Reviews

The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen

emasvingerova's review against another edition

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3.0

Moc dobře vykreslená atmosféra, místy mi běhal mráz po zádech, ale jinak jsem se musela do čtení dost nutit, magický realismus mám moc ráda, ale tady mě to tolik nevzalo.

sarahlreadseverything's review against another edition

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4.0

One word keeps coming to mind with this book - ethereal. It's magical, sometimes funny, sometimes scary and deeply disturbing, but mostly just ethereal. Its that type of magical realism that makes you doubt yourself and the perspective of every narrator and character in the thing. I'm not sure if i'll ever come to a conclusion as to what parts of the story were 'real' (in a fictional sense), but I suspect its going to float around in my head for a while yet.

marshmallowinjection's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

pandalif's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Interesting story. I was confused a couple of times which could have been due to the translation or the nature of the story. 

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ljutavidra's review against another edition

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3.0

Iskreno? Očekivala sam više. U početku je zaista delovalo kao nešto što bi Kaurismaki snimio da bi pred kraj već otišlo u nebuloze a la Linč i H. Murakami (koji su ruku na srce i spomenuti na koricama). Ne volim magični realizam i očekivala sam neko konkretno razrešenje glavne misterije (kao što je razrešena sporedna misterija), ali daaaa... Ostala sam praznih ruku.

slichto3's review against another edition

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5.0

I very much enjoyed this book. The story is eerie, riveting, and at times confusing. It's a mystery that keeps you guessing throughout - about what's really going on and what is going to happen.

The story is mostly told by the main character: Ella. She's a substitute literature teacher, and, after a story she writes is published, she gets accepted into the Rabbit Back Literature Society (hey, the title!). This is a society of nine other writers, all of whom became famous under the tutelage of the leader of the society, Laura White. Laura White herself is a famous childrens author. Everything seems like it's going to go great, except, at the party where Ella is accepted into the Society, Laura White disappears under extremely odd circumstances. What follows is Ella's attempts to solve a number of mysteries, including what happened to Laura White, what is the history of this mysterious Society, and why are books with altered plots appearing throughout the town?

It's all very well-written in a way that kept me wanting to read more. The author had an interesting tactic when important events would occur. He would sometimes sort of refer to what happened at the event, but in a very unsatisfying way. Then, later, the fullness of that event would slowly be fully explained. It's something that I haven't seen before and found to be very effective (after I figured out that it wasn't a mistake). That sort of thing typified much of the writing: mysterious, keeping you on the edge of understanding what was going on, which kept you reading to find more pieces to the puzzle.

I really enjoyed that effort of trying to solve the plot and the mysteries. It was fun. It was even more fun because the solutions are a bit ambiguous. It's a mental challenge - one that I relished. I'd recommend this book highly - especially if you like trying to solve puzzles like me!

js1512's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

luciearan's review against another edition

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4.0

Mám ráda finskou literaturu, obzvláště pokud se jedná o tzv. suomikumma – „finské podivno“. Je úžasné, jak se v jediné knize mísí několik literárních směrů a přitom se vzájemně dokonale propojují.
Ale tahle kniha mě zastihla naprosto nepřipravenou, vytrhla mě z reality, do níž mě, po jejím dočtení, zase nemilosrdně vhodila zpět. Plnou pocitů a myšlenek.
V první chvíli jsem po ní sáhla proto, že mě zaujala její obálka a nemenší měrou i anotace. Ani zdaleka jsem však nečekala to, co následovalo. Kniha vás od samého začátku dokáže průběžně vyvádět z míry a zajetých kolejí a zároveň s nemenší měrou ukolébávat na vlnách příjemně plynoucího děje. Rozhodně však není čtením pro každého.
Asi jedinou věcí, kterou mohu vytknout, jsou jména postav přeložená do češtiny. Je mi jasné, proč tomu tak je, ale za sebe musím přiznat, že jsem s tímto faktem tvrdě bojovala možná víc jak do poloviny knihy a silně mě to vytrhovalo z děje. Proto ubírám onu jednu hvězdičku.

jemima_reads's review against another edition

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I just got really bored; characters were very uninteresting 

eshalliday's review against another edition

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3.0

Pretty good, though it's frustrating how much the male author's female protagonist suffers from the male gaze.