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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
another interesting collection from the mind of Etgar Keret. his stories surround the reader with such a sense of wonder and really get the imagination going.
Thank God it's over.
That is the first thought that pops into my head when I am finally finished with this sad excuse for a book. I must admit, I had no idea whatsoever as to what I was getting myself into when a classmate of mine handed it to me with the genuine promise that I was going to love it. I am never trusting him again.
Most of the reviews I read before digging into the book were praises, absolute, unquestionable praises, which undoubtedly raised the bar of my expectations. Alas, almost none of the stories appealed to me. I am aware of the fact that you cannot start caring about a particular character after spending around two pages with him. I am also aware that all of it is supposed to be witty and thought-provoking. Well, the only thought "The Girl on the Fridge" provoked in me was... "EW". People peeing, TVs made from Jews' remains, all the swearing, all the cynicism... - definitely not my cup of tea. And I don't even like tea. I didn't seem to make out anything of the stories, which inevitably pushed me to rebuke my brain capacity...
Note to self: Never read anything written by Etgar Keret again. EVER. You are only going to waste the little time you have.
That is the first thought that pops into my head when I am finally finished with this sad excuse for a book. I must admit, I had no idea whatsoever as to what I was getting myself into when a classmate of mine handed it to me with the genuine promise that I was going to love it. I am never trusting him again.
Most of the reviews I read before digging into the book were praises, absolute, unquestionable praises, which undoubtedly raised the bar of my expectations. Alas, almost none of the stories appealed to me. I am aware of the fact that you cannot start caring about a particular character after spending around two pages with him. I am also aware that all of it is supposed to be witty and thought-provoking. Well, the only thought "The Girl on the Fridge" provoked in me was... "EW". People peeing, TVs made from Jews' remains, all the swearing, all the cynicism... - definitely not my cup of tea. And I don't even like tea. I didn't seem to make out anything of the stories, which inevitably pushed me to rebuke my brain capacity...
Note to self: Never read anything written by Etgar Keret again. EVER. You are only going to waste the little time you have.
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had such high hopes for this collection, but man, did they fall short. Everyone has different tastes, but this collection of short stories is not mine. I was drawn in by the awesome cover art, but that's where the awesome ended. There are 46 short stories in this book and I can count on one hand the number that I remotely enjoyed. Crazy Glue, Through Walls, So Good, Knockoff Venus, and On The Nutritional Value of Dreams are the few worth reading. Happy Birthday to You, The Backgammon Monster, and Goody Bags are OK too. So eight, out of 46. The rest were all told with a misogynistic slant that screamed for a female voice. Maybe something is lost in translation, maybe something lost in cultural differences, maybe Keret is going for a look into the deep, dark, spiraling thoughts of men, or he's trying to be so over the top, so hyper-violent, so hyper-sexist to make a point...but the point falls flat for me. Did not enjoy.
Surrealist, minimalist Israeli short stories. I liked [b:Pizzeria Kamikaze|60426|Pizzeria Kamikaze|Etgar Keret|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170542068s/60426.jpg|4039366], the graphic novel Keret wrote, but I think at least 93% of my enjoyment there was based on Asaf Hanuka’s amazingly beautiful and evocative art. Without it, there were often things about Keret’s stories that I found admirable, but I didn’t particularly enjoy them—they read to me like [a:Raymond Carver|7363|Raymond Carver|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1201118985p2/7363.jpg], only more random and confusing. Just not my thing.
Ok, these stories are incredible. They're all really short and a lot of them can be really weird, but they're all unexpected and they stay with you.
Etgar Keret may be one of my new favorite writers.
Really different than what I usually read. Some of the stories were funny, others dark, some really affected me, others not so much. All of them really made me think, especially for all the stories being under six pages. All around cool book. Neat to peer into the authors thought process.