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    The Greenhouse
    The Greenhouse
    The Greenhouse
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Greenhouse

    Written by Audur Ava Olafsdottir

    Narrated by Luke Daniels

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    For Lobbi, the tragic passing of his mother proves to be a profound catalyst. Their shared love of tending rare roses in her greenhouse inspires him to leave his studies behind and travel to a remote village monastery to restore its once fabulous gardens. While transforming the garden under the watchful eye of a cinephile monk, he is surprised by a visit from Anna, a friend of a friend with whom he shared a fateful moment in his mother’s greenhouse, and the daughter they together conceived that night. In caring for both the garden and the little girl, Lobbi slowly begins to assume the varied and complex roles of a man: fatherhood with a deep relationship with his child, cooking, nurturing, and remaining also a son, brother, lover, and…a gardener. A story about the heartfelt search for beauty in life, The Greenhouse is a touching reminder of our ability to turn the small things in everyday life into the extraordinary.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    TranslatorBrian FitzGibbon
    Release dateSep 11, 2012
    ISBN9781469243238
    The Greenhouse
    Author

    Audur Ava Olafsdottir

    Audur Ava Olafsdottir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, in 1958. She studied art history and art theory in Paris and is a lecturer in history of art at the University of Iceland and a director of the University of Iceland Art Collection. She has curated art exhibitions in Iceland and abroad, including the Venice Biennale, and written about art and art history in various media. Audur Ava is the author of three novels, a book of poetry, and a play. The first novel, Raised Earth, was published in Iceland in 1998. Rain in November was published to rave reviews in 2004 and received the City of Reykjavik Literary Award. The Greenhouse, published in 2007 and forthcoming in English from AmazonCrossing, won the DV Culture Award for literature and a women’s literary prize in Iceland and was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Award. Since The Greenhouse was published in France in the autumn of 2010 under the title of Rosa Candida, the book has attracted a great deal of coverage in the French media and received unanimously good reviews. In September 2010, it received the Prix de Page literary award as the best European novel of 2010. The Prix de Page award is determined by a group of 771 bookstores in France where the book was on the bestseller’s list for five consecutive months. The novel was also nominated for three other literary awards in France, including the prestigious Femina award. In January The Greenhouse was shortlisted for the Canadian 2011 Prix des libraires du Québec award. Audur Ava Olafsdottir published The Hymn of Glitter, a book of poetry, in 2010, and her first play will premiere at the National Theatre of Iceland in September 2011. Audur Ava Olafsdottir’s middle name, Ava, was adopted a few years ago as a tribute to the blind medieval French saint, Ava. Audur Ava Olafsdottir lives and works in Reykjavik.

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    Reviews for The Greenhouse

