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severine_aurelia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Note: I read the (original) French version.
If I squint, I can see why it won the Prix Goncourt: there were some beautifully and cleverly constructed phrases, some moments where I genuinely appreciated it as a piece of writing. There were chapters that might have made fantastic short stories. As a novel, however, or even as a story more generally, I found it a disappointment. This is the first book I've read by Le Tellier, and my initial impression is that he's a good writer but a lacklustre storyteller.
The premise was interesting, but the way it was approached and handled was clumsy and facile. Many aspects of the government reaction to the crisis were completely implausible bordering on laughable, which would have been fine if it had been in the service of making some interesting point. It seemed, however, that Le Tellier genuinely wanted the reader to accept his proposed reactions to the anomaly as believable, and it just didn't work. In addition, quite a few of the main characters came across as generic archetypes rather than fully fleshed out people.
The choice to include fictional versions of real-world individuals (Macron, Stephen Colbert, Trump, Xi Jinping, etc.) was also a mistake in my opinion; the portayals felt amateurish and thus a distraction.
If I squint, I can see why it won the Prix Goncourt: there were some beautifully and cleverly constructed phrases, some moments where I genuinely appreciated it as a piece of writing. There were chapters that might have made fantastic short stories. As a novel, however, or even as a story more generally, I found it a disappointment. This is the first book I've read by Le Tellier, and my initial impression is that he's a good writer but a lacklustre storyteller.
The premise was interesting, but the way it was approached and handled was clumsy and facile. Many aspects of the government reaction to the crisis were completely implausible bordering on laughable, which would have been fine if it had been in the service of making some interesting point. It seemed, however, that Le Tellier genuinely wanted the reader to accept his proposed reactions to the anomaly as believable, and it just didn't work. In addition, quite a few of the main characters came across as generic archetypes rather than fully fleshed out people.
The choice to include fictional versions of real-world individuals (Macron, Stephen Colbert, Trump, Xi Jinping, etc.) was also a mistake in my opinion; the portayals felt amateurish and thus a distraction.
compmanjx3's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
A bunch of people were on the same bumpy flight. Three months later the same flight lands again, with the same people aboard. What does it mean for the world? What should these people do with themselves? How should they resolve their double lives?
Takes on too many of these questions and doesn't have anything satisfactory or interesting to say about any of them. Keeps bringing up the simulation hypothesis but barely delves into it at all, except to say the obvious (it doesn't matter if we're a simulation or not). The characters aren't interesting enough. The best bits are the underbaked sections where the US government is trying to do something about it. The parts that reference real life people all break suspension of disbelief.
Some might find interesting provocations here, but I didn't and the stuff around those provocations is paper thin. Not great!
Takes on too many of these questions and doesn't have anything satisfactory or interesting to say about any of them. Keeps bringing up the simulation hypothesis but barely delves into it at all, except to say the obvious (it doesn't matter if we're a simulation or not). The characters aren't interesting enough. The best bits are the underbaked sections where the US government is trying to do something about it. The parts that reference real life people all break suspension of disbelief.
Some might find interesting provocations here, but I didn't and the stuff around those provocations is paper thin. Not great!
angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
3.0
Didn’t get rolling until about 160 pages into the book. Then there were some extremely engaging sections about the “photocopying” effect of an Air France flight that lands in the United States. The rest of the book revolves around the relationships of the doppelgänger passengers from that flight. However, the book seemed to jump back and forth between extremely engaging and mind numbingly boring.
lifepluspreston's review against another edition
4.0
The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier--This book is what would happen if Manifest and Lost, black box mystery shows, met up with literary thrillers and had a polite discussion. The story contemplates a flight which, after some turbulence, lands without incident. Then the flight lands again, three months later. The philosophical, logistical, and societal concerns with having duplicates of living (and unliving) people are explored with a lot of care in this book that leaves more questions than answers. Thumbs up.
kathleenguthriewoods's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
tony_almeida's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Um livro vertiginoso, com um desenvolvimento inicial frenético, onde uma extensa lista de nomes e personagens é introduzida, o que pode desencorajar alguns leitores. Hervé Le Teller precisa de quase meio livro para preparar o leitor para clímax da história, sendo que, a partir deste momento, há uma mudança de registo, mais dramático.
Confesso que a segunda parte do livro deixou-me a sensação de que faltou alguma coisa. Sem querer desvendar qualquer aspecto do enredo do livro, esta sensação não se deve ao facto do final aberto - que na verdade, até é supreendente - mas admito que esperava um desenvolvimento mais robusto de algumas personagens. Esta sensação de "falta de sal" também não se deve à falta de explicação da anomalia, mas antes porque o autor passa quase que a enumerar alguns eventos despoletados pelo incidente do voo 006 da Air France, mas que parecem não ter (quase) consequência.
Este é um livro que pode deixar um misto de sensações no final da sua leitura e poderá mesmo desagradar alguns leitores. Não sendo um dos meus preferidos, foi, mesmo assim, uma leitura bastante interessante.
Confesso que a segunda parte do livro deixou-me a sensação de que faltou alguma coisa. Sem querer desvendar qualquer aspecto do enredo do livro, esta sensação não se deve ao facto do final aberto - que na verdade, até é supreendente - mas admito que esperava um desenvolvimento mais robusto de algumas personagens. Esta sensação de "falta de sal" também não se deve à falta de explicação da anomalia, mas antes porque o autor passa quase que a enumerar alguns eventos despoletados pelo incidente do voo 006 da Air France, mas que parecem não ter (quase) consequência.
Este é um livro que pode deixar um misto de sensações no final da sua leitura e poderá mesmo desagradar alguns leitores. Não sendo um dos meus preferidos, foi, mesmo assim, uma leitura bastante interessante.
anaizq's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
ella09's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
katty2088's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
5.0