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The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen


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Seasons Greetings :grinhat: and welcome to the December 2012 Reading Circle for The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen :xmassmile:

 

**It is assumed that you have read the book before reading posts in this thread, as the discussion might give away crucial points, and the continuous use of spoiler tags might hinder fluent reading of posts**

 

mettejakobsen.jpg

 

Waterstone's Synopsis: This is a story about a snow-covered island you won't find on any map. It's the story of a girl, Minou. A year ago, her mother walked out into the rain and never came back. It's about a magician and a priest and a dog called No Name. It's about a father's endless hunt for the truth. It's about a dead boy who listens, and Minou's search for her mother's voice. It's a story of how even the most isolated places have their own secrets. It's a story you will never forget :snowflake: :snowflake:

 

Here are some basic questions but feel free to write your thoughts down in whichever way you prefer.

 

1- Who was your favourite character and who was your least favourite?

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest?

3- This is Mette Jakobsen's debut novel .. would you read her again?

4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

5- Do you enjoy books narrated by children and did you find Minou believable?

6- The narrative is quite sparse and the characters few, did you find it easy to engage in the story?

7- What did you make of the theme of logical thinking (Papa) versus imagination (Mama) which played a part in Minou's struggle to come to terms with the loss of her Mama?

8- The dead boy, why do you think the author put him in the story?

9- Did you approve of the ending?

10- Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

11- Would you recommend the book and if so to whom?

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1- Who was your favourite character and who was your least favourite?

My favourite character was probably Priest. I liked his quirky eccentric-ness! Mama was probably my least favourite – maybe if we’d actually ‘met’ her it might have been different.

 

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest?

No

 

3- This is Mette Jakobsen's debut novel .. would you read her again?

Hmmm – possibly.

 

4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

I didn’t really like the dead boy - if he had to be there I'd have liked to have known where he came from and what happened to him.

 

5- Do you enjoy books narrated by children and did you find Minou believable?

I do enjoy books narrated by children. I think Minou was believable as a narrator

 

6- The narrative is quite sparse and the characters few, did you find it easy to engage in the story?

No – I’m afraid I found the whole thing rather pointless and disappointing. It had such promise but failed to deliver.

 

7- What did you make of the theme of logical thinking (Papa) versus imagination (Mama) which played a part in Minou's struggle to come to terms with the loss of her Mama?

This aspect was probably my favourite thing about the book – the contrast of Papa/Minou’s seriousness and Mama’s frivolous nature. Although we didn’t actually meet Mama I didn’t think she’d be the sort of person I could warm to.

 

8- The dead boy, why do you think the author put him in the story?

As a plot device!

 

9- Did you approve of the ending?

No – it felt like Jakobsen ran out of steam and didn’t know how to finish it off!

 

10- Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

I wouldn’t call it enjoyable. I didn’t hate the book by any means, but it was just… unsatisfactory. I rated it 3½ stars. It was less than a week ago that I finished it and already the story is fading from my mind – not a good sign!

 

11- Would you recommend the book and if so to whom?

I don’t think I would recommend it, no. I really don’t know what it was trying to be! I haven’t read any other reviews of it, and I’m bound to be in a minority but it really didn’t live up to expectations. Maybe it's too clever for me? The cover was/is the best thing about it.

 

Sorry – I really wanted to love this. :(

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Overall, I didn't quite know what to make of this little book, as will probably be obvious from my answers!

 

1- Who was your favourite character and who was your least favourite?

 

My favourites were Minou's father and Priest, as they seemed good hearted folk.

 

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest?

 

I enjoyed the descriptions of the sea, the weather and the island.

 

3- This is Mette Jakobsen's debut novel .. would you read her again?

 

I'm not entirely sure. I enjoyed reading the book reasonably well, but I would have liked more of the plot lines to be tied up tidily at the end so I found it frustrating too. I would probably read another if I borrowed it from the library, but might not buy one.

 

4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

 

Not really, I just struggled with wondering why some things were in the book at all :(

 

5- Do you enjoy books narrated by children and did you find Minou believable?

 

I found Minou believable enough as a character, and in general enjoy books narrated by children.

