Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Unseen
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
29 posts | 17 read | 23 to read
Nobody can leave an island. An island is a cosmos in a nutshell, where the stars slumber in the grass beneath the snow. But occasionally someone tries . . . Ingrid Barr?y is born on an island that bears her name - a holdfast for a single family, their livestock, their crops, their hopes and dreams. Her father dreams of building a quay that will connect them to the mainland, but closer ties to the wider world come at a price. Her mother has her own dreams - more children, a smaller island, a different life - and there is one question Ingrid must never ask her. Island life is hard, a living scratched from the dirt or trawled from the sea, so when Ingrid comes of age, she is sent to the mainland to work for one of the wealthy families on the coast. But Norway too is waking up to a wider world, a modern world that is capricious and can be cruel. Tragedy strikes, and Ingrid must fight to protect the home she thought she had left behind.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
Tamra
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image
Mehso-so

I REALLY wanted this to be a 5 star read so that I had a new series to dive into. But, while I typically love historical character driven novels with a focus on setting (especially nature), this one just frankly became boring near the end. I don‘t feel compelled to pick up the second in the series. 😩

Nosey Nate has his schnoz right up in there.

LeahBergen Boop! 😆 7mo
61 likes1 comment
blurb
charl08
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

Well, I guess that's a reasonable excuse! 🤣

quote
charl08
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

Ingrid stands in woollen lugg boots on a floor of glass midway between the island and Moltholmen and beneath her she can see seaweed and fish and shells in a summer landscape. Sea urchins and starfish and black rocks in white sand and fish darting through a swaying forest of kelp, the ice is a magnifying glass, as clear as air, she is floating on the water and six years old, it is impossible not to walk on the ice once it has formed.

32 likes1 comment
review
arubabookwoman
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image
Pickpick

My first 5 star read of the year, this novel is the first of a trilogy set on the harsh, bleak, cold, rocky islands of the northern Norwegian coast. Life is hard, but the taciturn islanders are resilient and ingenious. I loved this book, and have gone on to read the 2nd in the trilogy, White Shadow, which I also loved.

Liz_M For some reason, this succinct review made the book more tantalizing than your longer LT review. In any case, it's been added to my library wishlist! (edited) 2y
32 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
StaceyKondla
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 238 #bookstoread #tbrpile #bookstagram

56 likes1 stack add
blurb
Deblovestoread
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

#Bookreport #weeklyforecast. #mashup. I unexpectedly loved The Unseen. It is book 1 in a trilogy but I haven‘t been able to find the rest in translation. The Book of Lost Names was good but the mother in the story kept me 😡. I liked The Young Wan even better than the previous 3 in the series. Enjoying my Code Name: Helene for #Bookspin and just started Paragon Hotel for #doublespin. It was a good reading week! 💜📚💜

TrishB It looks it 😁 4y
Cinfhen Wooohoo 🥳 looks like you had an awesome week 💜 4y
32 likes2 comments
blurb
Deblovestoread
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

#3books Sept 1. These are 3 of the books I will read this month. A House in the Sky is for #LMPBC, The Unseen is a birthday gift from my brother and Catching Fire is a series book/movie reread with my daughter.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🙌🏻📚🙌🏻 4y
OriginalCyn620 Awesome! 👍🏻 4y
32 likes2 comments
review
Twocougs
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image
Pickpick

Absolutely beautiful. A story of a Norwegian family living on an island off the coast. It was gentle, heartwarming, devastating and joyous. It was just the read I needed!🥰

29 likes3 stack adds
blurb
catiewithac
Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

I‘m REALLY excited for box #86 of Powell‘s #indiespensable subscription! This Norwegian book sounds perfect for now.

