Overwritten. Interesting story, fascinating main character, but the language was overwrought and there were WAY too many named characters to keep track of. It didn't help that each had three or four different descriptors they'd be identified by, in addition to a Danish name.

And yet, the themes were solid, and it was a well-constructed story. Just, too much padding.

3.5

Again, a masterpiece by Hoeg. This book was wery engaging and it had a flow that carried me through the book with ease. The protagonist, Kaspar Krone, is an intriguing character and Hoeg excels in describing the world through his eyes and ears.

All the important aspects of a good story are present in the book: adventure, romance, love, sex, philosophy, religion and music. As is often the case with great art, this book offers a new way to look at world. The protagonist perceives the world mostly through hearing, and music has an important role in his worldview. Hoeg's ability to use classic music as an element of his story is very impressive and shows the amount of work put into writing this book.

After finishing the book, I was not sure wether to give it four or five stars. The final pages of book felt at first a bit bland, after very intensive and touching events. However, I believe that this is one of those books that have potential for several readings. Maybe the ending feels different when I read this book next time, in another point of my life.

I loved this book, but struggled - to follow everything and wrap my brain around the what's, why's, who and even the deeper meaning. It is probably a brilliant book that requires additional readings - but it is now due back at the library.

I found myself often baffled by what this book was trying to tell me. Judging from the rave reviews, I suspect this was more a product of my shortcomings rather than the book's. When I could grasp a thread, it was suspenseful, curious, and sometimes beautiful.

Peter Hoeg lives in a fantastical world.

Bizarre and weirdly compelling.

Not Peter Hoeg's best book, but interesting enough.

I tried. But I just had no idea what was supposed to be going on, or why things happened or how. It just made no sense and seemed to be trying to be weird for the sake of weird.

I really enjoyed reading this, but it's a somewhat overwhelming experience. It's structurally a detective story, but there's a lot more going on. Technically, you could call it a supernatural investigation—our protagonist has unnaturally acute hearing and the plot centers on a group of children with supernatural abilities—but whatever you're thinking, it's not that. There are conventions around that kind of story, and this doesn't fit. It's weirder.

The story jumps around a lot, chronologically: flashbacks inside flashbacks. There are a lot of characters, and they tend to show up unexpectedly in different contexts. Initially, it's not at all clear what's really going on, who is involved, and what the motivations and alliances are. I enjoy that, but be ready for it. It's one of those stories you kinda need to read twice (which I haven't yet): first to get an overall sense of what is happening, and then to go through and take notes on who knows what when.

It would also be helpful to have an understanding of music theory and a familiarity with classical music (neither of which I have) because that's how Kasper, our protagonist, perceives the world, in a literal way.