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A review by weeb_grass
A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam
3.0
First, I will say that some of the prose and lyrical writing in this book is simply phenomenal. The author has true artistic talent when it comes to stringing words and sentences together.
However, that being said, there really was not much of a plot. This felt less like a novel and more like a stream of consciousness. This was like... a really well written diary. And don't get me wrong, these types of books are great! Memoirs and observations and other journalistic books are awesome works of literature, but this wasn't sold as such. I thought I was going to learn about Sri Lanka's post-war northern environment. Instead, I learned about this one Southern dude's relationship issues and his vague connection to a Northern woman. It was like the protagonist was trying really hard to make himself relevant in this narrative, and he just... wasn't. Like, at all. You could clearly tell he was grabbing for smoke when it came to his necessity to this conflict.
I will note that, while the main character was dull and irrelevant to the story, he was empathic and insightful. I enjoyed reading about some of his observations throughout the book.
Yeah. Idk. I mean, I'll definitely read anything this author puts out because, like I said, he's an incredible writer. But I'm praying his next main character is a bit more essential to the story.
However, that being said, there really was not much of a plot. This felt less like a novel and more like a stream of consciousness. This was like... a really well written diary. And don't get me wrong, these types of books are great! Memoirs and observations and other journalistic books are awesome works of literature, but this wasn't sold as such. I thought I was going to learn about Sri Lanka's post-war northern environment. Instead, I learned about this one Southern dude's relationship issues and his vague connection to a Northern woman. It was like the protagonist was trying really hard to make himself relevant in this narrative, and he just... wasn't. Like, at all. You could clearly tell he was grabbing for smoke when it came to his necessity to this conflict.
I will note that, while the main character was dull and irrelevant to the story, he was empathic and insightful. I enjoyed reading about some of his observations throughout the book.
Yeah. Idk. I mean, I'll definitely read anything this author puts out because, like I said, he's an incredible writer. But I'm praying his next main character is a bit more essential to the story.