Reviews

In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan

unwall's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

4.25

littlemissanalog's review against another edition

Try later

chailajohnson's review against another edition

3.0

a strangely surreal book and i am clearly not smart enough to understand the metaphors/deeper meaning behind this book but i did end up finishing it so 3 stars!

literarycrushes's review against another edition

3.0

In Watermelon Sugar is a strange little gem of a novel written by Richard Brautigan in 1964 (published in ’68). I still don’t completely know what to make of it, but I loved its poetically simple, matter-of-fact descriptions of love, death, and betrayal. The story takes place at iDeath, a post-apocalyptical commune where everything is made of watermelon sugar and the sun shines a different color each day of the week and the stars are all red.

I.W.S. could easily be read in a single sitting- the version I read was 166 compact pages, most of which consisted only of a few sentences or a paragraph on each page. It is not a conventional novel, and it reads like a long, surrealistic poem full of beautiful imagery and symbolism for the readers to unpack. I recommend this book for fans of HOWL, Kerouac, and of course, the song Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles.

chloerb's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

4.0

b0hemian_graham's review against another edition

2.0

2.5/5. this was too weird, even for me. the prose was way too simplistic, and I don't usually mind simplistic. It was also boring because the prose was so stilted, simplistic, and the plot didn't make a lot of sense. some parts that I did enjoy read more like a tripped out version of Walt Disney, with the talking tigers teaching the protagonist (at the age of 9) arithmetic after they ate his parents. I feel like I'm missing something here, as I fail to understand how Brautigan is considered a genius.

lanienglish's review against another edition

challenging funny mysterious fast-paced

2.0

hanpowis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

kateri05's review against another edition

5.0

This was strange but in a lovely and easy way and I am confused but at the same time I’m totally fine
No idea how to explain this eloquently but it was very good and very weird haha

emuhhhly's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0