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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spectacular. The structure sounds contrived, but isn't. One of the best books I've read in a decade.
I wanted to like this book. But I didn't care about any of the characters or the plot. When I got to the 5th story, it seemed way too much science fiction to me. I was reading and reading, but only to get it over with. When I decided to quit there was a ton of relief.
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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:
No
Story-telling and characterization are the strengths here. Literary fiction where I encountered the literary form in various avatars. Each tale is crisply told. Perhaps the best of them, for me, was the fourth voice, that of Timothy Cavendish. It's trapped in its own adversity but is humorously told. Each narrative voice tells a tale you could put your trust in.
Would have no qualms revisiting this one.
Would have no qualms revisiting this one.
I think I may have hyped this up too much in my head, hence the 4 stars, not 5. It was really interesting how the author was able to embody so many different characters and voices and make it believable. Loved that. There were times that I felt like I was slogging through just to get to the central point/connection. At any rate, imaginative, original, beautifully written. Can't wait to see the movie now! :D
[Aside: the movie. Geez, Louise, the movie. Visually it was stunning, but I wouldn't expect anything less from the Wachowskis. But I feel like they unnecessarily changed details...like Sonmi-451's Ascension. One of the most profound moments of the book (for me) was when she was the research subject for Boom-Sook and she was able to read Plato's The Republic. The allegory! The metaphor! That one hit me like a thunderbolt, but noooooo....we had to have a relationship with Hae-Joo in the movie. Obviously, there was subtext for one in the book, but just. GAH. And the Robert Frobisher stuff. HIs was one of my favorite narratives in the book, but they muddied it up in the movie.
And the narrative structure didn't work for me AT ALL. I looooooved the nested doll structure of the book, it was clean and somewhat linear, but the movie jumped all over the place. Bad, editor, BAD! And no matter how much make up you put on Tom Hanks or Hugo Weaving, they are still going to be Tom Hanks and Hugo Weaving. But Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, and Ben Wishaw were all quite good.
Okay, rant over.]
[Aside: the movie. Geez, Louise, the movie. Visually it was stunning, but I wouldn't expect anything less from the Wachowskis. But I feel like they unnecessarily changed details...like Sonmi-451's Ascension. One of the most profound moments of the book (for me) was when she was the research subject for Boom-Sook and she was able to read Plato's The Republic. The allegory! The metaphor! That one hit me like a thunderbolt, but noooooo....we had to have a relationship with Hae-Joo in the movie. Obviously, there was subtext for one in the book, but just. GAH. And the Robert Frobisher stuff. HIs was one of my favorite narratives in the book, but they muddied it up in the movie.
And the narrative structure didn't work for me AT ALL. I looooooved the nested doll structure of the book, it was clean and somewhat linear, but the movie jumped all over the place. Bad, editor, BAD! And no matter how much make up you put on Tom Hanks or Hugo Weaving, they are still going to be Tom Hanks and Hugo Weaving. But Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, and Ben Wishaw were all quite good.
Okay, rant over.]
One of my all-time favorite books. While the stories are of varying quality (probably my least favorite is the chapters where David Mitchell tries to rewrite One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), some of the stories are amongst the most powerful I have ever read. And this is only amplified by the way each story interacts with the others, in sum providing a sweeping vision of history.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes