Kupina i divlja ruža - Sonia Velton (HRV & ENG)

Goodreads ocjena: 3,86 / 5

Moja ocjena: 4 / 5

Pretražila sam gotovo sve redove knjižnice kako bih ju našla. I kad sam već mislila odustati, našla sam ju na mjestu na kojemu ne bih nikad ni pomislila tražiti. Naslovnica zagasitih boja, cvjetnog motiva i iznimne nježnosti čekala me pri samom pultu za preuzimanje. Virila između tolikih knjiga i zazivala da ju uzmem sa sobom.

Ne znam koje riječi upotrijebiti kako bih vam pokazala kako je na mene djelovala. Nije me oduševila na način kao što su to učinili Marina ili Nijemi pratitelji, ali mogu reći kako je priča ispričana na ugodan način, dosta blizak čitatelju i lako shvatljiv. Nije prožeta napetošću i grčem za shvaćanjem kako će se radnja odviti, već je krajnje nekako ugodna i nježna - gotovo kao svila o kojoj se proteže razgovor tijekom cijele radnje.

Iskreno nikad nisam čula za knjigu niti autoricu. Knjigu mi je preporučila moja draga @fotopisija i na tomu sam neizmjerno zahvalna. Jer ovo je tip knjige na koji ne nailazim svakog dana i ne razmišljam pretjerano hoće li mi takva knjiga doći na listu za čitanje ili neće.

Moram priznati da sam čak bila dosta skeptična u početku. Nisam bila sigurna kako će mi se knjiga svidjeti, ali na kraju ju nisam mogla pustiti dok nisam sve končiće otpetljala.

Neću vam otkrivati previše jer vam time oduzimam mogućnost da sami stvorite sliku o likovima i radnji, ali mogu reći kako je glavna tematika priče vezana uz zadrtost i sljepoću društva, ali i golemu nepravdu koju sustav dopušta. Kockice se slažu ovisno o tomu koliko pojedinac ima utjecaja na to isto društvo. U tom smjeru se kreću i likovi.

Najgore mi je to što oni sami većinom nemaju moć utjecati na pravednost, pogotovo ako se radi o siromašnima ili o ženama. Moć muškarca s položajem u društvu otvara sva vrata i daje mu slobodu. Nevjerojatno koliko sam tu temu prožvakala kroz razna druga djela, a ipak svejedno bivam nokautirana tom nepravdom.

Radnja je vezana uz svakodnevicu dvije mlade žene - aristokratkinje Esther Thorel, žene hugenotskog majstora tkalca, i Sare Kemp, siromašne djevojke koju je majka poslala u London u potrazi za srećom.

Njihovi životi su sasvim drugačiji i kreću se različitim putevima sve do dana kada Esther susreće Saru na ulici. Sara je, dolaskom u London, naivno odvučena u bordel. Ondje biva uvučena u okolinu gdje ju svakodnevno posjećuju muškarci i daju novac za njezine usluge. I koliko god se željela odande izvući, toliko je sve jače vezana.

U Estherinom liku djelomično pronalazim i samu sebe. Ona je žena okovana postavkama društva koje ženu svrstava u određene okvire i u sliku žene kao majke i kućanice. Ali Esther to ne zadovoljava. Ona želi više. Osjeća taj poriv ka dizajnu i ne može mu se oteti. Uživa u osmišljavanju uzoraka za svilu, kao što ja uživam u svakom trenutku povezanom s knjigama - bilo da se radi o odlasku na mjesto prepuno knjiga, slikanju ili čitanju - ta vatra i u meni snažno gori.

Potpuno razumijem tu njezinu životnu vatru koja ju goni u svijet dizajniranja svile. To je dio nje i ona tomu jednostavno ne može pobjeći kao što ja ne mogu pobjeći trncima koji me obuzmu kad god ugledam knjigu koju sam dugo željela ili porivu da neke svoje misli uobličim u jednu od objava na društvenim mrežama ili blogu. Upravo zato mogu razumjeti svaki njezin postupak.

