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anetq's review against another edition
2.0
I was thoroughly disappointed by this, I have to say. I loved the Hairdresser and it's characters, so I was expecting something good from Huchu.
What I got was a bunch of fairly useless men doing very little and to some extent waiting for women to save them. Not entertaining in any way. The three narrators of the title are mostly not very likeable (the magistrate is okay), and that make me not care what happens to them - when anything does happen, there is a lot of not-happening waste of life (though very verbose!), maybe if this had been cut down to half the length it would have worked, and the sudden plot that turns up in the last 5 pages wouldn't have seemed like a strange attempt to twist the book into being about something other than men being lost?
What I got was a bunch of fairly useless men doing very little and to some extent waiting for women to save them. Not entertaining in any way. The three narrators of the title are mostly not very likeable (the magistrate is okay), and that make me not care what happens to them - when anything does happen, there is a lot of not-happening waste of life (though very verbose!), maybe if this had been cut down to half the length it would have worked, and the sudden plot that turns up in the last 5 pages wouldn't have seemed like a strange attempt to twist the book into being about something other than men being lost?
zyzah's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
I get what the author was trying to do. Trying to show how 3 people with roots from Zimbabwe feel out of place in Edinburgh. But I don't think he was able to achieve that. He was trying too hard to relate all of their problems to their detachment from their country of origin.
The plot was flat and the end was awful.
The Maestro's story feels out of place in the book. Like another story entirely added to the book. So many questions I have no answer to.
.
I love his writing style though. He made the narration very distinct. The Maestro's narration was written like a string of consciousness poured on paper. No paragraphs. Dialogues were unquoted.
The Magistrate's narration was a normal narration.
The Mathematician's narration was almost normal except that numbers were written in figures instead of words. 1 day. 1 thing.
This book really had a great potential but it didn't do it for me. And it hurts me because it has a great potential. I wish the plot was stronger and better and more intense. I wish it was spiced up.
I get what the author was trying to do. Trying to show how 3 people with roots from Zimbabwe feel out of place in Edinburgh. But I don't think he was able to achieve that. He was trying too hard to relate all of their problems to their detachment from their country of origin.
The plot was flat and the end was awful.
The Maestro's story feels out of place in the book. Like another story entirely added to the book. So many questions I have no answer to.
.
I love his writing style though. He made the narration very distinct. The Maestro's narration was written like a string of consciousness poured on paper. No paragraphs. Dialogues were unquoted.
The Magistrate's narration was a normal narration.
The Mathematician's narration was almost normal except that numbers were written in figures instead of words. 1 day. 1 thing.
This book really had a great potential but it didn't do it for me. And it hurts me because it has a great potential. I wish the plot was stronger and better and more intense. I wish it was spiced up.
b00kr3vi3ws's review against another edition
4.0
I have to get a disclaimer out of the way at the very beginning. The author, Tendai Huchu, has a very special place in my heart as he was the first author to trust me with his book when I was just starting out with my blog about three years back. But I will try to be fair and impartial with my review.
I had thoroughly enjoyed Mr.Huchu’s first two works of fiction – An Untimely Love and The Hairdresser of Harare – especially the second one. So I was equal parts excited and equal parts nervous to pick up his book. On one hand, with his track record certain qualities were guaranteed and on the other hand I was apprehensive – what if I didn’t like this enough. After procrastinating for as long as I could, I finally picked the book up and finished it in one sitting.
Just as the name suggests, the story revolves around three central characters – the Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician. These three people are far away from their homeland, Zimbabwe and are struggling with the sense of loss and their identity. They are trying to make a new life for themselves and find that feeling of belonging. As their stories overlap, the readers are in for a surprise. The plot is interesting and well planned out. It was really easy to get into the minds of the characters as they developed through the author’s gratifying narration style. And so, it was easy to follow them closely and often empathize with them especially when each of them was trying to find some sort of balance in their lives. They are such unique individuals that they each bring something different and flavorful to the story.
One thing I have come to realize about the author is the fact that he writes about things he knows well. And thus, it is easy for the reader to get into the thick of things while reading his books. Also, there is this underlying factor of culture that is so rich and vibrant that it is practically impossible not to fall in love with the stories. This book provided me with few hours of pure entertainment and I would recommend you to give it a try!
I had thoroughly enjoyed Mr.Huchu’s first two works of fiction – An Untimely Love and The Hairdresser of Harare – especially the second one. So I was equal parts excited and equal parts nervous to pick up his book. On one hand, with his track record certain qualities were guaranteed and on the other hand I was apprehensive – what if I didn’t like this enough. After procrastinating for as long as I could, I finally picked the book up and finished it in one sitting.
Just as the name suggests, the story revolves around three central characters – the Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician. These three people are far away from their homeland, Zimbabwe and are struggling with the sense of loss and their identity. They are trying to make a new life for themselves and find that feeling of belonging. As their stories overlap, the readers are in for a surprise. The plot is interesting and well planned out. It was really easy to get into the minds of the characters as they developed through the author’s gratifying narration style. And so, it was easy to follow them closely and often empathize with them especially when each of them was trying to find some sort of balance in their lives. They are such unique individuals that they each bring something different and flavorful to the story.
One thing I have come to realize about the author is the fact that he writes about things he knows well. And thus, it is easy for the reader to get into the thick of things while reading his books. Also, there is this underlying factor of culture that is so rich and vibrant that it is practically impossible not to fall in love with the stories. This book provided me with few hours of pure entertainment and I would recommend you to give it a try!
katherinevarga's review
emotional
funny
sad
tense
An emotional roller coaster! I alternated between loving the writing (some gorgeous passages on reading/walking/philosophizing and some pretty funny bits) and feeling put off by it (lots of misogyny amongst the main characters and some violence). I think I caught some secondhand depression from the Maestro. The ending was a bit jarring and made the book as a whole feel more pessimistic than I was expecting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Death
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Animal death
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