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onkeltuka's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
lostkafka's review against another edition
3.0
Felt like a reading good slice of life short story book,
also It ended just as abruptly as it began !!
also It ended just as abruptly as it began !!
alexander5_'s review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I did not finish this. Around the beginning I was very into what the book was displaying and giving me to chew on, but it just became horribly tacked-on and repetitive. There are great moments sprinkled throughout the book but the characters are so dull that you hardly care about them! Sensei is such a dick! And most of the book is written like, 'Sensei did this, sensei did that' you don't even get to see Tsukiko say his name in the latter portions of the book!
Also, Tsukiko, oh boy.
Tsukiko is horrifically boring, and I mean that with complete honesty. She is apparently middle-aged but any intelligent or insightful writing is removed considering the book never acknowledges her age! Where are the complex and realistic chapters about the fear of ageing and going into possible medical or mental issues she may be facing! Kawakami is so unforgiveably uninterested in going head-first into the complexities of her characters that you don't care one bit about them as time supposedly goes on.
Why does Sensei die without any previous warning?
What happened to Kojima and why is his descent into adulthood at a young age not explored enough?
Why is Ms Ishino hardly explored?
Why does the book never feel the need to mention high-school and the main character's parental situations or family ties?
So much of the thing is padding, and painfully repetitive and repeated writing that goes nowhere and creates nearly no interesting prose. Sometimes Kawakami will break up the monotony with a 'complex' sounding word, but realistically the writing is so insistent on Sensei that I had to laugh and feel like I needed to bang my head against a brick wall to remove the constant insertion of Sensei doing the smallest thing ever.
.....
The book was nice at the start, and had a few decent scenarios and character moments, but it soon unravels to become consistently undercooked, with a love story that is almost as insipid as Sensei himself. I'm done.
Also, Tsukiko, oh boy.
Tsukiko is horrifically boring, and I mean that with complete honesty. She is apparently middle-aged but any intelligent or insightful writing is removed considering the book never acknowledges her age! Where are the complex and realistic chapters about the fear of ageing and going into possible medical or mental issues she may be facing! Kawakami is so unforgiveably uninterested in going head-first into the complexities of her characters that you don't care one bit about them as time supposedly goes on.
Why does Sensei die without any previous warning?
What happened to Kojima and why is his descent into adulthood at a young age not explored enough?
Why is Ms Ishino hardly explored?
Why does the book never feel the need to mention high-school and the main character's parental situations or family ties?
So much of the thing is padding, and painfully repetitive and repeated writing that goes nowhere and creates nearly no interesting prose. Sometimes Kawakami will break up the monotony with a 'complex' sounding word, but realistically the writing is so insistent on Sensei that I had to laugh and feel like I needed to bang my head against a brick wall to remove the constant insertion of Sensei doing the smallest thing ever.
.....
The book was nice at the start, and had a few decent scenarios and character moments, but it soon unravels to become consistently undercooked, with a love story that is almost as insipid as Sensei himself. I'm done.
kcjulia's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lulu_mizuno's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.75
Jail. No parole.
rly's review against another edition
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
3.75
reli's review against another edition
5.0
The moment they started dating, I felt everything clicked in my head
veebee257's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
gillthequill's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
2.5 Stars. A Reddit post recommended this book for me. I really enjoyed the first stretch of this book. I thought it was going to be a nice look through a series of vignettes of an intergenerational friendship. I enjoyed the loving descriptions of eating and drinking, the focus on environmental details and descriptions, and the moments between the two characters. But as the story went on (really from the chapter The Cherry Blossom Festival), I felt like the novel was losing me. Was it the sudden halting and uncertain romance? Was it the acknowledgement that whatever these two have, it will not last? Was it the sense of... smallness I felt towards the protagonist, childish and aimlessly drifting through her own life? I'm not sure. Either way, it was a well written book... just to me, fell flat towards the end. I don't know what I was expecting (digging deeper into the alcoholism between the two characters, maybe a more overt discussion of their loneliness, maybe even an expansion of the Beach chapter, dreamlike and symbolic to make the implied explicit, I don't know) but I'd recommend borrowing this one instead of buying if you have the chance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Minor: Death
8797999's review against another edition
3.0
A book I started this past summer but didn't really get into it until this week. It isn't my usual sort of read, a little feminine for my tastes but on the whole I enjoyed it. I dipped in and out until about 40/50 pages in when I properly sat down to read it.
Very enjoyable and I would give it 3.5/5 stars.
Very enjoyable and I would give it 3.5/5 stars.