Read-A-Long of Norma by Sofi Oksanen

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Re: Read-A-Long of Norma by Sofi Oksanen

Post by Gravy »

gali wrote: 19 Oct 2018, 23:19 Lol, it does seem that the author wrote the book more to pass a point than to entertain.

I finished chapter 6 and now know the secret of Marion. It doesn't seem that much of an issue to get killed over it, though.
Yeah. I'm enjoying it, but it's not what I expected it to be. I have to wonder if it's at least partially due to the translation.


I haven't been able to read, so I haven't gotten any farther. I hope to get some read sometime soon.
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Post by gali »

Gravy wrote: 20 Oct 2018, 22:49
gali wrote: 19 Oct 2018, 23:19 Lol, it does seem that the author wrote the book more to pass a point than to entertain.

I finished chapter 6 and now know the secret of Marion. It doesn't seem that much of an issue to get killed over it, though.
Yeah. I'm enjoying it, but it's not what I expected it to be. I have to wonder if it's at least partially due to the translation.


I haven't been able to read, so I haven't gotten any farther. I hope to get some read sometime soon.
The story is rather bland, but I am enjoying it as well. The magical realism aspect is rather weak. The emphasize seems to be on hair and use of women. It seems like the author wrote the story to promote her agenda.
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

gali wrote: 20 Oct 2018, 22:54
Gravy wrote: 20 Oct 2018, 22:49
gali wrote: 19 Oct 2018, 23:19 Lol, it does seem that the author wrote the book more to pass a point than to entertain.

I finished chapter 6 and now know the secret of Marion. It doesn't seem that much of an issue to get killed over it, though.
Yeah. I'm enjoying it, but it's not what I expected it to be. I have to wonder if it's at least partially due to the translation.


I haven't been able to read, so I haven't gotten any farther. I hope to get some read sometime soon.
The story is rather bland, but I am enjoying it as well. The magical realism aspect is rather weak. The emphasize seems to be on hair and use of women. It seems like the author wrote the story to promote her agenda.
I just started chapter 6. I agree about the blandness, but like you said, Gravy, it could be because of the translation. Though I do like the magical hair as being part of the story, I agree, the magical realism is fairly weak. I wonder if it'll improve as the story go on?

That's an interesting point about the author having an agenda and writing the story to tell a point rather than to entertainment. I can see that and agree with it, too. For the most part, I'm enjoying the story, but I don't tend to be as excited as I am with other books whenever I pick it up to continue reading.
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

gali wrote: 19 Oct 2018, 23:19 Lol, it does seem that the author wrote the book more to pass a point than to entertain.

I finished chapter 6 and now know the secret of Marion. It doesn't seem that much of an issue to get killed over it, though.
I also just finished chapter 6.

Spoilers: up to chapter 6
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I think I'm confused. What was the secret? Was it that she was the one to tell Anita about Helena's health that led to drugs made from Norma's hair? That Helena had schizophrenia? If it's either one, I also don't see the big deal that Marion has to be afraid of her father hurting/murdering her.

Yet again here's Anita using Norma's hair without Norma's consent.

Out of curiosity, what do you think of how the story is being told? There's a present storyline, then there's the video files that Anita left for Norma.
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Post by Gravy »

I'm into chapter 8 (I believe), so I won't be posting anything spoilery.


I'm not a fan of the way the story is being told. It seems to almost bounce around, and like we're supposed to know things before it comes to light in the story. I really think, or maybe want it to be, due to a bad translation.

Emmi Itäranta translated her own books and they're done beautifully.
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Post by gali »

hsimone wrote: 21 Oct 2018, 20:21
gali wrote: 19 Oct 2018, 23:19 Lol, it does seem that the author wrote the book more to pass a point than to entertain.

I finished chapter 6 and now know the secret of Marion. It doesn't seem that much of an issue to get killed over it, though.
I also just finished chapter 6.

Spoilers: up to chapter 6
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I think I'm confused. What was the secret? Was it that she was the one to tell Anita about Helena's health that led to drugs made from Norma's hair? That Helena had schizophrenia? If it's either one, I also don't see the big deal that Marion has to be afraid of her father hurting/murdering her.

Yet again here's Anita using Norma's hair without Norma's consent.

Out of curiosity, what do you think of how the story is being told? There's a present storyline, then there's the video files that Anita left for Norma.
The secret was that they wanted to open their own hair salon. At least, Marion wanted to. Anita had other plans, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

I like the way the story is being told, but the video files were confusing at times.
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Post by gali »

Gravy wrote: 21 Oct 2018, 21:04 I'm into chapter 8 (I believe), so I won't be posting anything spoilery.


I'm not a fan of the way the story is being told. It seems to almost bounce around, and like we're supposed to know things before it comes to light in the story. I really think, or maybe want it to be, due to a bad translation.

Emmi Itäranta translated her own books and they're done beautifully.
I also found it confusing. It may as well be due to the bad translation.
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Post by gali »

I'm into chapter 11, so I will wait for you guys to reach it. :)
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

gali wrote: 21 Oct 2018, 21:37
The secret was that they wanted to open their own hair salon. At least, Marion wanted to. Anita had other plans, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

I like the way the story is being told, but the video files were confusing at times.
Oh, man. See? I missed that completely, but I also had some distractions while I tried to read. Next time, I'll have to seclude myself somewhere, so I won't be distracted.

Yes, I agree, the video files were confusing at times.
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

Gravy wrote: 21 Oct 2018, 21:04 I'm into chapter 8 (I believe), so I won't be posting anything spoilery.


I'm not a fan of the way the story is being told. It seems to almost bounce around, and like we're supposed to know things before it comes to light in the story. I really think, or maybe want it to be, due to a bad translation.

Emmi Itäranta translated her own books and they're done beautifully.
I'll catch up today!

I find it to be bouncy, too. I'm also hoping it's because of a bad translation and that the original story was told more smoothly.
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

gali wrote: 21 Oct 2018, 21:39 I'm into chapter 11, so I will wait for you guys to reach it. :)
Sounds good! :handgestures-thumbsup:
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

gali wrote: 21 Oct 2018, 21:37
The secret was that they wanted to open their own hair salon. At least, Marion wanted to. Anita had other plans, but I don't want to spoil it for you.
Oh!! I just got to this part. It was in Chapter 7 for me. Glad I'm not that thick that I didn't even realize the thing that has been frightening Marion from her father was her using the loan Anita got to open up their own hair salon. It was pretty obvious when I read that part :lol:
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Post by gali »

hsimone wrote: 22 Oct 2018, 14:32
gali wrote: 21 Oct 2018, 21:37
The secret was that they wanted to open their own hair salon. At least, Marion wanted to. Anita had other plans, but I don't want to spoil it for you.
Oh!! I just got to this part. It was in Chapter 7 for me. Glad I'm not that thick that I didn't even realize the thing that has been frightening Marion from her father was her using the loan Anita got to open up their own hair salon. It was pretty obvious when I read that part :lol:
Good! I hope I didn't spoil it for you.

I finished the book, and write about it tomorrow.
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

gali wrote: 22 Oct 2018, 14:37
hsimone wrote: 22 Oct 2018, 14:32
gali wrote: 21 Oct 2018, 21:37
The secret was that they wanted to open their own hair salon. At least, Marion wanted to. Anita had other plans, but I don't want to spoil it for you.
Oh!! I just got to this part. It was in Chapter 7 for me. Glad I'm not that thick that I didn't even realize the thing that has been frightening Marion from her father was her using the loan Anita got to open up their own hair salon. It was pretty obvious when I read that part :lol:
Good! I hope I didn't spoil it for you.

I finished the book, and write about it tomorrow.
No worries, you're good. :tiphat:

Nice! I'm about 100 pages away from finishing, but I'll keep chugging along and will write my thoughts once I'm done (maybe in another couple of days?).
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Post by gali »

hsimone wrote: 22 Oct 2018, 18:45
gali wrote: 22 Oct 2018, 14:37
hsimone wrote: 22 Oct 2018, 14:32

Oh!! I just got to this part. It was in Chapter 7 for me. Glad I'm not that thick that I didn't even realize the thing that has been frightening Marion from her father was her using the loan Anita got to open up their own hair salon. It was pretty obvious when I read that part :lol:
Good! I hope I didn't spoil it for you.

I finished the book, and write about it tomorrow.
No worries, you're good. :tiphat:

Nice! I'm about 100 pages away from finishing, but I'll keep chugging along and will write my thoughts once I'm done (maybe in another couple of days?).
No rush. :)
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