Reviews

Der Tag, an dem der Goldfisch aus dem 27. Stock fiel by Bradley Somer

bookishcat23's review against another edition

3.0

An enjoyable plunge through the lives of a cast of characters in an apartment building, the interwoven stories are engaging, but, at times, implausible. These days it seems that many novels featuring multiple characters are compelled to make themselves stand out by having so many unique characters. In doing so, those characters, as a compilation, become so eccentric as to be nearly unbelievable. Taken one by one they each seem plausible, but together this mix seems unique for the sake of being unique rather than genuine.

Still overall, a worthy read with some smart observations.

"It is an evitable reminder of time passing and how, through the very act of existence, the unmarred, unspoiled purpose of things moves inexorably toward expiration."

"Because what is love but a thoughtless and reckless abandon of reason in favor of emotion."

turtleearrings2002's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

jp_riemersma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing fast-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

4.0

majamahovac's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

bjr2022's review against another edition

5.0

{8/14/18 Reposting because this is such spectacular writing, and I have many more GR friends now than when I first read this delightful novel.}

Fishbowl is the magnificent tale of a fish's fall from a top-floor balcony and of all the apartment building's inhabitants' up-and-down-the-stairs travails. "Delicious" is the first word that comes to mind to describe Bradley Somer's exquisite prose. He expands moments, detailing fleeting actions or sensations. Here's a taste:

Garth draws a deep breath to steady his heart and gives the package a squeeze, pinching it between the crook of his arm and his torso. It gives a reassuring crackle in return. He takes it in both hands and gives it another squeeze. The softness compresses to a point, and then he can feel something solid and hard in the middle. He repeats the motion and decides he has to run up the remaining flights. He needs to move through this horrible space as quickly as he can. He needs to get to his apartment and recapture the full excitement he had felt before the stairwell sucked it out of him.

And

That’s where she met Matt, her first crush. Matt lifted weights every day and was on the high school football team. Matt worked the same shifts that she did. He looked so good in his work uniform. The company logo bent so slightly around the curve of his sculpted pectoral muscle. An embroidered little man in a waiter’s uniform dashed away from Matt’s armpit and toward the cleft in his chest, carrying a burger the size of his head on a platter. Three embroidered steam lines on the logo implied the food was fresh and piping hot.

And

Ian [the titular fish] is torn from the scene when, as he falls past the eighteenth floor, he discovers the final betrayal of his body. His instinct for freedom has led to several such revelations so far. Even in the short second of his flight, the experience has been more edifying than the months he spent in his bowl. He not only has found that he can’t breathe in this atmosphere but also that eyelids are handy devices and evolution has left him ill prepared for flight. Now he learns that the aerodynamic nature of his body, which allows him to slice through water so effortlessly, with the right amount of wind shear transforms him into a streamlined, nose-down golden rocket. It pushes his tail to the sky and forces his head ground-ward. The turbulence compels his body to wiggle in a fashion not dissimilar to swimming in a strong current. No longer does he tumble. His descent becomes much more sinister and direct through the shrieking air.

All these examples probably take the time of a thought, but the writing is so luscious and juicy and sometimes even crunchy and crispy that you want to read slowly. Hard, since the story is equally tasty and you want to know what happens next. This is a gentle, compassionate, exquisitely written look at life from a falling fish's eye view. I loved it!

I had an interesting personal experience reading: Time in this story is altered in many ways—perception is slowed down, while events concurrently unfold in and out of real time. The quantum mechanics notion that time simply doesn't exist as we experience it is played with and discussed. While reading Fishbowl my private sense of time was altered. Slowed perceptions plus events in real time became my "real" time, to such an extent that when I put the book down, I felt as if all my actions, thoughts, and reactions were like slogging through molasses. Imagine being away from gravity and then returning to it. I'd be curious to hear if other readers had this experience.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"And there was the point; there's no way to live your own life, we are all living each other's together." 

This was wild! Delving into the topics of freedom, love, mortality, grief, time and relativity, family planning, work and memory, all in under 300 pages, this was a pretty impressive story. It could have easily seemed exhibitionistic or intrusive,as it was kind of funky at times, but it was just vivid and real and perceptive, at times a little weird, I have to admit, but still, nothing was judged, everyone was just portrayed in an honest way (save for the chapter titles, which I think were kind of ironic) . This leaves it to the reader to judge people if needed, but that also makes judging people's actions and if they are good, bad or something else the last thing I want to do. There are a lot more interesting things to think about with this story. I did not expect that, but I am so glad I read this book and I really like it, down to the flip book drawing of the goldfish on every other page. I can only recommend it, if you're interested in an intense, surprising and meaningful story about how no one really is alone or unnoticed - even in a famously anonymous building in a famously anonymous city. Someone is impacted by your life. As you are by theirs. Even if you don't realize it. 

"It's an uncomfortable exposure to let oneself be true in the presence of another."

sonicbody's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

snazzybooks's review against another edition

4.0

Review posted on www.snazzybooks.com

Fishbowl is a unique and entertaining novel told from the perspective of a goldfish, falling out of a window and down many flights of stairs. Whilst he falls he observes the people inside these windows and their various and often contrasting lives. We also see their lives in the minutes leading up to this and learn more about their personal situations which is like becoming a voyeur and peeking into their private lives!

The characters in this story are all really interesting and made me want to read more about them. I particularly like Katie, whose boyfriend Connor we quickly learn is being unfaithful, builder Garth who has a secret and Jiminez, the janitor who seems to be taken advantage of a little by his boss. They were all vibrant, compelling characters.

There are times in the novel when I felt sad, happy, disheartened and uplifted. It took me a chapter or two to get into but once I did I loved every moment. The fact that the characters all live so close together but only a few people actually meet each other, and even that always seemed to be by complete chance, was interesting to me as I live in a city and often think about how little we know of our neighbours and people living around us.

Bradley Somer writes really beautifully- at some points I was blown away by the language he uses and love the way he so perfectly conveys the interior monologue of the characters, so you feel like you really knew them.

I would definitely recommend this novel, especially if you love peeking into the lives of other (fictional) people!

** Many thanks to the publisher for providing an Advance Reading Copy of this novel in return for an honest review. **

jwmcoaching's review against another edition

1.0

Did Not Finish.

Twee, phony philosophical claptrap with two-dimensional characters and plot points you can see coming a mile away.

havebookswilltravel's review against another edition

4.0

What started out as a cute but fluffy read actually turned out to be a pretty profound story about loneliness, love, and the cycle of life.