A review by kaitays
The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

1.5

This book wasn’t bad, but I had no desire to really read it. I just tolerated it. What made it worse was how it was written. You truly didn’t know who was talking, what setting it was in, and it jumped time periods with little indication. That made it even more difficult to read. Many of the sentences, paragraphs, and overall text were jumbled together. No indentations or moving it to a new line. On top of that, the concept wasn’t very compelling. The only redeeming quality was the ending and

how the worker who was stagnant at the job got turned into the bird that all the characters gawked at previously.

Beyond that, it didn’t intrigue me.

The unnecessary pantser person/plotline, who would almost pants people.

I guess that spoke to how not knowing where the factory ended and your life began could cause you to go crazy, but that’s a stretch. The random hate the sister had for the brother’s girlfriend. Whatever the reason, the need for Fururhe and the girl to have lunch. Why was the bridge focused so heavily? So many things that just didn’t really add to the concept. What I really think it was trying to do was call on the worker and their dedication to their job for survival, but how the job gives them nothing. I get there’s some deeper meaning. Maybe I’ll revisit one day.
I eventually looked up an article to try to make sense of it all. I liked this articles take a lot. https://thelondonmagazine.org/review-the-factory-by-hiroko-oyamada/#:~:text=The%20novella%20chronicles%20the%20spectre,enigmatically%20as%20'The%20Factory'

 

Initial Response: 2/5; Recommend?: 1/5; Re-Readability: 1/5 Characters: 2/5; Plot: 2/5

Overall: 1.6/5  
Would Purchase?: No