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mwalsh97's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? N/A
4.5
I perfectly understand what this book is about but also have zero idea.
It’s beautiful, it’s dark, it fucking weird. And it was utterly amazing. This is the kind of book that should be in high school English classes.
Add-on as of 7/3: I have not been able to stop thinking about this book. I like it more and more as it marinates in my brain.
It’s beautiful, it’s dark, it fucking weird. And it was utterly amazing. This is the kind of book that should be in high school English classes.
Add-on as of 7/3: I have not been able to stop thinking about this book. I like it more and more as it marinates in my brain.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy
ash_tambora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was an interesting read for me. I like that the book focuses on working class people. I feel like I could meet them in real life--not to say that they're actually likeable. I was amused by the philosophical conversation later in the story. It's not too complicated or even hard to understand. If you're looking for a hard sci-fi book, this is not for you. If you're looking for a story that has a larger message about the human condition, then this may suit you. Warning, there is some misogyny and racism in the book. That aspect is distasteful, but typical of the 70s.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
Minor: Racism
beckhaze's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
frazzzzle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity
helloits_sam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Ableism and Misogyny
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Medical content, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and War
skywhales's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
another foray into classic sci-fi. even introduced by ursula k le guin! (the version i read was). burned through this in a day. this is definitely a book that i think only got the score that it did because of my personal reading biases. i've never claimed to be an objective reader but at least i have the self awareness to recognize that i am not an objective reader. and i did get the major thing i wanted from this book anyway.
i was fascinated by this premise as soon as i heard about it. the idea of humans basically being a blip on the galactic scale. the cockroaches in the rest stop of the universe. aliens who just stopped by and left a bunch of weird shit around that no one knows how to clean up. the Science Fiction in this book was good. the world it created was gritty but interesting. this book's tone is...mostly depressing, pretty much all the way through. which i don't usually love in my normal reads but i already knew going in that in lots of ways this would be a departure from my normal reads. and despite the extreme open endedness of it (another thing i don't usually enjoy) the ending was very poignant, and i believe it'll be the thing that sticks with me the most from this book.
i know you can't judge older books by the standard of the modern era or whatever but god the sexism was a MAJOR factor that impacted my enjoyment of the book. every woman being someone's girlfriend or wife or daughter and reduced to a meaningless sex object or (in the monkey's case) a catalyst for growth from the protagonist. dina's one personality trait was getting called a slut by men fifteen years older than her. a man apparently has a running joke about SAVING HIMSELF FOR AN EIGHT YEAR OLD. the usage of "young men" vs "girls." my expectations were low but this went lower. yuck.
most of the characters were relatively unlikable, but that added to the grim and generally crappy world they lived in and didn't really turn me off from the book, since this isn't really the kind of thing i'm reading for great lovable character design.
in general i think the actual, central "roadside picnic" was the best and most engaging part of the story. i might have liked this better if it had been even shorter, like novella length, because then maybe they wouldn't have gone into detail on all the shit i disliked (the fucking misogyny) and centralized the stuff i read it for in the first place. but my regular disclaimer: maybe i'm just uncultured.
i was fascinated by this premise as soon as i heard about it. the idea of humans basically being a blip on the galactic scale. the cockroaches in the rest stop of the universe. aliens who just stopped by and left a bunch of weird shit around that no one knows how to clean up. the Science Fiction in this book was good. the world it created was gritty but interesting. this book's tone is...mostly depressing, pretty much all the way through. which i don't usually love in my normal reads but i already knew going in that in lots of ways this would be a departure from my normal reads. and despite the extreme open endedness of it (another thing i don't usually enjoy) the ending was very poignant, and i believe it'll be the thing that sticks with me the most from this book.
i know you can't judge older books by the standard of the modern era or whatever but god the sexism was a MAJOR factor that impacted my enjoyment of the book. every woman being someone's girlfriend or wife or daughter and reduced to a meaningless sex object or (in the monkey's case) a catalyst for growth from the protagonist. dina's one personality trait was getting called a slut by men fifteen years older than her. a man apparently has a running joke about SAVING HIMSELF FOR AN EIGHT YEAR OLD. the usage of "young men" vs "girls." my expectations were low but this went lower. yuck.
most of the characters were relatively unlikable, but that added to the grim and generally crappy world they lived in and didn't really turn me off from the book, since this isn't really the kind of thing i'm reading for great lovable character design.
in general i think the actual, central "roadside picnic" was the best and most engaging part of the story. i might have liked this better if it had been even shorter, like novella length, because then maybe they wouldn't have gone into detail on all the shit i disliked (the fucking misogyny) and centralized the stuff i read it for in the first place. but my regular disclaimer: maybe i'm just uncultured.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Alcohol
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Pedophilia
discodetective's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Very interesting thoughts about what first contact could be and how different aliens would be from us here on Earth. That even the things they carelessly (?) leave behind could be massively dangerous or beneficial.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
mlewis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, and War
Minor: Pregnancy and Pandemic/Epidemic
saraaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Racism