Carl may be 72 years old, but he's young at heart. Every night he goes door-to-door delivering books by hand to his loyal customers. He knows their every desire and preference, carefully selecting the perfect story for each person.
One evening as he makes his rounds, nine-year-old Schascha appears. Loud and precocious, she insists on accompanying him - and even tries to teach him a thing or two about books.
When Carl's job at the bookstore is threatened, will the old man and the girl in the yellow raincoat be able to restore Carl's way of life, and return the joy of reading to his little European town?
THE DOOR-TO-DOOR BOOKSTORE is a heart-warming tale of the value of friendship, the magic of reading, and the power of books to unite us all.
Comment: I've received this book as a Christmas gift and it just happened that it would suit one of the topics of a challnege I'm doing in one of my GR groups, thus why it hasn't been waiting long.
In this story we meet Carl, an elderly man who works for the City Hate Bookshop and his job is to deliver books requested by those who do not wish to travel to the bookstore. In all the years he has been doing this, Carl has developed a quirky relationship with all of them and he loves what he does. Things haven't been that great lately, though, because his friend Gustav, the previous owner of the bookshop has given the command to his daughter Sophie, and she and Carl seem to clash. Carl knows his situation might change soon but in the meantime, he carries on with his job, although he is caught by surprise when a 9 year old decides to follow him in his rounds. At first he is annoyed but with time they become friends, the problem is that not everything is as simple as it seems...
Being a reader who likes books about bookshops or libraries or book related elements, of course I've found the idea of this novel to be a great one. I had not heard of it before but I do recognize it has elements which have been popular recently (books about bookshops and with a cat included somehow) and I did appreciate the gift for what it was. This is a translated book from original German, and there were times I could suppose some notion of it comes through, but overall, it was as easy to read as any original in English.
The book isn't long but it does offer a lot of content. Basically, Carl is at a point where his life work is beign challenged by the daughter of his best friend, who is in a home. Their different generations might be the main reason why, but Sophie still sees in Carl someone who reminds her of her father and how much she didn't fit in with his personality and his dedication to the bookshop. she now want it to be modernized and her own, and Carl is always there to prove some things cannot be dismissed easily. This wasn't expressed as directly as I imply and was one element that made the story feel angsty but it did offer food for thought in regards to what we, perhaps, expect of a bookstore and tradition.
The plot is apparently simple, it follows Carl in his rounds and through him we can see the clients who get the books he delivers, and each one is special somehow. I liked the variety of personalities and personal situations, as I did the book talk that kept being part of the plot. The author certainly likes books too and it's always fun to read about books in a way that reminds me of why I like them as well. With the introduction of Schasha, the girl that starts following Carl, we have another element which allows Carl to interact with someone new, and with it, new challaneges to his perception.
I was fond of the girl and how she was there to show Carl that things don't have to be the same or stay in the past, but at first she was a little annoying indeed. I can't tell if the behaviors of everyone were a real demonstration of what real people in a culture like the German would seem like, or if it was only author's artistic licence, but there were times where some things felt a little hard to accept as real or as likely. What wasn't a surprise is how Schasha's father reacts to her walking around with Carl...
This story does offer a few predictable situations but I think the author was skilled enough in placing them in a way that we could understand the subtletly of his choices and the development of each scene. As expected as well, as Carl becomes more and more invested in the lives of those he distributes books to, his situation at the bookshop becomes more complicated. When things finally reach a peak, I must say some scenes were quite emotional, but others were a little... over the top, perhaps, or not in par with what had been Carl's attitude so far. This wasn't a damaging issue to my appreciation of the story, but...
I think this was a cozy read for sure. It's probably a bit more dramatic in someparts than a cozy read should be, but I liked it overall. However, the end was a little disappointing. I say this because some issues whoch had been presented throughout the book were solved or we had the hint at how they would be so, but there were two or three little things which I think the author could have written better. It's nothing damaging, I repeat, but I think different choices would have enhanced the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment