Peter Owen Modern Classic: The Birds (Paperback)

from auntmarge64

I was so taken by the author's "The Ice Palace" that I immediately ordered this title, and I'm so glad I did. Vesaas's writing is exquisitely observant, and while his characters can be difficult to love, he obviously cares for them a great deal, and the reader comes to too. Mattis, a "development...

from japaul22

I'm having a hard time putting my finger on just why I loved this novel so much, but it really worked for me. Vesaas is Norwegian, and I'm finding that I really enjoy the straightforward, spare, and unsentimental story telling that I generally find when reading these Scandinavian novels. They are...

from stillatim

Considering that I don't much like narrated-from-the-perspective-of-a-person-of-limited-intelligence books (whether the person in question is a child, or, as here, an adult), I was surprised to find myself getting so much from this book. Other than the slightly pat ending, it was thought provokin...

from arubabookwoman

"Now it is Night. "What can you do when everyone around you is strong and clever? "Will never know." Mentally deficient Mattis lives in a cottage by a lake with his sister Hege who supports them by knitting. She occasionally sends Mattis out in search of work as a farm hand, which he dreads beca...

from AlisonY

In typically spare Nordic literary style, The Birds is a short novel by one of Norway's most revered classic authors. The main protagonist is Mattias, a man who suffers from learning difficulties and who lives with his spinster sister Hege in a small Nordic town. Although it may not be his only m...