This was a very egnimatic book. the reader was never absolutely sure what happened. It seemed too incredible what as a reader, you thought happened. Beautifuly written, I thought. Eerie. ( )

"It's as if the book itself has an aura, beyond its subject, to do with the potency of its truth, I think particularly about the relationship between the children and adults and the natural world. It gets into your skin, in the way... closer to the condition of music or visual art."
--Max Porter ( )

Det snør og snør


på stille bruer.


Bruer ingen veit om.


SOGNO DI PONTI INNEVATI

Mentre siamo lì cade più fitta la neve.

La tua manica s’imbianca.

La mia manica s’imbianca.

Formano tra noi

ponti innevati.


Ma i ponti innevati sono gelati.

Qui dentro scorre calda la vita.

Il tuo braccio caldo sotto la neve è un

dolce peso sul mio.


Nevica, nevica

Sui ponti silenziosi.

Ponti che nessuno conosce.

(pagina 111)


Ciò che ci lega sono ponti silenziosi.


La luce illuminava le betulle coperte di brina.

(pagina 17)





( )

Siss and Unn are two very different 11 year old school girls. Siss is the center of her group at school and Unn, the new girl, is quiet and reserved. She stands aside at recess and doesn't join in with games even when invited. Siss is confused and intensely intrigued by her.

Unn finally breaches the invisible wall between them and invites Siss over to her house. Siss is beside herself with excitement and, once there, is overwhelmed by the intensity of her experience with Unn. So much so that she has to run off when Unn wants to tell her a secret.

When Unn goes missing the next day Siss is absolutely devastated by the magnitude of the loss despite having really only known her for one evening.

To begin with I was absolutely captivated. The writing is quite plain and almost economical. That's not to say it isn't beautiful and poetic, it absolutely is, but it isn't flowery or prolix. The writing seems to mirror the environment, Norway in winter, when the trees are bare and everything is blanketed by white.

It also helped to make the turbulent emotions of Siss more pronounced. By being sparing with his writing, he allowed her feelings to glow brighter. I felt that I had stepped directly back in time to that age when a friendship could be forged in an afternoon and when everything is seen in black and white.

So I was initially head over heels with this book. Unfortunately, that began to fade as time went on. Although the book is quite short, it felt tedious after a while and took effort to finish. It's possible that Vesaas intended to mirror the long, dark Norwegian winter in this book. It follows Siss in mourning her loss from winter through to spring and I honestly felt like I had spent an entire season with her. My current depression didn't help with this. I just felt drained by the end and was happy to close the it after the final page. Oddly, I'd still recommend it though I'll never revisit it. ( )

Esta es la historia de dos niñas de once años que, aun siendo muy diferentes, desde el primer momento en que se conocen sienten una conexión muy especial. Esta es la historia de una promesa y de un palacio de hielo con laberínticos pasillos, inmensas salas y bosques encantados en su interior. Esta es la historia de Unn, que se adentra sola en el palacio de hielo y desaparece, y de Siss, que la busca contra el tiempo y el olvido.