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A review by oz617
Clear by Carys Davies
3.0
Did not for a second think a novel about the last Norn speaker being displaced during the clearances would end in him and the man sent to displace him forming a M/M/F throuple in Trondheim, but I'm not complaining. It feels like the end is missing a chapter or so, though, of Ivar making the decision to leave. He goes too quickly, in my opinion, from being ready to murder the factor, to abandoning most of his animals and leaving to a new country. I very much believe that's what he would do, it's set up well, but the payoff is a little short.
REREAD:
First time round I listened to an audiobook, and I think it works really well in that format, but more problems stood out to me in the hardback. Most obvious was the length. I love a short novel, especially one broken up into many short chapters like this, but for a story fundamentally about language and communication, it felt like 153 pages wasn't nearly enough. That's a compliment on the story - I care about these characters, I want more of them - but the prose itself was underwhelming. The constant divisions didn't help. I'd understand if they were divided to show each character's perspective, but many chapters jump around, giving us a disorienting couple of paragraphs in everyone's head. That's one thing in an audiobook with a skilled narrator giving us clear audio cues - in a novel, it's a bit confused.
Much as I like Mary's decision to open the marriage, the ethics of it really stuck out to me this time. Is Ivar pining over a picture of a woman he's never met enough romantic buildup for their side of the triangle? Are we really accepting that John did not stop to think that he was cheating on his wife? Did we actually spend enough time in Ivar's head to accept that some human company is enough for him to accept the Clearances? How exactly are we going about opening this marriage anyway, in Scotland or in Norway in 1834?
On a positive note, I'm so pleased to see a story like this acknowledging the Lowland clearances, I missed that on first read. It's not something I've heard anyone who isn't my grandmother talk about, and it shows that the author did her research.
REREAD:
First time round I listened to an audiobook, and I think it works really well in that format, but more problems stood out to me in the hardback. Most obvious was the length. I love a short novel, especially one broken up into many short chapters like this, but for a story fundamentally about language and communication, it felt like 153 pages wasn't nearly enough. That's a compliment on the story - I care about these characters, I want more of them - but the prose itself was underwhelming. The constant divisions didn't help. I'd understand if they were divided to show each character's perspective, but many chapters jump around, giving us a disorienting couple of paragraphs in everyone's head. That's one thing in an audiobook with a skilled narrator giving us clear audio cues - in a novel, it's a bit confused.
Much as I like Mary's decision to open the marriage, the ethics of it really stuck out to me this time. Is Ivar pining over a picture of a woman he's never met enough romantic buildup for their side of the triangle? Are we really accepting that John did not stop to think that he was cheating on his wife? Did we actually spend enough time in Ivar's head to accept that some human company is enough for him to accept the Clearances? How exactly are we going about opening this marriage anyway, in Scotland or in Norway in 1834?
On a positive note, I'm so pleased to see a story like this acknowledging the Lowland clearances, I missed that on first read. It's not something I've heard anyone who isn't my grandmother talk about, and it shows that the author did her research.