! And for a while it looked like it was going to go in a pedophilia direction, which...yikes. No. But so then I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, and I actually did feel like I would call it a "love" story in a way, but sort of a familial love instead? (Trying to be a bit vague so as to not entirely spoil it for anyone who might see this and be interested in reading it.)
Also, the translation felt pretty clunky – unnatural dialogue and such. It put me off enough that I wasn't sure I would be able to stand to read the book, but I powered through.
More, though, I would love to hear YOUR thoughts, since you've written a paper about it! You obviously know and have thought about the book much more than I have.
By the way, have you read much or anything by Sjón? (For an example of the opposite: the English translator of his work, Victoria Cribb, is great!)