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jttkemp's review against another edition
Exhausting to read, and exhausting without a point. And repeating turns of phrase isn’t funny when it’s done every other page.
tori_renee_reads's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
This was such a meh book. Like nothing really bad but the quirky writing style was fun the first 20 pages but quickly lost its appeal. There wasn’t a lot carrying it and so I felt slight trying to finish it.
notesonbookmarks's review against another edition
3.0
This was interesting, but after being billed as hilarious, I felt pretty disappointed. Like, I may have chuckled a few times.... But I also feel like it was trying to be too smart for itself.
matt_books's review against another edition
4.0
Endless pages are dedicated to stories told to characters in another, longer story that is being relayed to our main character who later writes an account of the conversation that is being translated by the narrator at some point years later. Sachs spends a lot of time meditating on the unreliability of storytelling and of history at large, the endless game of telephone that refracts conversations/events/whole lives through a series of observers. Your firsthand account of a weird guy at the bar or whatever gets embellished and exaggerated the more you tell it, imagine the layers of unreality to writings about events that unfolded centuries ago.
There’s also a lot of stuff here about the relationship and unfair expectations between sons and fathers, but since I don’t have a dad (cheers to the anonymous sperm donors of the late 1980s) I cannot really speak to these themes.
I struggled at first to wrap my head around to the pages-long paragraphs and discursive, elliptical conversational style but ended up reading the last hundred pages in one sitting. Extremely satisfying ending, too!
There’s also a lot of stuff here about the relationship and unfair expectations between sons and fathers, but since I don’t have a dad (cheers to the anonymous sperm donors of the late 1980s) I cannot really speak to these themes.
I struggled at first to wrap my head around to the pages-long paragraphs and discursive, elliptical conversational style but ended up reading the last hundred pages in one sitting. Extremely satisfying ending, too!
dianamnr's review against another edition
4.0
It was a nice story just dragged out but it seems purposeful in its writing. That being said... so many long run on sentences. So. Many. Of all the characters I only liked margaretha and Linus (the cat).
(About a guy researching to see if the blind astronomer who predicts an eclipse that no other astronomer agrees with is correct or not. He ends up hearing this astronomers entire life story including his childhood, the creation of his telescope and ofc why he lost his eyes.)
(About a guy researching to see if the blind astronomer who predicts an eclipse that no other astronomer agrees with is correct or not. He ends up hearing this astronomers entire life story including his childhood, the creation of his telescope and ofc why he lost his eyes.)
kfk10's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mattgjohnson's review
Intentionally redundant style. Maybe not as ambitious as it first seems? Logic from the 1600s is kinda annoying too.
Did set up alot of cool motiffs, but oh well.
Did set up alot of cool motiffs, but oh well.
tina_douglas's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5