 

6- The narrative is quite sparse and the characters few, did you find it easy to engage in the story?

 

No, I found it quite hard actually. I didn't find the book hard to read, but I did find it hard to feel involved.

 

7- What did you make of the theme of logical thinking (Papa) versus imagination (Mama) which played a part in Minou's struggle to come to terms with the loss of her Mama?

 

I rather liked that part; I particularly liked Minou's philosopher Papa but think her Mama would have driven me scatty!

 

8- The dead boy, why do you think the author put him in the story?

 

I have no idea. I kept waiting to find out. I guess he padded it out a bit.

 

9- Did you approve of the ending?

 

As previously mentioned, I would have preferred things to have been properly explained and tied up at the end of the book.

 

10- Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

 

Well, yes, it was quite enjoyable - it just felt a bit pointless!

 

11- Would you recommend the book and if so to whom?

 

I can't think of anyone I would recommend it to.

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Oh dear, what a shame :( I loved it, it was just my sort of thing but can understand why others didn't, I think it's a bit of an acquired taste. I will get my thoughts into some sort of shape soon and put them down.

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I will look forward to hearing what you think of it, poppyshake, I'm hoping other people's comments will give me a bit of a different perspective on it! I certainly didn't hate it, and can imagine myself possibly reading it again since it is only short.

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I will look forward to hearing what you think of it, poppyshake, I'm hoping other people's comments will give me a bit of a different perspective on it! I certainly didn't hate it, and can imagine myself possibly reading it again since it is only short.

Hope I can do justice to how I felt about it Oosh :unsure:

Going to start this tonight will be back ASAP!

Yes well .. please don't shoot me is all I can say .. I only said it had a pretty cover :D .. though I was one of the few that thought the interior lived up to it :D perhaps the only one :D

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1- Who was your favourite character and who was your least favourite?

Mama was my favourite, if only because she seemed more normal than all the other adults. The priest seemed fairly useless for any purpose so he is my least favourite.

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest?

Description of the island

3- This is Mette Jakobsen's debut novel .. would you read her again?

She is Danish, which is near Norway, so maybe.

4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

The basic plot seemed to lack believability for me. All the adults had gone there to get away from things. They did not talk or act as normal people do and because of that it was hard to think of them as real. The idea of the circus performance was a ridiculous thing to do.

5- Do you enjoy books narrated by children and did you find Minou believable?

I don't mind books narrated by children but it is hard for a writer to pull it off. Minou seemed incredibly naive to me for a twelve year old, which was partly understandable because she had only known four adults all her life. I let that go, it wasn't the worse thing about the novel.

6- The narrative is quite sparse and the characters few, did you find it easy to engage in the story?

Sadly the story did not engage me at al.l

7- What did you make of the theme of logical thinking (Papa) versus imagination (Mama) which played a part in Minou's struggle to come to terms with the loss of her Mama?

Yes, that was a little bit interesting but it did not develop enough. As a champion of logic Papa was not exactly a good example anyway. He was obviously only using logic as a crutch to deal with stuff anyway. He was a very limited person. He talked to the dead boy more than he did his daughter.

8- The dead boy, why do you think the author put him in the story?

I think he was supposed to be a catalyst to get everybody to change. It didn't work for me.

9- Did you approve of the ending?

No there were no real answers there. I sort of knew that Boxman would be involved but we still don't know if she jumped off the cliff deliberately (if so why?) or it was an accident.

10- Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

I am ambivalent about it.

11- Would you recommend the book and if so to whom?

Amazon sent me two copies by mistake so I gave one to my daughter before I started reading. But I would not recommend it no. I can't see why it got shortlisted for a prize.

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1- Who was your favourite character and who was your least favourite?

Hmmm I liked nearly everyone but my favourites were Minou, Papa, Priest and No-Name. I didn't dislike anyone but was wary of Boxman .. as if he might turn out to have hidden evil tendencies (and I wasn't too far out). Mama seemed a bit selfish but then she wasn't there so it was impossible to tell. They were all a bit bizarre, I have no idea why Priest made pretzels or origami creations etc but I liked it that he did. Possibly the characters were too quirky but I like oddness so was glad that the very few characters were strange. It put me in mind of the best bits of Miss Masham's Repose (the bits without the Lilliputians).

