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bobthebookerer's review against another edition
4.0
It can feel quite hard to pin down this novella- as it flits between a mother and her daughter, our grip on reality blurs just as much as it does for the characters themselves. Characters appear and are not who they say they are, but just like the title (the inability to recognise faces, even familiar ones) the book shifts constantly and keeps you at an arm's length.
Whereas I can see how for many people that can be alienating and unenjoyable, I think it lent a kind of disquieting power to the book. It almost does not matter who is who and what is happening- the book instead feels like a surreal short film.
And just like many books from the brilliant publisher Scribe, this book is a shapeshifter that is not ever just one thing.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Scribe in exchange for an honest review.
Whereas I can see how for many people that can be alienating and unenjoyable, I think it lent a kind of disquieting power to the book. It almost does not matter who is who and what is happening- the book instead feels like a surreal short film.
And just like many books from the brilliant publisher Scribe, this book is a shapeshifter that is not ever just one thing.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Scribe in exchange for an honest review.
phoebe912's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
scribepub's review
With [Prosopagnosia], Sònia Hernández cements her place as one of the most individual voices of her generation.
La Vanguardia
In this warm, lively, and intellectual novel, Hernández’s greatest achievement is allowing the protagonist to release her trauma in a way that is both simple and true.
Santos Sanz Villaneuva, El Cultural
One of the best writers of her generation.
Inés Martín, ABC
A novel of our times that explores the difficulty of constructing oneself as a person and the chaos of how things seem to happen to us.
Lluís Satorras, Babelia
A tale of the conflict between reality and deception, and how the many forms of exile and solitude come together. A beautiful, enigmatic novel.
Enrique Vila-Matas, El País
A reflection on false appearances, assumed identities, the need to invent other lives for ourselves, and the need for art itself.
Ángel Ortín Pascual, Heraldo de Aragón
As structured and well-articulated as the paintings that inspired it.
Isabel Gómez Melenchón, La Vanguardia
[D]elivers a serious reflection on the purpose and meaning of literary fiction.
Domingo Ródenas, El Periódico
For Hernández, plot is just an excuse to articulate her own original ideas about beauty, identity, and exile, and this makes each of her books a declaration of ethical and aesthetic principles. This novel is not a means but an end in itself: the materialisation of her most important themes from life and literature.
Liliana Muñoz, Criticismo
Sònia Hernández’ writing is unsettling and unconventional, marked by a complete independence from the dominant trends of contemporary novels in Spanish.
Santos Sanz Villaneuza, El Mundo
Hernández offers many insights into the value of experience, of travel as personal discovery, and the difficulty of explaining ourselves in our own words. A novel of reflection.
Suárez Lafuent, La Nueva España
A narratively ambitious reflection on art, beauty, motherhood, and identity … A conceptually fascinating book.
Kirkus Reviews
Bewitching and intelligent.
Happy Magazine
This quirky coming-of-age novel by a celebrated young Spanish writer centres on a tender mother-daughter relationship.
New York Times ‘New & Noteworthy’
[B]eguiling … the various characters’ deceptions are unveiled skillfully by Hernández as she distorts the reader’s sense of reality. This novel is more than it seems.
Publishers Weekly
Hernández leads us on a reflection about truth and reality, about perception and beauty. The book is best read slowly, with time to absorb and contemplate our own reality and how we might be deceiving ourselves.
Asymptote ‘New in Translation’
[A]n intellectual and unflinching novel that is not afraid to ask the big questions. What is art? What is beauty? What is truth? Does any of it matter? … Hernández’s economy of language is masterful as she delves into questions that define a culture. Prosopagnosia is an uncanny portrait of what it means to be a human in the world today grappling with beauty, and confronting the way the internet has changed our relationship to art.
Write or Die Tribe
La Vanguardia
In this warm, lively, and intellectual novel, Hernández’s greatest achievement is allowing the protagonist to release her trauma in a way that is both simple and true.
Santos Sanz Villaneuva, El Cultural
One of the best writers of her generation.
Inés Martín, ABC
A novel of our times that explores the difficulty of constructing oneself as a person and the chaos of how things seem to happen to us.
Lluís Satorras, Babelia
A tale of the conflict between reality and deception, and how the many forms of exile and solitude come together. A beautiful, enigmatic novel.
Enrique Vila-Matas, El País
A reflection on false appearances, assumed identities, the need to invent other lives for ourselves, and the need for art itself.
Ángel Ortín Pascual, Heraldo de Aragón
As structured and well-articulated as the paintings that inspired it.
