Scan barcode
franksreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Misogyny and Pregnancy
Minor: Murder, War, and Toxic relationship
nineinchnails's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.0
the end threw me for a loop but i still really enjoyed this! there was a lot of loose ends (and ambiguity) which had this feeling a little anticlimactic but i’m sure i’ll get much more out of this novel on a reread. it does feel a little underdeveloped but it was still really engaging.
this was pretty eerie and atmospheric at parts - it almost felt like a horror, which does explain feeling slightly cheated by the ending. despite how short this was (183 pages) it felt much longer somehow; even the side characters felt relatively complex and well developed.
this was pretty eerie and atmospheric at parts - it almost felt like a horror, which does explain feeling slightly cheated by the ending. despite how short this was (183 pages) it felt much longer somehow; even the side characters felt relatively complex and well developed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicide, and Misogyny
Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Child death, Animal death, and Grief
Minor: War
Child neglectalexikakon's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Child abuse
softbooknerd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Death
Minor: Death of parent
a_epistemological_crisis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Suicide
Minor: Death, Suicide, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
rimd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicide
amelialikesmatcha's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ishiguro reached into my brain and rearranged the structure with this writing, he literally changed my brain chemistry after reading this one. very complicated characters and works backwards into the past off a post-war Japan with little genuine or non-narcissistic detail from the main character. perception of motherhood, cultural assimilation, and overall ability to connect to a reader without revealing any true emotion is impressive - worth the read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, and Child abuse
paperback_jokica's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
2.0
I liked the central theme of the book (that being how we cannot outrun and escape our past) but i really couldn’t bring myself to care about how it was presented… I also didn’t care about any of the characters, especially those in Nagasaki I also get that for it being more of an internal struggle and psychological exploration and not a plot based one , it still bothers me a bit to not know what happened to the characters and how Etsuko ended up where she was
I also wish there were more exploration on grief … I know it was supposed to make me feel sad about the character when she is being so compliant and without a voice of her own against all people around her, but it just made me more frustrated and annoyed by her.
I know a lot of this criticism is just personal bias , but if anyone shares that bias i hope this review was helpful
I also wish there were more exploration on grief … I know it was supposed to make me feel sad about the character when she is being so compliant and without a voice of her own against all people around her, but it just made me more frustrated and annoyed by her.
I know a lot of this criticism is just personal bias , but if anyone shares that bias i hope this review was helpful
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Child abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty
cady_sass's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This just didn’t do it for me. I’ve loved some of Ishiguro’s other work, but this feels very distinctly like a novel on required reading list in a high school or undergrad English class. That may sound dismissive but I don’t mean it to be so- classic lit has a very specific audience, and I am not that audience, but this writing begs to be analyzed and scrutinized like you would a classic. The dialogue does not flow naturally and can be a bit painful to read at times, which is likely very intentional to portray the difference between Japanese and American conversational dialect, but made it tough to stay engaged. It’s short, I’m glad I read it, but I wouldn’t recommend unless dissecting a piece of literature is your vibe.
There is definitely something to be said about the dichotomy of failures in motherhood between Etsuko and Sachiko: one failed their daughter by way of gross (willful) negligence, and the other by smothering over-parenting, although never explicitly described but heavily implied. The novel flips back and forth between present day, Etsuko living in England and interacting with her youngest daughter in the wake of her eldest daughter’s suicide, and Etsuko’s memory of living in post-WW2 Japan while pregnant with her eldest daughter and befriending a single mother. The two women are very unlikely friends and could not painted more differently. Sachiko is, for lack of another word, a sociopath. She is absolutely horrible to everyone in her life and is only concerned with herself, at everyone else’s expense. Etsuko is caring and nonjudgmental, helpful and generous, often stepping in and “mothering” Sachiko’s troubled and neglected daughter, Mariko. By the time the novel is over, you’re left to wonder if Sachiko and Mariko even existed at all, and wonder perhaps Etsuko was the villain all along.
There is definitely something to be said about the dichotomy of failures in motherhood between Etsuko and Sachiko: one failed their daughter by way of gross (willful) negligence, and the other by smothering over-parenting, although never explicitly described but heavily implied. The novel flips back and forth between present day, Etsuko living in England and interacting with her youngest daughter in the wake of her eldest daughter’s suicide, and Etsuko’s memory of living in post-WW2 Japan while pregnant with her eldest daughter and befriending a single mother. The two women are very unlikely friends and could not painted more differently. Sachiko is, for lack of another word, a sociopath. She is absolutely horrible to everyone in her life and is only concerned with herself, at everyone else’s expense. Etsuko is caring and nonjudgmental, helpful and generous, often stepping in and “mothering” Sachiko’s troubled and neglected daughter, Mariko. By the time the novel is over, you’re left to wonder if Sachiko and Mariko even existed at all, and wonder perhaps Etsuko was the villain all along.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Suicide
Moderate: War, Child abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, and Gaslighting
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Misogyny, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Suicide, and Animal death
Minor: War, Violence, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse