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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
Loved the insights into life in former East Berlin just before and after the fall of the wall. Really didn’t like the obsessive relationship between a 19 year old woman and a 50+ year old married man.
I don't generally bother writing negative reviews because what's the point, but this was a truly awful reading experience. Prose was borderline unreadable, storyline equal parts infuriating and boring, main characters insufferable. Etc etc etc. I think I knew I was going to hate it about 50 pages in, so I guess my question is was it worth finishing it?
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one was very difficult for me—an interesting dip into East Berlin of the 1980s and early 90s, but I found Katherina so naive and Hans so disturbing… and then that ending! I need someone to explain this book to me.
I thought it was so well crafted and I enjoyed it, even when it got very unpleasant in the middle. Only minor issue was that I discovered I clearly don't know enough about Germany post-WWII. It has definitely made me curious about the GDR and I'll probably do more reading around but there were chunks of the story where I was fully lost. And one of those chunks was the end. I had to google "kairos jenny erpenbeck ending" just to check that I'd followed it correctly. But that's a me problem.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was the 2024 Booker Prize winner. Really? Can’t imagine what the other contenders were like if this was the ‘best’. I found it depressing and self indulgent. Thank goodness it’s over.
challenging
dark
emotional
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
2.0. Ok so it won the 2024 Booker Award but I just couldn't get into it. I just found it boring and wondered why I was wasting my time. I gave up 30% of the way through. I could not rake up the enthusiasm for old East German history. The love affair had no spark and I found myself calling her a silly girl for spending time with an old drop-kick. It was obvious that it was going to lead to tears and they would be all hers. I gave up.
Kairos tells the story of an age gap relationship between a married man and a young theatre student, and follows it's grim progression into a toxic vortex.
I understand that it's as much a story of power, art, culture, and the dissolution of East Germany, but without much prior context for this part of history, much of that went over my head.
I found it fairly unpleasant although the writing was excellent.
I understand that it's as much a story of power, art, culture, and the dissolution of East Germany, but without much prior context for this part of history, much of that went over my head.
I found it fairly unpleasant although the writing was excellent.