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laroline's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
this book could have been good, but it was way too long and slow paced. the writing style is beautiful and makes you really FEEL the protagonists agony, but do you really need to describe someone playing the piano for more than six pages? also this is not a good-vibes-books, and i would stongly recommend to NOT read this in winter, especially if you are suffering from winter blues. this book is how it must feel to slowly lose your mind
ciska's review against another edition
3.0
Author
Peter Bieri was born in Bern on June 23th 1944. He is better known under his pseudonym Pascal Mercier. Bieri studied philosophy, English studies and Indian studies in both London and Heidelberg. He currently lives in Berlin where he is a professor of philosophy.
Review
I finished this book. I would say finally but that does not sound nice. Still I am not sure if I want to write nice things about this book because though I finished it I kind of despised it too. It took me a few rants to people in my surrounding to understand that my experienced feeling on the book and the fact that I could not put it away where not really making sense until I realized that I actually was interested in how it would finish and what would happen to all the characters. So to start with them.
The book's main character is Phillip Perlmann. A man of whom I do not remember an age but he must be around 50. During the book you live inside his head and this man should really stop thinking for just a second and realize what is really going on. His thoughts are scary and there are to many. It does not matter what happens to him he can see it all go wrong. His thoughts take him to all the dark spots. As you see the other characters trough his eyes you get a very dark colored view on them, even though not all of them are having that effect on Perlmann, specially not the woman in the book. Still you really want to slap his face to get him back to reality, cause the actions the other characters show, even seen trough his eyes are really not all that bad. As I am a more positive personality myself I could not relate to him at all, in would probably not want to spend more than an hour with that man.
The story itself is dragging and kind of depressing still you get curious eventually if Perlmann gets away with all the evil he comes up with in his head. So I did finish the book but am now doubting between giving it 2or 3 stars. Under indifferent circumstances I would have given it two stars for sure but because there where some very beautifull written sentences in the book I will be generous and give three stars.
Favorite quotes:
"Things were obtrusively only themselves, they had not significance and no lustre." ~9
"To think of these things you have to be right inside - as I am no longer inside." ~79
“What separates me from my present is like a fine mist, an intangible veil, an invisible wall. They don't put up the slightest resistance. Nothing would shatter if I were to walk trough it. Because there is actually nothing at all between me and the world. A single step would be enough. Why didn't I take it long ago?” ~183
Peter Bieri was born in Bern on June 23th 1944. He is better known under his pseudonym Pascal Mercier. Bieri studied philosophy, English studies and Indian studies in both London and Heidelberg. He currently lives in Berlin where he is a professor of philosophy.
Review
I finished this book. I would say finally but that does not sound nice. Still I am not sure if I want to write nice things about this book because though I finished it I kind of despised it too. It took me a few rants to people in my surrounding to understand that my experienced feeling on the book and the fact that I could not put it away where not really making sense until I realized that I actually was interested in how it would finish and what would happen to all the characters. So to start with them.
The book's main character is Phillip Perlmann. A man of whom I do not remember an age but he must be around 50. During the book you live inside his head and this man should really stop thinking for just a second and realize what is really going on. His thoughts are scary and there are to many. It does not matter what happens to him he can see it all go wrong. His thoughts take him to all the dark spots. As you see the other characters trough his eyes you get a very dark colored view on them, even though not all of them are having that effect on Perlmann, specially not the woman in the book. Still you really want to slap his face to get him back to reality, cause the actions the other characters show, even seen trough his eyes are really not all that bad. As I am a more positive personality myself I could not relate to him at all, in would probably not want to spend more than an hour with that man.
The story itself is dragging and kind of depressing still you get curious eventually if Perlmann gets away with all the evil he comes up with in his head. So I did finish the book but am now doubting between giving it 2or 3 stars. Under indifferent circumstances I would have given it two stars for sure but because there where some very beautifull written sentences in the book I will be generous and give three stars.
Favorite quotes:
"Things were obtrusively only themselves, they had not significance and no lustre." ~9
"To think of these things you have to be right inside - as I am no longer inside." ~79
“What separates me from my present is like a fine mist, an intangible veil, an invisible wall. They don't put up the slightest resistance. Nothing would shatter if I were to walk trough it. Because there is actually nothing at all between me and the world. A single step would be enough. Why didn't I take it long ago?” ~183
anyas_books's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dorthepedersen_reads's review against another edition
2.0
Ikke min største læseoplevelse, men den får dog lidt point for originalitet og for konsekvensbeskrivelsen af et handlingslammet liv og en fin beskrivelse af, at "skæbnen" består af tilfældigheder. Alt det, der ikke bliver sagt, er afgørende for hovedpersonens livsforløb!
noemie_jak's review
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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