Wait, Blink

by Gunnhild Øyehaug, Kari Dickson (Translator)

Sigrid is a young literature student trying to find her voice as a writer when she falls in love with an older, established author, whose lifestyle soon overwhelms her values and once-clear artistic vision. Trine has reluctantly become a mother and struggles to create as a performance artist. The aspiring movie director Linnea scouts locations in Copenhagen for a film she will never make. As these characters’ stories collide and intersect, they find that dealing with the pressures of their lives also means coming to grips with a world both frightening and joyously ridiculous

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Novels, Literary Fiction, Scandinavian Literature, Roman, Audiobook

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Rafal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jestem zawiedziony tą książką. Spodziewałem się mocnej feministycznej prozy a dostałem zbiór egzaltowanych historyjek od czasu do czasu ubarwionych bluzgiem albo naturalizmem.

O egzaltacji: Język jest przesadnie ekspresyjny. Ciągłe powtórzenia, wykrzykniki, jakieś takie niezdarne próby stworzenia strumieni świadomości z przemyśleń bohaterów. To jest przegadane, rozlazłe, miałkie i nijakie.

Bohaterowie: Postaci z początku wydają się dość ciekawe. Problem polega na tym, że nic z tego nie wynika. W ciągu powieści okazuje się, że wszyscy są jakoś ze sobą powiązani. Spotykałem się z tym zabiegiem wielokrotnie i zwykle odkrywanie takich powiązań bardzo lubię. Ale tutaj to jest sztuczne, naciągane i banalne. Niestety bohaterowie są dość jednowymiarowi. Każda postać ma ilustrować jakiś problem. W tym sensie to nie są postaci tylko problemy ubrane w ludzką skórę.

Problematyka: W sumie to chyba najmocniejsza strona książki. Poruszone w tej książce temat są ważne i są ciekawe. Ale w ten sposób to ja tego nie kupuję. Wydaje mi się, że autorka zrobiła wszystko odwrotnie. Najpierw wymyśliła problem a potem próbowała do niego dobierać postaci i historie. Wyszło słabo i nienaturalnie.

Forma: Gigantyczne nieporozumienie. Narracja prowadzona jest w taki sposób jakby narrator opowiadał co widzi na filmie albo wystawie. Prawie każdy rozdział zaczyna się frazą: "A teraz widzimy...". Narrator jest jakby pośrednikiem miedzy czytelnikiem a opisywaną rzeczywistością. To mógłby być ciekawy pomysł, gdy miał jakiś cel. Ale ja tego celu nie widzę, przez co zabieg jest megadenerwujący. Na pewno uzasadnieniem nie jest to, że jedna z bohaterek jest reżyserką kręcącą w trakcie powieści film.

[Jerrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book on the NBA longlist for translated works is about a group of loosely connected characters who are all artists or studying art and their relationships. There was some interesting reflections on art, but there were a lot of characters to keep track of, which was difficult as many weren’t connected to a central story. Also, I think the author wanted to make this feel like watching a movie. Much reference is made to the movie ‘Lost in Translation’. Unfortunately, that resulted in a lot of sentences like: “We now see Sigrid . “. The whole book reminded me of watching a movie with the narration for the visually impaired turned on. It made for a slow, annoying reading experience.

[Agnese · Rating 4 out of 5]

She looks at the cursor that's blinking. She identifies with the cursor! Waiting, blinking, and without any real existence in the world, just on and off between blink and blink. Is this her light in the world?

Wait, Blink: A Perfect Picture of Inner Life by Gunnhild Øyehaug, translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson, provides an intimate snapshot into the lives of a group of characters, mainly focusing on three women - Sigrid, a sheltered young literature student, Linnea, an aspiring film director, and Trine, a provocative performance artist. Written in very short chapters and constantly shifting between the different, loosely connected characters, Wait, Blink is an introspective, meandering novel that explores the inner lives of these people, their desires, hopes and fears.

Somewhere deep inside her body there's a cry, which if it were replicated in color and not sound would be painted sheer black, the kind of darkness that might exist in a universe without stars. If it were a sound, you probably wouldn't hear it, even though it's loud, more like a howl, as it would still be locked up, as though inside a mountain. It's the cry of loneliness.

