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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
This is a tough one. Yes, there is some black humor but I just couldn't think of it as a comedy, black or otherwise. Well written and insightful, intriguing premise, appealing start and just too damn depressing.
This novella is something like "Diary of a Nobody", but with decidedly anti-social twists.
It's completely hilarious through the first part, then perhaps less so as the conclusion is marched towards. The three main characters are somewhat pathetic, hopelessly lonely and stunted, and each has longed for the death of at least one other person. So we aren't cheering too hard for any of them.
This is a quick and enjoyable read -- and your own life will seem not so bad, in comparison. ;-)
It's completely hilarious through the first part, then perhaps less so as the conclusion is marched towards. The three main characters are somewhat pathetic, hopelessly lonely and stunted, and each has longed for the death of at least one other person. So we aren't cheering too hard for any of them.
This is a quick and enjoyable read -- and your own life will seem not so bad, in comparison. ;-)
вкрай несподівана (і дуже хороша) книжка.
починається все як легка й навіть трохи життєствердна історія. звісно, вже в перших розділах з'являються похмурі обертони – флешбеки у страшне дитинство головної героїні – але весь час здається, що берніс рубенс зробить із цієї закваски комедію... щось максимально схоже на комедію.
фігушкі.
починається все як легка й навіть трохи життєствердна історія. звісно, вже в перших розділах з'являються похмурі обертони – флешбеки у страшне дитинство головної героїні – але весь час здається, що берніс рубенс зробить із цієї закваски комедію... щось максимально схоже на комедію.
фігушкі.
I'm not sure what I expected this book to be like but it definitely surprised me. I went into this thinking it would be a nice story about retirement only to find the opposite, a dark comedy of some sorts.
This is an odd little story about a woman who retires and plans to kill herself. Only she gets a diary from her colleagues as a retirement gift that dates up to 5 years and being a stickler for rules she decides to serve her five year sentence following every command she notes down in the diary and at first the commands seem simple enough but later on they become bolder and more daring in nature.
This is an odd little story about a woman who retires and plans to kill herself. Only she gets a diary from her colleagues as a retirement gift that dates up to 5 years and being a stickler for rules she decides to serve her five year sentence following every command she notes down in the diary and at first the commands seem simple enough but later on they become bolder and more daring in nature.
please don't let me be miss hawkins please don't let me be miss hawkins please don't let me be miss hawkins
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
sad
fast-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
Erste Hälfte ein großes Vergnügen, die zweite fand ich weniger überzeugend. "Drei Jahre später" ist im Film wie im Buch immer schwierig, vor allem, wenn im Abschnitt davor viel passiert ist und im Abschnitt danach auch wieder viel passiert. Aber in den drei Jahren dazwischen soll einfach nur Zeit vergangen sein.
All her life Miss Hawkins has taken orders from other people, first at the orphanage, where Matron made her life miserable, then at the candy factory where she worked for forty years. Now that she has retired she doesn't know what to do with herself and so prepares her suicide.
But wait! Her co-workers have given her a five-year diary. It feels like another command - she must fulfill it!
So begins this hilarious and cleverly written 1978 Booker-nominated novel. Each day Miss Hawkins writes a challenge in the form of an already completed order which she is bound to fulfill in the next 24 hours. At first the challenges are ordinary - "Took a long walk" or "Went to buy food" - very easy to check off with her red pencil. But when she writes the challenge "Went to library and met a man" she starts setting herself increasingly urgent challenges and her five-year descent into madness begins!
But wait! Her co-workers have given her a five-year diary. It feels like another command - she must fulfill it!
So begins this hilarious and cleverly written 1978 Booker-nominated novel. Each day Miss Hawkins writes a challenge in the form of an already completed order which she is bound to fulfill in the next 24 hours. At first the challenges are ordinary - "Took a long walk" or "Went to buy food" - very easy to check off with her red pencil. But when she writes the challenge "Went to library and met a man" she starts setting herself increasingly urgent challenges and her five-year descent into madness begins!
Just not feeling this right now. I Olán to revisit it at a later date. I started it and wasn’t in the mood for it. Still am not. Someday though