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bcooper21's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Grief and Murder
xmoonx's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
doriangrayscale's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent and Sexual content
nochnitsa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
3.75
I'm glad I finally read it, it was recommended to me by my classmates when I was 15. Took me some time (I'm 24 now) but I see what all the hype was about.
I am still not sure what I can take away from this book but it was definitely one of a kind. It gave me George Orwell vibes for some reason.
I marked multiple passages because I found them so beautiful and poetic. What I loved most about it is the world building, which kinda makes sense even though it doesn't make any sense. Sometimes I could see the images so clearly in my head, I wanted to draw them. Maybe I will in the future.
I hope I'll find time to reread this book again.
I am still not sure what I can take away from this book but it was definitely one of a kind. It gave me George Orwell vibes for some reason.
I marked multiple passages because I found them so beautiful and poetic. What I loved most about it is the world building, which kinda makes sense even though it doesn't make any sense. Sometimes I could see the images so clearly in my head, I wanted to draw them. Maybe I will in the future.
I hope I'll find time to reread this book again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Murder
mirivii's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Found this little book in a charity shop in Angel and always heard mixed reviews since the infamous Harry Styles's song Watermelon Sugar.
I was immediately drawn in by Brautigan's prose. This short novel was written by him in a few months between the spring and the summer of 1964. According to Wikipedia, this was amidst finalising his first divorce caused by him becoming physically violent due to alcohol addiction.
In the book, is inBOIL the character who has problems in his relationship with alcohol and accepting the way of living of the iDEATH community. And subsequently, is inBOIL that takes his own life after proclaiming to have understood the real meaning of iDEATH. Just as inBOIL, Richard Brautigan took his own life 20 years after finishing this book.
One of the things that had interested me the most about this book was the choice of words used to describe the events and the emotions of the characters. In particular, when the nameless narrator was talking about their fading love for what was about to become his ex-girlfriend. They wrote to be "disgusted by her performance". Found 'performance' to be such an odd yet extremely revealing word to use – Brautigan shows us how there is more that meets the eye and that the narrator can be biased and playing a part.
Another thing that I found extremely interesting was almost the complete absence of 'bad' feelings. All the characters that comply to the ideas of iDEATH are all shown to be ignorant to the two major death that happen in the novel. Even the soundless Thursdays and the anger that Pauline feels gets assimilated into the narration as something beautiful, thus making it completely normal and attractive.
I was immediately drawn in by Brautigan's prose. This short novel was written by him in a few months between the spring and the summer of 1964. According to Wikipedia, this was amidst finalising his first divorce caused by him becoming physically violent due to alcohol addiction.
One of the things that had interested me the most about this book was the choice of words used to describe the events and the emotions of the characters. In particular, when the nameless narrator was talking about their fading love for what was about to become his ex-girlfriend. They wrote to be "disgusted by her performance". Found 'performance' to be such an odd yet extremely revealing word to use – Brautigan shows us how there is more that meets the eye and that the narrator can be biased and playing a part.
Another thing that I found extremely interesting was almost the complete absence of 'bad' feelings. All the characters that comply to the ideas of iDEATH are all shown to be ignorant to the two major death that happen in the novel. Even the soundless Thursdays and the anger that Pauline feels gets assimilated into the narration as something beautiful, thus making it completely normal and attractive.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
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