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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
Na-om-i
Similar to Nabokob's "Lolita", an older man is allured by a young maiden and seeks to tame her in his shaping. The tone of the novel is not predatory or manipulative as H.H. in Lolita. Tanizaki's romance is of a more bitter, longing, sad man's lament that woman is just not that into him.
Tanizaki's writing is simple, and has a tastefulness that is more suggestive than explicit. Passages focus on what it means to suffer, to long for emotional intimacy, and he describes this grasping for this relationship in a way I think many people can relate to.
The book can be understood from multiple perspectives too. It's easy to sympathize with Naomi as she matures into a more independent thrill seeker. Read as either a classic moral tale of a corrupting woman or a modern tale of the failings of conventional relationships, Naomi certainly has something to say.
The book often failed to keep my interest, and just really didn't capture what i'm looking for in a novel.
Similar to Nabokob's "Lolita", an older man is allured by a young maiden and seeks to tame her in his shaping. The tone of the novel is not predatory or manipulative as H.H. in Lolita. Tanizaki's romance is of a more bitter, longing, sad man's lament that woman is just not that into him.
Tanizaki's writing is simple, and has a tastefulness that is more suggestive than explicit. Passages focus on what it means to suffer, to long for emotional intimacy, and he describes this grasping for this relationship in a way I think many people can relate to.
The book can be understood from multiple perspectives too. It's easy to sympathize with Naomi as she matures into a more independent thrill seeker. Read as either a classic moral tale of a corrupting woman or a modern tale of the failings of conventional relationships, Naomi certainly has something to say.
The book often failed to keep my interest, and just really didn't capture what i'm looking for in a novel.
Dnf-ing this book after reading it for 100 pages. I also skimmed the next chapters and could see that the narration got even worse.
Basically what I read so far:
- The main character is a 28 year old man and he's attracted to a 15 year old girl.
- He's attracted to this girl bcs she looks "western" and has a face very similar to his favorite actress.
- He plans to "nurture" and "teach" her in order to make her as his ideal wife.
- He insists that he doesn't do anything "defiling" to her, yet he keeps describing her body in so much detail and dressing her up like a doll.
- He eventually marries her and keeps building this "western" persona of her, so he asks her to study English & music, something that he sees as "western".
- The girl is having a hard time understanding English, bes she also never attended any school before.
- The man got angry and start calling her 'stupid' and all kind of things, even tho he himself can't speak English very well.
- The man threatens to kick her out of the house if she doesn't apologize to him, because she is wrong for not trying hard enough to be a "respectable woman".
- The girl apologized, but he describes her as unapologetic and manipulative.
- He brings the story of Cleopatra, in which he sees Cleopatra wickedly seduces men with her charm. He says that the girl is using the same evil tactic on him. - (Keep in mind that all of this happened to a 15 year old girl)
- And of course throughout the narration, he always insists that he is a virtuous man.
Any decent human being could see how disgusting the main character is. I lost all my respect to the author for writing such a loathsome narration.
Basically what I read so far:
- The main character is a 28 year old man and he's attracted to a 15 year old girl.
- He's attracted to this girl bcs she looks "western" and has a face very similar to his favorite actress.
- He plans to "nurture" and "teach" her in order to make her as his ideal wife.
- He insists that he doesn't do anything "defiling" to her, yet he keeps describing her body in so much detail and dressing her up like a doll.
- He eventually marries her and keeps building this "western" persona of her, so he asks her to study English & music, something that he sees as "western".
- The girl is having a hard time understanding English, bes she also never attended any school before.
- The man got angry and start calling her 'stupid' and all kind of things, even tho he himself can't speak English very well.
- The man threatens to kick her out of the house if she doesn't apologize to him, because she is wrong for not trying hard enough to be a "respectable woman".
- The girl apologized, but he describes her as unapologetic and manipulative.
- He brings the story of Cleopatra, in which he sees Cleopatra wickedly seduces men with her charm. He says that the girl is using the same evil tactic on him. - (Keep in mind that all of this happened to a 15 year old girl)
- And of course throughout the narration, he always insists that he is a virtuous man.
Any decent human being could see how disgusting the main character is. I lost all my respect to the author for writing such a loathsome narration.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“I think of you as both father and husband”
I think I should’ve done more research on this one
I think I should’ve done more research on this one
dark
funny
fast-paced
I loved the shifting of power dynamics throughout, and Joji's self inflection masochism.