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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
slow-paced
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
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:
Yes
challenging
slow-paced
informative
mysterious
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
What a disappointment, what a miss! The surrealist movement has spoken to me through cinema and art, and I was awaiting the encounter with it in literature as well, yet, I felt like the author never quite made a point, but struggled going in a circle that never peaked.
Told from a first person perspective, there are really two elements of narrative, Breton wandering through Paris, through all the places that have a special meaning to him, visiting his (famous) friends, kind of reminiscent of 'Mrs. Dalloway'. The other being his encounters with Nadja, a mysterious young woman who rarely makes sense, and enjoys recounting scenes from her life. These are all conversations, there is a link, a charm, but it's more one of imaginative fascination than romance. At first glance, Nadja could be interpreted as eccentric, she meets all sort of characters, even gets herself into legal trouble, and it remains somewhat of a question if these things actually happened to her.
Their encounters read like a collection of slice of life type of stories, and I just didn't get a sense of their importance rather than an interesting tidbit in the moment. Sure, Nadja is interesting as a person and leaves you wondering if she is a figment of Breton's imagination or an actual living being, but their conversations didn't make me think deeply, didn't challenge me in any way, so for me it was pretty forgettable.
Told from a first person perspective, there are really two elements of narrative, Breton wandering through Paris, through all the places that have a special meaning to him, visiting his (famous) friends, kind of reminiscent of 'Mrs. Dalloway'. The other being his encounters with Nadja, a mysterious young woman who rarely makes sense, and enjoys recounting scenes from her life. These are all conversations, there is a link, a charm, but it's more one of imaginative fascination than romance. At first glance, Nadja could be interpreted as eccentric, she meets all sort of characters, even gets herself into legal trouble, and it remains somewhat of a question if these things actually happened to her.
Their encounters read like a collection of slice of life type of stories, and I just didn't get a sense of their importance rather than an interesting tidbit in the moment. Sure, Nadja is interesting as a person and leaves you wondering if she is a figment of Breton's imagination or an actual living being, but their conversations didn't make me think deeply, didn't challenge me in any way, so for me it was pretty forgettable.
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After loving the surrealism exhibition and Breton's physical works, I assumed I would also love 'Nadja'. I was instead left feeling disappointed, frustrated by his treatment of Nadja as a manic pixie dream girl, a surrealist subject, an exciting interlude that could be severed as soon as her 'quirks' manifested into something more socially shunned. Perhaps I am not well read enough to understand it but the beginning and end of the novel also seemed self indulgent and with little point other than masquerading deep thought and intellect. Breton just seems like a dick.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated