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iveydocx's reviews
96 reviews
Overall, I enjoyed the tone of the story and the eeriness of a double reality that may or may not exist. The first part of the book kind of had me going "What the $@(%?" because of how...strange it is. It's confusing to see how the two main characters are connected to each other, but you have to kind of just withhold judgement and keep moving.
This book moves at an unbelievably slow pace, and some passages feel rather unneeded. However, I still did enjoy the premise of the story and was fascinated by what was going on. I did feel a bit mislead and will say that the story itself is a LOVE story; I thought it would be more about this alternate reality shtick but it really isn't.
Overall I don't regret reading it, although I don't think I'd read it again. It was my first Murakami and perhaps I should've read other books by him first.
A quick note--for those who feel a little queasy about reading 1000+ pages, I would definitely recommend reading them in parts; the entire story itself is divided into books 1-3, and I think that size might be easier to handle.
This book moves at an unbelievably slow pace, and some passages feel rather unneeded. However, I still did enjoy the premise of the story and was fascinated by what was going on. I did feel a bit mislead and will say that the story itself is a LOVE story; I thought it would be more about this alternate reality shtick but it really isn't.
Overall I don't regret reading it, although I don't think I'd read it again. It was my first Murakami and perhaps I should've read other books by him first.
A quick note--for those who feel a little queasy about reading 1000+ pages, I would definitely recommend reading them in parts; the entire story itself is divided into books 1-3, and I think that size might be easier to handle.
Alright, so I usually dislike historical fiction. I'm more of a speculative fiction/contemporary fiction kinda person. But this story is a huge win for me. This is a multi-generational story centered around the history of Koreans in Japan. It is an immensely well-crafted tale that I read in one day. The writing is easy to read (which is super helpful considering how massive the context of the story is) and Lee tackles issues such as xenophobia, sexism, and classism. I won't say more about it because there are some excellent reviews that go more in depth.
Sometimes it's a little bit difficult to follow with some time jumps, but if you read through it frequently (as opposed to setting it down for six months then picking it back up), it shouldn't be confusing.
A lot of people may be turned off from it because it may seem culturally alien to them, but I don't think that should stop you from reading it. I myself am an American-born Korean and have very few ties to Korean history or culture. Lee is able to tell a tale about a family while grounding it in history that gives you a little bit of insight about people other than westerners.
Sometimes it's a little bit difficult to follow with some time jumps, but if you read through it frequently (as opposed to setting it down for six months then picking it back up), it shouldn't be confusing.
A lot of people may be turned off from it because it may seem culturally alien to them, but I don't think that should stop you from reading it. I myself am an American-born Korean and have very few ties to Korean history or culture. Lee is able to tell a tale about a family while grounding it in history that gives you a little bit of insight about people other than westerners.
What starts off as an interesting concept grew bland for me. I'll give Huxley bonus points for creativity but the story itself was boring.
