This book is a work of art. Of literary genius. Disturbing, sharp, unnerving, haunting, images and words that cut deep, touch a nerve, makes an impact.This book is a work of art. Of literary genius. Disturbing, sharp, unnerving, haunting, images and words that cut deep, touch a nerve, makes an impact. And you can’t braze yourself against it; you can turn away or read on, either way it will haunt you, from its first pages. Sentences, words strung together, in a way that passes the logical mind and hits you at your core, in your gut. Makes your stomach turn. I don’t have the words to explain this book, how do you explain art? I can only try to explain the experience of reading it, of what it did to me, and even that is hard. I’m left feeling disturbed and moved by the book itself and yet appreciative of the art, of the artist behind the words that so captivated and gut-punched me. Such beautiful writing, such a skill. I think many would read this book and simply find it weird. And it is. It’s a weird book and a very weird experience. And without the appreciation of the art literature is and can be, the beauty in the words, you will probably only find in it weirdness and horror. And most likely turn away rather than turn another page. But if you are afflicted with a passion for words, for the art of literature, you probably will not be able to put it down, but keep reading until the last page, until your head is spinning and your stomach is churning and the piercing words have crept under your skin, leaving you to process it, long after the last page has been turned over.
This is the first book I’ve read (actually it turns out, it’s not. But the other book I read, about the doctor and the danish royal family, wasn’t a literary work like this one, with the art of words affecting me deeply) by this author and I don’t know if I have the guts to read another. For now it’s going to take me a while to process this book, to move it through my system, release it....more
Dear Leonora Thank you for writing this book. For your honesty, for your obvious talent, for your courage, and for the emotional rollercoaster it must Dear Leonora Thank you for writing this book. For your honesty, for your obvious talent, for your courage, and for the emotional rollercoaster it must have been to get through it, to relive it; painful yet liberating.
Your book has gotten many great reviews and won a great prize. And I understand why and agree it deserves all the prizes and accolades. And I, not a literary genius or reviewer or someone who has any prizes to deliver, I’m just an ordinary reader, who really appreciates those who possess the gift of transforming words and sentences into art; those that can make stories come to life; can tell it in a captivating way out of the indefinite ways a story can be told; and who can move me as a reader, who can make me feel something, can make me picture it all and really make the story come alive not just on the pages of the book, but in my own heart, mind and gut. You clearly have that gift. You did that to me, with your art. And I’m grateful. Grateful not just for the experience it was for me to read your book, and how it inspired me, and what it meant to me, but for all the people I know, who are out there, who has also felt seen and liberated by your story, by your words, and who you have offered a place of belonging to. To those for whom your book besides being a piece of art also stands as a message of: ‘you belong here, with all your emotions, all of your difficult past, present and future. All of you deserves to be seen and felt and told, you are free to own your story and all of yourself and to be unapologetically you and share that you, unapologetically, with the world. Carrying no one else’s shame or burdens or projections or guilt, carrying yourself with pride, knowing you have a right to be exactly who you are. There will be people who don’t get you, but there will also be people who will. There will be people who can’t love you, even if you deserve love as much as anyone, but there will also be those that do love you. Those that fall in love with all of you and who appreciate the gift you are to the world.’
It doesn’t seem like ‘den, den lever stille’ (translation of title: ‘the one, who lives quietly’ has been translated to English .. yet. But I sure hope it will be, someday, so many more people can have the experience of reading it, and appreciate it, and maybe discover something of the art of writing, loving, life, or people, amongst its pages, like I did. I also think it would be a wonderful movie (sending out a little prayer that this will please be made it into a great art of a movie someday...more
This was such a mixed experience for me. I struggled to get through the first part. Too many details, names, dates, and historical stuff for my brain tThis was such a mixed experience for me. I struggled to get through the first part. Too many details, names, dates, and historical stuff for my brain to digest or hold its interest. I’m not saying it’s NOT interesting or valid (I haven’t checked all the literature or proposed facts, but I think it’s amazing it’s all there so anyone who would, could). It’s, just not info my brain restrains or relate much to. The overall ideas and societal, spiritual, human and psychological elements, on the other hand, I was very interested in. And I do believe, intuitively, that much of what Icke is pointing to has truth and validity. I don’t doubt that there are people in power behind the scenes throughout history, that are pulling the strings, and that does not have humanity’s or Earths wellbeing at heart, and that have agendas we dont know, and that will put out smokescreens, manipulate, lie, kill and many other horrors, to see their own horrific ends met and plans fulfilled. I don’t doubt they are driven by greed, violence, blindness and hostility, and that dark forces that are beyond this earth, are very much part of this and in control. And that there are a lot of pawns and scapegoats in this play, that have no idea what they are doing or what role they have been assigned. And how bad, very very bad things, are up ahead, if we don’t change our ways. It’s all so sad and so horrific. A ‘living’ nightmare that honestly scare the shit out of me. So even if I can’t say I believe every detail, I do believe there is truth to the general picture and much info here to be aware of and stuff to take notice of and that we need to be careful of the choices we make (or don’t make) as we write our own history, and to be responsible in that choice.
