The House in the Cerulean Sea
Ratings1,117
Average rating4.3
Jo kuvastosta tuli selväksi, että nyt ollaan vahvasti ilmiön äärellä. Bestseller-teos Talo taivaansinisellä merellä on ajan henkeen sopiva kirja, josta on tullut iso hitti, mutta mikäpä siinä: nyt kun sen on lukenut, niin se edustaa kyllä ajatusmaailmaltaan sellaista positiivisuutta, että sille suo kaiken menestyksen oikein hyvillä mielin.
Kirjan päähenkilö on Linus Baker, vaatimaton ja säntillinen virkailija Maagisten Nuorten Huolenpito-Osastolla. Hänen yksitoikkoinen elämänsä pyörii siis yliluonnollisten nuorten parissa: hän käy tarkastamassa orpokoteja, joissa maagisia lapsia ja nuoria säilytetään. Eräänä päivänä hänet valitaan poikkeukselliseen, erittäin salaiseen tehtävään. Hänen tulee tarkistaa Marsyasin saaren orpokoti.
Tässä eristäytyneessä ja muulta maailmalta salatussa orpokodissa asuu kuusi maagista lasta ja heidän huoltajanaan herra Arthur Parnassus. Linuksen on matkustettava maan ääriin, asuttava orpokodissa kuukauden verran ja tuotettava raportti orpokodin oloista MNHPO:n ylimmälle johdolle. Linus lähtee suorittamaan tehtäväänsä virkaintoisena, mutta hänen rutiinintäyteinen elämänsä tulee järkkymään pahemman kerran.
Talo taivaansinisellä merellä kertoo erilaisuuden hyväksymisestä, syrjinnästä ja ennakkoluuloista ja niitä vastaan taistelemisesta. Siitä, miten ihminen voi löytää oman paikkansa, siitä miten oman perheensä voi myös valita. Miten koskaan ei ole liian myöhäistä. Sanoma on sen verran osoitteleva ja alleviivattu, että odotin kustantamolta nuortenkirjaluokitusta tälle kirjalle. Ei siinä mitään, on tämä asia aikuisillekin tärkeä, ja tyttäreni makuun kirjan alku olikin aivan liian hidas ja pitkäveteinen, eikä lukeminen päässyt alkua pidemmälle.
Sinänsä olen samaa mieltä: alku ei välttämättä vakuuta. Kannattaa kuitenkin antaa tarinalle tilaisuus, sillä se on varsin terapeuttinen kirja. Se on hauska, hyväntuulinen ja täynnä pieniä, ihania onnenhetkiä, kun Linus löytää elämälleen uutta sisältöä. Samalla kirja esittää painavia kysymyksiä ennakkoluuloista, erilaisten ihmisten luokittelemisesta stereotyyppeihin ja siitä, miten nämä luokitukset vaikuttavat luokittelujen kohteisiin. Jos jotakuta pidetään erikoisen ulkonäkönsä vuoksi hirviönä, onko se sitten ihmekään, jos alkaa käyttäytyä hirviömäisesti?
My heart is a puddle of feelings. This book destroyed me in all the best ways. For sure a favorite of all time. These characters, this family, this home 💕 Absolutely wonderful and endearing.
This story is captivating and enchanting. The characters just sorta creep into your heart and make a nest. I love the regular-man-learns-he-can-do-good trope.
This book is sweet, light reading. A delightful escape.
So sweet! All the homophobic a-holes miss a wonderful love story :-)
I love the children. All of them are amazing, wonderful kids, and I'm filled with love to my adoptive children. I can't wait for sequel, of all the adventures of this unusual family, and how they rescue all the children of the world :-)
I love it that not everyone is nice. Not everyone learns anything. Because there are people like that in the world, and the world is still a nice place, and the people who love us are what matters, not the a-holes. In our family there is a saying “it doesn't matter if one gets wet and cold, as long as one is dried and warmed up afterward.” People fell in ice, but as long as there is someone to rescue them, pick them up, help them out of the wet clothes, put them in warm, dry bed and give them some hot tea (or chocolate or what ever is their favorite), everything is all right.
There was something really heartfelt and warm about this book. Simple and lovely.
