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justjoel's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
chwinters's review against another edition
1.0
“The Parable of Having Too Much Fucking Ego,” more like.
getajeevan's review against another edition
4.0
doing this challenge of reading literature based on the places i travel to, while im there. i started reading this on my train to paris and now im sobbing like an idiot on the train back home, having just finished it and feeling all sorts of grief.
it was slow at grabbing my attention. the characters don’t seem real, they felt somewhat superficial or pretentious at points. i wasn’t sure where it was going more than halfway through it, although there were quoteable bits and things that made me giggle. a lot of the middle part was intellectual discourse, throwing in some philosophy names here and there, without much progression in plot. i would have DNF’d it had i been travelling with more books to entice me but i persisted and boy was my perseverance rewarded. the last 60 or so pages tugged all of my heartstrings and made it all up for me. it changed my whole experience retrospectively and i ended up loving it.
the other aspect was the reading experience outside of the book. something about walking the streets from a story you’re reading, tracing the paths of the characters, eating what they’re having, and watching the lines between reality and fiction fade is really touching as a reader.
and both those things together make it a 4 for me, can’t wait to travel again with a new story!
it was slow at grabbing my attention. the characters don’t seem real, they felt somewhat superficial or pretentious at points. i wasn’t sure where it was going more than halfway through it, although there were quoteable bits and things that made me giggle. a lot of the middle part was intellectual discourse, throwing in some philosophy names here and there, without much progression in plot. i would have DNF’d it had i been travelling with more books to entice me but i persisted and boy was my perseverance rewarded. the last 60 or so pages tugged all of my heartstrings and made it all up for me. it changed my whole experience retrospectively and i ended up loving it.
the other aspect was the reading experience outside of the book. something about walking the streets from a story you’re reading, tracing the paths of the characters, eating what they’re having, and watching the lines between reality and fiction fade is really touching as a reader.
and both those things together make it a 4 for me, can’t wait to travel again with a new story!
hildia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Yhteiskunnallisesti kantaa ottava, satiirinen ja filosofisesti pohdiskeleva kirja. Liikuttava tarina tempasi mukaansa. Ålykkyydessään kirja oli kohtalaisen hidaslukuinen, mutta ehdottomasti siihen käytetyn ajan arvoinen.
karentorry's review against another edition
3.0
Very engaging characters but the story ultimately disappointed. My daughter tells me, "Some stories turn out that way," but the author's choice of ending left me feeling a little like the character in Silver Linings Playbook who screams "What the f---?!" and throws a copy of A Farewell to Arms out the window.
n3lla's review against another edition
5.0
Reread as Book Discussion group title. Even better on second reading. Moving without sloppy sentimentality. Translator is as gifted as the author
fionab_16's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
sbursh's review against another edition
4.0
I really loved this book. This is a character-driven novel with more point of view than plot, but the characters are so lovely and entertaining it is very successful. This book is at once thought-provoking and adorable, sweet and melancholy, funny and profound. It is a thoughtful examination of class, societal expectations, and the various ways that people deal with these constraints. For one narrator, our "hedgehog," she chooses to create a mask for herself, playing the part of a boring, insignificant concierge when in fact she is quite an extraordinary woman with great depth and intelligence. This mask is a great burden to carry and the book delves into this weight and the eventual relief. Our other young narrator also chooses a mask in order to avoid the horrors of the privileged, superfluous family into which she was born. This character is deeply introspective and, as she predicts the fate of the wealthy members of her family's circle, she guides us to wonder just how predetermined our fate is based on the class into which we are born. Kakuro is a loveable, wise Japanese man who enters the story and, coming from a different culture, sees beyond these masks. These varied members of the wealthy Parisian apartment complex. who may have felt alone with insight of the cruel world they live in, find that in fact there are kindred spirits living close by, and perhaps more to life than they had allowed themselves to hope. Intelligent, witty writing and one of the most pleasing works of fiction I've read. Like our narrators, this book has both a heart and a brain.
briel_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Maybe 3.5 stars? I partially liked this because it was so different from what I usually read.