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peebee's review against another edition
5.0
AAAAAHHHH! Six stars! Perhaps seven. I've never read anygoddamn thing close to this book, and I doubt you have either. Do your self a favor. RIGHT NOW
themorsecode's review against another edition
1.0
DNF - Finally had to admit defeat around 80% through, I just can't deal with magical realism. Interesting concept for a book and the initial few stories were fine, but I found the majority of the book painful to read.
samidhak's review against another edition
3.0
So I recently read Tokyo cancelled, rather finished it.
I was reading it for a while now. It had about thirteen short stories, all told by different people who get stranded in a place because their flight gets cancelled.
At first it was a light read. I usually am not the sort of person who would read short stories, but these fit well with me. After a certain point the magical realism got to me.
Some stories were rushed and written in haste, whereas others were long and dragged. There were beautiful and innovative stories as well. Very evocative and mention worthy but most stories were just stories.
There was nothing more to them. The stories also had the same tone. Sometimes the style or the vantage point changed but mostly they were just stagnant. I had hoped to like this book and I did too, but not as much as I'd heard about it.
If you're looking for good magical realism stories, this is a recommendation. But if too much magical realism is a lot effort then I'd recommend to pair the read with another book.
I was reading it for a while now. It had about thirteen short stories, all told by different people who get stranded in a place because their flight gets cancelled.
At first it was a light read. I usually am not the sort of person who would read short stories, but these fit well with me. After a certain point the magical realism got to me.
Some stories were rushed and written in haste, whereas others were long and dragged. There were beautiful and innovative stories as well. Very evocative and mention worthy but most stories were just stories.
There was nothing more to them. The stories also had the same tone. Sometimes the style or the vantage point changed but mostly they were just stagnant. I had hoped to like this book and I did too, but not as much as I'd heard about it.
If you're looking for good magical realism stories, this is a recommendation. But if too much magical realism is a lot effort then I'd recommend to pair the read with another book.
sean_oelkers's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
ravikanthtm's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
suyashi29's review against another edition
3.0
A modern day renedition of Cantebury Tales, Tokyo Cancelled follows stories by 13 passengers who are stuck in an airport after their flight was forcefully landed due to snow and do not find a place to stay for the night. They decide to share stories throughout the night as they wait for their morning flight.
Dasgupta's ideas are interesting; they try to critique concepts of surveillance, alienation, capitalism and much more. At the same time, there are stories of hope, of love that knows no boundaries, of intimacy that unites people(much like the intimacy developed by the storytellers due to their circumstance). Most stories have magical realist elements, quite effective in some stories, while absolute failures in others.
However there are some major problems in the book. Firstly, the vocabulary used is a bit jarring, in the sense that it the words used irk and disrupt the flow of writing when their simpler synonyms could have made the narrative more effective. Secondly, since these are stories that are orally narrated(in terms of the setting of the book), I feel the stories are too convoluted and heavy to be understood if they were told rather than written. And finally, I found the overarching narrative too loose, where I felt that Dasgupta tried to give insights about characters without really achieving any other plot point. While I understand the importance of 'literariness', I'd expect such stories to be more accessible than what they are. I can understand how this book can land on the pretentious side of things for many, and I'd suggest that if you cannot get into the book in the 1st couple of stories, it'd be wiser to leave it at that.
Dasgupta's ideas are interesting; they try to critique concepts of surveillance, alienation, capitalism and much more. At the same time, there are stories of hope, of love that knows no boundaries, of intimacy that unites people(much like the intimacy developed by the storytellers due to their circumstance). Most stories have magical realist elements, quite effective in some stories, while absolute failures in others.
However there are some major problems in the book. Firstly, the vocabulary used is a bit jarring, in the sense that it the words used irk and disrupt the flow of writing when their simpler synonyms could have made the narrative more effective. Secondly, since these are stories that are orally narrated(in terms of the setting of the book), I feel the stories are too convoluted and heavy to be understood if they were told rather than written. And finally, I found the overarching narrative too loose, where I felt that Dasgupta tried to give insights about characters without really achieving any other plot point. While I understand the importance of 'literariness', I'd expect such stories to be more accessible than what they are. I can understand how this book can land on the pretentious side of things for many, and I'd suggest that if you cannot get into the book in the 1st couple of stories, it'd be wiser to leave it at that.
whatposhreads's review against another edition
1.0
give this book a miss..i majorly picked this book as im a sucker for short stories and an indian author with the concept for passengers stranded at the airport really got me going. i could barely finish the 1st story and had already lost interest. and this is my first ever book that i have left unread. absolutely gross..i don't know was he trying to be harukami or what !! initially i thought atleast the author had some good sense of fancy english words but as i read later the same words were repeated over and over again like for instance "tarmac" its there atleast once in every story!!! well there is a concept of antonyms and synonyms ! this is a typical byrpoduct of an nri..well people with money can do a lot of fancy things in this country.
i am so disappointed with this book that i actually took the time out to write this down so other people do not have to go through the torture of reading this .
i am so disappointed with this book that i actually took the time out to write this down so other people do not have to go through the torture of reading this .
christina_sirotich's review
2.0
This was torturous. The premise of the novel (strangers telling stories) was ultimately it's downfall as the majority of stories were not believable as tales told by the average person. The largely depressing and sexual nature of most of these stories was overbearing and furthered this failure. This book would have been stronger had it just been edited and presented as a collection of short stories.
miss_tsundoku's review against another edition
1.0
I lost interest by the fourth story. I can't believe Guardian hailed these stories 'outdo the Arabian Nights for inventiveness...' I can indulge in Scheherazade's stories for hours!
To be honest, I even skipped a couple of stories to avoid suicidal thoughts.
To be honest, I even skipped a couple of stories to avoid suicidal thoughts.