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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
In a way this book is combining many elements I admire of Ishiguro's writing and yet i can find little to like about it. I always found hid tendency to write endless monologues for his characters was bordering the annoying, but this is the first time it genuinely bothered me. While, with varying degrees of success, many of Ishiguro's books are misleading at first and need to get unraveled carefully in retrospect and may even require revisiting this one is just entirely intent in toying with the reader and leaving them hanging. I have several theories about elemenst of the book myself and I've read about some other peoples. But it doesn't invite any interpretations, even themes seem randomly spread throughout and dropped and picked up almost at random.
I found the first part almost unreadable, I think many others with a tendency to anxiety and stress will be able to relate, as the endless passive stream of random events and complete incapabilities of the protagonist to keep track of either his more or less non-existent schedule, the random events that keep popping up and the point that he randomly adds to his plans for no good reason whatsoever.
Overall, perhapt because I never got much from Kafka either, who people tend to campare this book to and perhaps just because nothing in this book ever quite resonated with me, but I just couldn't warm up to it until the last couple of chapters, where maybe I had just learnt to accept the book for what it is.
Overall I can't say I enjoyed it, I can't say I can find much enthusiasm for it in regards to it being interesting literature as many other reviewers seem to do and quite frankly, after not liking his other books I read recently either, It is taking all my good will to remember the novels of his that I thought were beautifully written, clever, thoughtful and truly remarkable in any sense. Because at the moment I really want to didmiss everything he ever wrote. Because a lot of what I hated in this is what I loved in his other books. But in the end I shall try and get some distance and consider each book for its own merits.
I found the first part almost unreadable, I think many others with a tendency to anxiety and stress will be able to relate, as the endless passive stream of random events and complete incapabilities of the protagonist to keep track of either his more or less non-existent schedule, the random events that keep popping up and the point that he randomly adds to his plans for no good reason whatsoever.
Overall, perhapt because I never got much from Kafka either, who people tend to campare this book to and perhaps just because nothing in this book ever quite resonated with me, but I just couldn't warm up to it until the last couple of chapters, where maybe I had just learnt to accept the book for what it is.
Overall I can't say I enjoyed it, I can't say I can find much enthusiasm for it in regards to it being interesting literature as many other reviewers seem to do and quite frankly, after not liking his other books I read recently either, It is taking all my good will to remember the novels of his that I thought were beautifully written, clever, thoughtful and truly remarkable in any sense. Because at the moment I really want to didmiss everything he ever wrote. Because a lot of what I hated in this is what I loved in his other books. But in the end I shall try and get some distance and consider each book for its own merits.
slow-paced
The oddest book I’ve ever read. Like a dream.
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love this book. It has everything
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Me, the music, we're neither of us anything more to you than mistresses you seek consolation from”
5 stars feels too high, but then 4 stars is a bit too low.
I think this book is a necessary aesthetic experience.
I can see how Ishiguro won the Nobel with this and The Remains of the Day alone. The latter is essentially a perfect novel, the restrained, unshowy prose a tearjerker in a way no book had done for me before. This is that novel's dark mirror, almost a parody. This book is the nightmare the reader who identifies with Stevens has upon finishing his story.
Don't let this be your first Ishiguro -- he's stretching his style deliberately beyond its limits here. In the sense that the prose is meandering and unmemorable, one would judge him a bad writer, and yet...
It takes a very confident author to earnestly write a book like this. Ishiguro's confidence was well-judged. I'll probably never read this cover to cover again - there's no point - but aspects of his style will be perennially examined and experienced once again.
I think this book is a necessary aesthetic experience.
I can see how Ishiguro won the Nobel with this and The Remains of the Day alone. The latter is essentially a perfect novel, the restrained, unshowy prose a tearjerker in a way no book had done for me before. This is that novel's dark mirror, almost a parody. This book is the nightmare the reader who identifies with Stevens has upon finishing his story.
Don't let this be your first Ishiguro -- he's stretching his style deliberately beyond its limits here. In the sense that the prose is meandering and unmemorable, one would judge him a bad writer, and yet...
It takes a very confident author to earnestly write a book like this. Ishiguro's confidence was well-judged. I'll probably never read this cover to cover again - there's no point - but aspects of his style will be perennially examined and experienced once again.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
时间，空间和人物动机在突然切换的perspective中解体，被Mr. Ryder的不知名小城三天行程串联起来（完全p人行程）。小城所有人对Mr. Ryder的有所求，都因为种种原因落空，包括他自己的-the unconsoled. Stephen, Mr. Ryder, Mr. Brodsky三位一体，青年至老年被置于同一时空下，希望后两位因为童年创伤一生寻求认可，忽略眼前人，永远是自己生活中的outsider的悲剧，不会再在Stephen身上重复。
要是再短点就好了。。。。
要是再短点就好了。。。。