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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
This book sat on my shelf for ages before I finally read it. It had a remarkable commitment to dream logic, which made it frustrating, the way dreams often are. The protagonist was led from place to place seemingly without agency, and the revelations and resolutions were absurd.
supremely irritating at times and i truly did not know what was going on. waiting for the penny to drop? maybe worth it. still deciding.
This took me a long time to read, in fact I dropped it and came back later. I love everything I've read by Ishiguro, each one is unique. This one is by far the most difficult, since it is one vignette after another where the protagonist seems to be progressing through a dreamlike state. It was a bit irritating at times, until I decided to read each vignette as its own short story and stop trying to make it all make sense together on a superficial level. That all said, I loved being challenged, I loved the writing and glad I stuck with it. Overall I was very happy in my discomfiture.
I thought it was all a dream. It is a book that sticks with you. I read this in 1996, and I still think about it often. It is now 2021 and I again am finding myself reflecting on this book.
I normally like Ishiguro, but must admit I found it a struggle to push through this. 535 pages of increasingly ire-inducing inanity. I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters or the plot.
Not poorly written or anything so I did give it that second star, but definitely not my cup of tea and we’ll leave it at that.
Not poorly written or anything so I did give it that second star, but definitely not my cup of tea and we’ll leave it at that.
It was just more of the same over and over. Although I was really enjoying it for the first 1/4 it just never really materialized into anything else.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have given this book 200 pages, hoping that it would lead me somewhere, but shortly before halfway I understood that this just is the "identity" of this book: that it is leading nowhere, and also at the end, would "end" nowhere. Nevertheless, this was sometimes very pleasant reading: the mysterious atmosphere, the kafka-esk dreamlike strangeness, the surreal dialogues and sequences, the stylistic beautifully crafted scenes ... it all bore the stamp of great literature. But when for the 20th time our celebrated pianist Mr. Ryder was accosted by a character and he just (without considering) rushed to the next, absurd scene, it was enough for me. I fear that I -despite my age-still expect to detect a Great Message in a book (social, aesthetic, existential), and that I did not detect it in this one. If ever I find myself having very, very much time, I promise I'll take this one in hand again, just for the reading pleasure.
This is a 535 pages-long novel written entirely in dream logic. In other word, it was written with a language dictated by the grammar of dreams.
For one thing, I've never read any novel like this one, but it is not a compliment this time.
As in dreams, events and things simply don't make sense.
Sequences don't follow logically, and time-distortion is ample.
This unique trope throughout the entirely novel is simply not working, mainly because of its length.
If the novel was, say, about 200 pages long, I think it would have been a lot stronger.
At times, it is admittedly hypnotic, and I was sucked into the narrative, but the merciless repetition of this trope throughout the entire narrative just didn't work for me.
If it weren't Ishiguro, no publication would have published this novel.
Even after my disappointment at this novel, I still consider this author a genius. I will definitely go back to reading this two masterpieces, The Remains of Day, and Never Let Me Go, in the near future.
For one thing, I've never read any novel like this one, but it is not a compliment this time.
As in dreams, events and things simply don't make sense.
Sequences don't follow logically, and time-distortion is ample.
This unique trope throughout the entirely novel is simply not working, mainly because of its length.
If the novel was, say, about 200 pages long, I think it would have been a lot stronger.
At times, it is admittedly hypnotic, and I was sucked into the narrative, but the merciless repetition of this trope throughout the entire narrative just didn't work for me.
If it weren't Ishiguro, no publication would have published this novel.
Even after my disappointment at this novel, I still consider this author a genius. I will definitely go back to reading this two masterpieces, The Remains of Day, and Never Let Me Go, in the near future.