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roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
3.0
"Câțiva dintre noi s-au dus până la gardul viu și și-au fâlfâit în fața sătenilor penisurile mici și imature, ca niște piersici roșiatice.”
Doamnelor și domnilor, vă prezint câștigătorul premiului Nobel pentru literatură din 1994, Kenzaburō Ōe. Care are, între noi fie vorba, o fixație cu funduri și penisuri, mai ales cu cele ale protagoniștilor-copii, care își fac apariția în carte o dată la câteva pagini.
În afara fixației erotice, însă, cartea pare să și aibă ceva de zis: în timpul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial, câțiva copii de la școala de corecție sunt duși din sat în sat pentru a-i adăposti de război și sunt tratați peste tot ca niște mici criminali. Când în sfârșit se găsește un sat gata să-i ia, însă, izbucnește o molimă și sătenii fug, părăsindu-i în așezarea abandonată. E genul de carte care vrea să-ți smulgă o lacrimă (sau un pic de șoc, depinde dacă ești pe o pagină unde cineva suferă, sau pe una în care tinerii își flutură penisurile).
Traducerea e fluentă și ușor de citit - constat că Poliromul are fler la traducerile din japoneză, care sunt mult mai digerabile decât ale celor de la Humanitas.
Doamnelor și domnilor, vă prezint câștigătorul premiului Nobel pentru literatură din 1994, Kenzaburō Ōe. Care are, între noi fie vorba, o fixație cu funduri și penisuri, mai ales cu cele ale protagoniștilor-copii, care își fac apariția în carte o dată la câteva pagini.
În afara fixației erotice, însă, cartea pare să și aibă ceva de zis: în timpul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial, câțiva copii de la școala de corecție sunt duși din sat în sat pentru a-i adăposti de război și sunt tratați peste tot ca niște mici criminali. Când în sfârșit se găsește un sat gata să-i ia, însă, izbucnește o molimă și sătenii fug, părăsindu-i în așezarea abandonată. E genul de carte care vrea să-ți smulgă o lacrimă (sau un pic de șoc, depinde dacă ești pe o pagină unde cineva suferă, sau pe una în care tinerii își flutură penisurile).
Traducerea e fluentă și ușor de citit - constat că Poliromul are fler la traducerile din japoneză, care sunt mult mai digerabile decât ale celor de la Humanitas.
emily1602's review
Not bad. I thought at the beginning it was going to be overly-edgy for me. The kids are abused and miserable while the adults are in charge. They were being beaten and having graphic diarrhea in like the first chapter, how much worse was it going to get? But I was thinking that because of the comparisons to 'Lord of the Flies.' From what I remember in high school, things in that book just get worse and worse the longer the kids are left on their own. But here the kids slowly start to do better after the villagers abandon them because of the plague. Even at the happiest moments, they are wringing the necks of birds and gleefully disemboweling them. But they are also having nice moments of friendship and kindness. Then the adult world begins to touch them again, and things go right back to being terrible.
levkee's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
jessiev's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ypres's review against another edition
**Warning: this text may contain spoilers** Es corto, no llega ni a 200 páginas, pero contiene todo el dolor, la violencia y el terror del mundo. Es doloroso leerlo, por eso puedes tardar mucho en terminarlo. Es un libro violento y en ocasiones terrorífico, pero no solo porque narre situaciones violentas y turbadoras (hay muchas). Hay algo en la atmósfera desde la primera página. No sé explicar como Kenzaburo Oé lo logra, pero siempre estás tenso y sufres las penurias del protagonista como si te pasaran a ti. Tal vez sea porque, muy en el fondo, todos llevemos dentro esa atmósfera y este libro sea capaz de sacarla a relucir. Pero hay algo en la naturalidad y casi tranquilidad con las que el protagonista narra todos los desprecios y vejaciones que sufren los niños que hace que te absorba inmediatamente, que te incomoda y tensa permanentemente. (continuará)(...)
Es impresionante. Uno de los mejores libros que he leído en mi vida.
Es impresionante. Uno de los mejores libros que he leído en mi vida.
potatodel's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Rape and Adult/minor relationship
kingfan30's review
3.0
Most of the way through I kept thinking of Lord of the Flies, to find most of the reviews I have read felt the same! I read this pretty quickly and found it pretty shocking in places. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, without giving the game away to any future reader, I found it just came to an abrupt end.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
2.0
This translation is really awful. But the novel itself was good.
motifenjoyer's review
3.0
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids (1958) is the first novel by Japanese Nobel laureate Kenzaburō Ōe and was translated into English by Paul St. John Mackintosh and Maki Sugiyama. It's the third book I've read by Ōe, whose novel A Personal Matter is one of my absolute favorites. It's also particularly interesting because it's the only full-length novel Ōe wrote before the birth of his first son, who is disabled, in 1963. Ōe's son has been a profound influence on his work, so it's intriguing to see how his writing looked before his son was born.
Nip the Buds is told from the perspective of an unnamed adolescent boy. Along with his classmates in a boys' reformatory school, the narrator is evacuated to the countryside during World War II. But soon after they arrive in a small village, the boys are abandoned by the villagers, who are fleeing a plague spreading throughout the countryside. There are obvious parallels to Lord of the Flies, published four years earlier (although I haven't seen any confirmation that Ōe read or was even aware of that novel.) But Ōe's book is also clearly a product of its cultural and historical context. The introduction of the English edition I read states that "Ōe's anger against his elders' sheeplike complicity in the disastrous militarist adventure, against the generals who led the people to the end of the road only to abandon them, against the craven reversal of ideologies, is venomously evident," and the novel was clearly influenced by Ōe's upbringing during World War II.
Ultimately, I think I appreciated the intent of this book more than I actually liked it. Several Goodreads reviews I've read criticized the translation, which might be part of why I found it lacking (the other two Ōe books I've read were translated by John Nathan, who even got to go to Stockholm with Ōe when he was awarded the Nobel.) The pacing also seemed a bit odd to me, although it's difficult to explain why without spoiling the ending. I'm glad I read it, but it doesn't live up to Ōe's other great works IMO.
Check out my bookstagram for more international reads!
Nip the Buds is told from the perspective of an unnamed adolescent boy. Along with his classmates in a boys' reformatory school, the narrator is evacuated to the countryside during World War II. But soon after they arrive in a small village, the boys are abandoned by the villagers, who are fleeing a plague spreading throughout the countryside. There are obvious parallels to Lord of the Flies, published four years earlier (although I haven't seen any confirmation that Ōe read or was even aware of that novel.) But Ōe's book is also clearly a product of its cultural and historical context. The introduction of the English edition I read states that "Ōe's anger against his elders' sheeplike complicity in the disastrous militarist adventure, against the generals who led the people to the end of the road only to abandon them, against the craven reversal of ideologies, is venomously evident," and the novel was clearly influenced by Ōe's upbringing during World War II.
Ultimately, I think I appreciated the intent of this book more than I actually liked it. Several Goodreads reviews I've read criticized the translation, which might be part of why I found it lacking (the other two Ōe books I've read were translated by John Nathan, who even got to go to Stockholm with Ōe when he was awarded the Nobel.) The pacing also seemed a bit odd to me, although it's difficult to explain why without spoiling the ending. I'm glad I read it, but it doesn't live up to Ōe's other great works IMO.
Check out my bookstagram for more international reads!