In hockey you're an experienced player at twenty-five, a veteran at thirty, and pensioned off at thirty-five. Sune is twice that. And with age he has become shorter and broader, he's got more face to wash and less hair to comb, and finds himself annoyed by narrow chairs and poor-quality zippers. - BeartownI don't know why, but I love this quote.
Here's something you might not know about me. If you were to look at my high school yearbook and if you were to look at my senior picture, there would be a few comments there. One of these would be "avid hockey fan". Yes, I rarely missed a game and I yelled myself hoarse numerous times. But I'm not sure if I loved the game or loved the players. But either way, when I started reading Beartown, I thought I'd found a fun little book about hockey. And since it's written by the author of A Man Called Ove, a novel I love for it's wisdom and wit, I assumed this book would be the same.
It isn't. Yes, there is a lot in this book about hockey. But it is so much more and so much darker than I imagined. It's about friendship, loyalty, and the importance of belonging. But also about bullying, the "good old boy" mentality, and the obsession with sports.....and much more that I don't want to mention for fear of giving things away.
There are what seems like hundreds of characters in this book, so it can sometimes be tough to keep them all straight. But it's worth it. It's a fabulous book, well written and with characters that will stay with me for a long time. -June
No comments:
Post a Comment