S druge strane pratimo Saru Kemp, u čijem se liku nikako ne mogu pronaći i borim se da razumijem njezine postupke. Sara je netko tko ide glavom kroza zid kako bi ostvarila nešto što si je zacrtala, a da pritom ne razmišlja o posljedicama. U to doba, ako niste imali namještenje (iliti posao), mogli ste si komotno naći mjesto na ulici. I upravo u to doba, svojim nepromišljenim postupcima, Sara ugrožava svoju egzistenciju i jedinu osobu koja ju je štitila i uništava njezino povjerenje.

Dok pišem, čak počinjem nekako razumjeti zašto je neke stvari napravila. Ponovno se vraćam na to da, i u današnje vrijeme, previše pažnje posvećujemo tomu kako nas netko vidi u svojim očima i što ta osoba o nama misli. A opet, hrpu toga nas je strah napraviti i/ili reći upravo iz straha za vlastitu egzistenciju.

Tu pak Esther ispada krajnja plašljivica jer se nije borila već se kukavički skrivala, dok je Sara riskirala egzistenciju kako bi postigla sve ono za što se vrijedi boriti. Tu isto više mogu sebe pronaći u Estherinom liku nego u Sari. I sama sam se mnogo puta opekla kada sam htjela istjerivati pravdu pa sam shvatila kako je bolje, u nekim situacijama, staviti bravu na gubac i pustiti da se radnja sama odvija. Tako da, koliko god osuđivala i jednu i drugu u njihovim koracima, toliko ih mogu i razumjeti.

Prvijenac Sonie Velton mogu okarakterizirati kao jednu jako zanimljivu priču. U toj priči bivate uljuljkani, lijepo i lagano prolazite kroz stranice, kao što tkalački stroj stvara svilu. Odjednom, naglo kreće zaokret, zagrijavanje radnje. Užurbanost i želja da se vidi što će biti na kraju.

I koliko god sam bila uljuljkana veći dio knjige, uz shvaćanje kako ju nekako brzo čitam, toliko sam se odjednom našla u gomili ljudi nastojeći shvatiti što se događa. I boli me nepravda, baš jako boli. Ali... opet sam sagledavanjem šire slike shvatila kako se sve događa s razlogom i kako se nepravda može sagledati iz više kuteva te dobiti shvaćanje zašto je netko učinio to što je učinio. Jednostavno to morate shvatiti i bol lagano nestaje.

Povremeno imam osjećaj kako sam zapela u periodu od 1600. do 1900. godine jer izgleda kao da, u zadnje vrijeme, biram knjige koje su radnjom smještene u tom periodu. Inače obožavam spomenuti period, ali iskreno se sada čak i veselim izlasku iz toga.

Ali.. budući da trebam ispuniti svoje iduće obećanje, a već sam krenula sa idućom knjigom (Noćni cirkus, Erin Morgenstern), izgleda da ostajem u tom razdoblju još neko vrijeme.

Do iduće objave,

Voli vas vaša Goga

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Goodreads rating: 3,86 / 5

My rating: 4 / 5

I searched almost every row of the library to find her. And when I was already thinking of giving up, I found her in a place I would never have thought to look for. The cover of muted colors, floral motifs and exceptional tenderness was waiting for me at the book pick-up desk. She peered among so many books and begged me to take her with me.

I don’t know which words to use to show you how it affected me. I was not thrilled in the way Marina or The Silent Companions did, but I can say that the story is told in a pleasant way, quite close to the reader and easy to understand. It is not imbued with tension and cramps for understanding how the action will unfold, but it is extremely pleasant and gentle - almost like the silk that is talked about throughout the action.

I honestly have never heard of the book or the author. The book was recommended to me by my dear @fotopisija and I am immensely grateful for that. Because this is the type of book I don’t come across every day and I don’t think too much about whether such a book will get on my reading list or not.

