Reviews

Adorable by Ida Marie Hede

thebobsphere's review

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4.0

 Adorable is a book which documents life. By this I mean from birth to death. Generally when there are such novels both these two occasions are presented in a sanitized way, everything is restrained and dealt with tastefully.

Not Adorable.

With this book we readers get the real deal. From the minute you are born you are covered in shit and piss and all that crap will make appearances in different forms throughout your life. Then later on it’s the body juices and fluids that accompany sex and then it’s the rotting flesh of death,

The book is divided into 4 parts. The first part consists of a couple becoming a family and all the ups and downs of rearing a child. Like I said, there’s a lot of scenes involving poo. Adorable does go deeper as it focuses on the dynamic of the couple – here called, simply B and Q, with the child being called AE.

The next 2 sections are about death, one part is a meditation and the other is an essay: how do we approach it, why is it in our minds? how integral is it to our lives?

The book ends with B and Q and their relationship, with an emphasis on the more corporeal aspect of their partnership. The book starts with a description of bums and ends with one too, thus, like life, we come to a full circle.

Ida Marie Hede’s view on life is an honest one. I agree that it is one filled with bodily functions, skin and liquids and I enjoyed reading her descriptions of them (or they were translated well). In between these sections, there are paragraphs on films, music and art: things that are also a part of life.

Adorable is a very organic novel: everything flows smoothly and despite the myriad of references and topics mentioned, it all feels natural on the page, no matter how detailed or graphic, all subjects are pulled off (maybe not the right term) with ease.

Despite all the descriptions, Adorable is a beautiful book. We all know that life does have it’s ugly moments and a lot f them are documented here but it’s what also makes life, oddly special. In it’s own way Adorable is a celebration of all things human, poo and all. 

criver's review

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Weirdly amusing and disgusting at the same time. Hard to know what to think, maybe it is just too clever for me. 

uss_mary_shelley's review

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

marieby's review against another edition

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3.0

Jeg vant denne boken i en goodreads giveaway så først, tusen takk til forlaget.

Denne boken er mindre som en historie enn noen annen bok jeg har lest og mer som en strøm av tanker, inntrykk, opplevelser og reaksjoner på verden rundt. Dette gjør boken litt tung og lese og det tok meg en god del lenger tid enn vanlig. Dette sagt er denne typen bok veldig spesiell og en interessant måte å skrive på.

3,5/5 stjerner.

jiscoo's review

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challenging reflective

3.5

tillydaisym's review

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challenging medium-paced

2.0

anetq's review against another edition

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3.0

Det er vel en slags prosadigte mere end en historie - og jeg havde nok ikke læst den, hvis ikke Forlaget Gladiator havde begavet mig med et anmeldereksemplar, så tak - for interessant er det. Men også (villet?) sært og irriterende. På den irriterende side er det et mig-mig-mig-værk: stream-of-consciousness, ingen fortalt ydre handling, en slags følt dagbog med stemninger, følelser, analyser af (de rigtige, nogen ville sige prætentiøse) intellektuelle værker og hvordan de påvirker mig-mig-mig. På den vis lever det op til alle fordomme om forfatterskoleværker og forfatterskoleforfattere, og jeg får normalt meget hurtigt lyst til at sende dem på kursus i at 1) skrive et plot og 2) interessere sig for noget andet end sig selv og sit eget selvrefererende værk.
Trods min irritation over den genre, så hader jeg ikke bogen, og jeg piskede igennem det hele i et stræk - for teksten (egentlig 4 tekster) har fremdrift, ordene sprøjter ud og derved får teksten sit eget hæsblæsende tempo der river læseren med. Det er en tsunami af ord - måske dem, der tygger digte i adstadigt tempo, ville have svælget og nydt det langsommere, men jeg kan lide tempoet og den brusende strøm af ord og billeder - og det er sprogligt brilliant og medrivende i sin overflod af både sproglige og metaforiske billeder. Og for mig er det det der gør bogen læsværdig.
Fortælleren vil på én gang være helt inde i hovedet og samtidig have en analytisk distance - og den fabulerende metaforisk tungt ladede ordstrøm skal nok give universitetsstuderende masser at analysere på i deres opgaver i de kommende år - både sprogligt og formmæssigt ("Redegør for fortællerpositionerne i Bedårende...") - men det rammer mig ikke rigtigt indholdsmæssigt - det handler ellers om fødsel, død, parforhold (well... og egne værker) - og efter selv at have været i samme situation for nylig burde næsten 60 sider om faderens død vel have rørt mig? Men måske er det skismaet mellem det villet distancerede (initialer, indlagte værkanalyser osv) og den indre strøm der får mig til at anskue det mest som en stiløvelse.
Det er et interessant værk især for formsiden (og dansklærerne kan godt gøre klar til analyseopgaver), men det rør mig ikke rigtigt. (Men jeg er også den usentimentale type, der bare helst vil have en god historie.) Så jeg kan se masser af intellektuel spas med at skille teksten ad og dissekere formen for måske er det mest en tekst om tekster, ([a:Donald Barthelme|24425|Donald Barthelme|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1437379717p2/24425.jpg] og anden metafiktion falder mig ind), men jeg synes også det burde kunne noget mere?

doenja's review

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dark funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Great book for those who love bums, life, and death.

ruthie_'s review

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funny mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

mariaharmens's review against another edition

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challenging fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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