I also believe that what Icke writes in the second half of the book, about how we can set ourselves free, how we are all One, how Love and Respect is the answer to the worlds problems. Now THAT is a world and a future I’d want to live in and want to work towards. And the way Icke writes about this, I felt a strong resonant twitch and leap of joy in my heart, as I read it. More so than in the first part of the book. Whatever that might mean.
This probably won’t be my last Icke book, as it’s definitely something that’s made me curious and want to explore more and there are gems in here’s for sure. But at the same time, there’s a lingering wariness I can’t quite understand...
Wow. Wow. Wow. Speechless. This book was like a dream come true, reaching across an abyss of time and space, grabbing my heart in a strong hold, blastiWow. Wow. Wow. Speechless. This book was like a dream come true, reaching across an abyss of time and space, grabbing my heart in a strong hold, blasting through my mind. I am in love with this book and all it turned out to be....more
This is a scary read. But sometimes the truth is ugly. Even so, it does not do us any good to close our eyes to it, refusing to see, continuing our miThis is a scary read. But sometimes the truth is ugly. Even so, it does not do us any good to close our eyes to it, refusing to see, continuing our misguided ways, hurting ourselves and others. We must own up to the truth, and try to have it help us see new ways of healing and living.
I have so much respect for Gøtzsche, and for what he has done, digging up the buried and misconstructed research, inspecting and analyzing it carefully, speaking the horrific truths he's found and going against the powerful system and its culture, machinery and operators, who will do whatever they can to silence, ridicule you, so they can keep people believing the lies and bringing home the profits. But Gøtzsche has some serious balls. He is brave, and funny, and persistent and very skilled in his field of medicine and research and analyzing data. His task is not an easy one, and the opposition is strong, and yet he presents the truths he has found, and it is just heartbreaking and horrific, but hopefully it can create a crack in the masks and the beliefs and lead others to courage and freedom against the deadly, expensive and oppressive medicines and the way they are practiced.
I would recommend this book to everybody, and will be doing so in my field of work as a psychologist, where I often meet parents and teachers making decisions on medication on behalf of children, thinking it's safe and hope it can help their children - and themselves. In the future I will recommend them to read this book before they make a decision to give their children drugs. ...more
A very beautifully written book about loss and about being left behind. About moving on and holding on. About death. And about what comes with it and A very beautifully written book about loss and about being left behind. About moving on and holding on. About death. And about what comes with it and how it changes us and the life we, the ones left behind, go on living.
Charlotte has captured all this in these few pages, words and images, in a moving way, where she tells a tale of death. And of life that goes on....more
(This is mainly a review of the first book, the second edition. I only got to page 220 (page numbers are continued from book 1) in book 2 before I qui(This is mainly a review of the first book, the second edition. I only got to page 220 (page numbers are continued from book 1) in book 2 before I quit)
Book one: I really liked many parts of this book, the reincarnation stories and the links between them, but oh my god how I was almost bored to death with the analysis of the operas and the supposedly links between these and the lives lived. It. Was.so.dull, and utterly insignificant to me, and the writing also went from interesting and humorous to boring and flat in the parts heavily related to those works. I don't know many of the works that was t just referred to lightly, which would have been okay, but was dissected meticulously which I as a reader found hard to digest. Honestly I would have heavily edited and minimized those parts had I had the chance. I'll still read the second book though, because I was rather curios about the main story and the thoughts and ideas presented throughout.
book two: So I started on the second book but quit about 40 pages in because I just wasn't feeling it. The explanations of the forces, relations and structures of (wo)man, the world(s), energies and so on are topics that I'm much interested in, but the 'explanations' and descriptions were both hard to follow, but also I just didn't resonate with it. I felt there was too much disagreement and discord between how the authour understands and describes these and how I both intuitively and explicitly understand and feel it. So, I see no need to bother trying to hang on for another 200+ pages but am saving myself and my precious time for more interesting and better explained books. ...more
I want more!! What a relief there is 4 more books planned (this is the first 2) and the third one is right around the corner, 2014 sometime, hopefully.I want more!! What a relief there is 4 more books planned (this is the first 2) and the third one is right around the corner, 2014 sometime, hopefully. I cant wait! :)
This book was a combination of so many things that fascinate, interest and entertain me. The story, the characters and the journey and growth throughout the book really held me captive.
