Reviews

The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada

riainoc's review against another edition

4.5

Is it dystopian only because I think it’s dystopian? I don’t think so. It feels like the whole world works here. Our cast of characters were all doing something else before the events of the narrative, and were routed here either because of lack of options or, in the case of the academic, because he was effectively forced to. Even the academic has no choice, he is funnelled into the drain as much as anyone. 

I don’t know if this is intentional or not, but there was occasional difficulty in figuring out who was talking, and WHEN we were. This fits in with the dehumanising of people into things that interact, jaded. When it’s revealed that the academic has been there for fifteen years, it supports that. Once you’re circling the black hole, time becomes twisted. 

There are other fascinating aspects to pick at. What’s going on with the animals? Why did one of our narrators seem to transform into a bird in the very last scene? It seems like the animals can’t escape, the factory is so all-encompassing that it has its own little ecosystem. 

Other notes - the restaurants, facilities, and the sense of the factory being a full-blown city took me back to offices I have been to before. 

This was a great book. 

paohc's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

eba's review

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

The ending made it worth it for me. I'm glad I got there. But otherwise what a slow and disorienting read.

jgrady93's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

1.0

themightycheez's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

typedtruths's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

sonias's review

challenging informative reflective 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? No

3.25

kags__'s review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

sydneyparno's review

mysterious fast-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

anitamaxwin's review

2.0

95 of the 115 pages of this feel like world building and introductory characterization. Around pg 95, things finally start to feel enticing beyond the standard, "Does my life have meaning at this job?" ramblings. The final page was actually the only page to really make me feel something, which was unexpected given the lack of overall thoughts and feeling I had reading the rest. I like the structure quite a bit, but the characters...no! I swear half of what these 3 characters had to say were comments regarding people's weight. Fatphobia is rampant, so I guess it's not a stretch that if we plucked 3 people from the factory, they wouldn't all hate fat people. But to me it felt like the author maybe was letting her feelings come through a little too much here. With a short page count, and 3 characters sharing the spotlight, a lot of time was wasted on these characters making shitty observations that contributed nothing to the goal of the book which I guess is to highlight the backwards nature of capitalism in factories. Failed pretty hard at that.