Lenaribka

My first book by [a:Lori Ostlund|2950785|Lori Ostlund|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1438564153p2/2950785.jpg] was [b:The Bigness of the World|22130151|The Bigness of the World|Lori Ostlund|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400334447s/22130151.jpg|6711442], a wonderful collection of short stories. [b:After the Parade|23492669|After the Parade|Lori Ostlund|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437370195s/23492669.jpg|43082849] is my second book by the author and it is a full-length novel, though the way the author tells the story of Aaron Englund, a gay ESL teacher, reminds me a lot of her anthology.

Magic and creative power of her writing lie in her ingenious ability to describe and develope the characters. [b:After the Parade|23492669|After the Parade|Lori Ostlund|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1437370195s/23492669.jpg|43082849] is a heartbreaking story of Aaron's life. We have Aaron as a little boy (absolutely adorable!), his difficult childhood, his violent father, his unhappy mother, we have a teeny Aaron, and we have Aaron as an adult “run-away”. We have Walter, his partner of more than twenty years, their breakdown, crumbling love, unspoken dreams and emerging hopes. And we have many other people who play or played their oft invisible but very important role in his life.

Every single person that appears on the pages of this beautifully written moving novel brings her/his own little story. All these small stories with their characters that are inextricably intertwined with each other, like a single mosaic pieces, are joined together to create an eloquent evocative and memorable piece of prose.
There are so many philosophical and essential thoughts in it, it is sooo breathtaking beautiful, it is soo painful und hilarious at the same time (yes, I asked myself while reading too, how could it be possible?!), it is a real page turner, that takes time to finish because of a need to contemplate the written words and events.

This book will make you laugh and make you cry.

I won’t stop to admire the talent of Lori Ostlund to cause such a surge of emotion with such a quiet and melancholic way of telling.

Highly highly recommended!



P.S Big thanks to my GR friends to bring this book to my attention!!!