Reviews

La fabbrica by Hiroko Oyamada

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Somehow despite the short length, this book felt just a bit too long to me - when it hit it was incisive and really made me think, but other parts felt a little pointless. Overall good if you want to be depressed about your job.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Animal death, and Fatphobia

moviegoer's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

booksshe's review against another edition

2.0

bah

beastlybrooke's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

lit_laugh_luv's review against another edition

4.0

I really quite liked this take on capitalism, identity and bureaucracy. By design, the characters very much feel like “shells” - only recognizable by the details of their employment and nothing else. When the perspective switches, you only recognize it by the switch in description of the work day. It quickly becomes increasingly surreal and the world changes around the characters, despite their jobs remaining mundane and repetitive. The length was just right for me - it gave appropriate background without needlessly dragging on.

The ending was very clever - a great metaphor, and definitely left me reflecting on my own relationship to my career and sense of identity.

kaitays's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

This book wasn’t bad, but I had no desire to really read it. I just tolerated it. What made it worse was how it was written. You truly didn’t know who was talking, what setting it was in, and it jumped time periods with little indication. That made it even more difficult to read. Many of the sentences, paragraphs, and overall text were jumbled together. No indentations or moving it to a new line. On top of that, the concept wasn’t very compelling. The only redeeming quality was the ending and

how the worker who was stagnant at the job got turned into the bird that all the characters gawked at previously.

Beyond that, it didn’t intrigue me.

The unnecessary pantser person/plotline, who would almost pants people.

I guess that spoke to how not knowing where the factory ended and your life began could cause you to go crazy, but that’s a stretch. The random hate the sister had for the brother’s girlfriend. Whatever the reason, the need for Fururhe and the girl to have lunch. Why was the bridge focused so heavily? So many things that just didn’t really add to the concept. What I really think it was trying to do was call on the worker and their dedication to their job for survival, but how the job gives them nothing. I get there’s some deeper meaning. Maybe I’ll revisit one day.
I eventually looked up an article to try to make sense of it all. I liked this articles take a lot. https://thelondonmagazine.org/review-the-factory-by-hiroko-oyamada/#:~:text=The%20novella%20chronicles%20the%20spectre,enigmatically%20as%20'The%20Factory'

 

Initial Response: 2/5; Recommend?: 1/5; Re-Readability: 1/5 Characters: 2/5; Plot: 2/5

Overall: 1.6/5  
Would Purchase?: No 

bookshelfbybub's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Beyond establishing a deeply unsettling tone, this book did absolutely nothing for me. If one wishes to tackle the topic of labor and society, one should have something to say about it. The characters, who were all remarkably boring, all ask the question “why am I here?” But, no attempt at an answer or evaluation of the meaningless system they find themselves in is made. The book starts nowhere and it ends nowhere. The book itself is as meaningless as the factory life it portrays.

sammiethehammie's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

trulybooked's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

jamiemonville's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0