The Notebook

by Ágota Kristóf

Book Overview

Dans un pays ravagé par la guerre, Claus et Lucas font l''apprentissage de la vie, de l''écriture et de la cruauté. Le Grand Cahier nous livre une fable incisive sur les malheurs de la guerre et du... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080211024X
• ISBN13: 9780802110244
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Grove/Atlantic
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The best book ever read

The book is amazing!! imaginative, you will be shock by the ending. I had to read the book in the same day!It is a must read.

fantastic but cruel

This is very different from anything I have ever read before - something in between William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" and Elie Weisel's "Night". The savagery and cruelty is at such a level that sometimes it seems a little erotic. This is a very different view of the Nazi occupation and then Russian involvement in the East European countries. The story is about a twin and their grandmother surviving during second world war. They survive (actually they thrive) but had to bury their emotions and transform themselves into savages. They destroy their emotions and feeling systematically and clinically so that even traces of it cannot be found. The whole book is narrated in first person plural and the author never mentions a single name to identify any person which is unique. The names does not mean anything nor does the relationship - all that matter is what one can get and survive. You can still see touches of humanity in these boys when they bring money and food to their friend Harelip but the amount of emotions involved in these relationship are extremely limited. The boys kill but are not troubled since to them it is one more act similar to gathering food and daily chores. I enjoyed reading it and hope you will also enjoy it since you do not come across this kind of book everyday. Translation by Alan Sheridan is also quite entertaining.

A book for a Video Game

I heard about this book from a review for a video game entitled "Mother 3." After reading it, I was impressed by the amazing writting. The storyline, based on the bond between twins, was amazing. It felt like an RPG (Role Playing Game) in a book.

Excellent reading

Kristof's book evokes feelings that will intrigue and disturb you. The children's story is a lesson of turmoil and survival,and I could not put the book down and read it in a matter of hours.I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a book with awe and enthusiasm.

THE FIRST SHOOL BOOK I HAVE EVER READ !!!

THIS BOOK IS GREAT. THE CHILDREN ARE VERY MATURE AND GENIUSES, AND THIS IS SHOWN IN A HIGHLY INTERESTING MANNER. I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN.