Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

9 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: Death of parent

threeundertwopnw's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

A maddening read at times, as the characters talk a lot without really saying anything. Yet a lot of life in post-war Japan is covered through their stories. Includes a big plot twist that I guessed early on. Fascinating immersive read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Child death, Classism, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Death, Suicide, and War

cordeliamartin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Grief, Violence, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Death, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kstericker's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

Minor: War and Domestic abuse

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Suicide

Moderate: War, Child abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, and Gaslighting

sketchydelusion's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Sexism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder, Domestic abuse, War, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Classism, Death, and Colonisation

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

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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

katysimpson's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The writing in this book is just incredible. Although it requires some patience due to the repetitiveness of the characters dialogue, the pace of the narrative is so cleverly crafted. One of those books that will leave you thinking for a long time afterwards.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Child abuse, Child death, Abandonment, and Suicide

Minor: War

piscero's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective relaxing 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Sexism

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Suicide and Bullying