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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
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
Erpenbeck wrote a hell of a first line. I wonder if I would have benefitted from a history class on the GDR going into this? the opening prose is so lyrical and sweeps you in, but at times the main relationship became so abusive, so suffocating, that the repetitive nature of it slowed the pacing down too much for me to really enjoy what I was reading
Hat mich die 80er Jahre der DDR erleben lassen, womit ich mich vorher nicht so beschäftigt habe. Begleitet von einer toxischen Liebesgeschichte und viel kulturellem name-dropping. Der Schreibstil hat mir sehr gut gefallen und hat durch schnelles Tempo ein bisschen süchtig gemacht, auch wenn einige Passagen sich teilweise langwierig anfühlen. Ich mochte es :)
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One of those things where I completely understood the intent and purpose of the story, I just didn't really enjoy my time with it
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
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
I will not give this book a 1 star review simply because I deeply believe that the author has the ability to write well. Taken out of context, the sentences were often beautiful, lyrical and well thought out. However I've never been this close to just leaving the book unfinished on purpose. Getting through it felt so arduous that I'm sure I didn't grasp even half of what the author wanted me to. It felt like it had a thousand pages. Maybe it was the translation's fault - being Polish and reading it in English, translated from German, maybe the meaning and readability got lost somewhere along the way. I am really sorry that I didn't enjoy it, I had high hopes knowing it won the International Booker Prize in 2024, but it just missed the mark for me.
There is no plot, just two deeply toxic characters who I had a feeling had not developed at all throughout the whole book. I wanted to scream at the pages many times and the constant mix of disgust and pity made the whole reading experience deeply unenjoyable. I know that you can't and shouldn't write about a toxic relationship and make it pleasant, that's not what I have an issue with - it's the fact that I felt like nothing changed throughout the whole story, the people started just as damaged as they ended. I felt no true resolution, no conclusions.
Another thing was the historical background. I really thought it would be more important or maybe more pronounced in the plot. I feel like its relation to the story is maybe more obvious for Germans or people who have more knowledge of that historical period in Germany, but reading it as a foreigner sadly I didn't really get the depth or the metaphor here. Again - maybe it's the translation and my lack of will to read upon the subject outside of the contents of the book. I'm sure if I educated myself I would get it. Sadly, the book left me so exhausted that I have no incentive to learn more at this time.
There is no plot, just two deeply toxic characters who I had a feeling had not developed at all throughout the whole book. I wanted to scream at the pages many times and the constant mix of disgust and pity made the whole reading experience deeply unenjoyable. I know that you can't and shouldn't write about a toxic relationship and make it pleasant, that's not what I have an issue with - it's the fact that I felt like nothing changed throughout the whole story, the people started just as damaged as they ended. I felt no true resolution, no conclusions.
Another thing was the historical background. I really thought it would be more important or maybe more pronounced in the plot. I feel like its relation to the story is maybe more obvious for Germans or people who have more knowledge of that historical period in Germany, but reading it as a foreigner sadly I didn't really get the depth or the metaphor here. Again - maybe it's the translation and my lack of will to read upon the subject outside of the contents of the book. I'm sure if I educated myself I would get it. Sadly, the book left me so exhausted that I have no incentive to learn more at this time.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced