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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The Appointment is a novel set in Romania. From it’s opening line -“I’ve been summoned” - an ominous tone is set. The story unfolds on a tram ride across the city as the narrator travels to yet another “interview” to discuss her crime of sewing notes into suits bound for Italy, seeking someone to marry her, and presumably help her leave Romania. On the trip her mind wanders into events of the past - a best friend killed trying to escape, a former husband who informed on her parents, details of previous chilling interrogations - she recounts some of what is happening in the present, and thinks with trepidation about the future. The writing was sparse which suited the subject matter as did the stream of consciousness style which made it a little hard to figure out what was going on and why, something I suspect reflects the reality of life in a suspicious totalitarian regime.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Police brutality
vhop's review against another edition
4.0
Aika vakuuttava teos. Täytyy myöntää, että oli vaikea päästä kiinni kirjailijan tyyliin, ja lukeminen oli jopa työlästä jossain vaiheessa. Tämä on luultavasti yksi niistä kirjoista, jotka paranevat toisella lukukerralla. Rikottu kronologisuus oli paikoin hämmentävää - tarinan edetessä loppua kohti asiat alkoivat loksahdella paikoilleen ja sitten tarina loppuikin vähän kesken. Paljon jäi mietittävää. Kaikkien mahdollisten tragedioiden joukossa kommunistiset diktatuurit ovat oma lukunsa. Ymmärrämmekö me muut eurooppalaiset todella, mitä tapahtui oikeasti itäblokin maissa sodan jälkeisinä vuosikymmeninä?
desirosie's review against another edition
3.0
I’m struggling with how to rate and respond to this book. I struggled to keep the threads together in my mind during my exhausted pre-bedtime reading and they would be lost to me over the course of a day. And so the ending....was not as significant as I knew it must be.
chocomuffinilla's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
f3ttt's review against another edition
5.0
The Appointment is a very sad book that tells the truth about just how horrible it is to live in a country where you can be interrogated day after day with no real purpose. Few understand just how insidious it is to have to voluntarily return to interrogation because they fear something even worse. Fewer still understand how interrogation doesn't have to do with beating a person or using hot irons, it is the neverending grinding of a human soul into madness.
The book is beautifully written and captures many of the means which the oppressed seek out to resist tyranny, infidelity, incest, snitching, domination of other poor souls, rebellion and drunkenness. I'm left sad after reading it and also suspicious of everyone I see. She's not a Nobel Laureate for nothing.
The book is beautifully written and captures many of the means which the oppressed seek out to resist tyranny, infidelity, incest, snitching, domination of other poor souls, rebellion and drunkenness. I'm left sad after reading it and also suspicious of everyone I see. She's not a Nobel Laureate for nothing.
patchy_at_best's review against another edition
4.0
Nobel Prize winner, [a:Herta Müller|134980|Herta Müller|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1434721410p2/134980.jpg], writes about life in Romania during Nicolae Ceausescu's totalitarian regime. I expected a story of isolation and suffering; instead, The Appointment weaves poetry from pain and beauty from the mundane.
An unnamed seamstress is indicted by Ceausescu's secret police on a false charge of prostitution. The tram ride to her interrogation gives her time to reflect on her life, especially her relationships with friends and family. The stream of consciousness structure revisits key moments from her past in no particular order, the way your mind wanders on a long journey.
The Appointment's unnamed narrator has a sense of humour that made me respect her resilience instead of pity her. Behind a what-doesn't-kill-you-makes-you-stronger façade, she is extremely self-aware. Her descriptions of people and places are often lyrical and always articulate, seeing past the surface to question the hidden purpose. I thought she seemed untouchable - as if even the most terrible consequence couldn't crush her soul. This effect could easily be interpreted as a coping mechanism developed from her past trauma. She is a brilliant choice of eyes through which to study life under dictatorship.
The above quote stood out to me as a brilliant metaphor for the main themes of The Appointment. The narrator's memories repeatedly depict families protecting and hurting one another; love and pain go hand-in-hand in her experience. This inevitably results in toxic gender politics: for example, many male characters feel justified cheating on or beating their wives. In a poverty-stricken place where people must be mistrustful and selfish in order to survive, the narrator notices how people are bound to their family for better or for worse. In The Appointment, painful relationships are often the only thing people have left to count on.
This book easily deserves five stars for literary merit. As a Nobel Prize winner, Müller exacts careful control of her pacing, plot development, and choice of poetic language. The narrative is stripped bare of inverted commas, question marks, and chapter breaks. I liked how this minimalistic format meant there were no distractions from the story.
I chose to give The Appointment four stars because I found the slow pace regularly lost my attention. I wonder if I could have avoided this issue by reading it quicker instead of over a couple of weeks. That said, the narrator's voice is beautifully developed and engaging. You could even argue that the slow pace is a metaphor for the maddening process of the narrator's indictment; the secret police appear to be trying to drive her to breaking point.
The Appointment is a brilliant, readable representation of life under dictatorship. Müller takes care to show the many facets of her experience living under Ceausescu's regime, surprising readers with humour and beauty alongside tragedy. Her unnamed narrator has a memorable voice that will live on inside my head and haunt me with eloquent quotes.
This review can also be found on my blog Paige's Pages.
An unnamed seamstress is indicted by Ceausescu's secret police on a false charge of prostitution. The tram ride to her interrogation gives her time to reflect on her life, especially her relationships with friends and family. The stream of consciousness structure revisits key moments from her past in no particular order, the way your mind wanders on a long journey.
The worst thing is this feeling that my brain is slipping down into my face. It's humiliating, there's no other word for it, when your whole body feels like it's barefoot. But what if there aren't any words at all, what if even the best word isn't enough - page 4
The Appointment's unnamed narrator has a sense of humour that made me respect her resilience instead of pity her. Behind a what-doesn't-kill-you-makes-you-stronger façade, she is extremely self-aware. Her descriptions of people and places are often lyrical and always articulate, seeing past the surface to question the hidden purpose. I thought she seemed untouchable - as if even the most terrible consequence couldn't crush her soul. This effect could easily be interpreted as a coping mechanism developed from her past trauma. She is a brilliant choice of eyes through which to study life under dictatorship.
There aren't enough trees around to make a single coffin - you'll have to be mine and I'll be yours - page 175
The above quote stood out to me as a brilliant metaphor for the main themes of The Appointment. The narrator's memories repeatedly depict families protecting and hurting one another; love and pain go hand-in-hand in her experience. This inevitably results in toxic gender politics: for example, many male characters feel justified cheating on or beating their wives. In a poverty-stricken place where people must be mistrustful and selfish in order to survive, the narrator notices how people are bound to their family for better or for worse. In The Appointment, painful relationships are often the only thing people have left to count on.
This book easily deserves five stars for literary merit. As a Nobel Prize winner, Müller exacts careful control of her pacing, plot development, and choice of poetic language. The narrative is stripped bare of inverted commas, question marks, and chapter breaks. I liked how this minimalistic format meant there were no distractions from the story.
I chose to give The Appointment four stars because I found the slow pace regularly lost my attention. I wonder if I could have avoided this issue by reading it quicker instead of over a couple of weeks. That said, the narrator's voice is beautifully developed and engaging. You could even argue that the slow pace is a metaphor for the maddening process of the narrator's indictment; the secret police appear to be trying to drive her to breaking point.
The Appointment is a brilliant, readable representation of life under dictatorship. Müller takes care to show the many facets of her experience living under Ceausescu's regime, surprising readers with humour and beauty alongside tragedy. Her unnamed narrator has a memorable voice that will live on inside my head and haunt me with eloquent quotes.
This review can also be found on my blog Paige's Pages.
arriaviderci's review against another edition
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? Yes
1.5
shewritesinmargins's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0