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sensormellow's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
mcnevinh's review against another edition
5.0
My favorite novel by one of my favorite authors. Brilliantly written, it follows the lives of seemingly unremarkable people living in the city right around now. (This was originally released in 1972.) Disch goes to both heights and to depths one doesn’t see coming. For all his dark imaginings, he also attains an astonishing level of verisimilitude in the midst of the character’s strangest moments. Both funny (uneasily) and, it's worth noting, very bleak.
akemi_666's review against another edition
4.0
there's a scene here, where a mother, evicted from her apartment, sets all her furniture outside on fire, and when she disappears back into the apartment complex, her daughter settles onto a smouldering mattress, to be engulfed by the flames completely
—but then a fireman extinguishes the flames
i don't think i've read a book that captures the lethargic, ecstatic and idiotic feeling of desolation, so sincerely and ironically, at the same time
one time, during a depressive spell, my gp asked me whether i had suicidal ideations, and i replied 'isn't that normal?' she slowly shook her head, with an expression half bemused, half pitying
i dedicate this book to her
—but then a fireman extinguishes the flames
i don't think i've read a book that captures the lethargic, ecstatic and idiotic feeling of desolation, so sincerely and ironically, at the same time
one time, during a depressive spell, my gp asked me whether i had suicidal ideations, and i replied 'isn't that normal?' she slowly shook her head, with an expression half bemused, half pitying
i dedicate this book to her
librarianguish's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
erraticeldandil's review against another edition
This is turning out to be a two or three star so far and I just don't have time for that.
I think someone who's interested in analyzing what this dystopia means about the 1970s would get some value out of it, but that's not really something I'm interested in doing right now and the prose is not magnetic enough to keep me in.
I think someone who's interested in analyzing what this dystopia means about the 1970s would get some value out of it, but that's not really something I'm interested in doing right now and the prose is not magnetic enough to keep me in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Lesbophobia
funcharge's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
albcorp's review against another edition
4.0
Urban dystopia that feels like the precursor to Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake trilogy. Many acute observations, and great feel for the disconnect between the overriding concerns of the age and the concerns of a life lived at the bottom of the hierarchy
deadwolfbones's review against another edition
1.0
Really unconvincing, really wasn't enjoying it, couldn't bring myself to finish it because I just didn't care.
I think maybe I'm getting burned out on New Wave SF in general.
I think maybe I'm getting burned out on New Wave SF in general.
nwhyte's review against another edition
3.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2339104.html[return][return]The disjointed narrative failed to engage me, and I felt that the stories never quite concentrated sufficiently on either near-future world-building or interesting characterisation. It was interesting that Disch correctly saw the politics of reproduction as being so prominent in the twenty-first century, although the detail has turned out rather differently.