Featured in The New Yorker's ""Best Books of 2023"" *Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize
""The literal fever that begins the book mirrors the feverish beginnings and endings of these relationships, as well as the fever of reading — how it forces the reader inward, then leaves an invisible imprint in its wake. Genberg’s marvelous prose is also a kind of fever, mesmerizing and hot to the touch.” -The New York Times Book Review
An intoxicating novel in the vein of Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti, about a woman in the throes of a fever remembering the important people in her past, her memories laid bare in vivid detail as her body temperature rises.
A woman lies bedridden from a high fever. Suddenly she is struck with an urge to revisit a novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a get-well-soon message from Johanna, an ex-girlfriend who is now a famous television host. As she flips through the book, pages from the woman’s own past begin to come alive, scenes of events and people she cannot forget.
There are moments with Johanna, and Niki, the friend who disappeared years ago without a phone number or an address and with no online footprint. There is Alejandro, who appears like a storm in precisely the right moment. And Brigitte, whose elusive qualities mask a painful secret.
The Details is a novel built around four portraits; the small details that, pieced together, comprise a life. Can a loved one really disappear? Who is the real subject of the portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? Do we fully become ourselves through our connections to others? This exhilarating, provocative tale raises profound questions about the nature of relationships, and how we tell our stories. The result is an intimate and illuminating study of what it means to be human.
© 2023 HarperAudio (Audiobook): 9780063309746
Release date
Audiobook: 8 August 2023
Featured in The New Yorker's ""Best Books of 2023"" *Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize
""The literal fever that begins the book mirrors the feverish beginnings and endings of these relationships, as well as the fever of reading — how it forces the reader inward, then leaves an invisible imprint in its wake. Genberg’s marvelous prose is also a kind of fever, mesmerizing and hot to the touch.” -The New York Times Book Review
An intoxicating novel in the vein of Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti, about a woman in the throes of a fever remembering the important people in her past, her memories laid bare in vivid detail as her body temperature rises.
A woman lies bedridden from a high fever. Suddenly she is struck with an urge to revisit a novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a get-well-soon message from Johanna, an ex-girlfriend who is now a famous television host. As she flips through the book, pages from the woman’s own past begin to come alive, scenes of events and people she cannot forget.
There are moments with Johanna, and Niki, the friend who disappeared years ago without a phone number or an address and with no online footprint. There is Alejandro, who appears like a storm in precisely the right moment. And Brigitte, whose elusive qualities mask a painful secret.
The Details is a novel built around four portraits; the small details that, pieced together, comprise a life. Can a loved one really disappear? Who is the real subject of the portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? Do we fully become ourselves through our connections to others? This exhilarating, provocative tale raises profound questions about the nature of relationships, and how we tell our stories. The result is an intimate and illuminating study of what it means to be human.
© 2023 HarperAudio (Audiobook): 9780063309746
Release date
Audiobook: 8 August 2023
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Overall rating based on 31 ratings
Thought-provoking
Page-turner
Smart
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Mango
20 May 2024
If you’re looking for a short, deeply reflective and beautifully written exploration of human connection, pick this up. The novel explores the life of a woman recovering from an illness. As she lies in bed, she dives into the depths of her memories, revisiting her relationships with four pivotal people: a female lover, a friend, a male lover, and her mother.Each chapter captures the essence of these individuals who have shaped her existence. The narrator often does come across as a chameleon, subtly shifting her colors to reflect the influence of those around her.Like how some songs always remind you of a person, or you can never have a certain dish the mainstream way because someone you once knew taught you how to eat it better, or as a person who expanded most of their vocabulary through reading - how every time you use a certain word, you remember the time someone taught you the right way to pronounce it.
English
India