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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I read this book in preparation for a trip to Australia, probably about 2000. It was a shocker, but well worth the effort.
I’m giving up on this almost halfway through it.
I love an atmospheric book, I love art, I like experimental writing & can definitely appreciate descriptive language, I enjoy historical fiction, and I’m all for an unreliable narrator. But I can’t with this one, it doesn’t engage me in the slightest. There are other books out there.
I love an atmospheric book, I love art, I like experimental writing & can definitely appreciate descriptive language, I enjoy historical fiction, and I’m all for an unreliable narrator. But I can’t with this one, it doesn’t engage me in the slightest. There are other books out there.
I have never, as far as I recall, had a happy experience with a book with this kind of consciously literary style, and it always irritates me when a book starts with some version of "little did I know then what a terrible fate lay before me..."
I made it to the end of the first chapter/prologue with teeth gritted, and by then I was thoroughly annoyed by the prose style and completely done with all the characters, with the possible exception of Mr Hung, and even the implication that the rest of the book would feature a completely different set of characters that I might theoretically be more interested in was not enough to draw me any further.
I made it to the end of the first chapter/prologue with teeth gritted, and by then I was thoroughly annoyed by the prose style and completely done with all the characters, with the possible exception of Mr Hung, and even the implication that the rest of the book would feature a completely different set of characters that I might theoretically be more interested in was not enough to draw me any further.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
adventurous
dark
funny
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:
Complicated
mysterious
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
Beautifully written but incredibly twisty and confusing. The very definition of 'unreliable narrator.'
Makes me want to read other things by this author but also makes me hope they make more sense!
Look at the warnings. This book is a weird combination of whimsical and graphic!
Not a big fan of the use of certain racial slurs. They're in historical context, but it still sat a bit iffy with me.
Also not a fan of another incidence of a man 'being in love' with a woman because he likes having sex with her but is never really shown to have a conversation. Pet peeve of mine in male-authored books!
Makes me want to read other things by this author but also makes me hope they make more sense!
Look at the warnings. This book is a weird combination of whimsical and graphic!
Not a big fan of the use of certain racial slurs. They're in historical context, but it still sat a bit iffy with me.
Also not a fan of another incidence of a man 'being in love' with a woman because he likes having sex with her but is never really shown to have a conversation. Pet peeve of mine in male-authored books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Colonisation
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Firstly this is like nothing I have ever read.
Secondly I knew of the subject William Gould prior to this read.
Thirdly I have actually seen Gould’s art in various galleries, recently in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Fourthly it is not in my opinion a historical fiction as some may think but a bizarre magical realism journey that is phantasmagorical.
Fifthly it has some serious meaning of life questions raised.
Sixthly it has a lot of outright humourism’s.
Seventhly it portrays man’s inhumanity to man.
Eighthly it can have one researching who are real figures from history and who are not.
Ninthly it makes me think that for a small island, Tasmania sure packs a punch in terms of literature produced at a high level.
Tenthly it makes me want to read Richard Flannigan’s entire oeuvre.
Eleventhly it makes me know I want to revisit Tasmania.
Twelfthly it is highly recommended to those that think we are all fish.
Secondly I knew of the subject William Gould prior to this read.
Thirdly I have actually seen Gould’s art in various galleries, recently in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Fourthly it is not in my opinion a historical fiction as some may think but a bizarre magical realism journey that is phantasmagorical.
Fifthly it has some serious meaning of life questions raised.
Sixthly it has a lot of outright humourism’s.
Seventhly it portrays man’s inhumanity to man.
Eighthly it can have one researching who are real figures from history and who are not.
Ninthly it makes me think that for a small island, Tasmania sure packs a punch in terms of literature produced at a high level.
Tenthly it makes me want to read Richard Flannigan’s entire oeuvre.
Eleventhly it makes me know I want to revisit Tasmania.
Twelfthly it is highly recommended to those that think we are all fish.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This was a strange book. I was initially intrigued- I liked the cover- but was soon sucked to a weird and disturbing world of someone obviously insane. It wasn't bad writing, but it made me feel a little dirty by the time I had finished- like I was a peeping tom.
Well, I finished it, but only because I swore years ago not to give up on a book ever again. This one became very tiresome
The edition I own is beautiful, probably one of the most beautiful books I've ever owned. The writing was of high quality. The plot/historical fiction/story/whatever it was seemed to become ever more disjointed and not long into the book the author seemed to be writing without any thought of what he was doing, just writing to keep going
I ended up very disappointed and was very glad to finish it. I dare say I missed the point
The edition I own is beautiful, probably one of the most beautiful books I've ever owned. The writing was of high quality. The plot/historical fiction/story/whatever it was seemed to become ever more disjointed and not long into the book the author seemed to be writing without any thought of what he was doing, just writing to keep going
I ended up very disappointed and was very glad to finish it. I dare say I missed the point