The Details by Ia Genberg – Book Review

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Publisher’s write-up:

‘A famous broadcaster writes a forgotten love letter; a friend abruptly disappears; a lover leaves something unexpected behind; a traumatised woman is consumed by her own anxiety.

In the throes of a fever, a woman casts her mind back to the past. In precise, vivid language, the stories of four important people who have shaped her life are revealed – a thousand little memories from across a lifetime, laid bare in vivid detail as her body temperature races.

International bestseller The Details is a luminous portrayal of all the small moments that make up a life; the little details that make us human.’

The Details is a novella written in the form of a memoir of the narrator, by writer Ia Genberg. The novel is originally written in Swedish and I relied on the English translation of Kira Josefsson. The novel is split into four chapters, each of which are named after the people in their life who impacted them; namely Johanna, a writer whom the narrator recalls after fishing out a love letter written in the past; followed by Niki – a woman estranged from her parents, with whom the narrator is sharing an apartment; Alejandro, a person from South America with whom the narrator is in a serious relationship and finally, Birgitte, a woman who has her own anxieties and tried her best to create her own identity – be it political or personal.

This could be described as the typical novel where ‘nothing happens’ but is probably relatable to every person reading it. We have all had people in our lives who have been important to us in different ways and sometimes, we have gone out of our way to stay in touch and despite our best efforts, we are no longer in contact, which is something that happens to the narrator. The reason why I am not naming the narrator is because the person was never named by the writer and the whole narration is from their perspective (for a long time, I was not sure of their biological sex / gender identity till the latter half of the book and that is why I am keeping it secret in the review as well).

I also liked the details that were present – such as the streets of Stockholm, though I have not visited that city many times, I could still visualise it very well, the cafés and the people who were walking by. My favourite parts of the novel were the stories of Niki and Birgitte, which showed the vulnerability of each of the persons involved, and the extent to which they went to escape or face these challenges.

However, the author had lost my in the chapter on Alejandro, and there were times when I lost focus and could not pay attention to detail till about the end of the chapter but after that, it was a strong comeback with the story of Birgitte. I had similar sentiments about the first chapter on Johanna, where it was slow and I was unsure as to where the novel was heading before getting into the chapter on Niki.

To summarise, I would say that this is a novel that captured human emotions very well, and true to the title, showed how these little details are what makes us. I also liked that the author kept it ‘local’ rather than to please a general audience and I felt like I had travelled to Sweden again, while reading this novel. This is an easy read, at the end of which, I was happy having read this novel.

On that note, I would award the novel a rating of seven on ten, it could have been here if there was more depth to the stories of Alejandro and Johanna like that of Niki and Birgitte.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,
Andy