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fabienne2's review against another edition
Another weird, existentialism book that is one of those horrible classics that are famous for their oddity rather than readability or enjoyment.
yiiiivhen's review
dark
slow-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? Yes
3.5
verw0rren's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
elspethm's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I read in a review of this book that it was similar to The Stranger by Camus and I guess it sort of is, but there is even less going on in this book. It's just a senseless murder and a man rambling around a small town for days. I don't see any reason for this book to be recommended much less for a '1001 book you *must* read'.
harrydehaan's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
4.25
copusb's review
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tudorache_a21's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
yleergetan's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
juuhae's review
3.0
What can I even say about this book? Former goalie Josef Bloch thinks he got fired because his coworkers don't look at him when he enters the room; so he wanders around the city. This continues for the rest of the 100 pages. Somewhere at the beginning, he murders a girl who he followed home, but he never acknowledges his crime directly. It's unclear if he's even aware of it. Most of the book just describes mundane tasks and events, to which Bloch's mind connects seemingly random meanings. Overall, it seems like the story of a man who slowly goes insane.
To be fair, there was a very eerie tension lurking beneath the plain text. There also were strange things happening; like the death of a deaf child whose body Bloch finds floating in a creek. Towards the end, paper articles about the police looking for the girl's murderer appear, but it is never revealed if Bloch gets caught. A very strange book indeed, which I normally love, but this was just too contentless to be interesting for more than 100 pages. It's called "Erzählung" in german, kind of like the american short story but not really. I think it would have worked better if it really was a short story, 25 pages max.
To be fair, there was a very eerie tension lurking beneath the plain text. There also were strange things happening; like the death of a deaf child whose body Bloch finds floating in a creek. Towards the end, paper articles about the police looking for the girl's murderer appear, but it is never revealed if Bloch gets caught. A very strange book indeed, which I normally love, but this was just too contentless to be interesting for more than 100 pages. It's called "Erzählung" in german, kind of like the american short story but not really. I think it would have worked better if it really was a short story, 25 pages max.