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remontoire's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
theeuphoriczat's review against another edition
2.0
I DNF this book.
This book makes no freaking sense to me, let me tell you why.
Kawasaki books are very popular on bookstagram and admittedly she writes elegantly. the world she creates remains a picture in your mind. A picture of emotion, a galaxy of healthy psychological intrigue which lays in the reader a foreboding apprehension (at least that is how I felt). I do believe that some things she wrote might have been lost in translation BUT one reason I did;t like this book was because nothing linked. There was no flow to the story. It was almost like cutting paragraphs from different stories and trying to mash them together (it didn't work).
I believe I was supposed to feel a sense of loss and then connect to the main character's grief but I just could not. There was too much weirdness going on with the mother describing getting companionship from her toddler than her husband "I felt no desire for the man, my husband. Momo was warmth enough. As long as I suckled her, my body had no desire for my husband. I had no tenderness for him". I can explain this away with postpartum anxiety or depression but since the book did not explore this I cannot confirm. It was just weird. Even with the walks, they go on in Manazuru, I got nothing substantial from the story. It was vague, random and honestly all over the place...
This book makes no freaking sense to me, let me tell you why.
Kawasaki books are very popular on bookstagram and admittedly she writes elegantly. the world she creates remains a picture in your mind. A picture of emotion, a galaxy of healthy psychological intrigue which lays in the reader a foreboding apprehension (at least that is how I felt). I do believe that some things she wrote might have been lost in translation BUT one reason I did;t like this book was because nothing linked. There was no flow to the story. It was almost like cutting paragraphs from different stories and trying to mash them together (it didn't work).
I believe I was supposed to feel a sense of loss and then connect to the main character's grief but I just could not. There was too much weirdness going on with the mother describing getting companionship from her toddler than her husband "I felt no desire for the man, my husband. Momo was warmth enough. As long as I suckled her, my body had no desire for my husband. I had no tenderness for him". I can explain this away with postpartum anxiety or depression but since the book did not explore this I cannot confirm. It was just weird. Even with the walks, they go on in Manazuru, I got nothing substantial from the story. It was vague, random and honestly all over the place...
monika_li's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
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? Yes
3.0
ladylil's review
3.0
A well paced, dream-like read about a woman's experience dealing with the loss of her husband. The lines between reality and dreams/imagination (very surrealist) were very blurred in this book so the subtly of why things were happening were a little hard to grasp at first.
solsolsoley's review against another edition
4.0
Wow säger jag, första gången jag skriver en recension men det tycker jag denna behöver. Aldrig läst något liknande! Verkligen inte en typisk soley-bok, men jag är väldigt glad att den rekommenderades till mig! Väldigt intressant språk, många formuleringar som jag fastnade för. Gillar att det är så få karaktärer och platser, huvudpersonens inre tankar får väldigt mycket plats. Tung på flera sätt även om den inte är en tjock bok, kanske bidrog det till att det tog sån tid att läsa ut den. Over all väldigt bra!
kowariii's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
peaceandkindness2all's review
2.0
I’m not sure if it’s because of my aspd but I could not feel a single feel coming from this book. Started off bland and ended off bland. Too unnecessarily metaphorical, with after some thought, still did not make sense to me (I may be stupid). However only on the latter half of the book was when things somewhat began to come into fruition. However the reason I was continuing to turn pages was just for the sake of completing it. Nothing sparked and nothing from the book will stay with me other than to be healthy and sane always.
This is also my first Kawakami book so this is very unfortunate. Maybe I just picked the wrong book to read at first. Womp womp. Sad emoji. But I will be picking up her other works.
This is also my first Kawakami book so this is very unfortunate. Maybe I just picked the wrong book to read at first. Womp womp. Sad emoji. But I will be picking up her other works.
tigersmom's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sci_mom's review
2.0
Another reviewer summed up how I felt about this book very well, so I'm stealing his thoughts on it.
"Engaging to read from start to finish, but it's kind of like y'know a big long stream of consciousness moment with no real depth to really justify it's meandering."
"Engaging to read from start to finish, but it's kind of like y'know a big long stream of consciousness moment with no real depth to really justify it's meandering."