gamer reviewed And every morning the way home gets longer and longer by Fredrik Backman (Thorndike Press large print core)
Review of 'And every morning the way home gets longer and longer' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Weaponized sentimentality
a novella Thorndike Press large print core
111 pages
English language
Published Sept. 8, 2017
Grandpa and Noah are sitting on a bench in a square that keeps getting smaller every day. The square is strange but also familiar, full of the odds and ends that have made up their lives: Grandpa's work desk, the stuffed dragon that Grandpa once gave to Noah, the sweet-smelling hyacinths that Grandma loved to grow in her garden. As they wait together on the bench, they tell jokes and discuss their shared love of mathematics. Grandpa recalls what it was like to fall in love with his wife, what it was like to lose her. She's as real to him now as the first day he met her, but he dreads the day when he won't remember her. Sometimes Grandpa sits on the bench next to Ted, Noah's father -- Ted who never liked math, prefers writing and playing guitar, and has waited his entire life for his father …
Grandpa and Noah are sitting on a bench in a square that keeps getting smaller every day. The square is strange but also familiar, full of the odds and ends that have made up their lives: Grandpa's work desk, the stuffed dragon that Grandpa once gave to Noah, the sweet-smelling hyacinths that Grandma loved to grow in her garden. As they wait together on the bench, they tell jokes and discuss their shared love of mathematics. Grandpa recalls what it was like to fall in love with his wife, what it was like to lose her. She's as real to him now as the first day he met her, but he dreads the day when he won't remember her. Sometimes Grandpa sits on the bench next to Ted, Noah's father -- Ted who never liked math, prefers writing and playing guitar, and has waited his entire life for his father to have time for him, to accept him. But in their love of Noah, they have found a common bond. Grandpa, Grandma, Ted, and Noah all meet here, in this peculiar space that is growing dimmer and more confusing all the time. And here is where they will learn to say goodbye, the scent of hyacinths in the air, nothing to fear.
Weaponized sentimentality
What a sad, lovely book! A beautiful look at losing our parents and the process that can happen as we age. Sometimes our bodies go faster than our minds, and sometimes our minds go faster than our bodies. Both options sound scary to me.
I'm convinced I am going to live to be 114, but I don't spend time dwelling on the various ways my body might break down along the journey. I just try to live a (mostly) healthy lifestyle, do good things for the universe, and hopefully that is enough. This story brought home some of my secret fears, though, and it made me tear up a little. Not a ton, because I'm kind of prickly like that, but a few tears were shed. Nothing like A Man Called Ove. Backman got me bad with that one, but this one was emotional, too. Maybe if it was a …
What a sad, lovely book! A beautiful look at losing our parents and the process that can happen as we age. Sometimes our bodies go faster than our minds, and sometimes our minds go faster than our bodies. Both options sound scary to me.
I'm convinced I am going to live to be 114, but I don't spend time dwelling on the various ways my body might break down along the journey. I just try to live a (mostly) healthy lifestyle, do good things for the universe, and hopefully that is enough. This story brought home some of my secret fears, though, and it made me tear up a little. Not a ton, because I'm kind of prickly like that, but a few tears were shed. Nothing like A Man Called Ove. Backman got me bad with that one, but this one was emotional, too. Maybe if it was a full-length novel I would have been ruined by the end, but it was still lovely. Give yourself an hour and read this one. 4 stars.
What a beautiful, sad little book.