mono_vox (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} mono_vox) wrote,@ 2008-02-11 21:54:00 |
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50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 3
Fatso
by Lars Ramslie
Fatso
by Lars Ramslie
What’s it like to live in a world saturated by sex, when you’re a virgin?
‘Rino is fat, ambitionless and a 34-year-old virgin. He is also obsessed with sex. Living in a flat owned by his father, he lacks the necessary social skills and charm to reverse his pathetic situation. When his father decides to let out one of the rooms in his apartment to a young woman named Maria, Rino is forced to re-enter the human stratosphere”
Translated from Norweigan, ‘Fatso’ is told with lots of English colloquialisms and could be set in any major city, making it easy to imagine. The plot and dialogue is realistic, and the characters are flawed, well-rounded and recognisable.
I started this and worried it was going to be just an excuse to swear and look clever. The constant inner monologue of Rino, that was straight from a porn‘script’ made me balk a bit, but I’m glad I carried on till the end.
This is a tale of redemption, and truly touching one at that.
There are many uncomfortable moments (in fact there’s less comfortable ones to be fair) including some morally ambiguous sleep-sex that made me squirm reading about it.
Getting under his skin and seeing what it must be like to be fat, unloved and wanting was emotional and because of this strong set –up when he finally starts to move on with his life, thanks to a liberated new flatmate introducing him to the world, I found myself willing him on to become a member of the human race again.
