Nezaboravno ljeto je roman o odrastanju Friedera, njegovoj obitelji, prijateljima i složenim odnosima među njima. Frieder je užasnut kada sazna da će, kako ne bi pao razred, ljeto morati provesti učeći kod bake i djeda, osobito kod djeda s kojim nema gotovo nikakav odnos…
Priča me povukla već od prve stranice. Iako bih voljela da sam je čitala usred ljeta, u vrijeme kad se grad isprazni i sve uspori, vjerujem da bi tada doživljaj bio još potpuniji. No i ovako je atmosfera bila izrazito ljetna, Arenz piše toliko stvarno da sam gotovo mogla osjetiti zvukove, mirise i mjesta, kao da sam i sama ondje.
Ovo je roman koji vas nenametljivo vraća u tinejdžerske dane, dane prvih ljubavi i prijateljstava koja nam tada znače cijeli svijet. Likovi su životni i uvjerljivi, a najinteresantniji su mi bili Frieder, baka i djed, upravo zbog odnosa koji se među njima polako gradi i razvija, i koji me najviše zanimao.
U Nezaboravnom ljetu Arenz prikazuje različite oblike ljubavi, prijateljsku, obiteljsku i romantičnu. Podsjeća nas da ljubav nije nužno samo romantika, zagrljaji i velika osjećanja. Ponekad se ona skriva u brizi, u lijepoj riječi, najdražem obroku ili tihim djelima koje učinimo za nekoga. Ne pokazuju ju svi likovi na isti način, ali ona je stalno prisutna i upravo mi je to jedan od najzanimljivijih aspekata romana. Posebno odnos bake i djeda, a zatim i Friedera s njima, koji me na trenutke natjerao na razmišljanje o tim tišim, manje konvencionalnim ljubavima koje su jednako vrijedne i važne. Nije sve u velikim gestama koliko god nas u to uvjeravali…
Puno hvala izdavaču!
[english]
One Grand Summer – Ewald Arenz
One Grand Summer is a coming of age novel about Frieder, his family, his friends, and the complex relationships between them. Frieder is horrified when he learns that, in order not to fail the school year, he will have to spend the summer studying at his grandparents’ house, especially with his grandfather, with whom he has almost no relationship.
The story drew me in from the very first page. Although I wish I had read it in the middle of summer, at a time when the city is empty and everything slows down, when the experience might have felt even more complete, the atmosphere was intensely summery even as it was. Arenz writes with such realism that I could almost feel the sounds, scents, and places, as if I were there myself.
This is a novel that gently takes you back to your teenage years, to the days of first loves and friendships that once meant the entire world to us. The characters feel real and convincing, and the ones that interested me most were Frieder, his grandmother, and his grandfather, precisely because of the relationship that slowly develops between them and becomes the emotional heart of the story for me.
In One Grand Summer, Arenz presents different forms of love, friendship, family, and romantic love. He reminds us that love is not necessarily only romance, embraces, and grand emotions. Sometimes it hides in care, in a kind word, in a favourite meal, or in quiet acts we do for someone else. Not all characters express love in the same way, but it is constantly present, and this was one of the aspects of the novel I found most compelling. Especially the relationship between the grandmother and grandfather, and later Frieder’s relationship with them, which at moments made me reflect on those quieter, less conventional forms of love that are just as meaningful and important. Not everything lies in grand gestures, no matter how much we are taught to believe otherwise.
