Reviewed by kimbacaffeinate on
I found the translators introduction to be fascinating and it gave me a sense of the book and what I was about to read. Each of these is a professed love story, but they also show so much more. The daily struggles, mans ability to cope, dreams, needs, wants and fears. These are not romantic tales that will make you swoon, but each holds a ray of hope no matter how dismal or disheartening.
I did not consume this in one sitting, and in fact read just a few stories each evening. The tales are dark and at times downright depressing. Sometimes I found myself experiencing a range of emotions from shock to laughter and others the tale ended too soon. While each tale is relatively short, we quickly get up close and personal with the authors characters. If you have ever read Grimm’s fairytales then these are the love stories. The writing is very down to earth and plain but the author’s words are deliberate and powerful. She hides nothing behind flowery words; the walls are stark, their bellies empty and you feel it. While I could not always connect with the characters I certainly understood what they were feeling.
Overall There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, and He Hanged Himself was a depressingly dark read that I actually enjoyed. Some of the decisions made by the characters were difficult for me and offered a stark look at the time period and the difficulties these characters faced. I would have really liked one tale and a wider scoop of the time period, maybe about one building and the tenets who resided in it. While this might not be for everyone I am certainly glad that I read it.
I want to thank Penguin for providing this copy in exchange for my unbiased review.
Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 5 February, 2013: Finished reading
- 5 February, 2013: Reviewed