Interesting book in so many funny ways... I haven't yet read other books that make me gradually believe in "light at the end of the road" for the main character and good outcomes for good people - and then destroy it by showing that there has not been any "dark periods" to start with that could have led to this ultimate good outcome. So although you started to be happy for the main character, it was just a delusion created by the author - and there is nothing to be happy about. If you read that book, maybe you'll understand that mixed feeling. It's an interesting approach when the last page of the book changes the meanings of previous 200 pages.The author demonstrates nice sense of humor. Not always kind, but mostly funny. My favorite joke: "Markus oli varmaan ajatellut, että vaihtoehtona itsemurhalle on muutto Ranskaan"... What I did not really understand were the title of the book in French and English and the structure. And I think that I won't be able to comprehend those. I do not understand the origins and point of the fashion to include weird abstracts and lists pretending to be chapters and being loosely connected to the book. No philosophical agenda detected, so why? Seriously, why? That's not the first book that has those and I don't see any deep meanings in them. Modern trend?I am so thankful to Finnish translators that Finnish title "Nainen, jonka nimi on Nathalie" has something to do with the book unlike it's English version "Delicacy". I would have a huge problem with figuring out any possible logical connections. Was it merely an attempt to pretend writing a book with deeper meaning? What meaning? Once in a while, you chance upon a book, that you just have lying on your shelf and intend reading someday. However, that someday takes a while and when you do read it; you begin to realize that you wasted a lot of time, waiting for that someday. “Delicacy” by David Foenkinos had that impact on me. I kept wondering, why had I missed out on this when I first bought it? Why did I wait for two years to read this book? And all it took me was a six hour bus ride to finish it and come out of the reverie with a big fat grin on my face. “Delicacy” by David Foenkinos is a charming little book. It is full of joy, happiness; comic moments and at the same time, there is sadness as well. Natalie is a woman who has it all. A great lover, who in turn becomes her husband. A successful job. A life which is fulfilled – more or less and there is nothing she could need or want. Till her life falls apart in one minute, or rather on a fateful Sunday, when the love of her life gets run over by a car and nothing makes sense anymore. And then just like that, life changes again and Natalie sees herself falling for the most unusual man ever. The setting I must mention is the city of romance, the capital of love, Paris. Paris is almost another character in the book – all pervasive and right there, sometimes mocking and sometimes encouraging love, the way it should be.What I loved about the book was the way it is written but of course.The chapters are short (which I love) and there is no melodrama. It is as real as it could be. There is office romance. There is life going on as usual after the loss of a loved one. There is also the knowing that life may not be the same, but it will change for the better, if you want it to. The other guy – Markus is clumsy and doesn’t know how a woman like Natalie could love him. He may not be her knight in shining armour and yet Foenkinos writing makes him one. The book speaks of social norms and breaks all of them in one single long sweep. I am not one for romantic books and yet Delicacy is romantic and not so, if you know what I mean. There is a lot of soul to the book. There were times I found myself weeping and with the next turn of the page, I was smiling. “Delicacy” is maybe one of those rare books that truly come to you when you really want to read something like this. You cannot read it when you wish to. You perhaps have to wait it out, like I did. There will always be such books and the good part is that there will always be patient readers, waiting to be enthralled.
What do You think about A Delicadeza (2009)?
Read it in French: very soft and deep, simple and true. See the movie too: Audrey Totou is amazing.
—gavans4
Enjoyable story, enjoyable style, I really like this book.
—zookid35