I have to admit I was even quite skeptical at first. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like the book, but in the end I couldn’t let it go until I untied all the threads.

I will not reveal too much to you because it deprives you of the opportunity to create an image of the characters and actions, but I can say that the main theme of the story is related to the stubbornness and blindness of society, but also the huge injustice allowed by the system. The dice are arranged depending on how much influence the individual has on that same society. The characters are also moving in that direction.

The worst thing for me is that most of them do not have the power to influence justice, especially when it comes to the poor or women. The power of a man with a position in society opens all doors and gives him freedom. It is amazing how much I have chewed this topic through various other books, and yet I am still knocked out by this injustice.

The plot is related to the everyday life of two young women - aristocrat Esther Thorel, the wife of the Huguenot master weaver, and Sarah Kemp, a poor girl who was sent to London by her mother in search of happiness.

Their lives are completely different and they move in different ways until one day Esther meets Sarah on the street. Arriving in London, Sara was naively dragged to a brothel. There she is drawn into an environment where she is visited daily by men and given money for her services. And as much as she wanted to get out of there, she became more and more attached.

I partially find myself in Esther's character. She is a woman chained by the settings of a society that places women in certain frames and in the image of women as mothers and housewives. But Esther is not satisfied. She wants more. He feels that urge towards design and he can't take it away. She enjoys designing silk patterns, just as I enjoy every moment connected with books - whether it's going to a place full of books, painting or reading - that fire burns in me too.

I fully understand that fire of her life that drives into the world of silk design. It’s a part of her and she just can’t escape it just as I can’t escape the tingles that overwhelm me whenever I see a book I’ve long wanted or the urge to shape some of my thoughts into one of the posts on social media or blog. That is why I can understand her every action.

On the other hand, we follow Sarah Kemp, in whose character I can by no means find myself, and I struggle to understand her actions. Sara is someone who goes head over heels through a wall to accomplish something she set out to do without thinking about the consequences. At that time, if you didn't have a job, you could easily find a place on the street. And it is at this time, by her reckless actions, that Sarah endangers her very existence and the only person who has protected her and destroys her trust.

As I write, I even begin to somehow understand why she did some things. I come back to the fact that, even today, we pay too much attention to how someone sees us in their own eyes and what that person thinks of us. And yet, we are afraid to do a bunch of that and / or say it out of fear for our own existence.

This is where Esther turns out to be the ultimate coward because she did not fight but cowardly hid, while Sara risked her existence to achieve all that is worth fighting for. There, too, I can find myself more in Esther's character than in Sarah. I myself got burned many times when I wanted to seek justice, so I realized that it is better, in some situations, to put the lock on the mouth and let the action take place on its own. So, as much as I condemn both in their footsteps, so much I can understand them.

Sonia Velton's debut can be characterized as one very interesting story. In this story you are lulled, you pass through the pages beautifully and lightly, just as a loom creates silk. Suddenly, there is a sharp turn, warming up the action. The hustle and bustle and the desire to see what will happen in the end.

And as much as I was lulled by most of the book, with the realization that I was somehow reading it fast, I suddenly found myself in a crowd of people trying to figure out what’s going on. And injustice hurts me, it hurts a lot. But ... again, looking at the bigger picture, I realized how everything happens for a reason and how injustice can be viewed from multiple angles and gain an understanding of why someone did what they did. You just have to figure it out and the pain is slowly disappearing.

Occasionally I have a feeling that I am stuck in the period from 1600 to 1900 because it seems as if, lately, I have been choosing books that are set by action in that period. By the way, I adore the mentioned period, but I honestly am even looking forward to getting out of it now.

But .. since I have to fulfill my next promise, and I have already started with the next book (The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern), I seem to be staying in that period for a while longer.

Until the post,

Your Goga loves you