I won Zoran Drvenkar’s ‘Tell Me What You see’ in the giveaway hosted by Caroline for German Literature Month. I read it along with Caroline for genre week – that is the third week – of German Literature Month. Here is what I think.
The story of ‘Tell Me What You See’ is told from multiple points of view but all of them tell the story of the teenage heroine Alissa. When Alissa was young her father dies in a road accident. Alissa misses her father and every year she goes to her father’s grave on Christmas night along with her best friend Evelin. The story told in the book happens during a period lasting for around a week starting from Christmas night. Though it is snowing, Alissa and Evelin leave their homes after everyone has gone to sleep to visit Alissa’s father’s grave. Because of the snow, they are not able to find it easily. While they are searching for it in the graveyard, Alissa falls into a crypt. While her friend Evelin goes home to get her father to help Alissa, Alissa walks through the crypt and finds a small coffin. She notices a strange kind of plant growing out of the coffin. Some force beyond her control makes her open the coffin and she discovers that there is a child’s body inside and the plant grows straight out of the child’s heart. Before she has realized it Alissa has taken the plant and put it in her pocket. Alissa is rescued by Evelin and her father and she goes back home. The next day morning there are two strange people inside her room, when Alissa wakes up. She asks them who they are, and they are surprised that she can see them. One of them says that they are too late. The other asks her about the plant. Alissa suddenly remembers it and searches for it in her jacket pocket. She realizes that it is not there. She realizes that she might have eaten it. The visitors leave mysteriously, the same way they came. Then strange things start happening to Alissa. And her ex-boyfriend Simon starts stalking her and starts behaving strangely towards her. What is the mystery behind the plant and what happens to Alissa and how she discovers the secret and what impact it has on her life form the rest of the story.
‘Tell Me What You See’ has many of the typical elements which one finds in a modern YA story – a teenage heroine having strange experiences, her loyal friend who stays with her through thick and thin, a stalking ex-boyfriend, a lesbian character or two, supernatural (or should I say paranormal) incidents and a central mystery which is revealed in the last few pages. I liked most of the characters in the book, except for the stalking ex-boyfriend. He reminded me of the stalking, violent husband in Stephen King’s ‘Rose Madder’.
The book also has beautiful sentences sprinkled throughout the book. For example this one :
Whenever I open my mouth, the wind blows snow crystals into my throat. They feel like powdered glass. And whenever Evelin speaks, it sounds as though she’s chewing cotton.
And this one :
When did we start drinking coffee? It’s really odd. At some point you start to do things that never interested you before – drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, lighting candles during the day, sitting on the floor and answering the telephone with an Uh-huh?
The book also has warmly depicted family scenes The way the relationship between Alissa and her stepfather is described is very beautiful and warm. In one place Alissa describes her stepfather Robert like this :
A few minutes later we’re sitting opposite each other. We’re alike, even though he’s not my father and never will be. We’re alike in our mannerisms. That’s probably what happens when you live with somebody for a while. The way he smells the coffee. Or the way he leans forward and hunches up his shoulders because he’s cold.
In another place Robert describes a conversation he has with Alissa like this :
“How’s he doing?” asks Alissa.
“Better…The doctors say he’s lucky to be alive.”
Alissa puts the soup onto the tray.
“But nothing happened to me?” she asks, looking at her hands.
“You were lucky.”
She puts her hands back on her stomach and says quietly, “It wasn’t my fault.”
I nod, even though I don’t know whether to believe her.
“Of course it wasn’t your fault,” I say. There are two liars in the room now.
I am sorry if the above dialogue doesn’t have the same impact, when it is quoted out of context.
Here are a few descriptions of the cold.
Cool air blows in. It’s the special cool air that you only get in winter. I’m so happy, I want to cry.
The cold has changed. It’s more familiar to me. Now I also know why it’s so biting. I understand it, we know each other. The cold is bundled rage. Rage and longing. All in one.
Even though I’m dressed warmly, the cold sticks to me. It’s especially bad at night; warmth shuns me, cold is my new friend. At first it hurt, but now I feel as though the heat of the apartment is suffocating me. I hope I’m not ill with the flu or one of those new viruses.
The central mystery revealed was very different from what I expected. While the mystery was panning out, it reminded me at different times of C.S.Lewis’ ‘Till We Have Faces’ and the films ‘The Sixth Sense’ and ‘A Beautiful Mind’. I was hoping and praying that it wouldn’t turn out the way ‘A Beautiful Mind’ did. The ending is bittersweet – first bitter, then sweet and then a combination of both. It was sad in some ways, but I am glad that it was not tragic.
I liked ‘Tell Me What You See’ very much. Zoran Drvenkar is an exciting new-to-me writer and I hope to read more of his books in the future, especially ‘Sorry’ his thriller for grown-ups. I also hope that more of his books get translated into English.
You can find Caroline’s review of ‘Tell Me What You See’ here.
Have you read Zoran Drvenkar’s ‘Tell Me What You See’? What do you think about it?
Thanks for this beautiful review and for adding the quotes. Since I read the German edition I couldn’t add any. I noticed however that the language of the English is nicer than the German. That might explain a few things I’ve commented on.
I was surprised by the ending. It wasn’t as happy as I had expected but I thought it felt authentic. I liked it.
I’ve finished it over a week ago and am still haunted by the images, I think it’s very descriptive. I’ll read his adult thriller “Sorry” next. The premise is great.
Thanks for the book and for introducing me to this wonderful new-to-me author, Caroline. It is interesting to know that you found the English lines nicer than the German ones. Must be the translator’s work. I agree with you that the ending was authentic. I just placed an order for ‘Sorry’ 🙂 I don’t know whether I will get it before the end of November, but if I do, I plan to read it as soon as I get it. Will look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
[…] and I decided to read this book together. You can find his review here. It’s worth having a look as he included many beautiful quotes from the […]
Intriguing story – I’m not really into YA but the setting of this novel piqued my curiosity. A cemetery, a strange plant…all these are elements I find interesting. Who was your favorite character and why?
Yes, those interesting elements are there in the story, Delia. It is not very scary but it evokes the atmosphere very well. I liked the heroine Alissa, but my favourite character has to be either Evelin, Alissa’s best friend, or Robert, Alissa’s step father. Evelin is like a rock to Alissa, even when Alissa makes some not-so-good choices – the best kind of friend one can aspire to have. Robert plays only a minor role in the story but he is more like a friend to Alissa rather than a parental figure and their relationship is beautifully depicted in the story.
I’m excited to hear what you think of his adult thriller. I haven’t read him yet, but so far I think he’s an author I would like to explore. Thanks for the review Vishy.
Hope you get to read Drvenkar’s books and like them, TBM. I am looking forward to reading his thriller for grownups soon.
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