tirsdag 20. november 2012

A review of a true little gem named Snow


(First, I have to state; this review is not finished. I still have polishing to do, but I wanted it up today. After all, today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, and due to the themes of the book, it seemed a bit fitting.) - 20.11.12

While I would like to think I'm above average, I wouldn't classify myself as a very good writer of factual texts. However, I have wanted to review this book for a while, as it's risen to be one of my absolute favourite books, and when the Jaded - "signed book contest" was announced, I figured it was time. Hopefully you can enjoy parts of the review at least, and if you consider to pick this book up while reading, even just for a brief moment, my work is done.

So, for the review:



“When you think of the future, you never know what it holds. You cannot possibly foresee what is waiting for you around the next turn. Anything can happen; next week, tomorrow, in five minutes…
            But when you think of that one word, regardless of what it holds, you know that you have one.
            So why is it then that sometimes the ground is just swiped away from underneath you, causing you to lose your grip on life? How can something you have no control over just reach into your life and snatch your future away from you?
Who knows.
But it happens”
(Olsen, Caroline: Snow pg. 3 line 1-12)

Thus starts the novel Snow, written by Norwegian self-published author Caroline Olsen, and after reading this far, I assumed the book would be a real tearjerker. It does sounds that way, and to a degree, it’s the truth, but there is much more to it than just tears. This book has more than a sad story to offer, and it didn’t take me long to realize that.
In a way, Snow was destined to be different just because of its heritage. Written by a Norwegian writer, in English, about Japanese teenagers, it already sounds like a bit of an oddity. And different it is, in the best way imaginable. Not far into the book, there was one thing that struck me hard and set this book noticeably apart from all but the peak of the novel-mountain I’ve read hitherto in my short life. The characters.
Now, if there is one thing I’ll complain about with almost all books I’ve ever had the chance to read, it would be the characters. While books may have interesting characters, I’ve almost never felt close to one. On rare occasions, the character, rather, the narrator, of a book narrated through first-person perspective, have managed to get my complete sympathies, make my eyes mist red or have me want to step into the book to just hug him/her. But this is rare. With Snow, however, it was different. Though narrated in third-person, the main characters felt very “of-this-world”-to me. I almost believed I’d bump into any one of them on the street any day.
I do not know exactly what it is that makes the characterization of the characters in Snow so good. I fail to pinpoint it. My theory, however, is that those characters, and their brilliant vitality, is a positive side effect of Olsen knowing her characters far too well. Most times, when I read a book, I get the feeling the authors were focusing on the plot, with the exception of most stories narrated by an “I”. When the plot is in focus, the story writes the characters. Snow, however, strikes me as a book that is all about, and only about, the characters. The characters write the story. And for that to work, the characters need to be strong and well made. They need to have good sides, bad sides, ups and downs, hope and despair. This is something I feel the characters of Snow all have. When I finished the book, I wasn’t left with some made-up persons I remembered the name of. I was left with friends, who will stay in my heart forever. I take my hat off for Olsen, for making that happen.

Maaya ruffled his friend’s messy hair. “You’re just jealous!”
“Of what?” Atsushi asked him, gasping in a very excessive manner.
“My fantabulous planning skills!” Maaya exclaimed, beaming.
Atsushi burst out laughing.
“Fantabulous?” he shrieked. “What kind of word is that?!”
Maaya smiled. “A fantabulous one”
(Olsen, Caroline: Snow pg. 27 line 24-30)

To sum the book up, it’s all about a boy named Maaya. As an artistic soul and a true ideologist, he’s fairly calm when he at 16 realizes he’s gay, and from there, you follow him through love, break-ups and prejudice. As you hear, the plot itself is pretty normal. You’ve probably all read something like it before. However, without this sort of simple plot, I don’t think the book would have worked at all. There is something I’ve been saying to myself for many years now; a motto of sorts, which marks my path when I myself write. “When the characters write their own story, the plot cannot be too bold or extraordinary. Should the plot decide to stand out, it would slowly take the throne from the characters, while the characters would still be fighting for their place. In this case, the story would lose its focus, and with it, its grip on the reader.” I believe this to be the truth. After all, a story thrives by its ability to keep the reader’s attention. Should it be unclear which drives which of the story and the characters, where would you, as a reader, place your attention? The story? The characters? Or maybe you would rather pick up a different book? I know I am of the latter type. Therefore, as Snow is a character-driven story, it is crucial for me that the story be generic. After all, that is what, to me, makes it excellent.
The themes of the book are also a strong side. Naturally, due to the plot, you have the theme of homophobia and prejudice, but it also deals with drunken parents and troubled childhoods. While all quite strong themes, they’re handled in a very tasteful and rather peculiar way. Instead of letting them dominate the storyline, they’re just standing there on the sideline. The themes can be seen in the characters, and the characters can be seen in light of the themes, but that’s also almost all there is to it. A cynical and seemingly apathetic nature may well be linked to that character’s troubles at home. An upbeat and pacifistic nature can have a connection with that character’s “above average-awesome” parents. And while the homophobia and prejudice plays a part, and when all comes to all, a pretty important part at that, it does not overshadow the characters, nor does it become preaching. It is simply there, helping the story along and giving room for reflection.
But then of course, you also have all the sweet themes. Friendship, love, and fights for equality all play important parts in the story. As a matter of fact, the friendship and love may be exactly what drives the characterization and makes the characters so extremely real. Without the love, certain characters may well have had nothing to live for. Without the friendship, certain characters may well have been much less upbeat and much less positive than they are. And in the end, the friendship and love is what binds the characters together and shapes them into who they are, and for that, those themes deserve creds.
Now, I have one little pet peeve with this book; the language. Or rather, the grammar, the punctuation, and at some points the sentence structure. Olsen’s vocabulary is good; the book is very easy to read, while keeping up some linguistic wisecracks, as seen in the quote four paragraphs ago. The writing style itself, while far from Salinger- or Nabokov-quality, is above average, and it works. However, some grammatical errors, punctuation errors and a very few nonsensical sentences do to a certain degree disturb the reading experience. While I do not know exactly which pages to find them at at this point, I do notice it, and it does disturb me when a “have” have replaced a “has”, a dot is replaced by a comma, or at worst, nothing at all, and two sentences that should not be one have apparently been fused together, whether it’s due to a glitch or an undiscovered mistake. However, it does not ruin the book at all for me. I know I am above average grammar-nazi, and I’m always told to calm down when errors like these make me see red, but the characters carries the book above all that.
Therefore, even if you’re bugged by linguistic mistakes, I still recommend you to pick this book up, because the good elements of it wash the bad elements away. All in all, it’s a well-done piece of literature; it provides laughs, it provides tears, and when the inevitable happens, it can fairly break your heart. But in the end, that is also all right. After all, without sadness, you wouldn’t have happiness, and it takes some heart-breaking moments to truly appreciate the amounts of joie the vivre contained within  the front and the back of this cover.


(Art by Lanny Suhandy)

             


2 kommentarer:

  1. Wow, i feel like there's almost no point in me even trying to write my own review, this was too good! I'm almost jealous! XD <3

    SvarSlett
    Svar
    1. O.O Thank you *huggles* <3
      I don't really feel that I write too well, but I was satisfied for once.

      Still, I do consider you a better writer than me, so you should at least give it a go ;)

      Slett