BarbaraBB Sounds really good indeed! 4y
CindyE09 Yayy I always get super excited when they announce the next book. This one is a few years old though, isn‘t it? 4y
catiewithac @CindyE09 I think the translation is new? 4y
CindyE09 @catiewithac I just looked it up to confirm and it was long listed for the man booker international prize in 2017 so the translation has been out awhile. Maybe it is new to the US? Either way it looks really good! I‘m excited for it to ship. 4y
43 likes4 comments
review
Sapphire
Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
Pickpick

I found the story of the difficult life of this family, made rich in valuing each other, oddly comforting in these pandemic days.

review
Siri_reads
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image
Pickpick

Finally finished! Loved the book. It was at times slow paced but it felt right for this kind of story. Especially liked to read about Ingrid Barrøy and her path to empowerment. Looking forward to read more about her in the next book in the series White Ocean. #norwegian

6 likes1 stack add
blurb
Siri_reads
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

The library‘s book bingo with modern Norwegian classics 📚 I have read only two so far... Have you read any of these @AnneCecilie ? #litsyloveslibraries #bibliotek

AnneCecilie Jeg har lest Ensomheten i Lydias... ikke det helt store for meg, men helt greit. Har veldig lyst til å lese kolossen fra Harstad. Har lest en annen av hans bøker som jeg likte veldig godt. 5y
5 likes1 comment
blurb
Siri_reads
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

My local library is celebrating Bokåret 2019 :500 years of printed books in Norway. They have put together a collection of books they think are modern classics. The novel The Unseen is one of those books ? #litsyloveslibraries #bibliotek

AnneCecilie Jeg har veldig lyst til å lese hele den triologien. 5y
Siri_reads @AnneCecilie jeg også! 5y
9 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
Siri_reads
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

The islanders in The Unseen are completely dependent on their boat Færing to survive. The boat is like a miniature Viking ship and built in the same way. Yesterday during lunch I talked with a fellow teacher about this book. It turns out she is a trained færing shipbuilder! What a coincidence! ? This is not a common profession at all and definitely not among women! Impressive ?? photo from: https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/Færing

DivineDiana How wonderful that you met her! 5y
8 likes1 comment
blurb
Siri_reads
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

With a sick two-year-old there has not been much time for reading lately. Finally a day with good weather so we can take a trip outside. He‘s sleeping, I‘m listening! ☀️❤️ #litsywalker

quote
Siri_reads
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

Whatever is washed ashore on an island belongs to the finder, and the islanders find a lot. It might be cork or barrels or hemp or driftwood or flotage –green and brown glass balls to stop fishing nets sinking... There might be a wooden toy for Ingrid, there might be fish boxes and oars, gaffs, bow rollers, bailers, poles, planks and the remains of boats. ❤️ Love treasure hunting on my local beach. Unfortunately, I almost only find plastic...

BiblioLitten So cool! But 👎🏼 for all the plastic, that‘s unfortunate and irresponsible. 5y
6 likes1 comment
blurb
Siri_reads
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

Listening to The Unseen while walking along the beach... ❄️🌤 #audiowalk #litsywalk

blurb
hilded
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

My next pick for #adventrecommends is probably not so well known here on Litsy. It‘s the first book in a trilogy set in North of Norway right before, under and after WW2 about family dynamics living quite isolated on an island. This first book got shortlisted for the #manbooker. Lovely trilogy close to my heart as the story is quite similar to the story of my grandmother.

#Favourites
#AdventRecommends Day 15

mabell How neat that you can have that connection with your grandmother's story through this trilogy! 5y
hilded Indeed, it‘s nice :) @mabell 5y
47 likes3 stack adds2 comments
review
Moray_Reads
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image
Mehso-so

There's no way to rate this one satisfactorily. The prose had a beautiful clarity and it faithfully renders a lost time and way of life on remote Norwegian islands. The characters are sharply cut and there's a breath of wistful air. And yet I would have been happy for it to be over at half the length. The sparseness of the prose began to grate and the sober tone made it increasingly difficult to summon interest for even the more unusual events

Kalalalatja Great review! And those scones/buns look so good 😍 7y
Moray_Reads @Kalalalatja thanks. They were delicious even if they were store bought 😋 7y
Kalalalatja When I went to the UK last Summer, I ate so many scones with jam and clotted cream. Denmark's got a lot of things, but until we have clotted cream, we still have some way to go 😄😋 7y
See All 10 Comments
Moray_Reads @Kalalalatja sadly I had no clotted cream to hand. Scones just aren't quite the same without it! 7y
Kalalalatja But a perfect excuse to eat them again soon, because today didn't really count 😉 7y
julesG My Scottish colleague makes the best scones. Since clotted cream isn't available in Germany she always brings Creme fraiche - which is okay as a substitute. @Kalalalatja I just thought the plate is gorgeous. 😉 7y
Kalalalatja @julesG I might try that some time! 👍 7y
Simona In this year's selection for the MBIP I find it interesting, that all selected books have the same or at least similar vibrations, especially in basic story - lonely, isolated hero. And I absolutely agree with you about The Unseen. 7y
Moray_Reads @Simona That is interesting​. I've only read this and Horse Walks Into A Bar so far but I have Judas and Compass on my shelves 7y
Simona I love Judas and Compass was so-so for me - very interesting story, but ineptly/clumsily derived. Looking forward for your reviews, especially for Compass. 7y
60 likes10 comments
review
BookwormM
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
Pickpick

