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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A very depressing but good foray into Japanese literature while in Japan. I think Dazai and Dostoevsky would have been good friends but not much fun to hang out with.
It's not often that an author exercises such restraint and subtlety when the subject matter that they cover is anything but that. As time ruthlessly skips ahead, we observe the "protagonist" descend deeper and deeper into an unrelenting downward spiral that begins right in his childhood, with its roots in the simple fact that he doesn't consider himself part of society. He doesn't consider himself human.
The matter-of-factness and politeness in which the most jarring tales are shown to us is extremely unsettling and intriguing in a truly unique way. A way that, I guess, could only be done by someone who has been through the same themselves. That happens to be the case in this situation. A cursory reading on the author makes it obvious that this book is basically autobiographical of his life and the jarring events that he himself has experienced.
For all that happens in this book the part that really stuck with me is the epilogue wherein the "madam" answers the question whether she cried when she read Yozo's accounts in his notebooks. She chillingly replies:
"No. I didn't cry... I just kept thinking that when human beings get that way, they're no good for anything."
It's obtuse. It's brutal. And a stark representation of how thin the world's patience can be for persons such. Maybe some are forsaken from the moment they breathe in the air on this planet? Or maybe before they even have the chance to do so.
The matter-of-factness and politeness in which the most jarring tales are shown to us is extremely unsettling and intriguing in a truly unique way. A way that, I guess, could only be done by someone who has been through the same themselves. That happens to be the case in this situation. A cursory reading on the author makes it obvious that this book is basically autobiographical of his life and the jarring events that he himself has experienced.
For all that happens in this book the part that really stuck with me is the epilogue wherein the "madam" answers the question whether she cried when she read Yozo's accounts in his notebooks. She chillingly replies:
"No. I didn't cry... I just kept thinking that when human beings get that way, they're no good for anything."
It's obtuse. It's brutal. And a stark representation of how thin the world's patience can be for persons such. Maybe some are forsaken from the moment they breathe in the air on this planet? Or maybe before they even have the chance to do so.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
dark
emotional
reflective
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:
Yes
this book is my worst nightmare. fading away to nothing doing nothing worth nothing
challenging
reflective
medium-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
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-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
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-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