Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - A Pale View of Hills

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

7 reviews

franksreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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nineinchnails's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

the end threw me for a loop but i still really enjoyed this! there was a lot of loose ends (and ambiguity) which had this feeling a little anticlimactic but i’m sure i’ll get much more out of this novel on a reread. it does feel a little underdeveloped but it was still really engaging.

this was pretty eerie and atmospheric at parts - it almost felt like a horror, which does explain feeling slightly cheated by the ending. despite how short this was (183 pages) it felt much longer somehow; even the side characters felt relatively complex and well developed.

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risemini's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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paperback_jokica's review

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reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

I liked the central theme of the book (that being how we cannot outrun and escape our past) but i really couldn’t bring myself to care about how it was presented… I also didn’t care about any of the characters, especially those in Nagasaki

I also get that for it being more of an internal struggle and psychological exploration and not a plot based one , it still bothers me a bit to not know what happened to the characters and how Etsuko ended up where she was

I also wish there were more exploration on grief … I know it was supposed to make me feel sad about the character when she is being so compliant and without a voice of her own against all people around her, but it just made me more frustrated and annoyed by her.
I know a lot of this criticism is just personal bias , but if anyone shares that bias i hope this review was helpful

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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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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elderlingfool's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is about a Japanese woman named Etsuko that is currently living in England and dealing with the suicide of her oldest daughter. The story is mostly about Etsuko’s memories from when she lived in Nagasaki and became friends with a woman named Sachiko. It addresses the struggle of rebuilding a life after the war and how much it changed the values of the people.

I really liked the dream-like quality of the writing style as the main character remembers her past and the themes addressed like the traditional Japanese values vs the new ones, memory, suicide, motherhood and marriage. I found the characters complex and unlikable, which made them interesting to follow. I also loved the parallels between the lives of the two women.

This is a novel that can have various interpretations and it’s great for discussion.

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surelyinthefountain's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I love Ishiguro's work, so I suppose I'm biased. I love the quiet contemplation, the competing urges between looking forwards and looking back. The book is in a quiet liminal space of sorts -- the small, flawed recollections of a woman who is very much alone and has been for some time. We are to wonder if the fate of all the women here is to one day be alone in a big house; many of the things Niki says to her mother echo things her mother once said at a similar age. The book lets us sit with sadness at the passing of time and of people and of ideas; it's bleak but the small joyful moments are allowed to shine.
One thing to keep in mind, before you go in, is that a lot of Etsuko's stories aren't really about what she says they are. The frame is barely talked about directly and is instead circled obliquely, so a lot has to be inferred. Still waters run deep; I probably want to reread this at some point, honestly, as I think it deserves a closer reading.

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