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oryx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
headfirstforhalos's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
billy_the_kid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
sarah5's review against another edition
5.0
A favourite author of mine and this didn’t disappoint. A dystopian story about a young girl attempting to find her journalist brother in a world which is hardly recognisable. Beautifully written but accessible, a great short read which I would highly recommend.
burialshroud's review
3.0
I've been reading Paul Auster for about 6 years, working through his novels slowly. Some of them are amazing like [b:Oracle Night|10006|Oracle Night|Paul Auster|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189101583s/10006.jpg|3011932] and [b:The Music of Chance|19490|The Music of Chance|Paul Auster|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167244929s/19490.jpg|2382110], others are painful and tiresome like [b:Sunset Park|7944987|Sunset Park|Paul Auster|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1317064724s/7944987.jpg|11450290]. In the Country of Last Things falls somewhere in between. A very short, quick read, it details a young woman's quest to find her missing brother and her struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic city. It doesn't dwell on the cause of the apocalypse to a boring degree (hello, [b:The Year of the Flood|6080337|The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam Trilogy #2)|Margaret Atwood|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320433855s/6080337.jpg|6257025]) it gets straight to the nitty gritty of survival. I read the bit where she's holed up in a library with some relish, talk about a dream wasteland.
I do have a lot of good things to say about this book but even so, it was very very short. It was enjoyable but not compelling, it didn't have me reading long into the night, fighting sleep to read a few more pages (which is the true test of book Godliness). I also didn't feel like I got into the heads of any of the characters. I know that filling his books with fleshed-out, real people isn't exactly Paul Auster's raison d'être but a little more in this area would have been nice.
*I know it seems like a short read and a quick read should be synonymous, but this isn't necessarily true. A short book that doesn't pull you in can sit about on your nightstand, you only pick it up as a last resort, the bookmark moving through at a seemingly glacial pace.
I do have a lot of good things to say about this book but even so, it was very very short. It was enjoyable but not compelling, it didn't have me reading long into the night, fighting sleep to read a few more pages (which is the true test of book Godliness). I also didn't feel like I got into the heads of any of the characters. I know that filling his books with fleshed-out, real people isn't exactly Paul Auster's raison d'être but a little more in this area would have been nice.
*I know it seems like a short read and a quick read should be synonymous, but this isn't necessarily true. A short book that doesn't pull you in can sit about on your nightstand, you only pick it up as a last resort, the bookmark moving through at a seemingly glacial pace.
peacheyprince's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ilariabr's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
bmeroski's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
kvanderbeek21's review against another edition
4.0
Unsettling to say the least. "The Walking Dead without the zombies" vibes
shahduila's review against another edition
4.0
بلاد الأشياء الأخيرة، إما الحياة أو الموت، يمكنك أن تموت باختيارك منتحراً بطرق عدة ستعرفها و تراها كل يوم ما دمت في المدينة، منها الوثب و العدو و طرق أخرى، أو أن تختار العيش و تحاول التمسك بالحياة في هذه البلاد، يطير الناس من شدة هزالهم مع الريح فيربطون أنفسهم بسلاسل معدنية ليبقوا على الأرض، الجثث في كل مكان على الأرض و هي أمر اعتيادي و غير مستغرب، لا تقلق بشأنها فالحكومة تجمعها ليلاً و تحرقها ، لا تضمن شيئاً أمامك فقد يتلاشى ما إن تغمض عينيك و تفتحهما، حتى مسكنك لا تضمنه، فقد تُخدع أثناء توقيع عقد الإيجار أو يُقتحم منزلك في أي وقت و تطرد منه،كذلك الأمر بالنسبة للطعام، لا تطمع بالكثير فستكون محظوظاً إن وجدت ما يبقيك حياً، لا تسع إلى سد جوعك فالمعدة حفرة بلا قعر تناول فقط ما يبقيك حياً و تعلم مهارات الصمود!
رواية استثنائية و غير متوقعة، أحداثها مشوقة و متصاعدة و سردها سلس مشوق، مع بعض التحفظات على محتوى الرواية، إلا أن الكاتب أتى بعالم دستوبي فريد يمكننا تخيله و إسقاطه على زمننا الحالي!
أعتقد أني وجدت كاتباً جديداً جيداً :) .
رواية استثنائية و غير متوقعة، أحداثها مشوقة و متصاعدة و سردها سلس مشوق، مع بعض التحفظات على محتوى الرواية، إلا أن الكاتب أتى بعالم دستوبي فريد يمكننا تخيله و إسقاطه على زمننا الحالي!
أعتقد أني وجدت كاتباً جديداً جيداً :) .