    3.5/5

    158 ratings14 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Beautiful and atmospheric. Book changed directions in the middle.
    • 4/5
      Audur Ava Olafsdottir allows the narrator to become "everyman", and the narrator delivers a somewhat disembodied, ungrounded, account of his unexpressed feelings and confusion about life. The topic of coincidence and synchronicity is brought up numerous times, without the ability to conclude on its believability. The narrator is mostly called by his father's nickname for him, Lobbi, instead of his baptismal name. He explains what he feels, but does not connect his decisions about his travels and his feelings in much of a coherent fashion. It becomes understood that he has an immense talent for gardening, and a love of it also. U.S. universities would consider him a Landscape Designer. This constant point of view presentation throughout sometimes robs the impact of the shattering revelation that his wife Anna does not feel herself responsible to take care of their child Flora Sol. In fact, Lobbi has the self-discovery that he is humanistic enough and kind enough to love and bond to Flora Sol easily and even initiate planning to provide for her care and comfort in his difficult circumstances with few employment options.I think this is a novel that young unmarried adults who struggle with parenting should consider because it deftly describes the conflicts that situation presents in life.
    • 4/5
      Rather unusual story about a young man who has fathered a child due to a brief one-night stand. He was very close to his mother who has recently died in a car accident. He lives with his father and a handicapped twin.Lobbi loves plants especially roses- a love he got from his mother. Rather than pursue an education, he decides to go to a monastery that has an exceptional rose garden but which has been untended for many years. He travels to this remote area and takes a room at the monastery.He soon gets a call from the mother of his child, Anna, who wants him to take care of Flora Sol for about a month while she finishes her thesis in genetics and he agrees to do so not having a clue what it takes to take care of a toddler.Anna brings Flora but then decides to stay and they fall into a sort of brother-sister relationship, both loving and doting on the child. This is a story of a young man growing up and learning not to just feel for himself but to feel for others. Interesting in places, and then rather low-key and slow. Contemporary Icelandic literature.
    • 3/5
      The Greenhouse is a coming-of-age novel about grief, responsibility, commitment and finding yourself in unexpected places. It's not my usual cup of tea, but I rather enjoyed it. Narrator Arnljotur leaves Iceland after the death of his mother to travel to a European monastery and resurrect their once-famous rose garden, leaving behind his aging father, his autistic twin brother and the accidental daughter he fathered one drunken evening in his mother's greenhouse. When Anna brings his daughter to Europe and asks him to take care of her while Anna finishes her thesis, Arnljotur must rapidly realign his new-forged life and - with the support of his friend Father Thomas (and his extensive knowledge of non-Hollywood cinema) - confront what he really wants in his future. The narrative is self-conscious, Arnljotur being very concerned with visual memory and his physical experiences. His uncertainty and inexperience are endearing and often amusing; while I felt this was ripe for literary interpretation I chose not to engage on that level, enjoying the simple, quiet story presented on the surface. My only real criticism is that the ending felt rather abrupt - I wanted more closure; instead, it felt we left Arnljotur on the brink of a new journey, but it was unclear where it would lead or how well-equipped he really was for it.Full thoughts.
    • 3/5
      I read the Italian translation (nota al traduttore e all'editore: su "do" di "io do" l'accento NON ci va. Ma insomma, dove avete studiato??).
      This is the story of the Icelandic Forrest Gump. He has a retarded brother, but he has some serious issues too. I disagree with many reviewers who see him as a real, regular, almost typical 22 yo man. Let's put it out there before anyone misses it: this guy is border-line autistic.
      Things happen to him and to his body often as if he was watching them on a screen. Yes teenagers live a bit like that, but they don't rationalize that condition constantly like this guy does, and they tend to express themselves in one way or the other, while this guy is totally passive.
      Now, is that particularly Icelandic? Or is this something the author wanted to create? I don't know. I know that, aside from the normal issues of a twenty year old, this man has other, very peculiar issues: very serious communication problems, and as I said, some autistic traits.
      Let me be frank. If this simple, delicate book was not from an Icelandic author, I don't know if anyone would have published it. The young father with baby plot has been used many times, and with better, more coherent results, by Nick Hornby and other writers. "Iceland! Iceland!" is the reason why I, and probably many others, ended up reading this book.
      On the other hand, simpliciy and quiet are the actual charm of the book, so I understand the readers who fell in love with it for its soothing effect.
      But quiet and delicate are attributes that very easily overlap with bland and diluted.
      Nothing stands out in the whole story, nothing jumps off the page, an idea, an individual, a feeling.
      It is like one of those sweet melodies that might be pleasant to listen to while they're playing, but that once finished are immediately forgotten.
    • 2/5
      Arnljótur (Arnie) is a 22 year-old Icelandic wannabe gardener who lives at home with his recently widowed father and autistic fraternal twin brother. He has a daughter from a casual one night stand, but has no relationship with the mother and hardly sees his daughter. In fact, he has one ambition in life and that is to have no ambition. So, he accepts an offer from a monastery somewhere near the Mediterranean – never specified – to restore a Medieval rose garden.His dead mother had been the greatest influence in his life, and it is from her that he has inherited his love of growing things. Arnljótur’s relationship with his father is strained because the old man lives in the past and wants his son to fulfill his promise.Once Arnie gets to the monastery Anna appears, prepared to drop off his daughter so she can complete graduate school. But she changes her mind and stays. Their relationship is almost kindled, but comes to nothing and Anna departs but leaves her daughter with Arnie who determines to return to Iceland and build a family there.For a book titled “Greenhouse,” we see little to no actual gardening. Christian symbolism begins to intrude on the plot and Olafsdottir appears to have changed horses in mid book, abandoning what could have been a real inner journey of self discovery through restoration for a heavy handed religious message that practically equates the baby girl with the infant Jesus-Savior.Instead of a psychodrama, we get a domestic tale featuring a father figure who is so androgynous as to be feminine. Uneven and only interesting because of the exotic setting and the film buff monk.Second book I've recently read by an Icelandic author. Both write books that feature rather ineffectual male protagonists, a flat style, and are light on plot. I'm beginning to question if this is typical of the Icelandic oeuvre.
    • 3/5
      Story focuses on Lobbi and his career as a horticulturalist. He learns his craft from his mother in the hothouse in Iceland and takes on the challenge of restoring a Medieval European monastery garden. His life is complicated by the arrival of his Icelandic girlfriend who leaves their infant daughter with Lobbi. The story evolves as his garden and his little daughter both grow and blossom under his care.
    • 4/5
      What an interesting coming of age story! I would love to see the author tackle a sequel to this lovely novel. I will certainly be on the lookout for other works by this author and hope that more of her work gets translated and published in the US.
    • 4/5
      The Greenhouse is a surprisingly lovely little story, with as much left unsaid as said. A young man, someone who doesn't seem especially comfortable in his own skin, takes his love of gardening to a country new to him. And he has a daughter, conceived in a careless one-night, actually less than one night, stand. I couldn't help but cheer him on as he learns about love, relationships, being a father, all aided by a monk who has at least one film to recommend as answer to all of life's questions. If you are looking for fast action, a convoluted plot, this might not be the book for you. If you are looking for a gentle story with beautiful writing, wonderful characters, you might very well love this one. Kudos, too, to the translator, Brian FitzGibbon. Although I am incapable of reading the original of this book, I felt like I was, not at all like I was reading a not-quite-right translation. Quite wonderful.I was given an advance reader's copy of the book, for which I am grateful.
    • 5/5
      Note: Review from the Amazon Vine Program The Greenhouse is very different from the books that I ordinarily read. It is not plot-driven. The beauty of the story is in the tone, the descriptions, the cerebral nature of the character's actions. Basically, it is the story of a young man, Lobbi, who meets and bonds with his baby girl. There is a calm, gentle, almost spiritual quality, to this tale. Lobbi, a gardener, nurtures his daughter with the sensitivity that he applies to his plants.At first I was bothered by the lack of factual details to this story. Where was Lobbi going? What were his plans? After a few chapters, I began to understand the sense of this story. It's really not about who, what, when, where and why. It's about the World as seen through Lobbi's eyes.Lobbi tends to be reactive, rather than proactive in his surroundings. He learns through observation and inquiry. The story evolves from Lobbi responding to forces acting upon him. He copes quietly, competently and brilliantly in confusing, difficult circumstances.I know that I have just described a book in which little happens and given it 4 1/2 stars. It's hard to explain the loveliness of this prose. You just have to taste it to know.
    • 4/5