#MBI2017

4 stars

Not a lot actually happens but I really loved the way that nature was a key character in this story.

Full review here soon www.thereadersroom.org

blurb
BookwormM
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

Bank holiday weekend and the weather is nice enough to sit in the garden reading while the boys enjoy a grass buffet 😍

#MBI2017

JenP Cute 7y
Tanzy13 aw 🐹 7y
Kristelh They are cute! 7y
8 likes3 comments
review
Vikz
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
Mehso-so

I finished this book last night. It is a beautifully written work about a family growing up on a rural island and battling both the natural environment and the ever changing social forces that surround them. If you like rural stories then you will probably like this work. But, for me it felt hollow. It felt that there was something missing.

blurb
Simona
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

I'm an introvert, working in a extremely extrovert profession and environment ... so, #cominghome for me is all about in the picture. Recharging in solitude with my therapist 😊 #dogsoflitsy #petsoflitsy

Book in the tag is from this year #manbookerinternationalprize2017 shortlist and is about the meaning of the home, isolation and loss (family, living in the small island). Not my favorite, but still interesting.

#lyricalapril

Cinfhen Great picture and your "therapist" seems wonderful ❤️❤️❤️just read another review about this book ~ doesn't seem to be a favorite ? 7y
Hooked_on_books I feel you! I have two four-legged furry therapists, myself. Introverts unite! 7y
Simona @Cinfhen Thanks! It's not bad, but there's something missing in this story and I can't figure it out what. 7y
See All 8 Comments
Simona @Hooked_on_books The best kind of therapists for introverts IMO! Although - my therapist has a lot to say, sometimes.😂 7y
Reecaspieces I feel you...I work in an extroverted job as well and nothing better than coming home to regroup with my 4 legged therapists 7y
Sace Love this post and picture. 7y
Simona @Reecaspieces I like my job, but coming home to my furry child is 💕💕💕. (edited) 7y
Simona @Sace Thanks 🙏 7y
65 likes8 comments
blurb
Vikz
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image
review
Simona
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image
Mehso-so

The book 'without a plot', built on the atmosphere and limited to the five-member family, which are living on the small island and they're struggling with their inner demons and with the island. Nicely built atmosphere, but book as a whole – forgettable ...

Roy Jacobsen - #Norway 🇳🇴

#readingtheworld #readaroundtheworld

50 likes1 stack add
blurb
Simona
The Unseen | Roy Jacobsen
post image

Book nine from #ManBookerInternationalPrize2017 longlist.

Roy Jacobsen - #Norway 🇳🇴

#readingtheworld #readaroundtheworld

tricours This was a so-so for me, the audiobook format wasn't ideal for this kind of story... And can't Litsy get around to merging editions soon?! 7y
Simona I think that this isn't because of audiobook ... It is so-so for me too. @tricours 7y
49 likes2 comments
review
tricours
De usynlige | Roy Jacobsen
Mehso-so

4th #BookishOlympics book! This is the kind of story I usually like: life in the north (in this case on an island), harsh conditions, a climate most people have never even experienced. In addition, it was read in a northern dialect! But I kept missing stuff, like PEOPLE DYING, so I obviously didn't connect as much as I would have liked with this book... Not sure I'll continue with the series.

blurb
tricours
De usynlige | Roy Jacobsen

This is my current audiobook, but it's too slow and uneventful for an audiobook! I keep forgetting to listen! Anyone else who also has this problem?

scripturient I'm not a big audiobook fan for exactly that reason: I tend to zone out after a few minutes. 😂 8y
tricours @scripturient I have to walk/run/knit while I listen, otherwise I have no chance! 8y
11 likes2 comments