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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
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:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found it a little repetitive. I guess since its more of a series of vignettes/short stories and not a novel with a clear beginning, middle and end, I get that it has a cyclical nature to it. I just didn't like it much personally.
medium-paced
An unnamed college student at Kyoto University is unhappy with his college life and thinks joining one of the college clubs will be his doorway to a rose-coloured, meaningful campus life with a black-haired maiden at his side. Four clubs catch his attention and, in his own words, seem 'shady': the Ablutions film club, the bizarre Disciples Wanted Notice, the Mellow softball club, and Lucky Cat Chinese food. This is Tomhiko Morimi's take on parallel universes. The book is split into four parts, with each an alternate reality of how different his life would have been if he had joined one of the other clubs instead. The characters and the outcomes are almost identical, whichever option he chooses.
In all the parts, he meets Ozu, whose face looks like a Yokai goblin, as if he has been living on the far side of the moon, and gets him into trouble by involving him in his shenanigans. Ozu's master lives in a 4½ tatami room just above his room and claims to be a god at the Shimogawa shrine even though he is their 8th-year super-senior. His name is Saitaro Higuchi, but he likes being called Master Higuchi, wears a navy Yukata and loves smoking cigars. Akashi is also one of Master Huguchi's disciples, and they end up meeting in some way or another in all parts and end up sharing a mature love he doesn't want us to know. Other interesting characters are Jogasaki, who gets his love doll Kaori stolen in the Masochistic Proxy-Proxy War; Hanuki, who is a dental hygienist and likes to lick people's faces when she is drunk; and the owner of Niko Ramen, who is fabled to make soup from cats. Higuchi, Hanuki, Jogasaki, and the Niko ramen owner were classmates.
In all parts, he ends up at an old fortune teller on Kiyamachi Street, who tells him that 'Colosseo' will be his turning point. Colosseo manifests in different ways through the four parts: a half-bitten castella, a college essay, a photograph, and finally a removed wisdom tooth.
In the last part, he joins Lucky Cat Chinese Food and becomes a part of the Library Police, who use any means necessary to return unreturned library books. He later gets stuck in an infinite loop of 4½ tatami mat rooms with each room representing an alternative reality he has lived with only coffee, fish burgers, and castella for 80 days (possibly a reference to Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days). It also reveals some of the mysterious happenings from the previous parts, like the swarm of moths that appeared to have come from Shimogawa Yuzuiso. When he comes out, at the end of 80 days looking like Robinson Crusoe, he has a newfound appreciation for life. There's nothing quite like getting stuck in a loop of self-pity.
The book gets repetitive in the second part, with most dialogues being the same, and it makes sense because the author wrote all four parts simultaneously. It got tedious at this point, and I even considered DNFing it. But I liked the ending and thought it saved the book. . It was funny and entertaining sometimes. It is more of a teen/young adult book.
In all the parts, he meets Ozu, whose face looks like a Yokai goblin, as if he has been living on the far side of the moon, and gets him into trouble by involving him in his shenanigans. Ozu's master lives in a 4½ tatami room just above his room and claims to be a god at the Shimogawa shrine even though he is their 8th-year super-senior. His name is Saitaro Higuchi, but he likes being called Master Higuchi, wears a navy Yukata and loves smoking cigars. Akashi is also one of Master Huguchi's disciples, and they end up meeting in some way or another in all parts and end up sharing a mature love he doesn't want us to know. Other interesting characters are Jogasaki, who gets his love doll Kaori stolen in the Masochistic Proxy-Proxy War; Hanuki, who is a dental hygienist and likes to lick people's faces when she is drunk; and the owner of Niko Ramen, who is fabled to make soup from cats. Higuchi, Hanuki, Jogasaki, and the Niko ramen owner were classmates.
In all parts, he ends up at an old fortune teller on Kiyamachi Street, who tells him that 'Colosseo' will be his turning point. Colosseo manifests in different ways through the four parts: a half-bitten castella, a college essay, a photograph, and finally a removed wisdom tooth.
In the last part, he joins Lucky Cat Chinese Food and becomes a part of the Library Police, who use any means necessary to return unreturned library books. He later gets stuck in an infinite loop of 4½ tatami mat rooms with each room representing an alternative reality he has lived with only coffee, fish burgers, and castella for 80 days (possibly a reference to Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days). It also reveals some of the mysterious happenings from the previous parts, like the swarm of moths that appeared to have come from Shimogawa Yuzuiso. When he comes out, at the end of 80 days looking like Robinson Crusoe, he has a newfound appreciation for life. There's nothing quite like getting stuck in a loop of self-pity.
The book gets repetitive in the second part, with most dialogues being the same, and it makes sense because the author wrote all four parts simultaneously. It got tedious at this point, and I even considered DNFing it. But I liked the ending and thought it saved the book. . It was funny and entertaining sometimes. It is more of a teen/young adult book.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
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:
No
I should know by now to accept that Japanese speculative fiction of this type is not for me. I watch the movies based on the novels and get really excited but - please don't kill me - reading the books is torture.
This particular book focuses on an unnamed college junior who believes he's wasting the years he's supposed to be living in rosy happiness all because he made a wrong choice in which social club to join during freshman year. He meets a fellow slacker whom he blames for all his woes despite him being his only friend. We then follow this student through the different timelines where he chose the different paths available to him as a freshman to see how his life would have changed... only things don't really change that much and it's entirely possible that all paths lead to the same place simply because our protagonist is the way he is.
The writing is actually pretty solid, which is good because entire passages get the copy/paste treatment and are repeated over and over again. Experiencing the character's deja vu without the character being aware that it's deja vu because they're reliving an alternate timeline created by a choice makes for a bizarre and (honestly) boring reading experience.
And then there's the fact that the unnamed main character is supposed to not be entirely likable and you've got a book that challenges the reader way more than I'm willing to dedicate to novels I read for pleasure.
I've learned my lesson. No more Japanese speculative fiction for me.
Thankful to NetGalley and HarperVia for the reading experience.
This particular book focuses on an unnamed college junior who believes he's wasting the years he's supposed to be living in rosy happiness all because he made a wrong choice in which social club to join during freshman year. He meets a fellow slacker whom he blames for all his woes despite him being his only friend. We then follow this student through the different timelines where he chose the different paths available to him as a freshman to see how his life would have changed... only things don't really change that much and it's entirely possible that all paths lead to the same place simply because our protagonist is the way he is.
The writing is actually pretty solid, which is good because entire passages get the copy/paste treatment and are repeated over and over again. Experiencing the character's deja vu without the character being aware that it's deja vu because they're reliving an alternate timeline created by a choice makes for a bizarre and (honestly) boring reading experience.
And then there's the fact that the unnamed main character is supposed to not be entirely likable and you've got a book that challenges the reader way more than I'm willing to dedicate to novels I read for pleasure.
I've learned my lesson. No more Japanese speculative fiction for me.
Thankful to NetGalley and HarperVia for the reading experience.