Reviews

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

moontsecp's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

dos personas lastimadas que se encuentran, a veces es todo lo que necesitamos, una sola persona

luisaknt's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

multenis's review against another edition

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3.0

The existence of this book doesn’t make much sense. It exists because it can and someone wanted to write it. If there is meaning to be found in it, one is made to read unnecessary passages to get to it. At first I thought I’d call this book pointless, but it’s not. Spaceless or perhaps spaceful, for it occupies a space but not the one that fits, for there is no place that it could fully call it’s own.

It is what it wants to be as much as a spider is a bug. (And for some people as much as tomatoe is a vegetable, which is to say - a bit more successfully.)

Anyway, rounded up because I’m nice like that, and also because the irony of life made me experience some unrelated physical pain while I read this book, and that just seems amusing to me.

vanybunny's review against another edition

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2.0

Ein kurzweiliges Buch mit wichtigem Thema, aber schlechter Umsetzung.

Darum geht's:
Der namenlose Junge, aus dessen Sicht das Buch geschrieben ist, wird in der Schule aufs übelste gemobbt. Und zwar wirklich heftig, keine kleinen Streiche, sondern vollkommenes physisches Mobbing, was teilweise wirklich schlimm zu lesen war. Tag ein tag aus lassen ihn seine Mitschüler durch die Hölle gehen. Eines Tages fängt er an Briefchen zu bekommen und weiß erst einmal nicht von wem sie sind. Die Briefe sind freundlich und entgegenkommend. Sie zaubern ihm immer ein kleines Lächeln ins Gesicht. Als er sich beschließt, die anonyme Person zu treffen, ist er erstaunt seine Klassenkameradin Kojima zu finden. Auch sie wird von den Mädchen ihrer Klasse gemobbt. Langsam blüht zwischen ihnen einige innige Freundschaft.

Meinung (kann leichte Spoiler enthalten):
Der Klappentext hat mir sehr zugesagt und mit knapp 160 kann man ja nichts falsch machen, dachte ich, doch leider hat mir das Buch nicht gefallen und nachfolgend erkläre ich auch wieso.

Dass unser Protagonist namenlos ist finde ich eigentlich nicht schlimm, sondern eher sogar sehr passend, so kann man sich besser in ihn hineinversetzen.

Das Mobbing, das er erleidet, ist wirklich heftig. Es ist also sehr wichtig, sich sicher zu sein, dass man das gelesene auch aushalten kann. Für Leute, die so etwas selbst durchlitten haben, vielleicht nicht unbedingt ein Buch, zu welchem man greifen sollte.

Die Story selbst war mir leider zu schwammig. Klar, war es schlimm, die Mobbing-Parts zu lesen, aber der Rest war wirklich sehr langweilig und ohne Ziel. Ich habe die ganze Zeit drauf gewartet, dass etwas passiert. Dass der Protagonist sich wehrt, dass er sich etwas antut, irgendwas. Aber es ist nichts geschehen. Selbst jetzt, nachdem ich das Buch beendet habe, weiß ich nicht, ob sich sein Leben je wirklich verbessert hat, ob das Mobbing aufgehört hat.

Ein großer Negativpunkt war für mich Kojima. Sie ist ein sehr merkwürdiges Mädchen, das sehr seltsame Dinge von sich gibt. Alles was sie sagte, hat überhaupt keinen Sinn ergeben. Sie hat ihm Vorwürfe gemacht und aufgehört mit ihm zu reden, weil er darüber nachdachte (!) seine Augenfehlstellung korrigieren zu lassen.

Fazit:
Ein kurzweiliges Buch mit wichtigem Thema, aber schlechter Umsetzung. Es ist immerhin ein fiktives Werk und ich hätte mir einen richtigen Abschluss gewünscht, egal ob traurig oder fröhlich. Aber so wie das buch ausging, war mir das alles zu unklar und undefiniert. All die Zeit, die er mit Kojima verbracht hat, ist sogesehen sinnlos gewesen.

lakmus's review against another edition

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4.0

Lord of the Flies was never about kids running wild on an island.

I'm not sure what I think, so, a list, in no particular order:
1. Subjectively, reading this lost me a bag of cortisol and got me some grey hair. Ethical dilemmas aside, this book could be used as textbook material for "how to traumatise people 101".
2. I like that this goes beyond "kids bully other kids bad, let's all be friends". The way kids treat each other is not different from how adults behave towards each other. School really is a special type of hell if the wrong group of people is thrown together, because for the most part, we have no idea how to keep people that might have nothing in common from establishing some baboon-style hierarchies and throwing shit at each other just because they can.
3. In terms of ethics, two choices are considered: people can be doing something, or they could be doing nothing. 'The something' could be actively hurting others just because you feel like it (Momose), it could be actively not doing things because that is a way to keep yourself in one piece internally when you can't really change things outside (Kojima). Or, you could be truly doing nothing (the protagonist, I'm not sure he ever got named). In the end, it seems like the guy really didn't do anything at all, things just kind of happened to him, but not because he was following a philosophy of Let Things Happen On Purpose (Kojima), but because he couldn't choose any course of action. There is no obvious solution to the dilemma: Kojima's mental health is likely in ruins and I doubt she lived to adulthood, doing whatever you want is obviously a bad choice, and doing nothing like the protagonist leaves everything to chance.
4. Kojima oddly reminded me of the manic pixie dream girl trope and I can't unsee it now? She appears when she's needed, imparts wisdom and comfort on the faceless protagonist, and then disappears once her narrative job is done. We learn things about her, but somehow not really. Or maybe it is just because she doesn't fit into the common idea of a victim and refuses to sulk.

medeeast4r's review against another edition

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4.0

3.75 I liked the writing ok. the way it talks about the different ways people see and perceive the world. I think in the end we saw a stark contrast of how someone thinks who want to get over It and move on and someone who just is the way they are because others perceive them that way. I didn't exactly get the ending, I would have liked to see korma stand up for herself too, but somehow I understand the deep frustration with her bullies and thinking " if that's what they think I am, ill be worse" ill add more to this review if I remember

davechua's review against another edition

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4.0

Two severely bullied students in a Japanese school bond. Some of the bullying scenes are quite harrowing. I enjoyed this far more than Breast and Eggs.

sivi_vjetar's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

honeyycomb's review against another edition

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I wasn't feeling it at first, which is why I DNF'D this book. But now that I'm really thinking about it, I could give it another go.

To anyone reading or has read this book, I suggest listening to Elephant by Bôa to get into the scenery. You have the visual part covered for you, now you have the audio paired up with it.

nadj's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5