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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
This book was entirely original, and for that it gets points, but I wouldn't necessarily call it good. The author has a zillion interesting ideas and it really felt more like a book of short stories that for some reason he tried to attach a narrative thread to. The individual stories of humans with strange abilities were entertaining and imaginative, but the overarching story of the custodian and collector of these stories was kind of useless and detracted from the strange beauty of the unique stories of the symptomers.
Recommend to fans of The Checquy Files, Etgar Kehret, and maybe Douglas Adams fans?
Recommend to fans of The Checquy Files, Etgar Kehret, and maybe Douglas Adams fans?
Weird and disturbing.
Something you never heard of while talking about Korean storytelling
Something you never heard of while talking about Korean storytelling
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
funny
mysterious
medium-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
Yeah not feeling this one. The basic concept is fun, at times it feels like he’s really trying to be funny (the toothpick thing). Some of the characters are memorable and nicely unstated - ginkgo tree guy is real interesting - but it didn’t feel like a connected story much. And then the ending. I don’t get why it’s like that, I don’t see anything that has to do with the story up to that point, and I don’t see what there is to learn or think about from the abruptly brutal ending.
I really enjoyed most of this book. I think it went a little off the rails in an unnecessary way in the last 1/3-1/4 of the book.
Reminded me of early Aimee Bender stories, which is a vibe I can really get behind! But the framing narrative really detracted, for me - bland character, witness to a lot of casual cruelty for no good reason I could identify, and an ending that went off the rails but didn’t *land* anywhere, still. Just write short stories, it’s ok! We like those!
I feel like this book did not know what it was trying to be? The plot shift at the end felt out of pocket and instead of tying the whole book together it felt like a rushed attempted to take the book in another direction. I liked a lot of the stories and the premise but I think this book isn’t as executed as well as I hoped it would be.