Moja ocjena: 5 / 5
Goodreads ocjena: 3,77 / 5
Izdavač: Sonatina naklada
Žanr: young adult, fantasy i znanstveno-fantastični roman
Broj stranica: 328
*Goodreads Choice Award: Winner for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2022)
Postoje dva svijeta - dvije strane kovanice. Jedna strana divi se ljepoti sunca smještena unutar očaravajućeg nebeskog plavetnila. Druga strana uronjena je u blatnjavu lokvu i svakodnevno svjedoči samo mraku, sivilu i hladnoći.
Što u jednom svijetu vašim dodirom cvjeta, u drugom vene.
U jednom čujete vjetar kako huče, ptičice kako pjevaju svoju pjesmu, zrake sunca vas miluju po obrazima i šire svoju toplinu. Smijete se, plešete, pjevate, osjećate se sretno i ispunjeno. Svaka boja djeluje kao hrana za vaše oči. Svaki zvuk je najljepša melodija koju ste u životu čuli. Svaki je zalogaj najfiniji, svaki gutljaj je najsočniji, a voće nikada nije bilo primamljivije.
U drugom toga nema - ondje je sve jednobojno, poput ulaska u crno-bijeli film. Apsolutno odsustvo zvuka, boja, okusa, mirisa - svega čega se možete sjetiti. Nema fijuka vjetra, posvuda razbacane kosti nekadašnjih životinja. Sivilo i vječna noć - bez ljubavi, plesa i pjesme.
Borba, grč i mržnja prema svemu što postoji...
Čitajući Gallant, vrijeme provodimo prateći djevojčicu imenom Olivia Prior. Ona je drugačija, a svi znamo čim je netko ili nešto drugačije, postaje predmetom promatranja, proučavanja i/ili čak podsmjehivanja, ovisno o tom u kojim se krugovima krećemo i nalazimo.
Olivijini su dani ispunjeni tišinom smještenom unutar zidova sirotišta, dok je um prepun sjećanja na majku. Pod rukom vječno nosi njezin dnevnik ispunjen mislima ljubavi i iščekivanja, ali i neobjašnjive tame i ludila. Unatoč tomu, taj joj je dnevnik jedina veza s njom, majkom koju nije imala prilike upoznati, a oca još manje.
Skriva se od drugih djevojčica, vrti stranice dnevnika koji već poznaje napamet, sve dok jednog dana ne dođe pismo njezina ujaka, koji ju poziva da mu se pridruži na imanju Gallant te konačno sjedini sa svojom davno izgubljenom obitelji.
Dolaskom na imanje, doticajem sa njegovim stanovnicima te činjenicom kako njezin ujak nije živ već neko vrijeme, Olivia shvaća kako je trebala poslušati majčine upute ostavljene unutar dnevnika. Ondje joj izričito zabranjuje da se pojavljuje u Gallantu jer time dovodi svoj život u opasnost, ali i opstanak čitavog svijeta.
Olivia shvaća kako joj je ovo prilika da konačno bude sa svojom obitelji ili barem onime što je od te obitelji ostalo. Osjeća da ondje pripada. Osjeća kako je ona rješenje, ona je ključ kojim će zauvijek spriječiti mraku da prođe kroz vrata ovog svijeta. Ona je zraka sunca potrebna kako bi se pobijedio mrak, kako bi se povukao i odustao od svog nauma.
Unatoč malo detaljnijem i sporijem ulasku u samu priču (što znate koliko ne volim), dovođenju u situaciju prepunu neizvjesnosti i pitanja na koja nas ostavlja bez odgovora, ovo djelo mogu ocijeniti samo najvišim ocjenama.
U jednom me trenutku priča toliko uhvatila među svoje kandže da sam jednostavno odbijala zaklopiti oči. Ne iz straha, već neopisive želje za otkrivanjem kamo će nas priča dalje odvesti. Jedva sam čekala jutro kako bih mogla nastaviti čitati i vidjeti kako će se mala Olivia Prior izvući iz situacije u kojoj se našla.
Gallant vam daje priliku da sagledate svoj život kroz dvije različite vrste naočala. Potrebno je da shvatite koliko je malo potrebno za sreću, ali istovremeno morate biti svjesni kako nakon svake kiše dolazi sunce. Život je satkan od niti raznih boja - morate doći u doticaj s onima koje nisu toliko lijepe kako biste mogli svjedočiti onim najljepšim bojama. Pritom trebate biti zahvalni na svim bojama kojima vas je život obdario jer bez jedne vrste boja, ne bismo znali cijeniti ni druge. Sreća je u malim stvarima. To je pouka koju ja izvlačim iz ove priče. Barem jedna od njih.
