Reviews

Remainder by Tom McCarthy

papelgren's review against another edition

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4.0

This is one of the strangest books I have ever read. It might be a masterpiece, but due to the nature of the protagonist's distant and possibly sociopathic nature, its an intellectual exercise that is difficult to penetrate. People interested in experimental or idiosyncratic fiction should pick it up. There aren't many books like it.

subtlesraf's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

nuscheda's review against another edition

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1.0

How do books like this even get published?

tealeafbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

Well, that was weird.

And, if you decide to read it, I actually believe that this is weird in a way you haven't encountered weird in a novel before.

Re-enactors. Liver lady. Pianist. Motorbike enthusiast. Cats on a roof. More re-enacting and re-enactors.

If you want to read a novel with a protagonist who 1) has a name and 2) you care about/like, this is not the novel you want to read. If you want to read a novel with a protagonist you will sometimes laugh at (e.g. coffee moments) and understand/not understand at all (even though you sort of understand the way his twisted mind works) which is also a novel that makes you think about language and the mind in ways you wouldn't otherwise...maybe you want to read this.

This and Disgrace, which I read for the same class and recommend more than I do this novel, both contain one thing that bothers me in any story (book, film, life):
Spoileranimals die.


I do think that writers, particularly writers thinking about literary analysis, may appreciate this book more than non-writers. Did I like this book? Enough to give it a 3-star review, yes. Did I like the ending? No. Did the ending feel true to the character? Yes, definitely.


ericfheiman's review against another edition

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5.0

It's rare that a novel with such provocative ideas can also transcend them enough to tell a compelling story with characters in which we can invest ourselves. Upon a second reading, this book may warrant a five star rating, but for now I'm going to let it sit in the back of my mind and see if it manages to stay there. It's hard for me to even describe aptly the things of which "Remainder" grapples without ruining it (or not doing it justice) for the unknowing potential reader. Suffice to say, its exploration of memory (and loss thereof), what makes us human (and happy humans) is nothing short of fascinating.

What is additionally amazing is that the intellectual arguments running underneath the whole of the novel manage to make it more of a human, feeling book rather than undermine its potential. The story's endgame is simultaneously humorous and highly disturbing, also no mean feat. If anything, this is a book you want friends to read just so you have someone with whom to discuss it and argue vehemently over.

maura_kathleen's review against another edition

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challenging sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
One of the strangest and most provocative books I've read. I can seldom remember the title of it, and then I will catch myself googling things like "man tries to recreate accident builds entire hotel" to try to find it again. (I don't remember if that plot description is even entirely accurate.) A bewildering, haunting exploration of obsession, trauma, authenticity, and the evanescent cutpurse of temporality.

(Declining to provide star ratings for books that I last read before 2019.) 

piku_baumann's review against another edition

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1.0

When I clicked "I'm finished" on this one, Goodreads said: "Error!" As in: that's not possible. Goodreads is correct. It is not possible to finish this book. This tedious-tedious detail-ridden madness of a book.
I did finish, however, because the first 60-70 pages had been such good writing. It had injected a hope in me that it will get better in the end, that the end will make sense again. It didn't.
I'm sorry, Mister McCarthy, but I don't even want to understand what you were trying to do there.
I was so bored.

ondrobondro's review against another edition

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5.0

One of the most realistic books I've read, whilst managing to simultaneously be completely unbelievable. McCarthy has a magnificent skill with language that allows you to believe even the most absurd of concepts and situations, whilst leaving it rooted in reality to beautiful results. One of the best books I've read this year.

zimb0's review against another edition

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5.0

I do not know how to review this brilliant work. Let me try to reenact its effect on me: Faster as it goes, lesch segment like the golden rstio in reverse; leveling its identity and pinpoint curve.

(A must read for fans of the surreal of J.G. Ballard and the like. An astonishing piece is this.)

annie_explores's review against another edition

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4.0

Terrifying.