Barbarius reviewed Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story (original German title: Glennkill: Ein Schafskrimi) is 2005 …
Not as good as I was hoping
2 stars
The entire story being told from the flock's perspective – which is obviously very different in both perspective and starting baseline knowledge – is an interesting writing device, but ultimately that's about it. You end up finding out more than the sheep through conversations they overhear-but-don't-understand, which I found really unsatisfying. That is, the sheep ultimately act as narrator bystanders to the events occurring around them, much of which they don't understand, resulting in a sort of "second-hand narration". While it wasn't bad, per se, I don't think I'll be recommending it any time soon...
The entire story being told from the flock's perspective – which is obviously very different in both perspective and starting baseline knowledge – is an interesting writing device, but ultimately that's about it. You end up finding out more than the sheep through conversations they overhear-but-don't-understand, which I found really unsatisfying. That is, the sheep ultimately act as narrator bystanders to the events occurring around them, much of which they don't understand, resulting in a sort of "second-hand narration". While it wasn't bad, per se, I don't think I'll be recommending it any time soon...
