OurBookishNotes’s Comments (group member since May 11, 2014)

OurBookishNotes’s comments from the OurBookishNotes group.

Ghost WallGeneral Thoughts:
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely worth the read. I found it emotionally haunting and truly felt Sylvie’s humiliation and fear at the end. Sarah Moss’ writing style, or perhaps the formatting of the novella, really rubbed me the wrong way. I felt as though it took me much longer to get through the novel because the blocky chunks of text made it seem so much longer and drawn out; but perhaps that was the point. Perhaps it was supposed to be clunky and awkward where everything was running together - because that’s what was happening to Sylvie. Perhaps it was supposed to be difficult? Who truly knows?

My favorite parts were where Sarah Moss’ writing style took a dark turn in the most mundane moments. For example, my absolute favorite part of the book was when the textile lecturer came to the encampment to teach the students about basket weaving and she waxed and waned about if we were the ghosts, or if the deceased were and how essentially by doing the task they were one and the same:

“I shivered. Of course, that was the whole point of the re-enactment, that we ourselves became the ghosts, learning to walk the land as they walked it two thousand years ago, to tend our fire as they tended theirs and hope that some of their thoughts, their way of understanding the world, would follow the dance of muscle and bone. To do it properly, I thought, we would almost have to absent ourselves from ourselves, leaving our actions, our re-enactions, to those no longer there. Who are the ghosts again, us or our dead? Maybe they imagined us first, maybe we were conjured out of the deep past by other minds.”

I found this excerpt eerie and beautiful, and to be honest a bit Romantic with the capital “R.” These slips into darkness and exploration of these sorts of thoughts really pushed me to finish Ghost Wall. I would recommend Ghost Wall to anyone who likes slow burn, character-driven books. Ghost Wall is chilling and Sylvie’s development and narration draws you in as she attempts to figure out her place in the world.

Extensive Thoughts - Caution, Spoilers Ahead:
It’s been a while since I’ve truly, viscerally hated a character as much as I’ve despised Sylvie’s dad - Bill. A dissatisfied and disillusioned, abusive bus driver who isolates his family and is obsessed with the Iron Age. This obsession leads to his family's forced participation in a summer-long reenactment experience of living in the Iron Age with a small group of grad students from a university.

Sylvie, Bill’s daughter, is the heart of the story. Through her eyes, we witness Bill’s violence and appropriation of history in order to control those around him (mainly his family) and support his irrational claims. Young Sylvie is caught in his web, she grew up in a turbulent, violent, and isolating environment where it seemed outrageous for her to have any thoughts or aspirations of her own. This is greatly reflected in her mother Allison.

Like Sylvie, I have no idea how her mother Allison ever fell in love with or even considered marrying Bill. Allison is essentially Bill’s slave. She does what he asks with no questions, knowing it will result in violence if she voices any concern. Although Allison is in an extremely bad situation I don’t believe she is without blame for her daughter's terrible upbringing and abuse. Allison is depicted as spineless and subservient. The only way she attempts to protect her daughter is pathetic goading to not displease her father, with the grim reminder that it will only result in a beating. I suppose I have no remorse for thinking so poorly of Allison when she is pitted against the likes of Sylvie and Molly.

Molly, the savior and rational hero of the story bring the feminist ideology to Sylvie’s already present thoughts. As Sylvie struggles with her situation and begins to guardedly confide in Molly, we see the workings of Sylvie knowing something is not right here, and certainly not right with her family. Sylvie’s development in the book was one of the most interesting parts for me. Her thoughts seemed to evolve as the novella went on - for example going from just getting away from her father to wanting to go all the way to Berlin towards the end.

I truly enjoyed Molly acting rationally and doing, what I think, any normal person would do in her situation. Sneaking out for crisps and ice cream when scavenging and voicing concern when things at the camp seemed unfair. Molly from the beginning is painted like an irresponsible student who really isn’t there to get anything out of the trip, but as the story progresses it becomes very clear that Molly does care and is passionate about something but is not thrilled with how the men are treating the camp.

Through Molly and Sylvie’s eyes, it becomes clear that this is Bill’s playground, a place for violence, fighting, and domineering. Something that at first, the Professor objected but soon fell into the routine of living in a violent, sexist, and mythical world. Molly is singlehandedly responsible for Sylvie realizing there are more options in life and that women are not in fact restricted by male wants and needs. Molly not just saves Sylvie in the bog that night but saves her indefinitely by slowly giving her the knowledge she needs to move forwards.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I think it’s definitely worth the read. Ghost wall is emotionally haunting and eerie. I found Sylvie’s yearning for murder and thinking about that space between life and death truly chilling in a Gothic way that I haven’t experienced in a long while. The ending was so humiliating, I could feel her own fear and humiliation radiate through my entire body - then as she becomes more stoic, I could feel myself being put back together. Honestly, the whole read is worth the last 20 pages.

When I first saw the cover for Nesbø’s THE SNOWMAN I was reminded of a hilarious RL Stine Goosebumps cover - on which, an angry, scary snowman flailed it’s arms around next to a mailbox. The books slug line was “he’s got a heart of cold,” which is not only extremely cheesy but someone applicable to Nesbø’s characters on a whole.

On another note, Nesbø’s cover for THE SNOWMAN has changed drastically from version to version. For example the cover I first came in contact with was the trade paper back cover - where the snowman was perched upon the hill, although giving me funny flashbacks, tells me something eerie is happening.
See it here: https://goo.gl/images/yD3Qat

The movie tie in cover gives away much more about the story than the first one I encountered. A man walks through the snow holding a gun by his thigh - bright red blood is pooling in one corner. This cover would tell me this is not only a haunting book - but most likely a violent one.
See it here: https://goo.gl/images/ZiAXiw

But the original hardcover is much more mysterious. The color pallet is black, white, and red. It’s vivid and barren, giving away less about the store - unlike the others. This shows me the least about the story - is the snowman just a symbol? Is it a character?
See it here: https://goo.gl/images/adNF7D