Reviews

Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf

Bilodo is a lonely postman. He has no family or real friends. He completes his daily routine of delivering post and returns to his appartment. But he has a secret - a way to break his routine. He steals letters from his route and reads the letters. He delivers them the next day but this is his soap opera. And then he discovers Segolene's letters and haikus. Her letters to Grandpre make Bilodo fall in love with her. But one day, Bilodo sees something that threatens his way of life: Grandpre getting hit by a car and dying. With his lifeline of Segolene's letters threatened, Bilodo does something he might live to regret: he pretend to be Gaston and continue his letters to Segolene...

But how long can he keep the lie up before it comes crashing down round him?

Ok, this has the same feeling I had when I read [b:The Guest Cat|23352450|The Guest Cat|Takashi Hiraide|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1419657437s/23352450.jpg|24515019] by Takashi Hiraide.

I really liked the writing and the translation worked (this was translated from French Canadian to English by Liedewy Hawke). And the haikus worked really well. So on that front, this was really good. The story's strongest part.

However, the story, I wasn't so thrilled over. I felt that this story skimmed over the surface and we could have gone deeper. Plus, I had issues over Bilodo. He was meant to be the "hero" of this story, but I never connected to him. He was meant to be a sympathetic character - lonely, awkward, shy. But I found him unlikeable. He stole letters (aka breaking the law and invading people's private lives), then he impersonate a dead man (again, breaking the law) and we're still meant to see him as this sympathetic character?

This is a mixed bag. It was an ok read but I wish for more. But remember, this is my opinion and if this feels like a read you'll love, please read it! I just wished for more substance to go with the strong writing...

piedwarbler's review against another edition

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4.0

Read this for my reading group. It’s quirky, set in Montreal, which is a quirky place, and the protagonist mentions that his parents were killed in a funicular accident in Quebec City, which I’ve also visited. It’s about a postman aged 27 who steals open letters and replies to the girl who is writing poetry in the form of haiku to a poetry teacher. The postman learns gradually to write haiku himself and it was this process that amused me the most because his first attempts are funny. Then things turn steamy. And I loved the ending, which was truly cosmic. It didn’t turn out the way I expected.
I shall look out for more by Hesperus.

katafy's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

Just no. Only the end is good.

amotisse's review

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4.0

Once agin I find myself fascinated by a story that revolves around the exchange of letters, to be precise, haiku in this case.

Take a small moment
Written with ink on the page
Captured forever

These wonderful little poems are like Polaroid snapshots full of the feeling and emotion of the moment and are lovely to experiment with.

Our lonely postman takes his experimenting somewhat further, indulging in forbidden acts and getting himself caught up in the consequences.
In fact there is a poetical sadness to him, his daily routines, his life,
and yet, his actions lead him to a higher level of being.

Thoughts to ponder on.

If I had been more observant, I would have found a copy of this in French to read...perhaps the next one.