“The Details is a novel built around four portraits; the small details that, pieced together, comprise a life. Can a loved one really disappear? Who is the real subject of the portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? Do we fully become ourselves through our connections to others? This exhilarating, provocative tale raises profound questions about the nature of relationships, and how we tell our stories. The result is an intimate and illuminating study of what it means to be human.” Description coming to us from Amazon.
The character building of ‘The Details’ is seeing a character through the significant relationships in her life. I think our main theme even falls back on that. That being relationships shape us into the person that we become. I do feel like I know our nameless narrator and know the people that she shared her relationships with. Yet, I don’t feel a strong connection whatsoever to the character.
I am actually shocked as I sit here and come up with my rating for this book that the atmosphere really did stand out to me, especially in the Alejandro chapter. It was magical at times, immersive, nostalgic are words that I would use to describe it. It’s not what you would typically get out of a fever dream story. Fever dream-esque books often leave me feeling confused and dazed, but this one had clarity as we look at the character’s life. I do appreciate that as this is a new take at that trope.
The writing is where this does get a little bit tricky. There were beautiful sentences about the human experience, a love of literature and going through the mundane events that make up life. In the English translation, and apparently in the original Swedish as well, it’s very much a stream of consciousness, long run on sentences .For me personally that convolutes the story and makes it lose its meaning as I get lost in all the words without a break.
It is hard to say that there is a plot. It falls back on being a character study on the relationships that we make in our lives. This is definitely a character driven book even though I didn’t feel a connection to the characters. There may even be slight themes and ideas about relationships and how they impact the human experience. I didn’t feel much while reading this book, but there were some things that I liked, relatability and as I said, the immersive atmosphere with the occasional bit of beautiful writing, this was a fine book.
2.75 out of 5 stars.
Izzy Reads 