Scan barcode
yuefei's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cantordustbunnies's review against another edition
4.0
A creepily neurotic book exploring themes such as physical appearance, personal identity, and social alienation. The narrator is disfigured both physically and psychologically and obsesses over the various masks people wear as he creates one for himself. It truly feels that you are reading something written by a dangerously mentally ill but extremely intelligent person. The author even forces the reader themselves to wear a mask. Something to me was a bit off though, maybe the plot wasn't tight enough or the translation didn't quite do it justice but there are moments of great literary beauty rivaling anything else I've read - the passage about Noh masks was especially memorable.
pr1y4's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 ish i think
firstly if you liked No Longer Human and want to read something more challenging, this book is perfect for that - the metaphor of having a ‘mask’ is more literal in this book, but in many ways it follows the same essential plot and themes.
the concept of having a mask on and essentially hiding your true self has been a really prevalent theme in my life right now (which is why i read no longer human and this back to back) and it’s interesting to see that theme being portrayed in a more straightforward, almost scientific way. it provokes a lot of thought around what it means to have a ‘face’ in society and how there are certain ‘masks’ that are more acceptable than others. the treatment of the masked person has a third entity in the book is quite interesting.
although, i don’t necessarily like the way this book ends in that it’s a pessimistic ending where the narrator has used his exclusion from normal society to become a bitter vengeful person and essentially ends up SAing his wife and then berating and blaming her for it.
anyways yeah idk good book i guess
firstly if you liked No Longer Human and want to read something more challenging, this book is perfect for that - the metaphor of having a ‘mask’ is more literal in this book, but in many ways it follows the same essential plot and themes.
the concept of having a mask on and essentially hiding your true self has been a really prevalent theme in my life right now (which is why i read no longer human and this back to back) and it’s interesting to see that theme being portrayed in a more straightforward, almost scientific way. it provokes a lot of thought around what it means to have a ‘face’ in society and how there are certain ‘masks’ that are more acceptable than others. the treatment of the masked person has a third entity in the book is quite interesting.
although, i don’t necessarily like the way this book ends in that it’s a pessimistic ending where the narrator has used his exclusion from normal society to become a bitter vengeful person and essentially ends up SAing his wife and then berating and blaming her for it.
anyways yeah idk good book i guess
yumeshi's review against another edition
1.0
I couldn't decide how many stars to give this book. I have to say, that I didn't like it, which is also what 1 star should mean. But just because I didn't like it doesn't mean, that this book is bad. It definitely isn't. It just isn't my cup of tea. There were some interesting ideas though. But I hated the protagonist's way of thinking.
In the end I ended up giving it 1*, but it is definitely NOT a bad book.
In the end I ended up giving it 1*, but it is definitely NOT a bad book.
rouge_red's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I watched the movie adaptation a year or two ago and I really enjoyed it. The movie hits many of the same beats, but it involves the doctor (mentioned early on in the development in the mask) and his nurse assistant to a larger extent. I liked the last bit of the story where he tries to test out the efficacy of the mask by trying to seduce his wife as the "masked man", giving into his sexual urges. The discussion surrounding the narrator's idea that he is a different person when he dons the mask was pretty fascinating, as was his wife's and the yoyo girl's ability to clearly see through his disguise. Which then massively throws him off his game. Overall this was a good book; a little over serious for me, but it makes sense for the character. It sounds like Abe wrote other books with strange premises, so maybe we'll try something else.
giova2394's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-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
3.0
sky_reaper's review against another edition
3.0
I assumed facelessness equates to freedom, but then again, I'd realized it's just freedom from dependency on human connection and relationship. The idea of losing responsibility to explain and be seen, turning to be a spectator of a scene that is your life. A renegade.
On the other hand, nothing could be further from the truth that this anonymity only gives us a deeper sense of loneliness and/or solitude that sets up deep apart like a crevice that is unknown, unheard, and unseen from anyone else -- and nothing could be more painful than to be a disconnected soul.
The existential treatment made by the author to explore the identity and its crisis could be further related to our current situation brought by modern technology. I won't be furthering it much, but I'd enjoyed reading it from the first notebook and the letter of the wife in the third one.
I'd still remember the quaint feeling of reading The Box Man a few odd years ago in our university library. It has this same faint vibe on the theme, but I think I'd like the former as better than this one.
On the other hand, nothing could be further from the truth that this anonymity only gives us a deeper sense of loneliness and/or solitude that sets up deep apart like a crevice that is unknown, unheard, and unseen from anyone else -- and nothing could be more painful than to be a disconnected soul.
The existential treatment made by the author to explore the identity and its crisis could be further related to our current situation brought by modern technology. I won't be furthering it much, but I'd enjoyed reading it from the first notebook and the letter of the wife in the third one.
I'd still remember the quaint feeling of reading The Box Man a few odd years ago in our university library. It has this same faint vibe on the theme, but I think I'd like the former as better than this one.
_myliteraryobsession's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those books that I read in high hopes of becoming enlightened and educated in the process of flicking though each page. The Face of Another details the life of a mad scientist left horribly disfigured after an experiment gone wrong. With his face wrapped tight in bandages, he comes to the harsh realisation that since his accident both his career and marriage are failing.
He seeks out a man specialising in realistic and prosthetic masks, utilising this 'new face' to re-shape his identity and in the process fool his wife into having an affair with him, (hoping all the while that she won't discover his true identity).
Throughout this novel you can't help feeling sympathetic towards this man, however you also feel for his wife, the real victim here, pulled into a complex case of identity crisis.
It's a novel that makes you think, constantly exploring the concept of identity. Kobe Abe is a Japanese writer that reminds me a lot of Jean Paul Sartre in both style and approach. I enjoyed this novel but I was thankful that it was only a short read. The plot does tend to drag at times.
He seeks out a man specialising in realistic and prosthetic masks, utilising this 'new face' to re-shape his identity and in the process fool his wife into having an affair with him, (hoping all the while that she won't discover his true identity).
Throughout this novel you can't help feeling sympathetic towards this man, however you also feel for his wife, the real victim here, pulled into a complex case of identity crisis.
It's a novel that makes you think, constantly exploring the concept of identity. Kobe Abe is a Japanese writer that reminds me a lot of Jean Paul Sartre in both style and approach. I enjoyed this novel but I was thankful that it was only a short read. The plot does tend to drag at times.
brainemptyjust's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75