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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked this book. Finished it in one week.
This book reads like a dream. You never know what’s gonna happen next, it’s fun and exciting. While also being fairly deep.
The reader can take a deep dive into different characters of this book: Their emotions, fear and inquietudes.
This book reads like a dream. You never know what’s gonna happen next, it’s fun and exciting. While also being fairly deep.
The reader can take a deep dive into different characters of this book: Their emotions, fear and inquietudes.
Hugely anxiety provoking. Other people here have been comparing it to Kafka (which does make sense), but it reminded me more than anything of playing video games as a kid. All these people coming up to me with their urgent requests, which I had no idea how to fulfill. In the real world I would have known what to do, but there were nonsensical limitations in the game. I am supposed to talk to Dexter Egan? I'll call him on the phone. There is a phone in the lobby, but I am not able to pick it up. I get closer to it, but no green button appears to let me pick it up. There are cars outside the lobby window, but the door to the parking lot is actually a wall. I go back to the person who told me I should talk to Dexter Egan, but all he will say is 'Have you talked to Dexter Egan yet?' I am frustrated and bored. But surely it will be fun soon. The box art made it look so fun! Ryder is in a similar position. He is in the city for a busy few days to give a concert performance. Townspeople make polite, but constant, requests from him. Then they promise they will soon serve him a delicious meal, or take him for a leisurely stroll about the old city center. Ryder is never able to help them, and they never deliver the moment of relaxation and enjoyment they are promising him.
On a Substack, I saw a writer talking about how well this novel captures the feeling of being a foreigner in a new city. I agree somewhat, there is a similar sense of defamiliarization, of trying to follow a rulebook everyone except you has. But traveling can also be fun, in between the moments of stress! I do not think Ryder has a single second of fun for 500 pages.
There is a real feeling a dreaminess. Ryder witnesses surreal events, and invents a logic for them, the way you do in a dream. There are huge gaps in his memory, but he just happens to know long stories about the semi-strangers around him, the way you are sure of random facts in a dream. He suddenly notices details that have been there all along without him seeing, the way something in a dream becomes visible the moment you think of it.
This novel is probably more like a dream than it is like anything else, but my hot take on where Ryder 'actually' is, on what is 'actually' happening to him, is that he is in hell.
On a Substack, I saw a writer talking about how well this novel captures the feeling of being a foreigner in a new city. I agree somewhat, there is a similar sense of defamiliarization, of trying to follow a rulebook everyone except you has. But traveling can also be fun, in between the moments of stress! I do not think Ryder has a single second of fun for 500 pages.
There is a real feeling a dreaminess. Ryder witnesses surreal events, and invents a logic for them, the way you do in a dream. There are huge gaps in his memory, but he just happens to know long stories about the semi-strangers around him, the way you are sure of random facts in a dream. He suddenly notices details that have been there all along without him seeing, the way something in a dream becomes visible the moment you think of it.
This novel is probably more like a dream than it is like anything else, but my hot take on where Ryder 'actually' is, on what is 'actually' happening to him, is that he is in hell.
Wow, not sure what to say about this, completely insane, immersion into the surreal mental landscape of the narrator, Stephen Ryder. Mr Ryder is a world renowned pianist. Probably. He has a family he has forgotten in the city. Maybe. He is actually here to deliver a very important speech to the town which appears to be in some sort of existential crisis and incredibly interested in obscure (to me) modern classical music. Or not.
The atmosphere of tension and unfulfilled tasks, duty, love, work, performance is so intense, as to make the book almost unbearable at times. Yet your mind is constantly dragged back to it and you pick it up again. Everyone is unbearably, formally polite, yet terribly anxious and demanding. I found I would read about 5% intensively, then rest, then read maybe 2% before putting it down again. It was exhausting. It was fantastic. It was head wrecking. There is no logical narrative. The "hero" is constantly distracted from his purpose, which constantly changes. It's like being in a dream where you have semi control but you can't quite make the dream go the way you want.
Ultimately my own interpretation (and there are lots of opinions on this book), is that Mr Ryder has suffered some kind of breakdown or trauma. I think some of the characters are actually representations of himself at different stages and represent his own efforts to work out his own issues with his parents. The interaction with Sophie and Boris in particular is heart breaking at times, and an incredible depiction of a deeply distressed family unit.
You are entirely in the mind of Stephen so you are as at sea, as he is.
I'd really recommend it, but it is not for the fainthearted. Best thing I've read in years.
The atmosphere of tension and unfulfilled tasks, duty, love, work, performance is so intense, as to make the book almost unbearable at times. Yet your mind is constantly dragged back to it and you pick it up again. Everyone is unbearably, formally polite, yet terribly anxious and demanding. I found I would read about 5% intensively, then rest, then read maybe 2% before putting it down again. It was exhausting. It was fantastic. It was head wrecking. There is no logical narrative. The "hero" is constantly distracted from his purpose, which constantly changes. It's like being in a dream where you have semi control but you can't quite make the dream go the way you want.
Ultimately my own interpretation (and there are lots of opinions on this book), is that Mr Ryder has suffered some kind of breakdown or trauma. I think some of the characters are actually representations of himself at different stages and represent his own efforts to work out his own issues with his parents. The interaction with Sophie and Boris in particular is heart breaking at times, and an incredible depiction of a deeply distressed family unit.
You are entirely in the mind of Stephen so you are as at sea, as he is.
I'd really recommend it, but it is not for the fainthearted. Best thing I've read in years.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
An extraordinary dissection of the human condition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes