Scan barcode
chinooo's review against another edition
challenging
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? No
3.0
johannd's review against another edition
4.0
Nothing more than what you make of it. A collection of quasi-poems that you can either take time to meticulously decipher the individual metaphors of or just enjoy the prose and childlike wonder that it might instill. And honestly, both are equally rewarding.
forgpnod's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Id love to understand this book in any capacity.
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so incredibly beautiful, that I felt like just giving it a five star speechless review. Than I remembered all the likes I stood to miss out, that way. Therfore I take shelter in that old saying 'Imitation is the best form of flattery':
Changing cities
For good or for bad, you will never forget your first visit to the garden city ‘Raag’ - yes, you must have heard about it, people talk about it all the time. It is a strange city, you can’t direct anyone to it, it can only be discovered accidentally, and discovered only when you are looking for it in pairs. It is only in pairs that you are allowed entry, for it is a city of pairs. The butterflies, sparrows and squirrels are all only to be found in pairs. Even the flowers smiling to sunlight have their faces close together in pairs as if whispering secrets to each other. Raag's popularity with poets has made it so attractive to people that everywhere one finds people wandering around in pairs specifically, though often also secretly, looking for it.
Though, at times found after a great wait and though it is often advised otherwise, the travelers who reach it often seem to be in a rush to explore it at once. May be it is just the excitement at the sight of city’s impossible beauty – even though the very objects that make the city are most commonplace; it makes travellers behave in new ways with their fellow partners. As if under a spell - needless to say a magical one; glances are stolen, smiles returned, promises made, secrets and kisses shared … and before you know it, you and your co-traveler are building your house in the woods by the lake; resolving never to leave. For what could be better than this joy that seems to promise to never die!
Except some of them leave – because one can’t bear the excitement or because, stupid as it obviously is, one wants to travel on. Those whose co-travellers have left, must leave too – or find a dark corner in a city that can find beauty only in pairs.
Soon those who had left want to return to Raag. And they do come back with a new co-traveler this time – but the city is no longer there. The woods, flowers, butterflies, sparrows, squirrels and lake are still there and the same; you even recognize that house which you build with your own hands – but the city, it no longer inspires that old ecstasy. You know the convention – the promises, the smiles, the kisses … but now it doesn't come naturally; at times you are unable go though it. You rush away wondering whether you were deceived first time, or if you have lost your way this time. You find yourself leaving the city, shaking your head in refusal to see that city is still same – and, may be, even already thinking of trying to find Raag somewhere else or perhaps already realizing that you will rather live in denial than admit the truth – that the city is still the same, that it is you who have changed.
Changing cities
For good or for bad, you will never forget your first visit to the garden city ‘Raag’ - yes, you must have heard about it, people talk about it all the time. It is a strange city, you can’t direct anyone to it, it can only be discovered accidentally, and discovered only when you are looking for it in pairs. It is only in pairs that you are allowed entry, for it is a city of pairs. The butterflies, sparrows and squirrels are all only to be found in pairs. Even the flowers smiling to sunlight have their faces close together in pairs as if whispering secrets to each other. Raag's popularity with poets has made it so attractive to people that everywhere one finds people wandering around in pairs specifically, though often also secretly, looking for it.
Though, at times found after a great wait and though it is often advised otherwise, the travelers who reach it often seem to be in a rush to explore it at once. May be it is just the excitement at the sight of city’s impossible beauty – even though the very objects that make the city are most commonplace; it makes travellers behave in new ways with their fellow partners. As if under a spell - needless to say a magical one; glances are stolen, smiles returned, promises made, secrets and kisses shared … and before you know it, you and your co-traveler are building your house in the woods by the lake; resolving never to leave. For what could be better than this joy that seems to promise to never die!
Except some of them leave – because one can’t bear the excitement or because, stupid as it obviously is, one wants to travel on. Those whose co-travellers have left, must leave too – or find a dark corner in a city that can find beauty only in pairs.
Soon those who had left want to return to Raag. And they do come back with a new co-traveler this time – but the city is no longer there. The woods, flowers, butterflies, sparrows, squirrels and lake are still there and the same; you even recognize that house which you build with your own hands – but the city, it no longer inspires that old ecstasy. You know the convention – the promises, the smiles, the kisses … but now it doesn't come naturally; at times you are unable go though it. You rush away wondering whether you were deceived first time, or if you have lost your way this time. You find yourself leaving the city, shaking your head in refusal to see that city is still same – and, may be, even already thinking of trying to find Raag somewhere else or perhaps already realizing that you will rather live in denial than admit the truth – that the city is still the same, that it is you who have changed.
andrewjmajor's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
5.0
gothhotel's review against another edition
4.0
Well, it’s very insightful. I can see why it’s considered a classic and that there is a lot to dig into here, but it’s not one of those classics that really pulled me in on its own terms. I’d read a section and be like, “Huh, neat” or “Cool” and then walk away. There’s something to be said for a book you can meditate on in pieces. Lots of it is elegant, even quotable. “Desires are already memories.” “Futures not achieved are only branches of the past.” It’s good shit and at times even moving as it makes its point - “Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once e, if I speak of it.”
But I find that concentrated doses of postmodern philosophization can have a, um, soporific effect. Like listening to a sage speak in riddles, you don’t want to do it all day. And hey, I’m on the go, I want a book I can take with me or that can take me somewhere. And I don’t care to devote the necessary brain power to figure out if the rich orientalist fantasy here is subversive or just an indulgent setting for the philosophical games. So, I fold.
But I find that concentrated doses of postmodern philosophization can have a, um, soporific effect. Like listening to a sage speak in riddles, you don’t want to do it all day. And hey, I’m on the go, I want a book I can take with me or that can take me somewhere. And I don’t care to devote the necessary brain power to figure out if the rich orientalist fantasy here is subversive or just an indulgent setting for the philosophical games. So, I fold.
evil_isa's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
there were some moments of the book where the prose was so good i almost cried to descriptions of trees and rocks
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ailynobaire's review against another edition
Rarely do I finish a book with the impulse to flip back to the first page and go at it again. Really an incredible novel. Something you can sit with in your head for days. A novel of ideas at its finest.