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96th out of 514 books
—
503 voters
The Birds
With spare simplicity,this storytells the tale of Mattis, a mentally disabled man cared for by his lonely older sister, Hege. Their routine, isolated existence is interrupted when a lumberjack arrives at their lakeside cottage and falls in love with Hege, leaving Mattis fearful that he will lose his sister. The careful translation from the Norwegian underscores Vesaas's ra...more
Paperback, 200 pages
Published
June 1st 2002
by Peter Owen Publishers
(first published 1957)
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Mar 29, 2013
Mariel
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
shining birds
Recommended to Mariel by:
withered tree-tops
She looked at him as at a grown-p now, and then she said something: 'You're lucky, seeing things the way you do. I don't, I can tell you.'
She had stopped now, wasn't simply rushing off to her eight-petalled roses. Today once again she had heard a tone in his voice that made her pause.
'How do you see things, then?' he asked, forgetting himself. Spoilt the moment completely. She gave a start, even though she was really to blame.
The people who live near brother Mattis and his older sister Hege nam...more
26 likes · like · see review
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This is really a beautiful book - better than The Ice Palace, I think, or at least a better place to start, because warmer, more accessible, less alienating. Vesaas is in his element here: his understanding of the boy-man Mattis, his suggestion of all that Mattis doesn't understand, his love for his characters, for the setting and for the simple act of writing - all of this is deeply, deeply affecting. I know next to nothing about Tarjei Vesaas but the impression he gives here is of something li...more
12 likes · like · see review
There are few things so mysterious as a Vesaas novel. Though he published both fiction and poetry, in the novels his poetic gifts surface in mood and bold imagery rather than in labored, ornate language. Here, in the story of a moderately mentally-handicapped man, Vesaas explores the human mind’s primitivist impulses--our need to find significance (indeed, omens) in the mundane and our need to barter with blind, deaf Fate. Blending an intensely existential narrative with a nature-saturated sensi...more
2 likes · like · see review
This is a beautiful, sad and simple story about a woman around 40 and her younger, dim-witted brother Mattis, for whom she is sole caretaker. For the first 60-70 pages I wondered if I would make it through a book that required me to inhabit the inner workings of a mentally handicapped man – it seemed so tedious, even ridiculous. But slowly I warmed up, and Mattis became, if not lovable, at least very deserving of sympathy, so vulnerably human in his muddled thoughts and obsessions, neediness and...more
This is a beautifully written, poignant book. It gets at the tender heart of Mattis's circumstances--he's a man, and wants to act like one, yet he's stuck in a child's mind and lives in a world he literally can't navigate alone. Vesaas makes spare symbolism out of Mattis's confused, yet profound thoughts.
First time i have read Vesaas and i am mightily impressed. This rural tale of a sister and her simple brother is beautifully told and very thought provoking. Hugely recommended.
"Quickly he turned eyes on his sister. Strange eyes. Always helpless, shy like birds."
...
"A suddent thought made him start: You mustn't leave me! he grasped, turned toward the room where Hege lay. Whatever happened to you or me you mustn't leave me."
...
"A suddent thought made him start: You mustn't leave me! he grasped, turned toward the room where Hege lay. Whatever happened to you or me you mustn't leave me."
Dec 25, 2009
Dawn
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone who doesn't have the mentality of a ten year old
Shelves:
re-read-someday,
changed-something
One of my all time favourites, and so far the only book that has enhanced my living experience.
Will be checking out some of Tarjei Vesaas' other works.
Will be checking out some of Tarjei Vesaas' other works.
Oct 21, 2011
Nate D
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
the taste of stream water
Recommended to Nate D by:
the flight of the woodock
Shelves:
norway
A simple elegant study of a simple elegant character, a man who has difficulty understanding the human world around him and is supported by his sister, but who is extremely attuned tom the signals and portents of the natural world, the stirring of trees, the flights of birds. Vesaas' concise, spacious style is perfectly suited and the protagonist surprisingly engaging. No where near as beautiful and strange as Vesaas' next work The Ice Palace, though.
20th-century-classics, crazyasssprintbeforestudentteaching, favorites, mr-novembers-fall-to-remember, norwegian, one-sitting-reads, poets, quickly-devoured, read, readagainable, review-soon-before-it-is-too-late, sweet-darkness, tragically-underrated-or-unknown
2 likes · like · see review
Noe av det verste jeg noen gang har lest.
This is such a beautiful book.
This is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. I'm a pretty slow reader in general, but I read this VERY quickly, and I didn't want it to end. Very few authors have this effect on me, and I can't wait to read other works by Vesaas. Painful, achingly beautiful, and very convinving in its portrayal of the logic and cosmic view of a mentally "slow" middle-age man living under the care of his elder sister. Recommended.
Lavmælt, rolig fortelling med perspektivet til Mattis som bærer et enkelt sinn. Han finner ikke plassen sin, klarer ikke et arbeide, men blir brennende engasjert i det andre ser med undring på.
"Eg vågar her er ikkje noken ferjemann som ror beinare. Beinare enn beint kan det ikkje bli. Synd at dei kjølspora blir borte så fort, dei skulle stå som striper i dagesvis."
"Eg vågar her er ikkje noken ferjemann som ror beinare. Beinare enn beint kan det ikkje bli. Synd at dei kjølspora blir borte så fort, dei skulle stå som striper i dagesvis."
I discovered another great Norwegian novelist.
Neat, straight and profound.
Vesaas is perfect in putting its pen in the shoes of Mattis, "The Idiot".
Neat, straight and profound.
Vesaas is perfect in putting its pen in the shoes of Mattis, "The Idiot".
OK book, but not one of those you want to read if you're in an energetic mood, because at least I got mentally tired of reading it.
A review of Vesaas' Fuglene is on my blog, http://www.penciltwister.com - http://wp.me/pYiDX-lA
A nice book. Insightful and touching at times.
Jan 28, 2012
Bettie
marked it as maybe
to check out details
overbylass rating
norway
overbylass rating
norway
My favourite book.
May 23, 2013
Hege
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
John
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Anna
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Emily
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Ann
marked it as to-read
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Tarjei Vesaas was a Norwegian poet and novelist. Written in Nynorsk, his work is characterized by simple, terse, and symbolic prose. His stories are often about simple rural people that undergo a severe psychological drama and who according to critics are described with immense psychological insight. Commonly dealing with themes such as death, guilt, angst, and other deep and intractable human emo...more
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“This gave him another opportunity to use one of those words that hung before him, shining and alluring. Far away in the distance there were more of them, dangerously sharp. Words that were not for him, but which he used all the same on the sly, and which had an exciting flavour and gave him a tingling feeling in the head. They were a little dangerous, all of them.”
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