Reading the World discussion

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I requested this book a week ago from my library system. I have yet to move off of position #1, I am the only one requesting the book. I have a feeling that this book must be in deep storage. I hope I get the book before month's end.

Diane wrote: "I requested this book a week ago from my library system. I have yet to move off of position #1, I am the only one requesting the book. I have a feeling that this book must be in deep storage. I hop..."

I am on a wait list, so hoping I get it too.

My library system doesn’t even have this book and my library system includes college libraries in the area. I am now on the hunt for a used book as I would like to read it.

Gail wrote: "My library system doesn’t even have this book and my library system includes college libraries in the area. I am now on the hunt for a used book as I would like to read it."

Gail, the Los Angeles public library system has more than one copy. I don't know if libraries work together...?

My library system is on the hunt too.

Kelly wrote: "My library system is on the hunt too."

This book is going to have to be shelved for me until October. I checked with my library today and there is only one copy currently checked out and I am on the wait list until 9/26/19. Sigh, Murphy's law...

I haven't gotten it yet either and this is the one I wanted most to read and discuss.

Kelly wrote: "I haven't gotten it yet either and this is the one I wanted most to read and discuss."

We can leave the thread open until we have read it:)

Yes. We will do that.

I found a used copy. I can send it off to Diane or Kelly once I am done. I will alert you and if you haven’t gotten it from your libraries we can do a swap.

awesome

Alberta and Jacob is a story narrated by a young woman coming of age in the very far north region of Norway. The descriptions of the landscape covered with snow, the flowers beginning to come out in spring, the fog coming up from the fjord, all gave me an insight into both the beauty and the claustrophobic trap of the place. Our narrator, Alberta, is a girl who is not just trapped in a small town, and a harsh landscape, she is also trapped in herself. She views herself as nothing, no one, without ideas and without any charms. She is a huge disappointment to her parents who have reason to be disappointed in themselves, their life and both their children. She is even more a disappointment to herself as she struggles against the expectations of the society of the town, her peers and her parents. She is in a constant internal battle with attempting to please and yet having none of the social skills nor inclination to please. She is largely known as the awkward, shy listener and she rarely speaks in group settings.
There are only a few times she finds herself, when she is skiing, when she is running and when she listens to her inner voice who searches for words to write poetry / prose.
Nothing really happens during the book except everything happens as Alberta opens up to some core realizations about herself...what she brings to life and what she desires from life.

I thought I would send the book to Kelly as I have her address from a previous swap. Kelly can pass onto Diane. Cheers

Thanks! I am leaving this thread here until those of us who want to read it get the chance to do so.

I received the book today Gail! Thanks! I will try to start it this weekend. I am about 1/3 of the way into Testament of Youth which is very long.

Kelly wrote: "I received the book today Gail! Thanks! I will try to start it this weekend. I am about 1/3 of the way into Testament of Youth which is very long."

No worries Kelly. Take your time. I am still in line for my library book as a back up.

My copy of the book turned up at the library. I will pick it up today. Hope to finish it by month's end. Of course I already started reading another book...

I will pass it on to someone else then if that is okay Gail. Or save it for the Little Free Library I plan to build in the Spring.

Yes, feel free to do what you wish with it....

Finished in the nick of time.
3.5 stars rounded to 4

Originally written in 1926, this is the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story of two siblings in Norway. Alberta and Jacob are close and do look out for one another, a feeling I can relate to as I have siblings that I am close with. Alberta has a wicked coffee addiction which I loved. The obsession with limiting coffee by the housekeeper and her mother was baffling, was there a ration? The seemingly dysfunctional parents were hard to read about at times but I am sure it was typical for the time period. I really felt for Alberta who really wanted much more from her life than was the norm for the time period. This was an interesting look into growing up in Norway. The Alberta trilogy traced the emotional development of a lethargic and unhappy girl into a self-sufficient woman.

“She was the bold girl who had no need to hide her face, her hands or her thoughts, who was not afraid of people and who did what she wanted.”

“Yet another way of being peculiar.”

“It seemed as if Jacob had led a lop-sided existence, never really fitting into the circumstances in which he was born – never living up to Papa's expectations.”

“Or I ought to have been a boy, then I could have gone to sea. I wouldn't have stayed a day longer in this filthy town.”