Reviews

Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen

emily_stimmel's review

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challenging emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

ichirofakename's review against another edition

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3.0

First sentence: Last December a woman entered my apartment who looked exactly like my wife.

Capgras Syndrome played as farce. Psychiatrist goes off in search of his wife, possibly goes more insane as the strange and/or impossible pours into his life. Funny and clever and page-turny, but not what is called deep. By the end things calm down, but nothing is resolved.

For Capgras played as tragedy, read the grand and serious The Echo Maker by Richard Powers.

suvaznudli's review against another edition

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4.0

Místy matoucí, ale velice zábavná kniha o identitě, psychózách, pravdě a meteorologii. (Nespolehlivý)vypravěč je psychiatr, který se jednoho dne rozhodne, že mu někdo vyměnil manželku a odpověď hledá se svým pacientem a se slavným meteorologem Tzvi Gal-Chenem, který je ovšem skoro deset let po smrti. Autorka je psychiatrička, jejíž otec je meteorolog Tzvi Gal-Chen.

rachelsweeney's review against another edition

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informative mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

joejoh's review against another edition

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3.0

Well written. Unfortunately the plot starts to unwind at the end. It sinks beneath the technical details of meteorology and the main characters obsession with it.

geller's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective slow-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

bisexual's review against another edition

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

2.5

elenajohansen's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF @ page 50, around 20%.

I was initially intrigued by the idea of the narrator perceiving his wife as an imposter, as a sign of either mental illness, falling out of love with her, or both. In order to do this, though, the writing style is heavily laced with repetition, filter words, and other tricks to distance the reader from the narrator. Which I found an odd choice, given that it's in first person.

This quibble is definitely literary in nature, but this work is obviously striving to be "literature" in the way I dislike most, stressing the importance of style and theme over all else, including character, plot, and reader engagement.

Mission success: I am not engaged.

litthrift's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

3.75

lmrising's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5