 

2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest?

Not really, although if pushed I probably did enjoy the first half of the book more than the second. I felt more anxious for Minou during the second part and I think the story took a darker turn then. I liked the hints about the war .. 'Papa always said the war was inside him. Sometimes I thought I could feel it when I held his hand’ .. and all the references to Descartes etc and the way that Mama's growing despondency was illustrated by a succession of failed cakes.

 

3. This is Mette Jakobsen's debut novel .. would you read her again?

Yes, I like her way of writing, it was quite bleak with gaps for thinking in but there was also humour. There were quite a lot of things she left unexplained but I don't mind that either, as long as there are little gems along the way and for me, there were.

 

'Later I thought that with a proper name No Name might have a better sense of direction and wouldn't wear himself out so much when it was snowing, and it was clear to me that neither Boxman nor Mama knew about logic the way Papa and I did.'

 

'It's important to daydream Minou,' she would say, her hair spilling over the pillow. 'It's important to let your mind travel, and not hold it tight like a dog on a leash'. 'A dog of war Mama?.' 'Any kind of dog Minou'.

 

'Philosophers step back and look at the big picture.' 'That is not what Mama does.' 'No,' Papa agreed. 'She says the tiniest brush stroke matters.' 'But sometimes, my girl, when you look in such detail, you lose the big picture.'

 

4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

Not really. I didn't understand everything but it didn't trouble me (or not too much). As I said before the book had some odd characters and there was a danger that they would fall too far into un-believability and there were one or two instances of that .. Mama's pet peacock for instance, I didn't believe in him for one minute. Somehow I am ok with odd characters as long as the story has that kind of mystical quality to it, if the story and plotline are more real I find it harder to suspend disbelief.

 

5- Do you enjoy books narrated by children and did you find Minou believable?

Not always, it does depend on the child. I'm not keen if the child is implausibly clever or knowing (having said that I love Artemis Fowl so obviously there are exceptions even with that) but I did like Minou and was convinced by her. Something about her put me in mind of the granddaughter in Tove Jansson's Summer Book, there were a lot of similarities between the two books actually including the rather stark narration. What I like about child narrators is that they're unreliable (or ought to be) so it's always possible that what we are reading is entirely in their imagination.

 

6- The narrative is quite sparse and the characters few, did you find it easy to engage in the story?

To me it had a really strong start and I was intrigued straight away. When I bought it I intended not to read it until the end of November but once I opened it I was hooked ... 'It was snowing the morning I found the dead boy' .. I just carried on with it and had read it in no time.

 

7- What did you make of the theme of logical thinking (Papa) versus imagination (Mama) which played a part in Minou's struggle to come to terms with the loss of her Mama?

It was probably my favourite bit, I loved the conversations between Minou and her Papa.

 

'But isn't it good to sleep at night Papa?' I asked. 'No, Minou, a philosopher should never sleep soundly.' 'But why?' I thought that sounded terrible. 'Don't you sleep Papa?' 'My girl, that is my greatest sorrow, I drink coffee every night and yet I sleep like a bear in hibernation.' Papa's cheeks flushed. 'As if there was nothing to work out, no problems at all.' I thought of my nights awake in the lighthouse and all the scarves I had knitted after Mama disappeared, and I wondered if staying up at night had made me a better philosopher.'

 

Mama didn't sound like a barrelful of laughs but I liked the way she tried to encourage imagination in Minou. Minou rather touchingly tried to keep this in mind when writing things down to show to Mama on her return but found instead that Papa's logic kept creeping in.

 

8- The dead boy, why do you think the author put him in the story?

He seemed to be there in order for both Minou and Papa to make sense of what had happened, we learnt more about Mama through Minou's (one way ;)) conversations with him too. Also it gave her (Minou) a sense of closure, she unburdened herself to him and felt able to move on.

 

9- Did you approve of the ending?

