Reviews

Byobu by Ida Vitale

causticcovercritic's review against another edition

4.0

Probably a 3-star book, but it gets bumped up to 4 because the story/vignette ‘The Sensitive Toad’ is a perfect little thing.

rosebrown's review

Not accessible to my poor dumb brain.

oryx27's review

challenging inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

Those 10 % of the book I was able to understand were absolutely brillant;) Not sure if the translator is responsable for my excessive use of the thesaurus...
Loved the final section of aphoristic ("original") thoughts though.
Definitely a candidate for a reread since I am not sure what to make of it yet (and how to rate it).

briancrandall's review against another edition

4.0

Poetry seeks to extract from its abyss certain words that might constitute the scar tissue we are all unconsciously chasing.
•
Words are a way of organizing our inner turmoil, of being better than alone, silent. Sometimes we must make them alter the way they walk through the world, their impure usage to whose sueded automatism we become accustomed.
•
There are fewer of them than there are trees; they can have roots descending downwards, but they don't grow upwards. Deep down, they find the sky disturbing. If they encounter it, they never again feel at ease in the savage throats of men. [81]

...and he's invigorated by the freedom with which someone who squanders the entire written application of the language can forge with such autonomous flights of orality their own fragile welds, as if these had emerged from some sacred and magical eternity. [50]

6ykmapk's review

4.0

3.5⭐

adam613's review against another edition

3.0

"Poetry seeks to extract from the abyss certain words that might constitute the scar tissue we are all unconsciously chasing."

Originally written in 1975, Byobu by Ida Vitale has been translated and released by Charco Press. Byobu is a man and little else is really known about him. We do learn about his thinking in morsels of mimetic themes on the micro and macro scales. Gloriously surreal prose of an ambiguous nature left me asking more questions than it has answers. Hidden meanings abound which will necessitate a second reading to gain further insight. Or maybe like life, there are no certain answers and we are left with more questions than certainties.

"The same distance lies between good moods and bad moods as between ordinary life and desperation."

Fragmented and dreamy snippets into Byobu's life remain mysterious throughout this thought-provoking novella.
Ethereal and dense with meaning, Vitale's poetic ways are like anything I have read in recent memory, if ever. Either way, for an afternoon of reading I was completely enthralled by Byobu and it placed me in the present rather than looking ahead and attempting to figure out the plot. Perhaps that's the point of it all really, is being present. Byobu is another unique hit from Charco Press that I strongly recommend for those willing to be uncomfortable in the unknown.

"And beware not to forget the risk posed by crossroads. There all peaces come to an end. Nostalgia, perhaps, might begin. Or, per mishaps, maybe anxiety, discord and urgency."

pearloz's review

This was an interesting, challenging read for me. No plot, Byobu I suppose is a character that observes and feels, but like it says in the first vignette "he watches the stories that roam free" who is obsessed with the minutiae of life. There is nothing that connects one vignette to the next except Byobu intense scrutiny. What could be considered overwritten is likely a symptom of the author's history as a renowned poet--the language is florid and dense, and alludes to the challenge it must've been for the translator. I'd really like to listen to these vignettes read in the original Spanish as I suspect they'd come across a lot more playful in the author's native tongue. In translation, it was sometimes sonorous and impenetrable. But it was a worthy experience.

katsherms's review against another edition

Read for bookclub

versmonesprit's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

I want to begin my review by saying I believe the majority of the fault to be on the translation, because the majority of the book sounded very unnatural in English. I rarely, if ever, say this of a book as I acknowledge and respect that a good writer be possessed of a good vocabulary, but it sounded like someone replaced every word they could using a thesaurus. To the point it felt like that scene in Friends when Joey was writing a recommendation letter for Chandler and Monica, and using a thesaurus to sound smart, he changed his own name to “baby kangaroo”.

I don’t believe Vitale did that at all. I believe she must have sounded lyrical. Which leaves the sole conclusion: this must be due to the translator.

And unfortunately when the language fails, all else does so as well. There were shining moments of hilarity and beauty and compassion, but they were quickly buried among more writing that tried to sound smart but said not a whole lot. I expected a philosophical book — needless to say that’s not what I got.

aaacalli's review

challenging emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Essentially a book of essays, not fictional vignettes. I believe marketing this as experimental fiction is incorrect; I would call it a philosophy book above all else. Byobu as a "character" is simply a way for Vitale to set the scene to realistically share her philosophies...a scapegoat or a logical method? Depends on your perspective. Ironically, one of the essays speaks about how no thought is truly original, but I find many of Vitale's philosophies to be genuinely original, at least in the written word. I feel that many of them are things many of us have thought about before but they remained unwritten because nobody could find the perfect words...until now. The book ends with a ladder of aphorisms that are a bit cheesy but they have profoundness in them as well. When you realize Vitale is pushing one hundred years old and is still alive, it makes you think of this all in a different perspective. If I'm not mistaken, this book is fairly recent, and the translation to English even more so, so I imagine her sense of mortality was really weighing and impending upon her whilst writing this. Sometimes the arguments are a bit self-important and pretentious and I am sure even such a famous writer was not immune to using a thesaurus given how extra some of the diction is, but this really makes you think, it just has a marketing issue. I will buy the physical copy of the English translation for my home to console me on a rainy day. Another note: "Byobu"'s experiences are very reminiscent of those of us on the spectrum.