Ill admit the writing didnt blow my mind, and was actually a little too clichee for my taste at places, mostly in some of the romantic dialogues. But in this case it didnt bother me or really matter because there was so many other things that just made me fall head over heels in love with it. It wasnt JUST a lovestory, it was also a story about growing and learning and changing and finding and losing and seeing and knowing and forgetting and feeling and sensing. About power and weakness, will, strength, want, desire, loss, hope, dreams, attraction, rejection, bewilderment, wonder. And so much more. The themes of reincarnation, soul connections and tasks, Atlantis, choices and conflicts, ego and soul, darkness and light, the after and in-between lives, mental or astral powers, the Earths journey and time now are all themes I find fascinating and interesting and that is very much a part of my own beliefs - so to find them in a book, weaved together like this, was like coming home.
This book is taking place in America/Canada but written in danish and (so far) isn't translated. But I really hope it will be, someday (hopefully soon), so many more people will be able to enjoy it!! I know, Im hooked ;)...more
WOW. This book pierced me, changed me, mindf*cked me in the best possible way. It’s like a a serious of bookgasms. Im so grateful that I got to read it, WOW. This book pierced me, changed me, mindf*cked me in the best possible way. It’s like a a serious of bookgasms. Im so grateful that I got to read it, want to own it NOW, want everyone I know and don’t know to read it, and to just to go back and start all over again right. This. Second. I literally begged my boyfriend to read it with me, again, tonight, just a few pages, pleeeeease, pleeeease (pleading doggy eyes and ally. So yeah, I feel strongly about it. A must own. ...more
Oh my god this was so good and so intense and so heartbreaking all at the same time and has basically preoccupied every single of my last 36 hours thaOh my god this was so good and so intense and so heartbreaking all at the same time and has basically preoccupied every single of my last 36 hours that I’ve been awake for! (As a mother of two finishing this book in such a short time seems an impossible feat but somehow I managed and somehow my dear husband let me, as he could tell how absorbed I was in it.) And even still, after finishing it, it’s all I can think about. Working it all out in my head, and digging into the layers of all of this, both the psychological, dystopian, moral, and of course the time aspects of it. So many puzzle pieces and interesting dilemmas to ponder, (which I will be talking about later, including what my take on it is. Hidden under a spoiler of course, because it entails some key plot twists, that is key to the reading experience and not to be revealed until the very end. So do yourself a favor and don’t click on the spoiler header, if you haven’t read the book yet and are going to. Then go read the book and then you can always come back here and read the spoilers after ;) )
What I CAN say is that this, in my opinion, was a very well crafted plot, interesting, fast paced, and with enough puzzle pieces to make it fit, but also to make you THINK. Think of the implied puzzle pieces and character dynamics that’s sort of hiding in the shadows of what we are actually given. That said, I would have loved to have just a few more pieces to the backstory and the in between story and the different timelines, including the original time frame, as well as those 14 other time frames. (Yes yes, I’m well aware of the risk that that would make the whole puzzle even more mind boggling and crazy and falling apart (kind of like time), so maybe it’s better this way, sanity semi intact, and maybe I’m just greedy, wanting MORE of this story, because it has so utterly intrigued me. But maybe it’s a risk I’d be willing to take, just to dig deeper into this story, unravel all of its secrets...) So obviously was disappointed to hear that the planned sequel apparently isn’t happening anyway. I agree this books works well as a stand alone, but if a sequel isn’t happening, couldn’t there be like a sidebook then to this one? Sort of like bits and pieces of alternate timelines, and versions of the main characters and exploring of plot twist and backside stories? Please?
And like that wasn’t enough of a disappointment, I also learned that apparently the movie isn’t happening either?! Like WTactualF?? I don’t get ANY more?? This is it?? I don’t get to see this play out on a screen, come to life with real people enacting Finn, Em, Marina, the doctor and James ?? This is where the road ends?! That seems like a form of torture of its own kind. First the book reels me in, makes me love it, gives me hope for more.... and then; not happening!
Another thing that sort of boggles me is this; as I’ve listed in my shelving, I had some elements figured out a little before they were revealed (not the major twists at the very end). But now I’m not sure if that was actually right when I was supposed to get it? Like, if I was dropped clues and hints, and was actually SUPPOSED to put them together just before the revelation (and that most, if not all, readers do that), and that was Terrill’s plan all along? If so, she did it so smoothly, I didn’t even know I was being set up to know before I should ‘supposedly’ have known. And then that takes the mindtrickery and revelation skills to a whole other level. And if so; major props for that as well.
I thought the characters were genuinely well formed and told, with a few stretches here and there, that seemed to be a little incredulous, but I feel that could have been sorted with knowing more, and not because it was actually inherently implausable (I will explain more in the spoiler section.)
So. I guess that’s all I can really say without giving anything away. And so here goes my spoiler section. (view spoiler)[ So; let’s talk about: THE ENDING. Where young James commits suicide and somehow Marina is back in her bed and Nate and Finn are still alive (or alive again?), but young James is still dead. After my initial WTF is going on, it made so much sense (and yet, since we are talking about time travel in time travel in time travel.... and all the immense mind fuckery that comes with that: still not), because since young James killed HIMSELF (and wasn’t killed by a time traveler), in real time, then that action must stay. But since young James then don’t build the machine there is no Em and future Finn and the Doctor to travel back and have Nate or Finn killed. And time reverts itself to a time before that, where Em, the doctor and future Finn and their actions, all were erased from the scene in the cabin. Or almost erased, anyway. Because something had still prompted James to commit suicide (coming face to face with himself and realizing that there was forces in him that was driving him towards a future he wouldn’t choice. But wasn’t able to stop himself from becoming. Though I have make a (somewhat long) side note here, because in my personal opinion; coming face to face with our shadow sides, our motivations and driving forces, always gives us a choice to change, and that by knowing ourselves, and by seeing our darker aspects is exactly how we overcome them, and are free to make different choices. Can choose a different path, will be able to change the future, our own and each other’s. But I can fully accept that for this story that (probably) wouldn’t have worked. It’s hard to imagine James not building the time machine, knowing he could, even if he had seen all the horrors it would bring with him. That he wouldn’t build it, thinking that he’d stay on the right side this time. That he’d never go to far. That he’d never become the doctor. And that even if he succeeded on not becoming the doctor and cold hearted and sociopathic, the time machine would still end up creating major problems, dilemmas and be a serious risk to the world, and doing more damage than good, and risk tearing the world apart, time travel by time travel. And I choose to believe that that is why James chose to end it how he did. That the question really came down to ‘can you not build the time machine?’, more than ‘can you not become bad?’. And I was happy to see the story wasn’t based on a faulty premise that people don’t change. On the contrary, it went to great lengths to show; people do. Sometimes for the better - sometimes for the worse. But we are all shaped by our experiences, our relationships, our personalities, our actions, and our motives. We are not static and life is not static, it is dynamic, but there are also ingredients and combinations that seem to produce much of the same results. Repeatedly. And herein lies the curiosity (and for a psychologist like me, some of the essential questions being; ‘what makes people change?’ ‘What are the motives that drive people?’
And that brings me to what I mentioned above. Because I still struggle with how James could turn so cruel on the people he loved the most. That loved him. That was a bit of a stretch to me all along, and I was waiting for the explanation, the reasoning behind his cold heart. Because to have it make sense, I would have needed to know more of the in-between years, and of James’ mind and values. I just don’t see how he would keep choosing and keep justifying the time machine, the power, the violence and control of them many (even to seemingly save more) and torturing loved ones. How he wouldn’t himself have decided to stop long before it got to all that? How THAT isn’t what he wanted to go back and change, leave himself a note where’s he would tell himself ‘listen to Nate, Finn and Marina. Don’t build the machine. It will create terrible things and turn you into someone you don’t want to be.’ Why he wouldn’t do what he could to help Em and Finn - to undo all the misery. I get that he was a believer in his own cause and justified his means because he so believed in the end, but still.... still it seems unbelievable that the sweet young James could turn into the gruesome Doctor. Which is why I needed more info on James.
And to look more into that very hard question of how and when a sociopath becomes a sociopath, that the story itself raises. Because yes sociopaths aren’t born. They are created. And we as a society help create them. And yes people aren’t just inherently good or bad. And most people have reasons that make sense to them, for doing what they do. And yes right and wrong arent set things, but are determined by the compas we use and the values we hold. And I get that that’s what kept setting Finn and Em on one course -and James on another. And I think that that is what in the end changed James’ path. What made him decide to not go that same way, to not keep repeating his past, to not do what he’d so far thought was the right thing to do. Because in that moment, where the values of love and friendship and peace were still stronger and more vibrant in him, he was forced to look at the seeds in him that would pull him in a different direction, away from those values. He finally (fore)saw clearly all the greys and all the dark, that he had been in such denial about, and all the dilemmas, and soft and painful emotions that he had priovously in other futures tried to shut out, and shut off. And when he saw that he also realized that in his efforts to serve one end, he would become something, someone else, someone he didn’t want to be. And he realized that the means DOESNT justify the end. They go together. And results are unknown, but intentions don’t lie. You can’t fight pain with pain or war with war (as George Carlin said ‘Battling for peace, is like screwing for virginity’). All you do is create more of the same. So, back to the time travel ending dilemmas. Time couldn’t have been simply and completely ‘reset’ back to the beginning,because in the original one James doesn’t kill himself (so in a complete reset model, I think all would have revered back to the very original, James alive too, all the futures vanished, not a grace, - but also very likely to repeat itself). So instead it must have yet again been changed, leaving room only for the slightest and most necessary paradoxes and happenings. And the bridge between the two realities, the necessary link in the chain of events, that HAS to stay, is James killing himself, seemingly paradoxically because Em and Future Finn and the Future James no longer existed, to prompt him to that decision. But this paradox is allowed to stay, because it is the connection point, the action that is the pivotal bridging point, ending one version and propelling the other alternate version into motion. Everything else I reset, brought back to order, time warping back, smoothing all the creases created from being pummeled over and over. Not even the (unnecessary) memories from one timereality to another. Except one of course. Marinas message to herself. Which brings me to another comment I have to make regarding an interpretation of the story that I’m making, that I don’t know if was the authors intention or not, but that I think makes perfect and beautiful sense. How and why were the only two things left that were carried over, Marinas message to herself, and James decision/action. My reasoning it was because it was purely from Self to Self. And that they were answers they already had within them. Timeless ones. Something some version of them would inevitable discover and realize at some point. Summed up I’d call them; ‘You are loved and enough as you are’. And ‘building a time machine is a bad idea/I chose love over power’. And the same goes for the Finn and Marina connection, - their connection was one to span time. (hide spoiler)] So all in all I thought the ending was both BEAUTIFUL and BRILLIANT. I couldn’t have wished for more.
Actually that’s not true. I wished for a description of: THE ORIGINAL PLOTLINE. EVERY SINGLE TIMELINE. I really really wanted to see the link between the different versions. I think that would be just wonderful! At least I think so. But maybe it’s like that thing with time machines? Everyone thinks it’s a wonderful idea. In theory. Until it makes people crazy. And sets in motion all kinds of things that you never intended, and you just want to go back and tell your younger version NO. DONT. LEAVE THINGS AS THEY ARE. Maybe that’s what made Terrill decide against writing a sequel after all? Maybe a future version of her left her a note telling her that. Maybe. But this girl is still hoping, that one day, someday, maybe....
Magical realism. A genre that doesn't always work for me. But in this case it did.
What worked for me in this case was that even though there was severalMagical realism. A genre that doesn't always work for me. But in this case it did.
What worked for me in this case was that even though there was several magical and fantasyesque elements they made sense inside their own world, (as well as in mine) - they weren't just there to weird things up, and didnt leave me all puzzled, confused and detached (like in 'Kafka on the shore' for example).
The magical elements carried meaning, rich metaphorical meaning that nuanced the feelings of loss, fear, evil, good, memories, knowledge, the universe(s), child- and adulthood. And I didn't feel like i was left hanging in a state of confusion but more in a state of understanding. Like in a fairytale, where several layers add up to a whole, complete story. We are not told everything, not given all the details or answers, but it's enough to be able to see the big picture, it's enough to create a deep feeling of resonance, even if you've never literally (literally being the key word) encountered people who dont grow older, evil taking the form of a beauty, deceiving everyone you love or trust, monsters who eat your world leaving a grey nothing behind, time and memories being altered or having a doorway for a monster in your heart. But the metaphors, oh the metaphors! The analysisses you could make, the possible interpretations, the deeper layer of the story, the one beneath the surface level, all that makes my inner analysists reel with excitement!
Ultimately, I think Gaiman has crafted a very relevant modern fairytale, that captures some very essential aspects of the human experience in its own, unique way....more
MizzSandie
>
Books:
heartbreaking
(57)
Loading...