      What a wonderful introduction to this author! Narrated by "Lobbi" as he is affectionately called by his father, this is the story of a young man's search for himself and for meaning in life. After a tragic loss, Lobbi becomes fixated on the body and on death. He follows his passion for gardening to tend to a famous, but now neglected and overrun, rose garden at an unnamed monastery somewhere in Europe. Lobbi leaves behind, in Iceland, his infant daughter Flora Sol, the product of a one-night stand. When the mother of his child brings her to him, he is suddenly faced with the life-changing consequences of his one night of carelessness, and must discover what it means to become a father. The translation of the novel is very well done. The writing is luminous and captivating and several themes are explored: the meaning of life, death, coincidence vs. fate. There is rich symbolism. This is a novel that one can get lost in; it is not terribly plot focused and it's really more about the journey than the destination. Reading it was sort of like taking a train ride through beautiful country-- with each page you could just savor the moment and the lovely writing. Lobbi's character is quite compelling, human and believable. As another reviewer noted, the story is somewhat slow at first, but as his character develops and deepens, you'll be rewarded for sticking with the story. The growing bond of this reluctant young father with his child is tenderly portrayed. This was a thoughtful and touching story well-deserving of the praise it has received.
    • 5/5
      When 20 year old Arnljotor, or Lobbi as his father calls him, has a one night stand in his mother’s greenhouse, with a girl he barely knows, she gets pregnant. At the time, his life is unsettled; his mother has died, his elderly father wants him to pursue an advanced education degree, and his autistic brother is in an assisted living home. Lobbi loves working with plants and plans on traveling to a medieval monastery to help the monks bring their world renowned ancient garden back to its former glory. He is feeling torn between the life he wants and the life he leaves behind. The author has done a magnificent job bringing all the emotions and questions a young man goes through to find out what makes a man a man.I smiled through 95% of this book—so simple, so exquisitely written—by the end I had a lump in my throat and bittersweet tears in my eyes. Timeless, subtle, I felt transported into the heart of the story and remembered each life discovery with a renewed freshness. One of my favorite quotes is when Lobbi recalls his daughters’ birth “I was alone with the child. She was awake and staring right back at me; my moment of carelessness made flesh was staring at me.” This is an AmazonCrossing publication, they translate foreign books into English making them available to a wider audience and I am so glad they choose this author. Giving this one 5 stars and making it a favorite that I’ll read again. I read this advanced readers copy through the Amazon Vine program.
    • 5/5
      The Greenhouse is an emotionally restrained yet enormously powerfully coming-of-age novel. Narrated in the first person, this character-driven novel invites the reader to step into the mind and body of 22-year old Arnljotur Thorir, affectionately referred to throughout book as Lobbi. This young man is preoccupied with his body and his mother's recent accidental death. He is a confused, timid, immature, self-conscious, and inward-looking young man bewildered by life.Lobbi has a six-month-old daughter as the result of an awkward and disconnected one-night stand with a virtually unknown young woman. He is mystified how he should relate to his child or its mother. His father wants him to go to college to study botany. But this insecure young man is confident of only one thing: working in a garden provides him with purpose and meaning. It is something he must do. He is driven by this narrow focus.As a result, he volunteers to travel from Iceland to a distant monastery (clues place it in southern Europe near the Mediterranean) to help restore a world-famous rose garden to its former glory. The ancient rose garden is in dire neglect. Restoring the garden becomes Lobbi's single purpose—his life's beacon in a time of great personal turmoil.But after a few months, his child and child's mother unexpectedly join him. Through them, he slowly discovers himself and morphs into manhood. He learns how to relate to his child, the child's mother, the townsfolk, and the monks. But most of all, he finally discovers a greater meaning and purpose to life: he is not only a gardener, but also a father, a lover, and a person who has meaningful relationships with a network of people close and far. He is fulfilled and life finally has meaning, purpose, and beauty.The Greenhouse is filled with symbolism that will delight thoughtful, knowledgeable, and methodical readers. The writing is straightforward and exceptionally clean. In fact, there is almost no ornamentation or anything that I would call lyrical. What glitters is the beauty of its simplicity. Pay close attention to the prose and watch it morph and unfold brilliantly toward the end of the book as Lobbi finds beauty in life. It warms the prose and will warm your heart.The Greenhouse is an understated jewel of a novel. It richly deserves the many literary awards it has won.
    • 4/5
      This is a haunting story, with insightful and unique descriptions of various emotional states. The book has the sense of allegory, sometimes almost dreamlike, which could be interpreted various ways. It is a thought provoking book