Reviews

Etýður í snjó by Yōko Tawada

jeanchristophe's review against another edition

5.0

I found it really cute

xtie's review against another edition

4.0

I love how weird Yoko Tawada gets - although I felt that as it moved closer to contemporary reality, the less direction it had - but maybe that was intentional.

jasoncfish's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

elianamtate's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

Rather tedious for my taste

lynzywhimsy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

meli_fassbender's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

amelo's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

alejandrasmith4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

adrianicsea's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.25

Several interesting ideas and angles of commentary, but they sometimes feel underdeveloped, like the book suffers from a lack of focus. Nevertheless, the narration does a fascinating job of conveying the internal monologue and thought process of each of the three polar bears.

hectaizani's review against another edition

4.0

The story of three generations of polar bears as told by the bear. The first unnamed bear seems to be able to communicate with humans through speech and is able to write. The second and third bears lose the ability to speak but are still somehow able to tell their stories. The book is broken down into three sections one for each bear. In the first section the focus is on the bear and her day to day life as she travels and writes her autobiography. In, the second section about Tosca the author spends quite a bit of time detailing the life of Tosca's keeper and on circus life in general rather than talking about the bear. In the third section we hear from Knut and his life in a zoo. Knut is lonely and isolated without much contact with other animals or even many people. His story is pretty sad. I thought this book was a wonderfully weird social commentary.