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carolinemeow 's review for:
Naomi
by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
2.5
ughhhhhh
i read part of tanizaki's the makioka sisters (written like, 15 years after this was published, and according to the info at the back after tanizaki stopped being so obsessed with westernization) and i enjoyed it. it was a bit too slow-paced for my liking, but dude clearly was a talented writer and i liked reading it.
his talent is still evident here—great writing style, made it really easy to keep turning the pages. the subject matter is just so fucking boring even tanizaki himself seemed to have changed his mind a whole lot by the makioka sisters. all the symbolism with regards to japanese history, westernization and modernization, etc was decently interesting in itself but the way it's presented is so uninteresting. there is literally not a single interesting/compelling or even likable plot point or character in the entire novel. naomi is boring, the narrator is boring ("omg naomi wore makeup shes so BEAUTIFUL"), i hated like every character. hamada was tolerable. tolerable, not compelling, i just don't have anything against him but i dont like him either??
also oh my god the heterosexuality
oh yeah, also the goodreads blurb notes the narrator's masochism is really fucking funny and i totally agree. i'd enjoy it more if i didn't constantly want to slam my head against a desk because he is just so uninteresting and colorless in every way, but the stupid straight boy things he does/thinks because omgggg naomi has beautiful shoulders is really funny in a frustrating way.
ughhhhhh
i read part of tanizaki's the makioka sisters (written like, 15 years after this was published, and according to the info at the back after tanizaki stopped being so obsessed with westernization) and i enjoyed it. it was a bit too slow-paced for my liking, but dude clearly was a talented writer and i liked reading it.
his talent is still evident here—great writing style, made it really easy to keep turning the pages. the subject matter is just so fucking boring even tanizaki himself seemed to have changed his mind a whole lot by the makioka sisters. all the symbolism with regards to japanese history, westernization and modernization, etc was decently interesting in itself but the way it's presented is so uninteresting. there is literally not a single interesting/compelling or even likable plot point or character in the entire novel. naomi is boring, the narrator is boring ("omg naomi wore makeup shes so BEAUTIFUL"), i hated like every character. hamada was tolerable. tolerable, not compelling, i just don't have anything against him but i dont like him either??
also oh my god the heterosexuality
oh yeah, also the goodreads blurb notes the narrator's masochism is really fucking funny and i totally agree. i'd enjoy it more if i didn't constantly want to slam my head against a desk because he is just so uninteresting and colorless in every way, but the stupid straight boy things he does/thinks because omgggg naomi has beautiful shoulders is really funny in a frustrating way.