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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
not sure if it's the fault of the translator but I found it poorly written
Mi sembra un romanzo scritto da un bambino.
Capisco il legame con il videogioco, ma è solo un protagonista che gira di stazione in stazione, vede persone, fa cose e passa ad un'altra stazione, uscendo dai "casini" ogni volta in modo inspiegabile e conoscendo persone che hanno caratteristiche particolari ed "eccellenti".
Di stazione in stazione, a mio avviso la crescita del personaggio è pari a zero.
do due stelle solo perché, saltando molti brani sono riuscito a finirlo.
Lento, ripetitivo a tratti insulso, con un finale che chiude tutto senza una reale preparazione.
Forse sono abituato ad altri generi ma lo sconsiglio
Capisco il legame con il videogioco, ma è solo un protagonista che gira di stazione in stazione, vede persone, fa cose e passa ad un'altra stazione, uscendo dai "casini" ogni volta in modo inspiegabile e conoscendo persone che hanno caratteristiche particolari ed "eccellenti".
Di stazione in stazione, a mio avviso la crescita del personaggio è pari a zero.
do due stelle solo perché, saltando molti brani sono riuscito a finirlo.
Lento, ripetitivo a tratti insulso, con un finale che chiude tutto senza una reale preparazione.
Forse sono abituato ad altri generi ma lo sconsiglio
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Metro 2033 took me on a dark, but interesting trip through another world, an underground system. What affected me the most was the creepy sadness of life without nature in a mechanical world build entirely by human hand.. A lot of philosophical questions discussed and makes you rethink again humans involvement in nuclear sciences and radioctivity
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Long winded, boring, and there are several moments that contradict each other. I don't think this every got past an editor.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
There are nazi's and they're not even the but guys really, just kind of there. They do bad things but the book treats them as just another one of the various stations in the metro rather than something that needs to be dealt with.
I wanted to read this book for a very very long time. Somehow, I never found the time or motivation to actually read it until now. It didn't help that there were also multiple online discussions regarding translation issues. My mother tongue is Spanish, but I mostly read books in English. I figured this time, it wouldn't mind much, as Russian is not even a distant cousin of either, so I wanted to find the best translation of the two. I found numerous complaints online about the English translation, but almost nothing about the Spanish one. Nothing good or bad. I didn't want to do the work, but I just couldn't start reading one of the two without thinking that the other would have been better, so I started chapter one in both languages. Yes, I like to make things complicated. No, easy is not always best.
I began comparing both the English and Spanish translations, and while both felt clunky, I found some things from the Spanish version that didn't make a lot of sense. An example:
English version:
"They sent a runner to Begovaya - they'd established a confederation with Begovaya and 1905 street."
Spanish version:
"Enviaron un mensajero urgente a Begovaya. Los de Begovaya están confederados con Ulitsa 105 goda"
Translation of the Spanish version into English:
"They sent a runner to Begovaya. Begovaya is confederated with Ulitsa 105 goda"
It isn't the same, and it feels rather confusing. I hate confusing. It makes me think of the many possibilities that could be, and why something has been formulated in that specific way. Was the author? Is it just that Russian grammar rules are so different from ours? Is it a case of a bad translation? Is it that Russians speak like this, and the English translation has things adapted so that an English speaker can understand it? Too many questions that rob me entirely of the enjoyment of reading.
In the end, I decided to go with the English version, and in a happy moment, I found that I had purchased the audio version on Audible some years ago, in one of my moods of wanting to read this book.
Between my translations research and the audiobook, I think I started this book about four or five times. I can't say that it took me some time to get into the story, even with all these attempts, because I never really got into it. I listened to about 28% and I think I just need to give up.
While a post-apocalyptic story set in the underground sounds like an intriguing premise to me, the writing style and pace is killing it for me.
I could say that this book feels tremendously masculine, which may be normal since Russian culture is not well known for its feminism. In the first third there isn't any female character except for the mention of Artyom's mother and a little girl that is around when Artyom is talking to his friend. Women in Metro 2033 do little more than nurse babies. They don't travel between stations, trade, or are part of security. No reason for this, it's just how things are... in 2033.
Leaving feminism aside, this writing style is heavily supported by info dumping, from the narrator's perspective but also often used in dialogs. Glukhovsky doesn't show us things; he tells us again and again. I also didn't feel the metro's atmosphere. There were descriptions of details, but not general descriptions that would make me feel I was there.
The characters, including Artyom, are very poorly developed, and I didn't care about any of them. Secondary characters are introduced sequentially into the story, and each one joins Artyom for a part of his journey. Talking about journey, this book feels terribly episodic, as the main character just moves from station to station without clear stakes, just chasing a random errand. Some of the characters introduce a supernatural aspect to the story that I didn't expect or like. I didn't finish the book, so I don't know how important this will be in the end, but I just didn't like where it seemed to be going. And I was totally bored.
One last complaint is that neither my Kindle nor my Audible copy had maps. I found a photo of the metro network on Reddit that I would have appreciated having on hand while reading the book.
Rupert Degas's narration was, in general, good, but some of the characters' voices, like Hunter's, were a bit overdone. I also found that even though I tried to pay special attention, I found myself zoning out every time I listened to the audiobook, something that seldom happens to me (if I'm enjoying the book).
I began comparing both the English and Spanish translations, and while both felt clunky, I found some things from the Spanish version that didn't make a lot of sense. An example:
English version:
"They sent a runner to Begovaya - they'd established a confederation with Begovaya and 1905 street."
Spanish version:
"Enviaron un mensajero urgente a Begovaya. Los de Begovaya están confederados con Ulitsa 105 goda"
Translation of the Spanish version into English:
"They sent a runner to Begovaya. Begovaya is confederated with Ulitsa 105 goda"
It isn't the same, and it feels rather confusing. I hate confusing. It makes me think of the many possibilities that could be, and why something has been formulated in that specific way. Was the author? Is it just that Russian grammar rules are so different from ours? Is it a case of a bad translation? Is it that Russians speak like this, and the English translation has things adapted so that an English speaker can understand it? Too many questions that rob me entirely of the enjoyment of reading.
In the end, I decided to go with the English version, and in a happy moment, I found that I had purchased the audio version on Audible some years ago, in one of my moods of wanting to read this book.
Between my translations research and the audiobook, I think I started this book about four or five times. I can't say that it took me some time to get into the story, even with all these attempts, because I never really got into it. I listened to about 28% and I think I just need to give up.
While a post-apocalyptic story set in the underground sounds like an intriguing premise to me, the writing style and pace is killing it for me.
I could say that this book feels tremendously masculine, which may be normal since Russian culture is not well known for its feminism. In the first third there isn't any female character except for the mention of Artyom's mother and a little girl that is around when Artyom is talking to his friend. Women in Metro 2033 do little more than nurse babies. They don't travel between stations, trade, or are part of security. No reason for this, it's just how things are... in 2033.
Leaving feminism aside, this writing style is heavily supported by info dumping, from the narrator's perspective but also often used in dialogs. Glukhovsky doesn't show us things; he tells us again and again. I also didn't feel the metro's atmosphere. There were descriptions of details, but not general descriptions that would make me feel I was there.
The characters, including Artyom, are very poorly developed, and I didn't care about any of them. Secondary characters are introduced sequentially into the story, and each one joins Artyom for a part of his journey. Talking about journey, this book feels terribly episodic, as the main character just moves from station to station without clear stakes, just chasing a random errand. Some of the characters introduce a supernatural aspect to the story that I didn't expect or like. I didn't finish the book, so I don't know how important this will be in the end, but I just didn't like where it seemed to be going. And I was totally bored.
One last complaint is that neither my Kindle nor my Audible copy had maps. I found a photo of the metro network on Reddit that I would have appreciated having on hand while reading the book.
Rupert Degas's narration was, in general, good, but some of the characters' voices, like Hunter's, were a bit overdone. I also found that even though I tried to pay special attention, I found myself zoning out every time I listened to the audiobook, something that seldom happens to me (if I'm enjoying the book).
Difficult dense read. Super slow moving withjust to many tangents
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fantastic concept executed really well. The russians know how to do sci fi well.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A Boring Genius!
It took me almost a year to finish this book! That’s how boring and slow it was. The series of events that the protagonist experiences has been written in a way that eradicates any doubt that they were there to fill in the pages. His journey starts from VDKN station and ends (almost) there with lots of things changed, himself included. During his journey he encounters many irrelevant characters that are put there by the author to either help him move forward and reach his goals or are simply there to be a testament to “human evilness” or to elicit the pity in the reader and this makes them unnecessary and forced and renders the whole story contrived. To be more specific, the encounter with the “Great Worm Worshipers” is by far the worst! The story suddenly derails into a boring/philosophical pages of monologue of that manipulating priest about the creation of the universe. And I think this long long section was only there to feed us the author’s thoughts and beliefs and I honestly couldn’t care less. Just move on with the story! We all can understand the metaphors.
The positive points of this book are the genius in designing the closed ecological system of the metro and the trade mechanism and the protectionism. The fact that various factions have set up defence systems how they are cultivating mushrooms and feeding on pigs and how the class difference also exists in the post apocalyptic world.
Unfortunately, non of the characters, protagonist included, are relatable. They feel distant and shallow like the objective he seeks. Worth mentioning that the plot twist at the end was really good!
Anyways, I will listen to the audiobook for the second volume since I think it will be a boring stretch like this one!
It took me almost a year to finish this book! That’s how boring and slow it was. The series of events that the protagonist experiences has been written in a way that eradicates any doubt that they were there to fill in the pages. His journey starts from VDKN station and ends (almost) there with lots of things changed, himself included. During his journey he encounters many irrelevant characters that are put there by the author to either help him move forward and reach his goals or are simply there to be a testament to “human evilness” or to elicit the pity in the reader and this makes them unnecessary and forced and renders the whole story contrived. To be more specific, the encounter with the “Great Worm Worshipers” is by far the worst! The story suddenly derails into a boring/philosophical pages of monologue of that manipulating priest about the creation of the universe. And I think this long long section was only there to feed us the author’s thoughts and beliefs and I honestly couldn’t care less. Just move on with the story! We all can understand the metaphors.
The positive points of this book are the genius in designing the closed ecological system of the metro and the trade mechanism and the protectionism. The fact that various factions have set up defence systems how they are cultivating mushrooms and feeding on pigs and how the class difference also exists in the post apocalyptic world.
Unfortunately, non of the characters, protagonist included, are relatable. They feel distant and shallow like the objective he seeks. Worth mentioning that the plot twist at the end was really good!
Anyways, I will listen to the audiobook for the second volume since I think it will be a boring stretch like this one!