2 reviews on Goodreads of The Ballad of Calle and Maja – a short story. The blurb: Maja sends crushes to Calle, and he is flattered. He becomes infatuated. However, as his affection for Maja develops, his fear of failing becomes a problem. For years Calle was lonely, desperate, and vulnerable — experiencing a string of one-night stands and unrequited love. He also bears psychological scars after recently venturing on an online cat-fishing site where he forfeited much of his savings. After some hesitation, Calle decides to go after Maja’s love as it were a matter of life and death. Meanwhile, Maja has love problems of her own, which is a tremendous obstacle for him. But Calle is determined to succeed — a dream he held onto during his mature years. Eternal love.

Posted on by Lawrence G. Taylor

 

Bookgirl86 rated it it was amazing  (*****)
A tale of love and woe that brings to mind the classic story of Romeo and Juliet. For it being a short story, “The Ballad of Calle and Maja” pulled me in right away and wrapped me up in it’s narrative like a warm blanket.
The story is about a Swedish man named Calle who, after having been looking for love unsuccessfully for many years, eventually decides to ask his coworker, the beautiful Maja out on a date.
What follows is a tale of romance, heartbreak, tragedy—well, I won’t spoil it by telling you any more than that. Suffice it to say this story really caught me off guard with it’s depth.
I loved the characters, especially Maja, and really felt for their struggles. The writing was superb and really made me feel as if I were there, experiencing everything with the characters. Some of the sentences were particularly beautiful and well crafted, particularly the opening paragraph that talked about love hailing “from one heart to another” and how difficult it has become to find love in this increasingly social media controlled world.
What a joy this short story was to read! I imagine I will be remembering it and thinking about it for a long time to come. Five stars for this and I would love to read more by this author in the future.(less)
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Nadine

Mar 13, 2019Nadine rated it liked it (***)
A touching love story about two adults with a complicated past and an even more worrisome future. It nearly hurt how both of the main characters allow themselves and their decisions to be influenced by others instead of listening to their heart.
Yes, I was able to feel for and with them and that where the magic moments of this story.
But the main character embodies a lot of things that I don’t like and I think it was mainly because of that I couldn’t warm myself right from the start for his story. In addition, the writing style is not very lively and it took a while for the story to really pick up speed.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a realistic love story, but not to readers who like a lively narrative style that appeals to all of your senses.
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