Kao drugu pouku, želim navesti mogućnost da se vaš glas čuje ili odsustvo iste. Mala Olivia rođena je bez glasa, ali se borila svim snagama kako bi se njezin glas čuo. Kada su svi pokušavali ignorirati njezino prisustvo, ona se potrudila dati do znanja da se s njom tako ne smije postupati.
To je isto jedan dio nas koji uzimamo zdravo za gotovo. Svačiji se glas mora čuti, a ukoliko se ne čuje, svim se silama moramo izboriti za promjenu. Jer... ako dopustimo da drugi pronose naš glas na svoj način, što nam tada preostaje? Kako će se osjetiti dubina emocija i njihova snaga ako ne izađe iz vlastitih usta, vlastite duše i srca? Razmislite malo i o tomu...
Do iduće objave,
Voli vas vaša Goga
My rating: 5 / 5
Goodreads rating: 3.77 / 5
Publisher: Sonatina naklada
Genre: young adult, fantasy and science fiction novel
Number of pages: 328
*Goodreads Choice Award: Winner for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2022)
There are two worlds - two sides of the coin. One side admires the beauty of the sun set within the enchanting blue sky. The other side is immersed in a muddy puddle and witnesses only darkness, grayness and every day cold.
What blooms in one world with your touch, withers in another.
In one, you hear the wind howling, the birds singing their song, the rays of the sun caressing your cheeks and spreading their warmth. You laugh, dance, sing, feel happy and fulfilled. Each color acts as food for your eyes. Every sound is the most beautiful melody you have ever heard in your life. Every bite is the finest, every sip is the juiciest, and fruit has never been more tempting.
There is none of that in the second - everything is monochrome there, like entering a black-and-white movie. Absolute absence of sound, color, taste, smell - everything you can think of. There is no whistle of the wind, the bones of former animals are scattered everywhere. Gray and eternal night - without love, dance and song.
Struggle, spasm and hatred for everything that exists...
While reading Gallant, we spend our time following a little girl named Olivia Prior. It is different, and we all know that as soon as someone or something is different, it becomes an object of observation, study and/or even ridicule, depending on the circles in which we move and find ourselves.
Olivia's days are filled with silence nestled within the walls of the orphanage, while her mind is filled with memories of her mother. Under her arm, she carries her diary filled with thoughts of love and anticipation, but also of inexplicable darkness and madness. Despite this, that diary is her only connection with her mother whom she never had the chance to meet, and her father even less.
She hides from the other girls, turning the pages of a diary she already knows by heart, until one day a letter arrives from her uncle, inviting her to join him at the Gallant estate and finally reunite with her long-lost family.
Arriving at the estate, touching its inhabitants and the fact that her uncle has not been alive for some time, Olivia realizes that she should have listened to her mother's instructions left inside the diary. There she expressly forbids her to appear in Gallant because by doing so she puts her life in danger, as well as the survival of the entire world.
Olivia realizes that this is her chance to finally be with her family, or at least what's left of that family. She feels that she belongs there. She feels that she is the solution, she is the key that will forever prevent the darkness from passing through the gates of this world. The ray of sunshine that is needed to defeat the darkness, to retreat and give up its plan.
Despite the slightly more detailed and slower entry into the story itself (which you know how much I don't like), bringing us into a situation full of uncertainty and questions that leave us unanswered, I can only rate this book with the highest marks.
At one point, I was so gripped by the story that I simply refused to close my eyes. Not out of fear, but an indescribable desire to discover where the story will take us next. I couldn't wait for the morning so I could continue reading and see how Olivia Prior would get out of the situation she found herself in.
Gallant gives you the opportunity to look at your life through two different types of glasses. You need to understand how little is needed for happiness, but at the same time you need to be aware that sunshine comes after every rain. Life is woven from threads of various colors - you have to come into contact with the ones that are not so beautiful in order to be able to witness the most beautiful ones. At the same time, you should be grateful for all the colors that life has given you, because without one type of color, we wouldn't know how to appreciate the others. Happiness is in the little things. That's the lesson I draw out from this story. At least one of them.
As a second lesson, I want to state the possibility or lack of it for your voice to be heard. Little Olivia was born without a voice, but she fought with all her strength to make others hear her voice. When everyone tried to ignore her presence, she made sure to them that she was not to be treated that way.
It is also a part of us that we take for granted. Everyone's voice must be heard, and if it is not heard, we must fight for change with all our might. Because... if we let others carry our voice in their own way, what are we left with? How will one feel the depth of emotions and their strength if it does not come out of one's own mouth, one's own soul and heart? Think a little about that too...
Until the next post,
Your Goga loves you
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