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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
"A frustrating novel with an unlikeable protagonist. The unemployed law clerk spends each day on his couch thinking about sex with women other than his wife, and perpetually makes poor decisions. I've decided to abandon this book after a healthy 280 pages. Mark Helprin does this kind of epic-of-the-everyday much better. "
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This is probably the best of Murakami that I read. Having said that, it contains the same issues that I found with Kafka on the Shore. Murakami paints a vivid picture and he writes an intense plotline but there are so many secondary characters and so many subplots that ultimately don't seem to tie together in the end, that it is hard to fully appreciate what he serves up. A lot of the graphic sex and violence scenes appear to be gratuitous - at least, I don't understand the significance to the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Sexual content
This was a very weird, unique read. The stories on their own are beautifully crafted and captivating and intriguing but nothing is really resolved and tied together in the end. Wasted potential? Or dissatisfying surrealism?
Definitely a feelings-first type of narrative.
Definitely a feelings-first type of narrative.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Got a little shaky in the middle. I was initially expecting it to be a completely realistic, everyday fiction book, so I was thrown when the supernatural elements came into the picture. Still, while I was adapting to the new information of the world, the shifting, tenuous elements that made it baffling also served to capture my attention even further. The book had some strange sexual elements, but for being a sexual story, it makes sense in the end. I wound up liking this a lot more than I thought I would in the middle. I'm glad I stuck with it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Even before simulacra was introduced the world had gone to chaos. The reality of war too surreal to be confined to reality. Messy reality. Mess unreality. A product of imagination.
An odd, alternate-universe-impacts-reality kind of story. It had an element of magical realism to it that was interesting enough to keep me reading to the end.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes