Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
Eva Baltasar's 'Boulder' is swift and well-written, with the ardentness and horny simplicity of Fernanda Melchor. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.
6/10
Working as a cook on a merchant ship, a woman comes to know and love Samsa, a woman who gives her the nickname "Boulder." When Samsa gets a job in Reykjavik and the couple decides to move there together, Samsa decides that she wants to have a child. She is already forty and can't bear to let the opportunity pass her by. Boulder is less enthused, but doesn't know how to say no--and so finds herself dragged along on a journey that feels as thankless as it is alien. With motherhood changing Samsa into a stranger, Boulder must decide where her priorities lie, and whether her yearning for freedom can truly trump her yearning for love. Once again, Eva Baltasar demonstrates her pre-eminence as a chronicler of queer voices navigating a hostile world--and in prose as brittle and beautiful as an ancient saga.
Goodreads: goodreads.com/user/show/61199102
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/TheDiscoKing
Let me know what I should review next! Thanks for watching, and remember: Never have kids.
#internationalbookerprize #bookerprize #evabaltasar #boulder #books
Eva Baltasar's 'Boulder' is swift and well-written, with the ardentness and horny simplicity of Fernanda Melchor. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.
6/10
Working as a cook on a merchant ship, a woman comes to know and love Samsa, a woman who gives her the nickname "Boulder." When Samsa gets a job in Reykjavik and the couple decides to move there together, Samsa decides that she wants to have a child. She is already forty and can't bear to let the opportunity pass her by. Boulder is less enthused, but doesn't know how to say no--and so finds herself dragged along on a journey that feels as thankless as it is alien. With motherhood changing Samsa into a stranger, Boulder must decide where her priorities lie, and whether her yearning for freedom can truly trump her yearning for love. Once again, Eva Baltasar demonstrates her pre-eminence as a chronicler of queer voices navigating a hostile world--and in prose as brittle and beautiful as an ancient saga.
Goodreads: goodreads.com/user/show/61199102
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/TheDiscoKing
Let me know what I should review next! Thanks for watching, and remember: Never have kids.
#internationalbookerprize #bookerprize #evabaltasar #boulder #books