Isabel Gómez Melenchón, La Vanguardia
[D]elivers a serious reflection on the purpose and meaning of literary fiction.
Domingo Ródenas, El Periódico
For Hernández, plot is just an excuse to articulate her own original ideas about beauty, identity, and exile, and this makes each of her books a declaration of ethical and aesthetic principles. This novel is not a means but an end in itself: the materialisation of her most important themes from life and literature.
Liliana Muñoz, Criticismo
Sònia Hernández’ writing is unsettling and unconventional, marked by a complete independence from the dominant trends of contemporary novels in Spanish.
Santos Sanz Villaneuza, El Mundo
Hernández offers many insights into the value of experience, of travel as personal discovery, and the difficulty of explaining ourselves in our own words. A novel of reflection.
Suárez Lafuent, La Nueva España
A narratively ambitious reflection on art, beauty, motherhood, and identity … A conceptually fascinating book.
Kirkus Reviews
Bewitching and intelligent.
Happy Magazine
This quirky coming-of-age novel by a celebrated young Spanish writer centres on a tender mother-daughter relationship.
New York Times ‘New & Noteworthy’
[B]eguiling … the various characters’ deceptions are unveiled skillfully by Hernández as she distorts the reader’s sense of reality. This novel is more than it seems.
Publishers Weekly
Hernández leads us on a reflection about truth and reality, about perception and beauty. The book is best read slowly, with time to absorb and contemplate our own reality and how we might be deceiving ourselves.
Asymptote ‘New in Translation’
[A]n intellectual and unflinching novel that is not afraid to ask the big questions. What is art? What is beauty? What is truth? Does any of it matter? … Hernández’s economy of language is masterful as she delves into questions that define a culture. Prosopagnosia is an uncanny portrait of what it means to be a human in the world today grappling with beauty, and confronting the way the internet has changed our relationship to art.
Write or Die Tribe
scribepub's review against another edition
With [Prosopagnosia], Sònia Hernández cements her place as one of the most individual voices of her generation.
La Vanguardia
In this warm, lively, and intellectual novel, Hernández’s greatest achievement is allowing the protagonist to release her trauma in a way that is both simple and true.
Santos Sanz Villaneuva, El Cultural
One of the best writers of her generation.
Inés Martín, ABC
A novel of our times that explores the difficulty of constructing oneself as a person and the chaos of how things seem to happen to us.
Lluís Satorras, Babelia
A tale of the conflict between reality and deception, and how the many forms of exile and solitude come together. A beautiful, enigmatic novel.
Enrique Vila-Matas, El País
A reflection on false appearances, assumed identities, the need to invent other lives for ourselves, and the need for art itself.
Ángel Ortín Pascual, Heraldo de Aragón
As structured and well-articulated as the paintings that inspired it.
Isabel Gómez Melenchón, La Vanguardia
[D]elivers a serious reflection on the purpose and meaning of literary fiction.
Domingo Ródenas, El Periódico
For Hernández, plot is just an excuse to articulate her own original ideas about beauty, identity, and exile, and this makes each of her books a declaration of ethical and aesthetic principles. This novel is not a means but an end in itself: the materialisation of her most important themes from life and literature.
Liliana Muñoz, Criticismo
Sònia Hernández’ writing is unsettling and unconventional, marked by a complete independence from the dominant trends of contemporary novels in Spanish.
Santos Sanz Villaneuza, El Mundo
Hernández offers many insights into the value of experience, of travel as personal discovery, and the difficulty of explaining ourselves in our own words. A novel of reflection.
Suárez Lafuent, La Nueva España
A narratively ambitious reflection on art, beauty, motherhood, and identity … A conceptually fascinating book.
Kirkus Reviews
Bewitching and intelligent.
Happy Magazine
This quirky coming-of-age novel by a celebrated young Spanish writer centres on a tender mother-daughter relationship.
New York Times ‘New & Noteworthy’
[B]eguiling … the various characters’ deceptions are unveiled skillfully by Hernández as she distorts the reader’s sense of reality. This novel is more than it seems.
Publishers Weekly
Hernández leads us on a reflection about truth and reality, about perception and beauty. The book is best read slowly, with time to absorb and contemplate our own reality and how we might be deceiving ourselves.
Asymptote ‘New in Translation’
[A]n intellectual and unflinching novel that is not afraid to ask the big questions. What is art? What is beauty? What is truth? Does any of it matter? … Hernández’s economy of language is masterful as she delves into questions that define a culture. Prosopagnosia is an uncanny portrait of what it means to be a human in the world today grappling with beauty, and confronting the way the internet has changed our relationship to art.
Write or Die Tribe
La Vanguardia
In this warm, lively, and intellectual novel, Hernández’s greatest achievement is allowing the protagonist to release her trauma in a way that is both simple and true.
Santos Sanz Villaneuva, El Cultural
One of the best writers of her generation.
Inés Martín, ABC
A novel of our times that explores the difficulty of constructing oneself as a person and the chaos of how things seem to happen to us.
Lluís Satorras, Babelia
A tale of the conflict between reality and deception, and how the many forms of exile and solitude come together. A beautiful, enigmatic novel.
Enrique Vila-Matas, El País
A reflection on false appearances, assumed identities, the need to invent other lives for ourselves, and the need for art itself.
Ángel Ortín Pascual, Heraldo de Aragón
As structured and well-articulated as the paintings that inspired it.
Isabel Gómez Melenchón, La Vanguardia
[D]elivers a serious reflection on the purpose and meaning of literary fiction.
Domingo Ródenas, El Periódico
For Hernández, plot is just an excuse to articulate her own original ideas about beauty, identity, and exile, and this makes each of her books a declaration of ethical and aesthetic principles. This novel is not a means but an end in itself: the materialisation of her most important themes from life and literature.
Liliana Muñoz, Criticismo
Sònia Hernández’ writing is unsettling and unconventional, marked by a complete independence from the dominant trends of contemporary novels in Spanish.
Santos Sanz Villaneuza, El Mundo
Hernández offers many insights into the value of experience, of travel as personal discovery, and the difficulty of explaining ourselves in our own words. A novel of reflection.
Suárez Lafuent, La Nueva España
A narratively ambitious reflection on art, beauty, motherhood, and identity … A conceptually fascinating book.
Kirkus Reviews
Bewitching and intelligent.
Happy Magazine
This quirky coming-of-age novel by a celebrated young Spanish writer centres on a tender mother-daughter relationship.
New York Times ‘New & Noteworthy’
[B]eguiling … the various characters’ deceptions are unveiled skillfully by Hernández as she distorts the reader’s sense of reality. This novel is more than it seems.
Publishers Weekly
Hernández leads us on a reflection about truth and reality, about perception and beauty. The book is best read slowly, with time to absorb and contemplate our own reality and how we might be deceiving ourselves.
Asymptote ‘New in Translation’
[A]n intellectual and unflinching novel that is not afraid to ask the big questions. What is art? What is beauty? What is truth? Does any of it matter? … Hernández’s economy of language is masterful as she delves into questions that define a culture. Prosopagnosia is an uncanny portrait of what it means to be a human in the world today grappling with beauty, and confronting the way the internet has changed our relationship to art.
Write or Die Tribe
deea_bks's review against another edition
4.0
As someone here on Goodreads made me realize, this author's style very much reminded me of Rachel Cusk's style. This book was not written in English (the fact that the author is Catalan was an incentive for me to pick it up) and it was translated really well, so well, it almost seemed as if it was originally written in English.
The novel makes some very good points and definitely makes one ponder on existential matters. I could not give it a 5* rating however as I felt the characters were aloof somehow and I could not connect to it 100%, but I'll be sure to check what this author comes up with next.
The novel makes some very good points and definitely makes one ponder on existential matters. I could not give it a 5* rating however as I felt the characters were aloof somehow and I could not connect to it 100%, but I'll be sure to check what this author comes up with next.
katestellabailey's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
meagan01's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Scribe UK for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
First of all the cover of this book is absolutely beautiful.
Prosopagnosia is a book following three persons: 15-year-old Berta, who is struggling in life and school; her journalist mother who is trying to find inspiration and guidance that she cant give herself and the artist they both find their lives entwined with (for better or for worst).
I had a whole long review that I somehow lost but basically, this book is about perspective, misunderstanding and overcoming grief.
Perhaps I didn't quite understand what this book was trying to convey, or maybe something fundamental to the understanding of this book was lost in translation. But what I can say is that for a relatively short book, I had a tough time getting myself to finish it.
First of all the cover of this book is absolutely beautiful.
Prosopagnosia is a book following three persons: 15-year-old Berta, who is struggling in life and school; her journalist mother who is trying to find inspiration and guidance that she cant give herself and the artist they both find their lives entwined with (for better or for worst).
I had a whole long review that I somehow lost but basically, this book is about perspective, misunderstanding and overcoming grief.
Perhaps I didn't quite understand what this book was trying to convey, or maybe something fundamental to the understanding of this book was lost in translation. But what I can say is that for a relatively short book, I had a tough time getting myself to finish it.