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A review by b0hemian_graham
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe
4.0
Although most people on Goodreads seem to complain about the translation, I honestly didn't find it to be that horrible. I found it to be rather beautiful, in a grotesque way.
This novel is like the love child of The Painted Bird and Lord of the Flies. That's actually a complement, and not an insult, as there's so much vivid, graphic imagery similar to what Kosiński writes about. Obviously people will make the LOTF comparisons, because it's about school boys, but I still think there's a lot of similarity to The Painted Bird, moreso than LOTF, as far as the style and subject matter is concerned.
My only issue with the novel was the reader they chose for the audiobook. I hate audiobooks on principle becaue they take much longer to read than if I were to read a paper/eBook on my own, but the narrator for this one was not at all how I would have pictured the protagonist. I was constantly reminded of the YouTuber pcull44444, the man behind Classy Readings of Terribe Fanfiction. I know it's rather petty, but given the prose (a huge obsession with male genetalia and unrealistic sex with an emotionally traumatised girl), it honestly felt like I was listening to a longer version of pcull44444's fanfiction readings.
This novel is like the love child of The Painted Bird and Lord of the Flies. That's actually a complement, and not an insult, as there's so much vivid, graphic imagery similar to what Kosiński writes about. Obviously people will make the LOTF comparisons, because it's about school boys, but I still think there's a lot of similarity to The Painted Bird, moreso than LOTF, as far as the style and subject matter is concerned.
My only issue with the novel was the reader they chose for the audiobook. I hate audiobooks on principle becaue they take much longer to read than if I were to read a paper/eBook on my own, but the narrator for this one was not at all how I would have pictured the protagonist. I was constantly reminded of the YouTuber pcull44444, the man behind Classy Readings of Terribe Fanfiction. I know it's rather petty, but given the prose (a huge obsession with male genetalia and unrealistic sex with an emotionally traumatised girl), it honestly felt like I was listening to a longer version of pcull44444's fanfiction readings.