Contented sigh
Do you ever see a book everywhere and avoid it for a while because you think it might too hyped? I might be a little over suspicious, after being burned by some really popular books, so it completely possible that this is just a “me thing”. Still, I can't deny that this book was very much loved by almost everyone I interacted with. I forgot about it for a while, and then it popped up on my library recommendations and I decided to finally give in. Oh, friends. I am SO glad that I did. This book is just as magical, sweet, and touching as everyone said it was. I'm sorry that I doubted you book world.
Linus Baker is a 40-year old man who is stuck in an endless loop of work days. He arrives on time, does what he is asked without question, and goes home to his cat at the end of the day. It's funny to me how quickly Linus charmed me, even at the beginning of this story. His simple life felt a little empty, but TJ Klune threw in small things about him that made me intrigued. Like Linus' sunflowers. The one bright spot on his little house, in a bevvy of other little, same looking houses. A small rebellion, even before he truly comes into his own. It takes a lot for a book to make me fall for a character right from the start, but Klune managed that with ease.
Then Linus is called into Extremely Upper Management (this made me giggle, a lot) and sent off on a secret mission that turns his entire life upside down. From the moment that Linus stepped off of the train, I knew that I was in for some magic. Do you remember those older movies where they start in black and white, and then the color slowly bleeds in? That was what came into my mind as soon as Linus saw the ocean in person, for the first time in his life. Each step he took away from what he knew was a step toward something mysterious, and unknown. Which, for Linus, was a big deal. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't really excited for him though.
It is so hard to review this without spoiling, so I apologize if this review seems vague. What I can tell you is that Klune's Marysas Island Orphanage is perfection. It is vibrant, and the inhabitants of it make it all the more technicolor. Each of the children has their own wonderful, and rather hilarious, personalities. However Klune makes sure to flesh each one of them out as well. This isn't a story that is all sunshine and rainbows. These are children who were sent away because they were considered to be “different” and “dangerous”. Despite all the hate they've been shown though, they shine bright. They have dreams, and they are wonderful.
This whole book deals beautifully with all sorts of topics, like loss, shattered expectations, and trying to be yourself in a world that wants to shove you into a box. It is whimsical, sad at times, and full of so many absolutely gorgeous quotes. I could flip to any page in this and find you a portion that made me giggle, sigh, or straight up sob. I ADORED this. I think that, if you haven't already given in to the magic, you will too.
If you love found family and misfit magical kids, you're in for a treat. But this is less of a story about the kids and more about the adults, flawed and human as they may be, who love and care for them.
This is a story of Linus Baker, a man with a good heart trapped in a repressive bureaucratic work environment, as he learns that there is more to the world and more to himself. He struggles with reconciling his empathetic and caring nature with the bland objectivity demanded from him at work.
As the story goes on both we and Linus are introduced to a cast of colourful, bright, larger than life characters, each making the most of their individual tragedies and we watch as they change Linus and how, in turn, he changes the world for the better.
The book is funny, in that sharp and dry, quintessentially British way, but also so full of heart that it'll make you melt. Reading it feels like receiving a warm hug that lingers and makes you feel like everything will be alright. Magic doesn't need to be in the fantastical, most of the time it can be found in the mundane.
5 stars, would definitely recommend!
*Update (June 14, 2021): I've been watching the whole situation unfold on the interwebs these past two weeks, and I've read comments from Indigenous readers on both sides of the argument, ranging from being personally hurt by this story to seeing little to no relation to their own history. As much as it saddens me, I am grateful this discussion brought the brutality of the Canadian Indian residential school system and mass graves to my attention.
I don't think my personal opinion matters here as my people haven't been personally affected by these events, but I would like to leave a link to Kelsey's story (@red-lion-literature), which I believe highlights where our energy should be invested: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPofvy_lKkJ/?utm_medium=share_sheet
Whether you interpret TJ Klune's intentions as malicious or not, I think we can all agree that (1) educating everyone on these matters is important and (2) pitchforks should be aimed at the Canadian government (and the American government while we're at it) to demand change and amplify Indigenous voices through purposeful action instead of sitting in front of a screen and targeting a single author online.
To those spreading hate: Is pushing him until he snaps magically going to atone for the damage the true perpetrators wrought on Indigenous people and resolve the continued slew of hate and abuse against them? We need to direct our attention to the higher ups and make an actual difference where it matters in the grand scheme of things because this? This isn't it.
Please check out these carrds to learn about more ways you can support Indigenous peoples around the world:
- https://indigenouscanadiancharities.carrd.co
- https://mmiwresources.carrd.co
- https://nativelivesmatter.carrd.co
- https://aboriginallivesmatter.carrd.co
- https://blmaustraliahome.carrd.co
(This is only a tiny speck of what's out there. Please don't stop researching on your own.)
