The Details: Shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize

Purchased as a gift which was well recieved.

If you’re a fan of character driven books led heavily by atmosphere, you'll love The DetailsTold in a fever haze of 4 short chapters divided into main characters in the narrator’s life, The Details is a character study of Johanna, Niki, Alejandro, and Birgitte. But, as the synopsis suggests, in giving away parts of herself through her experiences with the main figures around her, the narrator slowly exposes herself to us and transforms the book into more of a self-exploratory character study. Can we ever talk about others without inevitably revealing the ways we see?This book is a bit like a Hieronymus Bosch painting with lots going on in ever corner, but in a very pleasing way that you can’t take your eyes off. As we learn about the relationships in the narrator’s life, and the roles she has played in each of them, we question not only the fundamental power dynamics in relationships but also just how much of others we harbour in ourselves. And we’re left with the feeling that it’s The Details that matter the most, The Details that build up to make a person.

Told in unflamboyant though precisely judged and apparently transparent style which underpins the credibility of the narrator's astute and compassionate portraits of four people with whom she's had significant relationships, it lodges in the heart and mind with an impact denied to many a chunkier volume.

I haven’t enjoyed a book this much for a long time. It is so beautifully written, and spot on about friendship and the impact that some people have on our lives, even if they drift in and out. Highly recommend!

On the surface this is a quiet, short book of four chapters; each about an ordinary person who touched the life of the narrator. It is also an expansive study of the everyday details which make up a life and specifically of the people who pass through our lives and the impressions they leave which echo long after they’ve gone.I very much enjoyed reading The Details, which I did on a whim after seeing an encouraging post on socials. It’s a novel I know I will return to, even though I rarely re-read anything. It doesn’t have a traditional “beginning-middle-end” plot, instead we learn about the life of our narrator as she describes a few pivotal people in her life; and they’re not the most obvious choices (i.e. children or spouse).There is a sense of progression though, as the narrator grows from youth to the present developing insights and realisations.The writing is reflective as she is recounting memories and the prose is beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever made so many highlights; the way the author (and translator) capture in words unique and complex aspects of the human condition is perfect; the sentences are long but there is no superfluous detail.The narrator is a big reader and books are a running theme, not just favourite authors or titles, but also our relationship with books and the subtle roles they play in our lives. Mental health is another strong theme.I also like how these reflections are coming to the narrator during a fever; illness heightens our sense of mortality and brings into start contrast that which truly matters.Highly recommended to everyone who enjoys well-written prose. Even if it’s not your usual reading, why not give it a try? At only 175 pages you’ve nothing to lose and a potentially wonderful experience awaits.

In this immersive and rich four-part tale, our narrator shows us her evolution through four important relationships. Short, but so perceptive and humane.

Having read this book for the first time requires re-reading it for two reasons: it stimulates my desire for reflecting on my way of relating to others. I am in my mid 60th, so, there is lots to think about Moreover, I love (!) the rich tapestry and inner worlds, the author let's the narrator explore, and how they come alive using a few paragraphs. What an outstanding writer, Kira Josefsson Ia Genberg is.

Things I liked about this book:🩷I believe that Life is not a plot; it's in the details, so I loved this book.🩷there is no dearth of details in this book.🩷While all the information we may commit to memory and recount to others or reminiscence ourselves is often surface level, the details are deeply personal impressions on our hearts and souls. Quoting from the book," Getting attached, to me they were like tattoos, everything and every detail present and intact, everyone I’d loved and liked was still with me."🩷As a reader I was immediately immersed in the protagonist's life story with the very first line. The story is based in Sweden. There is a collage of life presented which includes passionate love, romance, nostalgia, remembrances, relationships, friendships, 'ships' which can't be defined or tagged at all and attachments to people, places and things. A 🩷favourite excerpt from the book, "That’s all there is to the self, or the so-called ‘self’: traces of the people we rub up against. I loved Johanna’s words and gestures and let them become part of me, intentionally or not. I suppose that is at the core of every relationship, and the reason that in some sense no relationship ever ends."🩷I found much of the writing relatable.🩷Highlighted many profound thoughts worthy of further introspection.🩷The vocabulary is good. Learnt new words.🩷There is a beautiful translator's note.However a trigger warning does apply, there is mention of self-harm, incest and rape.🩷I am interested in fiction, contemporary fiction and a novella rich with relationships, so this was right up my alley.🩷"Some books stay in your bones long after their titles and details have slipped from memory."This is one such book for me.

It almost seems autobiographical. We get to know the main character through her relationships with 4 people in her life. Great characterisation throughout the entire novel.

A clear and honest view of friendship and family relations in a microcosm of time. Probably more relatable to those of us in our later years and female.