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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
mysterious
reflective
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
dark
sad
fast-paced
Disturbing, dark and poignant. This book follows a man who has just lost his best friend at war. His grief and remorse is written well and details his descent into a vengeful mania. The writer wins by portraying him in both his blaming rage and guilty penance. There are strong pictures of racism, colonialism and the effects of war sprinkled in.
But other than that, the book was not impressive in any major way. Nothing in it will make you admire the author. The protagonist keeps sexualising and objectifying random stuff. Do readers still consider that sort of thing good metaphor even today? There’s also supposed to be a limit to how many times a person can call themselves beautiful. The saving grace is it’s page count.
If anything this book has made me curious about how it managed to bag the Booker prize! Was there nothing better written in 2021? I assumed the pandemic forced people to write more.
But other than that, the book was not impressive in any major way. Nothing in it will make you admire the author. The protagonist keeps sexualising and objectifying random stuff. Do readers still consider that sort of thing good metaphor even today? There’s also supposed to be a limit to how many times a person can call themselves beautiful. The saving grace is it’s page count.
If anything this book has made me curious about how it managed to bag the Booker prize! Was there nothing better written in 2021? I assumed the pandemic forced people to write more.
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
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
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fast paced and portrays an unreliable narrators' descent into insanity with his loss of identity.
The sudden focus virginities and slight mention of r*pe in the last few chapters felt misogynistic and convenient. Hypersexuality just felt like a easy way to describe insanity, but does nothing for grief.
The sudden focus virginities and slight mention of r*pe in the last few chapters felt misogynistic and convenient. Hypersexuality just felt like a easy way to describe insanity, but does nothing for grief.
I just didn’t enjoy this at all and I doubt I’d recommend this to anyone, unfortunately.
The first half of the book had plenty of descriptive sections which were extremely well written and really drive home the sheer unimaginable horror, loss and brutality of war. The second half, I have no clue.
The blurb on the back describes the story as a “hypnotic, heartbreaking rendering of a mind hurtling towards madness” and I’m guessing the ‘hypnotic’ aspect is meant to be created through the use of repetition. However, the constant never-ending repetition was just distracting and annoying (e.g. “God’s truth”) and the imagery and sexual description of women was just pretty awful and unnecessary.
The first half of the book had plenty of descriptive sections which were extremely well written and really drive home the sheer unimaginable horror, loss and brutality of war. The second half, I have no clue.
The blurb on the back describes the story as a “hypnotic, heartbreaking rendering of a mind hurtling towards madness” and I’m guessing the ‘hypnotic’ aspect is meant to be created through the use of repetition. However, the constant never-ending repetition was just distracting and annoying (e.g. “God’s truth”) and the imagery and sexual description of women was just pretty awful and unnecessary.