Sigrid is a twenty-three-year-old woman, who feels lonely and adrift in life, and compares her isolated life to "a boat that's frozen in the ice". She worries that she has unwittingly become a recluse and that her adult life hasn't truly started yet. She spends most of her time overanalyzing things and is trying to write a paper on the strange cliché that can be often observed in literature and film, whereby a woman is shown wearing an oversized man's shirt as a way of conveying the idea of emotional vulnerability.

[...] wearing an oversized man's shirt was a cliché in her opinion, a typical expression of male aesthetics, male perception, a perception that specifically objectivized women, he would make her into a cliché by doing that -  making her pad around being fragile and vulnerable in an oversized top and thus live up to all the myths - and, not least, by complying she would thereby undermine her own intellect and capacity for criticizing metaphors, wouldn't she?

As a side note, curiously enough, I just saw this cliché used in a ballet production - a modern take on Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew. When Petruchio finally manages to win over the stubborn Katherina and make her "let her hair down", she was portrayed wearing an oversized man's button-down shirt, so there might actually be something to this theory, and I'm guessing that, from now on, every time I see this cliché, I'll be reminded of this book.

Aspiring film director Linnea is also frustrated with her life. She was involved in an affair with a much older, married university professor, and tries to use the medium of film to express her feelings. She is basically longing to recreate the concept of Before Sunrise (1995) & Before Sunset (2004) in her real life. At the same time, the brazen and provocative performance artist Trine struggles to balance her artistic work with the responsibilities of motherhood both in practical and emotional terms.

The novel includes many references to music and films, such as Lost in Translation (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) that play an integral part in the narrative, as well as reveal the true mindsets and emotional states of the characters. I was particularly pleasantly surprised to find so many references to songs by one of my favourite musicians - PJ Harvey. I think the best way to read this book is while listening to PJ Harvey records, so that is exactly what I did, and it was fantastic!

Not much happens in this book in terms of plot but it offers some very interesting reflections on art, loneliness in modern society and the conflict between people's expectations, mainly derived from clichés which are perpetuated by the media, and the realities of life. The characters in this book feel the need to hide their true inner selves and constantly fail to honestly communicate their feelings to each other. I think, in essence, the book tries to highlight the impossibility of establishing a meaningful connection with someone while also keeping your true inner self mostly hidden.

[Magdalith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Niebanalna, sugestywna, klimatyczna powieść. Zagadkowa i niejednoznaczna. Jeśli miałabym ją opisać jednym zdaniem, nazwałabym ją książką o tym, co dzieje się w naszych głowach. A mnie właśnie to fascynuje najbardziej!

Ciekawa forma, która najwyraźniej ma nam zasugerować, że oglądamy film i faktycznie - poszczególne sceny są filmowymi kadrami. Bardzo podobało mi się też płynne przechodzenie z jednego punktu widzenie do drugiego - tu nie ma jednego narratora w jednym czasie.
Na pierwszy rzut oka rzecz wydaje się być zwyczajną obyczajową powieścią, o kobietach i mężczyznach, o związkach w które wchodzą i z których się wycofują, o zwyczajnym, pogmatwanym życiu uczuciowym, zawodowym i artystycznym, o byciu matką czy kochankiem, ale oczywiście tak nie jest. Tak samo jak zabieg polegający na tym, że w końcu okazuje się, iż wszystkich bohaterów ksiażki coś łączy, ma na celu coś innego i głębszego, niż to zazwyczaj ma miejsce w klasycznych obyczajówkach. To jest awangarda, pozostawiająca nas w niepokoju i niepewności, czy faktycznie prawidłowo odczytaliśmy wszystkie tropy i symbole.

Oryginalna rzecz, bardzo polecam tym, którzy lubią, gdy literatura jest grą i zagadką. Ale nie tylko - to nie jest zimny, wyrachowany twór, manipulujący czytelnikiem. Po lekturze nie czujemy się nabici w butelkę, ale sprowokowani do myślenia - myślenia o sobie samych, o naszym wewnętrznym życiu i o tym, jak "zewnętrze" na nie wpływa. I na odwrót.

[Katia N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book, I felt nostalgic about the first decade of the 21 century. The book is like a softish blanket one can wrap around with a few interlinked stories where a woman meets a man while another woman might be loosing a man at the same moment. Would they? Won't they? To be fair, there was another story there about balancing the artistic urge with being a young mother. I do not want to undermine the pleasure I received reading it. It is witty, with light, pleasant intertextuality and the some of my favourite movies of that decade used in the plot. "Kill Bill" and "Lost in Translation" are two prime examples. The characters are well rounded and quirky. The humour is self-referential and pleasantly dark. But it made me really face how the world and its reflection in the fiction has changed for a decade; how more complicated, tougher and more "grown up" our problems have become as well as the stories we read.

3.5 stars rounded down

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The inner lives - all the tangential thoughts, all the inside references, all the inter relations - are on display in this novel, subtitles 'A Perfect Picture of Inner Life'. This was my second book by Øyehaug, so I knew to expect her skilled and clever writing, yet frenetic pace that I saw in KNOTS, her short story collection.

Wait, Blink focuses on a handful of women at different ages and stages of life, viewed in this ever-present, all out omniscient way. Characters enter and exit like a stage play, scenes switch with time and date stamps, we see inside and outside the characters, as if looking from above at mice in a maze.

The language is fast and detailed, full of cultural references to film, TV, and books - a lengthy discourse on Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2 and Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation is swiftly followed by Don Quixote and Albert Camus references. Feminist performance art, freak bicycle accidents, and pining over author photos on book jackets. Just some of the situations our characters encounter.

Clever metafiction by a great storyteller. Now for more Øyehaug English translations... I hope there are more to come!

[Marie-Therese · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 maybe, if I'm feeling generous.

Just calling something a novel doesn't make said work a novel and this is not really a novel. It's a string of vaguely connected, indeterminately finished stories linked together by mostly tenuous and not very convincing bonds of circumstance, paced with all the speed and finesse of a three-legged tortoise laboring up a sand hill. The prose itself is mostly OK, but what that prose describes is generally trite and tiresome. Not a single character here is distinctive enough to care about and their fates are so clearly telegraphed before the author gets round to describing them that actually reading the book seems a waste of time. A final turn to whimsy is poorly judged and seems too little too late.

I'm amazed that this is a longlist contender for the National Book Award for Translated Literature. Different strokes for different folks, I guess, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

[Tine Katrine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jeg tror ikke jeg liker norsk samtidslitteratur, selv når det er en parodi.

[Zuza Waliszewska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Niesamowicie urocza i magiczna książka gdzie zwykłe zdarzenia nabierają niezwykłego charakteru.

[Jule · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a weird reading experience. It starts out as a collection of character studies of various people that are often connected. There is discussion of the meaning of art, contemporary life, literature, movies, being an artist and over-analyzing art. That was sort of nice. However, was already irritated by the pacing. The scenes changed too quickly to fully remember who is who, but not quickly enough to call it a character mosaic. And the random deep philosophy and rapid scene changes confused me and interrupted the reading flow.

While this first part introduced a lot of characters, the middle part focused on just two of them. As this was a more traditional narrative, I liked it a little better. But the connection to the first half puzzled me: why make me read about all of them when you are just going to focus on two that don't even have a clear or direct relationship with all the other people from part one?

However, it was the narration and the ending that made me decide on the low 2/5 star rating. Beside the jumpy timeline (sometimes going from present day to 10 years ago, sometimes going as far back as Dante) and the constant philosophy, which made reading hard, the narrative situation just confused me. Apparently, dominantly towards the end, the narrator appears to be a self-aware, very omniscient, 4th wall breaking "we" narrator. And in the last chapter, the reader finds out why: the narrators this whole time have been female characters from the "Divina Comedia" and "Don Quixote". Both books were referenced in this story, but why these women had to be the narrators, I simply did not comprehend.

Overall, it was a very modern and artsy book that made some bold choices in style, but ultimately confused me more than it delighted me.

~ I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions expressed above are my own.

[Kym Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

HUH?

WAIT.

WHAT?

SCRATCH MY HEAD!

HMMMM...

OK.

I can't lie, I really struggled with keeping up with the zig-zagging storylines in this little book by Gunnhild Øyehaug. I think the way it is written where the conversations intermingled into each other in one paragraph led to my confusion, trying to reread what I'd already read to get a grip on what it really was that I read.

OK, soooooo, here we have:
A man who is still in love with his ex-girlfriend, while boinking a fan who saw a picture of him on the cover of his book and fell in love with him, as a guy who loses his tooth gets into a relationship years later with a younger girl whose uncle finds the tooth in the belly of a salmon, to a woman who is a rather graphic performing artist and is breastfeeding her daughter who no longer wants her mother's breastmilk, to...WAIT...slam on the brakes and scratch the vinyl album!

Wait, blink - a sudden revelation of insight, fear, confusion, rejection, falling in love and strange symbolism to have waited for whatever, then inhaled, blinked, and survived...I guess??? I suppose it's just the type of storyline that fits into the craziness of the world we currently live in!

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com
'What a typical situation that she should try to understand and understand and that everything should have meaning and more meaning, but that the only understand she could get was from a pair of eyes on the back of a book, or the stars over the mountains at night- it strikes her as she sits there with a book in front of her, and the walls suddenly feel like walls and the ceiling feels like a ceiling, as sometimes happens when the magic of the moment when you feel there is hope disappears and all that remains is this: walls, and ceilings, and walls and ceilings.'

A story of intersections, this first English-language translation of award-winning Norwegian author Gunnhild Øyehaug has gorgeous writing, the challenge may lie for some readers in how the novel flits from one character to the next. There is no denying the insights into each life, emotional states, longings, hopes, and regrets. The narration was difficult to transcend for me, which is a shame because the depths the author goes to in exploring what is happening in the hearts and head space of her characters is flawless. Take Sigrid, there is much amusement in her thoughts about the vulnerability of women in film and literature, and I’ll be damned if the whole oversized male t-shirt tidbit isn’t, in fact, true. The most important musings are really about her feelings for the author’s photo on a book and the fact that later in the novel they meet. Film director Linnea struggles with the frustration of what she wants to express in her films, the impossibility of it all, as with many of her wishes in life, as if met only by an insurmountable wall. As she longs for Göran, he too, asleep beside his wife, wishes he were in Copenhagen . Then we cut to Trine, the performance artist, regretting the aggression of her latest ‘artistic expression’. Why has she allowed herself to love someone? How will motherhood affect her art?

Then we flash back ten years ago to Viggo, crashing on his bicycle. Falling in love, trying to ‘unwind out of himself’, and then a loss all the while pondering on Dante. The novel does a lot of hopping around, which can lose some readers. There is a lot of thoughts about films, and the female’s role in them throughout, certainly something to chew on. A ‘quarrel’ between the characters Käre and Wanda about the relationship between the Bride (Uma Thurman) and Bill, a movie that has a lot of arse-kicking women, and how ‘conventional’ her admiration of Bill seems to be. But why is she, really, so bothered by this scene, why does it birth fears for her own relationship with Käre? Jealousy eats at her, though she is a sort of superwoman, strong-minded, like any other human being she has her weaknesses.

This book is steeped in self-reflection, Linnea longing over a past affair, when her mind should be on her film, Trine struggling with her art, now a mother, self-doubt overwhelming her, a sort of love triangle between Käre, Wanda and Sigrid. Käre isn’t sure of his own heart, but when he is, there is nothing for it, sometimes you have to break hearts for happiness. Then there is Viggo, lots of trembling for our Viggo, a character I enjoyed, and just who is this Elida, the fishmongers’ daughter dreaming of being in Viggo’s strong arms, treasuring his lost tooth ten years later? Maybe there are some happy endings here within, ” And one would wish that everything was like that, always. But then things always slide, out and out!” I wonder if there are other novels by Gunnhild Øyehaug that aren’t as populated, that doesn’t move too fast when you just begin to dive into the telling, begin to cozy up with the characters because her writing really is provocative. It’s simply a matter of feeling overwhelmed and dizzy with not being still long enough, and the narrator, thinking much of the time what is up with the narrator? Aw, it all makes sense at the end, but still… I’m not sure every reader will have the patience, I don’t know if something was lost in translation, or if it’s the style that makes it difficult to flow with. I enjoyed it, but keeping up was a chore at times. I would like to read another novel by the author because she clearly has a lot to say about love, the female role in life, and the general struggles we all face, how we are often in our own way.

Available now

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to read something Nordic whilst on holiday in Finland, and decided on Gunnhild Oyehaug's Wait, Blink. I liked the intimate glimpses which the author gives into the lives of different characters - at first, at least. There is not a great deal of plot here; it is far more of an introspective work. Whilst this is well written and translated, it simply did not grab me. It focused on too many characters, and became a little confusing and saturated at times.

Had the same structure, with each chapter focusing upon a single character, been used with only two or three protagonists, I imagine that I would have very much enjoyed it. As it was, however, some of these characters were far more interesting than others, and the narrative tended to become quite repetitive. I will definitely try another of Oyehaug's books in future, as I feel that she has great potential, but to me, this felt a little underwhelming.

[basiaprime · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ciągle się waham, czy nie zmienić oceny na jedną gwiazdkę (zmieniłam), bo strasznie, ale naprawdę strasznie się wymęczyłam, nie wiem, czy zrozumiałam sens tej książki (o ile jakiś był), nie wiem, czy zrozumiałam postać narratora (gdyby go nie było czytałoby się o wiele lepiej) i wreszcie nie wiem po co były te dziwne wstawki w stylu motyla wyfruwającego z odbytu, czy performance z odciągania mleka z piersi. Prawie całe 288 stron to jedno wielkie nie wiem - chociaż zaznaczyłam kilka cytatów, bo polubiłam Sigrid.

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Norwegian novel has a narrative voice much like those in Kundera’s novels, a similar tone of playful intelligence, smiling down from above on the ways (especially the love lives, if not the sex) of mere mortals below. Oyehaug does it well, making this an excellent literary entertainment, even for someone like me who has trouble with a wide range of characters coming and going (this is a novel to read in as few sittings as possible, especially for elders).

[Michael Coté · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like listening into people's heads minute to minute. There's some fun pondering about "art," relationships, golf, onion soup, Kill Bill Volume 2, and women wearing over-sized men's shirts.

[Bookygirls Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Z początku byłam niepewna, ale po skończeniu uważam, że to była naprawdę dobra książka. Narratorki prowadzą nas po meandrach małych żyć grupy ludzi, pokazują nam ich oczekiwania i rzeczywistosc, pragnienia i przyszłość, ten stan TU I TERAZ, gdy nic co wydarzy się pózniej nie ma jeszcze znaczenia, poniewaz o tym nie wiemy. Trochę jak w kalejdoskopie przeskakujemy między bohaterami i ich przeżyciami, czasem cofając się w przeszłość, czasem wybiegając w przyszłość. Bo znaczenie ma wszystko i nic, a interpretacje są różne i nie zależą od nas. Ogromnym plusem jest zabawa narracją i komentowanie wydarzeń

[Jakub · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elementy składowe "Czekaj, mrugaj" Gunnhild Øyehaug prezentują wysoki poziom, lecz nie do końca zgrywają się ze sobą. Na koniec czytelnik pozostaje bowiem, paradoksalnie rzecz ujmując, z niedosytem powodowanym przez przesyt. Nadmiar postaci, wątków i przypadków utrudnia czerpanie pełni literackiej satysfakcji z dystansu, humoru i ciekawie wykreowanych postaci. Koniec końców jednak podkreślić należy: jest to powieść warta uwagi i czasu jej poświęconego.

[Julia Eriksson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Något spretig och splittrad, lite snäv i sina personporträtt, men samtidigt ganska trivsam läsning.

[Olka · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicate gossamer connections among this cast of characters all pining for something, for identity, love, art, and more. Magical.

[Helmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Åh! At det er så visuelt, fantasien, elsker fantasien, så gjennomført og smart. Og så morsomt og så vittig!! Hvis Jon Fosse, Tore Renberg og Agnes Ravatn hadde fått et kjærlighetsbarn kunne dette vært det— Og samtidig ikke i det hele tatt, Øyehaug er helt unik. Tusen takk.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Det er dette vi liker: populærkultur satt i en kontekst i en roman. Øyehauge gjør den brilliante vendingen : hun får meg til å føle meg hjemme i boka hennes. Ved å la sine karakterer tenke på og snakke om kvinnesynet i "Kill Bill 2", Sofia Coppolas mening med "Lost in translation" og PJ Harvey´s tekster, setter hun både bilde og lyd til språket. Og det er lyder og bilder vi kjenner, det er nesten så hun skrev et filmmanus med fotnoter til aktuelle lydspor. Teksten som leses oppleves for leseren som om dette er noe som faktisk skjer, akkurat nå, med noen folk som bor i Oslo og Bergen, som ser og lytter til og snakker om de temaene jeg også har sett og lyttet og snakket om. Det går med andre ord rett hjem. Da jeg leste diskusjonen mellom Kåre og Wanda som måtte jeg ringe kjærsten min på jobb: "det er jo oss!"
Og så romanens beste karakter: Trine, performanceartisten som i siste sekund endrer stuntet sitt til å sitte over en toalettskål og håndmelke de melkesprengte puppene sine, mens folk kan komme å kikke, for etterpå å føle at hun har svikta dattera hjemme - Trines pupper hørte jo mest til dattera! I denne sekvensen skriver Øyehaug så rått og flott om hvordan man føler seg etter en fødsel, at man bare vet at forfatteren må ha opplevd det selv. Kan man som forfatter skrive: "..hadde ho lyst til å spytte dei opp i ansiktet, vri av seg alle kleda og vise strekkmerka på magen og stinga i underlivet som hadde resultert i ei diger klump ved anus, eigentleg berre legge seg ned på golvet og føde rett framfor dei" om forfatteren ikke har gjort det selv? Man sitter igjen som leser med en følelse av å ha lest en veldig personlig tekst, noe veldig nært.
Populærkulturreferansene bare forsterker dette, det setter teksten i samme virkelighet som leseren selv lever i. Noen ganger vil vi lese noe langt borte, en annen kultur/ en annen dimensjon/ en annen tid, men noen ganger trives vi best med romaner som denne : nettopp no. De troverdige karakterene, som nesten bærer preg av en dokumentar i måten tanker og utsagn er så gjenkjennbare og ektefølte er nettopp det som plasserer Øyehaug i toppsjiktet. Det virker som om teksten er kommet spontant for henne, hun bare leker seg i ord.
Dette er en bok å le høyt av - type slå seg på låret og kaste hodet bakover latter. Øyehaug har ett så deilig direkte og upolert språk, ingen store ord, og det går rett hjem og rett i hjertet.
Men en av bokas røde tråder: yngre kvinner dater eldre menn, den skjønner jeg ikke helt. Den gjør seg helt klart godt, temaene er i rett ånd, men hva Øyehaug har ønsket å uttrykke med å la alle sine karakterpar ha en aldersforskjell på 20 år, står meg fortsatt som en gåte.

[Micha Sevier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wait, Blink is an English translation of a Norwegian novel of interwoven stories of a group of woman pursuing their ambitions.

Not much happens externally in the novel in terms of plot, but instead the reader is led through the minds of these women, experiencing their triumphs and disappointments. I found the prose very readable and was swept up in the often meandering thoughts of the characters. I found all of the characters interesting, sometimes feeling frustrated at the very human flaws, other times highly sympathetic to their failures. I found one of the characters particularly relatable, some of her thoughts and flaws hitting very close to home! This is the kind of novel that reminds us of shared human hopes and fears.

I didn’t find the ending particularly effective as there wasn’t really a strong story to end, but overall I really enjoyed this book.

[E.The.Bookworm.World · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akcja książki przedstawiona jest w sposób niezwykły, a mianowicie tak jakbyśmy oglądali film. Film ten pełen jest retrospekcji i odniesień do dzieł kinematografii i literatury. Przyglądamy się tu zwyczajnemu życiu kilku osób, których losy w bardzo ciekawy i czasami niespodziewany sposób się ze sobą splatają. Mamy tu rozstania i powroty, wzloty i upadki, smutek i radość - wszystkie elementy, których doświadczamy w prawdziwym życiu.
.
Ciekawym zabiegiem jest tu przedstawianie postaci jako ludzi podejmujących pewne decyzje, których konsekwencje możemy uważnie śledzić i które mają odzwierciedlenie w ich przyszłości. Nazwałabym to holistycznym sposobem prowadzenia narracji, który wyjątkowo bardzo przypadł mi do gustu.

[Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeg hadde SÅ lyst til å elske denne boka, for jeg elsket virkelig filmen som er basert på boka: "Kvinner i for store herreskjorter". Jeg har fått boka anbefalt fra mange kanter, og gledet meg veldig til å lese den, men jeg tror filmen satt for godt i og jeg ble sittende og sammenligne karakterene i boka og filmen. Det skal man jo overhodet ikke gjøre!

Jeg elsker språket til Gunhild Øyehaug, og jeg synes hun er veldig god til å beskrive følelser og personer. I tillegg har jeg en svakhet for kollektivromaner, så jeg tror nok at jeg hadde likt boka bedre om jeg leste den før jeg så filmen. Nå kom jeg dessverre aldri ordentlig godt inn i den.

[Mateusz Woliński · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Czekaj, mrugaj” to niezwykle urocza książka. Kolaż mikropowieści, które przypominają nam jak ważne są drobne chwile.

Øyehaug przedstawia nam szóstkę bohaterów. Każdy z nich jest w jakiś sposób niedostoswany do życia. Bujają w obłokach, kochają sztukę, żyją marzeniami. Szukają swojego miejsca, ale często gubią się. Chcą zachować w sobie dziecięcą wrażliwość na otaczający świat.

Niech nas nie zwidzie romantyczna aura tych opowiastek. Øyehaug z konsekwencją buduje portrety kobiet, które walczą o swoje miejsce w świecie. Oddaje im głos. Przedstawia je ze wszystkimi obsesjami i lękami. Często nie wiedzą czego pragną, czy jest to utracona wolność jak w przypadku Triny czy macierzyństwo. Czy chcemy tęsknić za tym, co minęło? Gunnhild zdaje się mówić, że już to przeżyłeś, nie zapominaj, ale zmień perspektywę.

Ale urok tej książki zależy też od udziału w literackiej grze. Øyehaug buduje książkę z cytatów i odwołań. Bohaterowie czytają Kafkę i „Boską komedię”. Pojawia się Dulcynea, jakby na przekór męskiej narracji. Jedna z bohaterek namiętnie ogłada jedną scenę z „Między słowami”. Z tej mozaiki zagubionych postaci wyłania się portret ludzi bliskich nam, niezdecydowanych, szukających, pragnących.

Przeczytajcie, a będzie chcieli do niej wracać żeby odkryć za każdym razem coś nowego. Każde mrugnięcie otwiera nową interpretacje.

[Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because in the same week that I saw it on the National Book Award longlist for translated books, I spotted it on the library's new fiction shelf. Its tone is light and sometimes playful, but it isn't really a comic novel at all.

How can we ever be connected to someone when our true selves are so consistently hidden? We wait, presenting what we think we can, and then *blink* a moment occurs that is the true us. Then what?

Bonus points to this one for having a scene where someone literally judges a book by its cover. I chuckled.

[Kamakana · Rating 4 out of 5]

230219: conversational film romance(s) as novel. fast, gentle, funny, wise. can see how it filmed well. only problem , perhaps, is it is very embedded in context, era, place, characters, theory, art, politics etc... so maybe not as great to someone not like characters. and then, some readers may be annoyed if they lose track of who is who when where why. and that they have no sympathetic grasp of relevant art theory. or they cannot 'identify' leading characters, world, theory, plot... but then, exoticism creates its own attraction...

[Mateusz Romanowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Książka z dużą ilością postaci i wątków sklejona tak, że nie czuje się przesytu, ani niedosytu, a wszystko jest wciągające i ciekawe. Dużo o miłości, głupotach, zbiegach okoliczności i tym, co robi nam sztuka.
Piąta gwiazdka za złapanie kawałka popkulturowego elementarza dla osób dorastających w określonym czasie + obudzenie we mnie wewnętrznego nastolatka, bo jest tu wszystko, za co kochałem książki / filmy / muzyczkę w tamtym czasie.