I didn't mind it actually and by then it was what I was expecting. The story up to that point had been vague but child-like vague, Minou was trying to figure out life and circumstances and as she was our narrator, that's all we knew too. I read the last chapter a couple of times to see what I could glean from it. I do believe there's more, I need to read the story again to be absolutely sure I extracted everything that was told.

 

10- Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

Yes, it was wintry outside and it felt right to be reading a story with some magic and mystery to it. I was intrigued the whole time, it was unpredictable and I liked that. I liked spending time with Minou and even now would like to know what happened to them all.

 

11- Would you recommend the book and if so to whom?

This is difficult, I loved it and would always say so to anyone but knowing that it's not to everyone's taste means I wouldn't recommend it unless I was sure that the person liked that sort of book .. which is almost impossible to tell. I wouldn't go around flinging it around as a general recommendation, it would be bound to be flung back at me :D I've asked Alan to read it when he gets time but he's not in a hurry :D

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'

. Somehow I am ok with odd characters as long as the story has that kind of mystical quality to it, if the story and plotline are more real I find it harder to suspend disbelief.

 

 

 

I too enjoy that mystical surreal quality in a book Poppyshake, like there is an inner truth (like in a painting, not every detail has to be true to life to show truth) but having read Jeanette Winterson and Ali Smith, who do this so much better, it felt a bit lacking here....but hopefully Jakobsen will get a lot better at this.

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10- Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

Yes, it was wintry outside and it felt right to be reading a story with some magic and mystery to it. I was intrigued the whole time, it was unpredictable and I liked that. I liked spending time with Minou and even now would like to know what happened to them all.

 

I agree poppyshake, it did feel like a good book to be reading at this time of year. And it has left me wishing I knew more about what happened to all the characters, too.

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1. Who was your favourite character and who was your least favourite?

I thought all the characters were really well portrayed but I loved Papa, Mama and Minou especially. It was fascinating how she created these characters and all the main characters except Minou, we only knew by their names of their role or profession in the story. It gave the feeling of a detachment between the characters, which was exactly what they felt with the world and why they'd felt the need to travel to the island in the first place.

 

2. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest?

I was hooked from the first page - the opening paragraphs set up the book beautifully for me, with story, setting and tone conveyed within a that page. It all revealed itself wonderfully from that point onwards.

 

3. This is Mette Jakobsen's debut novel .. would you read her again?

Definitely.

 

4. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

No, not really. I read it in a couple of days and sailed through it as I every time I picked it up, I got caught up in the story again.

 

5. Do you enjoy books narrated by children and did you find Minou believable?

It depends on the child! I don't always like children narrators, but if the story works and the writing is good, then they can be just as good as any other narrator. I imagine that a child who grew up with limited variety in their social group with no other children to interact with, and with those around her still coming to terms with what they had experienced in the war, would end up being exactly as Minou was, both incredibly naive in some respects and very grown up in others.

 

6. The narrative is quite sparse and the characters few, did you find it easy to engage in the story?

Yes. I love this style of writing - it reminds me of the short stories of Simon Van Booy in Love Begins In Winter or Tove Janssons books. (I just read through the other answers and see we are of a like mind, Kay ;))

 

7. What did you make of the theme of logical thinking (Papa) versus imagination (Mama) which played a part in Minou's struggle to come to terms with the loss of her Mama?

I thought it worked really well as I felt it reflected how as a reader I use others imagination through their stories to look at different morals and situations, while using my own logic and sense when I have to face them.

 

8. The dead boy, why do you think the author put him in the story?

He was a catalyst for the characters to be able to come to terms with the disappearance of Mama. I thought it was a really clever way to allow them to say their goodbye's to her through telling their stories to the dead boy.

 

9. Did you approve of the ending?

Yes, it fitted the style and tone of the story.

 

10. Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

If you haven't already guessed from the rest of the answers - Yes!

 

11. Would you recommend the book and if so to whom?

I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but there are some friends who I think it would suit their reading preferences, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to them.

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10. Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience?

If you haven't already guessed from the rest of the answers - Yes!

:boogie:You see, it's not just me. I'm not weird after all :D

I'm very glad you liked it Claire .. I was beginning to worry :D If you had written your answers first I would have just said :yeahthat::D

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