Skip to main content

Book Review // Ragnarok by A. S. Byatt

Ragnarok by A. S. Byatt {Goodreads}
Published by Canongate Books in 2012
Paperback edition; 179 pages {BookDepository}


You go into a bookshop and pick up a book that catches your attention. You know next to nothing about it, you pick it up and read the blurb and you decide to buy it because it seems interesting enough. This is probably my favourite way of buying books but sometimes the result is not what you were expecting. Ragnarok is one of those sad cases.

A little girl is taken to the countryside during the middle of Second World War and it’s then when she is gifted with a Norse mythology book that changes her world. That’s what the blurb said anyway. And in a way, it is just that: a girl reading up the myths in the book. Period. It’s not a reimagining, or a re-telling; it’s basically a “textbook”.

The whole reading experience was very underwhelming. I could have accepted this being a simple exposition of Norse myths leading up to Ragnarok had it been written in an engaging manner. Not a chance. Boring, dull and unsubstantial; these three adjectives are the only ones I can think about to describe my feelings towards Byatt’s story. At least it was short.
Etiquetas:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review // The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild

The Improbability of Love  by Hannah Rothschild { Goodreads } Published by Bloomsbury in 2016 Paperback edition; 479 pages { BookDepository } The Improbability of Love follows a bunch of different characters all involved in different ways with the art-world scene in London when a very famous painting –which gives name to the novel – is found by Annie, the main protagonist we could say, in a thrift shop. Don’t be fooled by the cover which screams chick-lit through and through; the novel deals with so much more.
Post a Comment
KEEP READING >>>

Book Review // The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell

The Madwoman Upstairs  by Catherine Lowell { Goodreads } Published by Quercus Publishing in 2016 Paperback edition; 416 pages { BookDepository } The Madwoman Upstairs follows Samantha Whipple, the last descendant of the famous Brontë family. Her father is dead and the public believes she has inherited some important pieces of the Brontë’s literary estate, which is not true as long as she’s concerned since she has never seen said estate. When she starts attending Oxford College however, everything changes. She stars receiving books that belonged to her father and the whole situations turns into a scavenger hunt to unfold her family legacy.
Post a Comment
KEEP READING >>>

Book Review // Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

Because of Mr. Terupt  by Rob Buyea { Goodreads } Published by Yearling in 2011 Paperback edition; 288 pages { BookDepository } " Features seven narrators, each with a unique story, and each with a different perspective on what makes their teacher so special.  It’s the start of fifth grade for seven kids at Snow Hill School. There’s . . .  Jessica,  the new girl, smart and perceptive, who’s having a hard time fitting in;  Alexia,  a bully, your friend one second, your enemy the next;  Peter,  class prankster and troublemaker;  Luke,  the brain;  Danielle, who never stands up for herself; shy  Anna,  whose home situation makes her an outcast; and  Jeffrey,  who hates school.  Only Mr. Terupt, their new and energetic teacher, seems to know how to deal with them all. He makes the classroom a fun place, even if he doesn’t let them get away with much . . . until the snowy winter day when an accident...
Post a Comment
KEEP READING >>>