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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
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:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“The Tatami Galaxy” by Tomihiko Morimi is a novel that inspired the popular anime with the same name. In this book, we follow an unnamed narrator through four different scenarios of how his life would be if he would have chosen a different club to join in when he started college. We see him go through the same amount of time in each scenario and see that while some things change, some things also stay the same.
I love science fiction and the idea of multiverses always intrigues me. I’m also making an effort to try and read a larger variety of books this year and this translated book definitely fit that goal. There were things about this book this I enjoyed but I think overall, it did fall a little flat for me.
I read a few reviews that complained about the repetitive nature of the narrative and while I can see that getting old, I really enjoyed it. The callbacks to the previous scenarios were fun parallels and gave the reader the sense that no matter what you change in life, some things are going to happen regardless. This book also felt like an anime to me. My favorite anime/manga stories are usually the ones that are more contemporary with a light sci-fi or fantasy element. There are also a lot of references to Japanese food and culture that I always enjoy reading about.
A lot of what I didn’t like about this book may have just been the translation. The unnamed main character isn’t really relatable so I could not connect to him enough to really care about his different choices. The writing felt very stilted but that could be due to the translation.
Overall this was an interesting take on the multiverse trope that didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I do think that the anime would be fun to watch.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I love science fiction and the idea of multiverses always intrigues me. I’m also making an effort to try and read a larger variety of books this year and this translated book definitely fit that goal. There were things about this book this I enjoyed but I think overall, it did fall a little flat for me.
I read a few reviews that complained about the repetitive nature of the narrative and while I can see that getting old, I really enjoyed it. The callbacks to the previous scenarios were fun parallels and gave the reader the sense that no matter what you change in life, some things are going to happen regardless. This book also felt like an anime to me. My favorite anime/manga stories are usually the ones that are more contemporary with a light sci-fi or fantasy element. There are also a lot of references to Japanese food and culture that I always enjoy reading about.
A lot of what I didn’t like about this book may have just been the translation. The unnamed main character isn’t really relatable so I could not connect to him enough to really care about his different choices. The writing felt very stilted but that could be due to the translation.
Overall this was an interesting take on the multiverse trope that didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I do think that the anime would be fun to watch.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advanced copy of this to read and review.
Did not finish at 49%. Completed two possible futures before giving up. The Tatami Galaxy explores the unfulfilled college life of our unnamed narrator, and asks the question, if he had chosen a different club (from a selection of 4) would he have had his ideal rose-colored college life? Spoiler, the quick answer, is no. No matter what future he chooses, he ends up meeting the same people, although through different circumstances, and having the same unfulfilled experience, although for different reasons. Another spoiler, turns out the majority of the problem is him, who would have thought.
I was familiar with the story before starting the book, but had never watched the anime. I love literary fiction, and the premise is a good one. "What if" is a very relatable concept, especially during formative years, like college, especially when things aren't turning out the way you had anticipated or hoped.
Unfortunately, the four futures are too long (about 90 minutes each on Kindle) and too similar to each other, with entire passages copied and pasted. I understand what it was going for, but having to re-read content that you swear you read before, but don't want to miss little nuances just in case, is annoying. The story itself is also fairly boring. Our narrator is a fairly average college junior. He wants success and to meet a raven-haired beauty, but doesn't particularly want to put in the effort. Instead of recognizing this, we hear pages of him explaining how he was essentially an angel at birth and there's no way any of these failures are his fault, it must be someone else's. Someone like Ozu, his "friend" who he encounters in every story, no matter what club he joins. There are other repeat characters in each story as well, but it becomes obvious early on that our narrator is a huge part of the problem, and reading his point of view and how highly he thinks of himself gets tiring very quickly. At some points, he goes so far as to come off as a "nice guy."
I gave up after two futures (the half-way mark), and it took me about 3 weeks to get that far. I struggled to pick up this book. There was nothing to look forward to, and it didn't feel like I had to find anything out. I knew what was going to happen, I knew what the outcome would be, it would just be a matter of how. And honestly I didn't care. The film club future, the first one, is very slow. The apprentice future, the second one, is much better, but not enough to keep me going.
If you don't mind repetitiveness or are a big fan of the anime, I say go for it. If not, this is going to be a rough read.
Did not finish at 49%. Completed two possible futures before giving up. The Tatami Galaxy explores the unfulfilled college life of our unnamed narrator, and asks the question, if he had chosen a different club (from a selection of 4) would he have had his ideal rose-colored college life? Spoiler, the quick answer, is no. No matter what future he chooses, he ends up meeting the same people, although through different circumstances, and having the same unfulfilled experience, although for different reasons. Another spoiler, turns out the majority of the problem is him, who would have thought.
I was familiar with the story before starting the book, but had never watched the anime. I love literary fiction, and the premise is a good one. "What if" is a very relatable concept, especially during formative years, like college, especially when things aren't turning out the way you had anticipated or hoped.
Unfortunately, the four futures are too long (about 90 minutes each on Kindle) and too similar to each other, with entire passages copied and pasted. I understand what it was going for, but having to re-read content that you swear you read before, but don't want to miss little nuances just in case, is annoying. The story itself is also fairly boring. Our narrator is a fairly average college junior. He wants success and to meet a raven-haired beauty, but doesn't particularly want to put in the effort. Instead of recognizing this, we hear pages of him explaining how he was essentially an angel at birth and there's no way any of these failures are his fault, it must be someone else's. Someone like Ozu, his "friend" who he encounters in every story, no matter what club he joins. There are other repeat characters in each story as well, but it becomes obvious early on that our narrator is a huge part of the problem, and reading his point of view and how highly he thinks of himself gets tiring very quickly. At some points, he goes so far as to come off as a "nice guy."
I gave up after two futures (the half-way mark), and it took me about 3 weeks to get that far. I struggled to pick up this book. There was nothing to look forward to, and it didn't feel like I had to find anything out. I knew what was going to happen, I knew what the outcome would be, it would just be a matter of how. And honestly I didn't care. The film club future, the first one, is very slow. The apprentice future, the second one, is much better, but not enough to keep me going.
If you don't mind repetitiveness or are a big fan of the anime, I say go for it. If not, this is going to be a rough read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes