Reviews

I read The ice palace by Tarjei Vesaas during my trip to the Danube Delta, for The fiction of relationship course. It 19s truly a story abut childhood, but, while it pin-points some feelings exactly, the writing style is just too childish.

swaern's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

emilyinparis's review against another edition

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4.0

‘The pine needles stretch their tongues and sing an unfamiliar nocturnal song. Each tongue is so small that it cannot be heard; together the sound is so deep and powerful that it could level the hills if it wished’

‘The darkness at the sides of the road. It possesses neither form nor name, but whoever passes here knows when it comes out and follows after and sends shudders like rippling streams down his back’

‘Four eyes full of gleams and radiance beneath their lashes, filling the looking-glass. Questions shooting out and then hiding again. I don't know: Gleams and radiance, gleaming from you to me, from me to you, and from me to you alone—into the mirror and out again, and never an answer about what this is, never an explanation.’

‘Fear can resemble a crackling sound in a frozen ditch’

‘They were floating, almost at one with the darkness, reflecting no light. Their footsteps could not be heard. But their breathing could, and perhaps the heart. They mingled with other almost inaudible nocturnal stirrings, like a small vibration in long wires’

‘was this the palace and the river had been waiting for. She had known it all along. Now it would crash. They would stand out on top, she had drawn them all with her into this horror. Gaping cracks would open beneath their feet, the palace would totter and fall forward under the pressure of the water with all of them on top of it, down into the seething channel, and that would be the end. She had known it all along, ever since the moment the men stood there with their sombre song of sorrow’

‘She was ready for sleep; she was even warm as well. It was not cold in here at any rate. The pattern in the ice wall danced in the room, the light shone more strongly. Everything that should have been upright was upside-down—everything was piercingly bright. Not once did she think this was strange; it was just as it should be. She wanted to sleep; she was languid and limp and ready’

‘The promise was a strong tie, hard, but I knew where I stood. If it's gone, I don't know where I am. When there's a strong scent in the spring twilight, I know least of all’

‘Her words seemed like fences alongside the road to school; it was difficult to climb over them, and they led straight to school’

pb512's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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? No

5.0

shaand's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

3.75

fbarros's review against another edition

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5.0

Cold, brief, warm.
Came with me on a cabin trip in icy svalbard and finished breaking my heart in snowy oslo.

verstandem's review against another edition

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4.0

Ich kannte Tarjei Vesaas bereits durchs Studium und mochte es, ihn im (Nynorsk-)Original zu lesen, wenngleich einige sprachliche Bilder erstmal schwer zu übersetzen waren. Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel übersetzt so feinfühlig und poetisch, dass ich meine Norweger/innen am liebsten alle von ihm übersetzt hätte.
Definitiv ein schönes, märchenhaftes Buch, das in ein ländliches Norwegen entführt und die Schicksale zweier junger Mädchen beleuchtet.
♥️

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