—–Original review—–
INSTANT SEROTONIN, PURE PERFECTION
My heart sings with how much I loved this. Found family, finding a sense of belonging and love amongst the baseless hatred born of the fear of the unknown—I teared up so many times during this read
This was such a wonderful read. I fell in love with the children as well as Linus the investigator. It is really well narrated as an audiobook as well. I am going to have to check out this author's other books.
English
Do not hate me when you see the rating please! I want to clarify that this book is not bad, however I could not connect with the characters and the story in the way I would have liked, since I read it with high expectations. This is my personal experience with the book. The story is very sweet, and I think that specially toward the end it simply felt corny / cliché for my taste.
Maybe I'm just full of evil and this just doesn't connect with me. Actual Rating: 2.5/5.
Español
¡No me odien al ver la calificación por favor!, quiero aclarar que este libro no es malo sin embargo yo no pude conectar con los personajes y la historia de la manera en que me hubiese gustado, ya que lo leí con altas expectativas. Recuerden que esta en es mi experiencia personal con el libro. La historia es muy dulce y creo que especialmente hacia el final la historia se sintió ya muy cursi/cliché para mi gusto.
Tal vez simplemente yo estoy llena de maldad y esto simplemente no se conecta conmigo. Calificación real: 2.5/5.
This was a lovely and delightful read. It was perfectly paced, made me laugh, made me tear up, made me think. It might be considered a fantasy based book, but it's much, much more than that. Highly recommend this for anyone to read!
Executive Summary: I'm a big fan of the magic school trope. This isn't quite that, but it was in a similar wheelhouse if told from the adult's point of view. Overall I found this a really fun book.
Audiobook: Daniel Henning does a fantastic job. If you enjoy audiobooks, do this one in audio. He does a variety of voices so that it's very clear which of the characters are speaking that really elevated an already delightful book.
Full Review
This last year has been rough for everyone. I had not heard of this book at all until it was entered in the Sword & Laser March Madness tournament. I actually voted against it in the finals but probably would have still read it had it lost.
I can't speak to how much I'll enjoy the runner-up, but this ended up far exceeding my expectations. I like my job a lot, most days. If I had Linus's job however I'd have gone crazy.
I am someone who follows a routine like Linus, but even for me the rules of his employer are far too much.
The actual house and the children were all delightful. I enjoy the sarcasm and dark sense of humor this book seems to have. While the children definitely play an important role in the book, this is really more about Linus and his journey.
Overall I found it had a nice message about treating everyone with respect regardless of your differences and loving yourself for who you are without beating you over the head with it.
This book brought me so much joy. It is sweet without being saccharine, inclusive on many different levels, and joyful while also touching on important issues like discrimination. I listened to the audiobook, and this is one of those instances where I think the performance really added to my overall enjoyment of the story. I want more from this world!
what a lovely story ;_____;
i said to myself the real treasure was the arthur we found along the way for the same joke to be made by the author and i screamed
The ambiance in this book is so cozy and the characters are so heartwarming and wonderful. I could feel the color contrast between before and after the island in Linus's life. I recommend this book greatly, it has a feel of home, no matter where your home is!
This book is charming. Really there isn't any word for it. I was charmed. It's a children's book for adults, not a genre nearly explored enough. Sure it's a bit cheesy and he ending wraps up a pretty easily, but I think I was really in the space to appreciate a book about very genuine people fighting prejudice. The language is reminiscent of Pratchett or Lemony Snicket. It's a book that I enjoyed, and I could see having enjoyed as a teenager, and could see reading to my child (with a couple of discussions about maybe not using “bitch” as a derogatory). I can't totally explain why I liked this book so much, but I did. If you are a grown up who loves kids' books, this was more or less made for you.
Oh what a truly charming, wonderful, and heart-warming story. It made me smile, chuckle and tear up. I'm not the most externally-expressive reader so that really is a feat! I wasn't sure if it was going to be “my thing” as most fantasy I read is a little darker and I nevertheless fell in love with this troop of characters. I listened to the audiobook and I think that added to the charm, hearing the voices of everyone performed differently to the others and some of the children's voices made the funny moments even better. However you decide to consume this book, I hope you enjoy it as thoroughly as I did. It made a glorious bright little break from gloom of the world.