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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Dostoevsky himself called this book a failure, and he was right. Compared with his other books, this one just lacks a sort of Dostoevsky soul. The language is evidently his, but the plot is not very Dostoevsky-esque. At times, it's hard to understand what is even going on, and when you do understand what is occurring, you don't necessarily know why that is occurring. In any case, I would recommend skipping this one.
Dostoyevsky is slowly becoming my favorite author. This was the first book of his that I’ve read which he wrote before prison. The psychological journey of Golaidkin has so many layers; definitely will have to revisit.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s late August - 2011. I’m sitting in my first orchestra class of jr. high. I’m chatting with my friends, nervous and excited to meet the new teacher and get started. The teacher calls for our attention for roll call and asks us to stand when our name is called. Eventually, he gets to the Ts. It’s almost my turn.
“Emilee Thomas?”
I stand up. Excited and nervous.
But wait.
I’m not the only one standing.
I look to my right and in the front of the classroom, another girl is standing up! What!
We lock eyes in surprise. And then everyone gives a sort of chuckle. My teacher shrugs and is all - “well, I guess we have two!”
I had never seen her before.
Had I found…my double?
. . .
Okay, all drama aside, this book was chaotic! You hardly know what’s going on half the time, and the main character is a bit mad. And it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not real. At first I was a little bit bored, but as the novel went on I came to enjoy the confusion. And I liked the ending! Woohoo!
I think Dostoevsky’s goal was to focus on the psychology of his main character, but I’m going to go ahead and choose to see it as a fantasy-esque horror story. Cuz, why not?
Also, I might be crazy but I thought this book was funny sometimes. Not sure if it was supposed to be.
Oh, and the other Emily Thomas is way cool and nice. We ended up being stand partners a few times! She didn’t turn out to be a sinister enemy. Thank goodness!
“Emilee Thomas?”
I stand up. Excited and nervous.
But wait.
I’m not the only one standing.
I look to my right and in the front of the classroom, another girl is standing up! What!
We lock eyes in surprise. And then everyone gives a sort of chuckle. My teacher shrugs and is all - “well, I guess we have two!”
I had never seen her before.
Had I found…my double?
. . .
Okay, all drama aside, this book was chaotic! You hardly know what’s going on half the time, and the main character is a bit mad. And it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not real. At first I was a little bit bored, but as the novel went on I came to enjoy the confusion. And I liked the ending! Woohoo!
I think Dostoevsky’s goal was to focus on the psychology of his main character, but I’m going to go ahead and choose to see it as a fantasy-esque horror story. Cuz, why not?
Also, I might be crazy but I thought this book was funny sometimes. Not sure if it was supposed to be.
Oh, and the other Emily Thomas is way cool and nice. We ended up being stand partners a few times! She didn’t turn out to be a sinister enemy. Thank goodness!
dark
funny
sad
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
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Fight Club is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher, and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Nortonand Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is discontented with his white-collar job. He forms a "fight club" with soap salesman Tyler Durden (Pitt), and becomes embroiled in a relationship with an impoverished but beguilingly attractive woman, Marla Singer (Bonham Carter).
Just kidding. Man I’m so gutted I didn’t vibe with this one. I know that it’s obviously the other way around, but this novel felt very Kafkaesque, and not in a good way unfortunately. The general plot of the double, or doppelgänger, makes little sense throughout, while also giving up its shtick immediately upon the introduction of the second Golyadkin. Now, I’m not saying that it should be a Fight Club situation with a huge twist at the end. But I still thought that the plot was very confusing. This fact was not helped by the writing; I will admit the translation I used very clearly didn’t hurt, as it used a lot of antiquated terms and syntax. But still, I recognised Dostoevsky’s very own stress of certain phrases, constant repetition of names, and nerve wracking introspection, which simply didn’t work in this case. It’s a chaotic and anxiety inducing narrative, but I found it hard to in any way relate to the protagonist, besides understanding his awkwardness and desire to be someone altogether different. His life is too shapeless, nothing makes sense. I get that this might be a metaphor for feeling alienated from society, or possibly a depiction of schizofrenia, but still, my point is that it didn’t make for a pleasant read. The other characters are also pointless and hardly play a part in the story. Again, I get that that’s a feature, not a bug, but it just wasn’t for me. Much less polished than both earlier (white nights) and later (crime and punishment) works. So bloated for such a short book. Disappointing.