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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
At first I didn't understand what it was about. I got confused and had to take a break. I went on to read the comic, which helped a lot. I should have started with the BRZRKR comic. And not the book.
It was only after reading the comic that I understood the feeling of loneliness and the lack of a solution to the death described at the beginning of the book.
The book has very violent descriptions. The texts are rushed and written with fury and passion (it seems strange to use this word but that's what I felt). Fast, raw and strong in their feelings.
All this has to do with the Book of Elsewhere's transmission of knowledge. Once I knew this, everything fell into place and made sense.
Towards the end there is a medical report which contains this paragraph:
It was only after reading the comic that I understood the feeling of loneliness and the lack of a solution to the death described at the beginning of the book.
The book has very violent descriptions. The texts are rushed and written with fury and passion (it seems strange to use this word but that's what I felt). Fast, raw and strong in their feelings.
All this has to do with the Book of Elsewhere's transmission of knowledge. Once I knew this, everything fell into place and made sense.
[…] they reward you by spending the night with you and you spend ten years together and you show them you are immortal by pushing a stiletto through your eye and out of the back of your skull and they run shouting they never want to see you again and four days later they come back and have you tell them the story of your life and you tell them bits of it and they say they still love you and you stay together five more years and they tell you only one thing is missing and though you know it can’t end well you surprise yourself with hankering too and the two of you hire a wombwife and your lover is to lie with her but on the night you lie with her too while your lover strokes you both and the wombwife grows big and you hope against hope but when the baby is born it is dead and the color of ash and the wombwife too sickens and dies too and you and your lover lament for the prescribed time and you live together in your seaside tower until your lover is very old and they tell you you have been the best thing in their life and you say the same which is not true though you are fond of them and you say you will never forget them which is true and then they die and then you bury them and then you give away all your possessions and then brick by brick you pull down the minaret you built together while the townsfolk say yours was the love that will never die and then you walk away with the rubble behind you and then you decide that that is enough procrastinating, and you pull out the scroll with the hymn upon it, about Vayn, and you allow that it really is time to get started.[…]
Towards the end there is a medical report which contains this paragraph:
[…] I have thought of him often, and spoken of him to no one. Why would I give ammunition to those who believe me a charlatan? It has come as a surprise to me, in these my final days, that I am moved—driven—to write down the truth that there is at least one man who, repressed by death, always returns. […]
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A more challenging read. The eras and locations change, sometimes the narrator. There is much contemplation of purpose, existence, and mortality. The happenings are strange, and it weaves an odd tale of life, death, and the wrath of an angry pig.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, War
1.75 / 5
There are some great short stories in here which are the highlight of the novel. "The Stowaway's Story" was particularly good and provides some plot and a callback later.
My main gripe is with the overuse of eclectic words and complex sentence structure. The plot, and main character especially, are very amorphous, so the added complexity really takes away from my understanding. To be brutally honest it feels like the author wanted to say something but had nothing to say at times and so relied on confusing the reader.
Not sure I could recommend this book unless you are okay with having little idea what it was you just read.
There are some great short stories in here which are the highlight of the novel. "The Stowaway's Story" was particularly good and provides some plot and a callback later.
My main gripe is with the overuse of eclectic words and complex sentence structure. The plot, and main character especially, are very amorphous, so the added complexity really takes away from my understanding. To be brutally honest it feels like the author wanted to say something but had nothing to say at times and so relied on confusing the reader.
Not sure I could recommend this book unless you are okay with having little idea what it was you just read.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was not an easy read. I nearly DNF'd a few times, and if it wasn't written by Keanu I probably wouldn't have persisted. I'm glad I did, the story ends well, even if I had to keep looking up words in the dictionary all the way through! And I may have skipped over some of the weird flash back type chapters. 2.5 stars, and I'm not sure I would recommend it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Had no idea what i was supposed to pay attention to. Might try again when I can pay close attention to every detail