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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
Meh. This was just like every other dystopian novel. I really thought that there would something different. It was pegged as a darkly comedic book, but all of the situations that were comical had been done.
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
Yep, should have quit the book part way through like I wanted to. Total waste of time with no resolution to the 'plot' if you can call it as such.
It is impossible to describe The Investigator without the word Kafkaesque. In fact Kafka with mobile phones might be the most apt description. It is about the Investigator who arrives in an unnamed town to investigate the Enterprise and is thwarted by the Policeman, the Guide, the Manager, and other sundry characters or character types, with the entire novel in the end dissolving into something between postmodernism and hallucination.
It is interesting and readable from beginning to end, some of the scenes are quite funny, and the postmodernism is worn relatively lightly (besides the ocasional aside like when the Investigator says "You're not a policeman. This isn't a luxury hotel. This is not reality. I'm in a novel, or a dream and, what's more, probably not in one of my own dreams but in another's dream, the dream of a complex, perverse being having fun at my expense.") The themes and ideas are not exactly unique, individuality being crushed by modernity as manifested by capitalism, rules, police, etc. But it is still entertaining enough in most places. Although nowhere near as good as Claudel's Brodeck or By a Slow River.
It is interesting and readable from beginning to end, some of the scenes are quite funny, and the postmodernism is worn relatively lightly (besides the ocasional aside like when the Investigator says "You're not a policeman. This isn't a luxury hotel. This is not reality. I'm in a novel, or a dream and, what's more, probably not in one of my own dreams but in another's dream, the dream of a complex, perverse being having fun at my expense.") The themes and ideas are not exactly unique, individuality being crushed by modernity as manifested by capitalism, rules, police, etc. But it is still entertaining enough in most places. Although nowhere near as good as Claudel's Brodeck or By a Slow River.
A fun, quirky read. But the conclusion/ending was a bit confusing.
This book was hell, in a good way. Darkly hilarious in places, while still being a satirical commentary in the vein of Brazil or In the Penal Colony. Completely absurd, but also effective - the city the Investigator found himself trying to navigate was scarier and more disturbing than many horror settings I've read, especially if you believe that hell is other people. I feel like the book ran out of steam at the end, though, and the lackluster ending brought my rating down a star.