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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The lack of action made this book too easy to put down, even with it being so short. I think the major issue is that I was expecting Red Dawn, and not this day in the life character study from the points-of-view of an antique dealer, a jewelry maker, and a diplomat. And even as a character study, I feel this was deeply flawed, as the main female character was written terribly -- almost as if Phillip K. Dick took the advice of Melvin Udall from As Good As It Gets when he wrote her, and thought of a man, and then took away all reason and accountability. Even at the end, when the spy and the assassin are revealed, it's really too little, too late as far as saving the narrative. While I'm glad that I've now to be able to say I've read it, I didn't enjoy the actual act of reading it. A five-star idea with a one-star execution.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I read this with great anticipation, or listened to the audio book really. Like other works by the author adapted for TV, it is a skeleton around which the TV writers cam embellish. Really, kind of a thin story wrapped around a primary idea. I think the TV adaptations usually misunderstand the core idea.
For this book, what I got as the big idea is that life is random. Germany and Japan win WWII. Some guy writes a book about the Allies winning. Some characters use an ancient oriental system for predicting the future called I Ching to make major life decisions. I was looking for some great revelation about how the guy who wrote the book did it, and it turns out he just used the I Ching. It felt like an anticlimactic ending, but I think that is just how the author gets across his main idea.
So, interesting theme, so-so writing, little for character development. A skeleton on which to hang a big idea.
For this book, what I got as the big idea is that life is random. Germany and Japan win WWII. Some guy writes a book about the Allies winning. Some characters use an ancient oriental system for predicting the future called I Ching to make major life decisions. I was looking for some great revelation about how the guy who wrote the book did it, and it turns out he just used the I Ching. It felt like an anticlimactic ending, but I think that is just how the author gets across his main idea.
So, interesting theme, so-so writing, little for character development. A skeleton on which to hang a big idea.
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Got too depressed! Stopped reading. Will tackle again in future, but it's too immediate for me right now.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Learning that the I Ching is real and he used it to write this book made a lot of shit make a lot more sense.
Very unsatisfying, meta-narrative, ending. Whoahhh dude were not even real our universe is fake and germany and japan actually did lose the war??? Some interesting philosophizing and prose along the way but thats about it.
No where near as good as Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep
Very unsatisfying, meta-narrative, ending. Whoahhh dude were not even real our universe is fake and germany and japan actually did lose the war??? Some interesting philosophizing and prose along the way but thats about it.
No where near as good as Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep