Second reading: at some point, the plot does become really, really convoluted. However, the beginning is as good, if not better, than I remember (I coSecond reading: at some point, the plot does become really, really convoluted. However, the beginning is as good, if not better, than I remember (I could not stop laughing), I still adore the descriptions of reading (some of which are just so relatable), and I completely forgot about the ending, which really blew me away. All in all, this is just such a clever book.
Original review: These are wonderful reflections on reading, within a book within a book within a book....more
Have you ever read a book that was so good that you thought: "I wish I had witten that"? Most people don't then go on actually writing that book, sincHave you ever read a book that was so good that you thought: "I wish I had witten that"? Most people don't then go on actually writing that book, since, well, it's already been written. After reading this, I feel like Lanchester read Pale Fire, absolutely loved it (as he, and everyone, definitely should), and then decided he wanted to write it, too. And that's how this AliExpress version of Pale Fire was created....more
I am confused as hell that I didn't enjoy this, but it was kind of bland and pointless. After talking about this a lot, I feel like some of his generaI am confused as hell that I didn't enjoy this, but it was kind of bland and pointless. After talking about this a lot, I feel like some of his general themes of signification and disaster suffered in this book from not being placed in an American context, and as a consequence it was very disjointed in a meh way. Maybe the seminar on this will get it back to three stars, but for now... Still, I love DeLillo and will keep reading him....more
If you readNaked Lunchand found yourself thinking: 'this is fine and all, but I wish it wasn't such a traditional novel,' tryThe Soft Machine.It'sIf you readNaked Lunchand found yourself thinking: 'this is fine and all, but I wish it wasn't such a traditional novel,' tryThe Soft Machine.It's basically likeNaked Lunch,but even more incomprehensible. I think it had a plot, but I couldn't say for sure.
I did really enjoy the essay at the end, where Burroughs advocates for apo-morphine as a treatment for heroine. Not sure whether it's true, false, or just outdated, but his thoughts on addiction are very interesting....more
This is such a confusing novel, but it's really good and has some of the most interesting and well-executed commentaries on consumerisn and late capitThis is such a confusing novel, but it's really good and has some of the most interesting and well-executed commentaries on consumerisn and late capitalism that I have ever read. Reading it, I felt as if it was divided into two parts: before 9/11 and after 9/11. Not that the novel discusses that event in itself so strongly - it mainly shows how New York as an entity functions in light of respectively the world leading up to it and the world in its aftermath.
While it is incredibly interesting and the characters I could keep up with I really enjoyed, this novel was quite difficult to follow and I still have no idea what exactly was going on all the time, partly because of how in-depth it goes about computer-technical-y stuff. However, apparently Pynchon's books just work in this way - by diving really deeply into something very technical and non-bookish, which almost nobody can follow. Also, I constantly felt as if I wasn't paying enough attention because I just couldn't keep up with the characters, but as Wikipedia lists 31 characters as 'major' or 'recurring', I feel a bit less bad about it.
Overall, it's a really interesting book, but it's also quite exhausting. The writing is really good, though! (Though very confusing and disorienting at times, as well.)...more
Oh my god I want to CRY. Didn't end up using this for my thesis and completely stopped reading this for way too long, but I'm SO glad I read it and reOh my god I want to CRY. Didn't end up using this for my thesis and completely stopped reading this for way too long, but I'm SO glad I read it and really hope to reread it at some point (and then read it all in one go)....more
This was an interesting exploration of society where there is nothing to believe in any more, no higher entity or deity, and the lengths people go intThis was an interesting exploration of society where there is nothing to believe in any more, no higher entity or deity, and the lengths people go into self-deception in order to feel there is something higher. This is posed against the themes of looming mortality and fear thereof, and a society that becomes more and more technological and consumerist without people actually being able to grasp what the consequences of this technology entail.
While the writing was beautiful on many occasions, both in composing thoughts and exploring scenery and surroundings, I did find this to be a bit too long for its own good, as it started to drag from the moment the Toxic Event had passed. However, I did truly love all the scenes involving this event, as they were just so vivid and had a looming but beautiful fear over them, and though the characters didn't particularly stay with me or were to be called 'vivid', I did think they were all very interesting. Furthermore, there were many notes on life and the experience thereof which I found to be accurate in a "wow, hey, you put that down on paper and I actually feel that way!" kind of way, which was nice.
I do think this is a very good and interesting novel which is deserving of the four stars I'll give it, but do keep in mind that it drags a little, and some of the characters are a bit flat....more
What the fuck was that? I am speechless, and I literally don't know what to do with myself right now.
So: The beginning was absolutely great, the descriWhat the fuck was that? I am speechless, and I literally don't know what to do with myself right now.
So: The beginning was absolutely great, the description of the boys' youth was just awesome and gave me Secret History vibes to the max. However, I found everything to slow down as soon as they went to college, and while it picked up a bit again in current time, it became slow very quickly and didn't really pick up until the last ten pages. But oh my god, those were really worth it.
This is a short novel about a man looking back on his life, all regarding a certain event that suddenly occurs and he attempts to place in the context of his past. It plays with the unrealiability of narration and memory itself and is a quite self-aware novel, which is really interesting. However, in spite of the quite good characters, I did find the novel to lack pacing at certain spots, occasionally making it a drag to get through. Nevertheless, the beginning and ending were really good, and I would certainly recommend this novel (though if you're sensitive to matters of suicide, you might want to avoid this one)....more
Reread This really benefited from a reread - I found it much easier to follow, knowing how everything ties together, and was more able to appreciate NaReread This really benefited from a reread - I found it much easier to follow, knowing how everything ties together, and was more able to appreciate Nabokov's ingenuities because of it. I was thinking of upping this to a five-star even, but think that for the time being I won't. However, it's definitely an amazing book - objectively, it might be one of the best ones out there.
Original Review This was so interesting and cool - the ultimate exploration of the death of the author. However, occasionally it got a bit low in enjoyment. This definitely is an excellent book, playing with dynamics of author, text and reader, but also, I found it quite hard to get through and boring at times, not really being able to visualize or experience the characters too vividly. Nevertheless, it might be one of the coolest concepts ever, being experimental, philosophically interesting with regard to the relations between author and text, and a fun, twisty thriller all at the same time which leaves you knowing so little. However, I would recommend not reading the index until the very end, as it summarizes the entire thing, though not in a conclusive way....more
I don't know if I should be getting everything right now, or if the whole point is that everything remains very confusing and opaque. If the latter isI don't know if I should be getting everything right now, or if the whole point is that everything remains very confusing and opaque. If the latter is true, then it's certainly an effective book....more
This is the kind of writing, with its French and sentence structures and vocabulary, and with its references to everything and anything, that I have aThis is the kind of writing, with its French and sentence structures and vocabulary, and with its references to everything and anything, that I have always thought must be what a 'classic' is about. I don't even know what I thought about this work, because at times it was quite boring, but I know I just loved the way it was composed. I don't know. It was quite a slow read, so that might have put me off from picking it up at times, but it was intriguing and beautiful. However, when I started it a few years ago and tried to read it, I loved the language even more. Idk. But it's great and you should read it....more
Review coming later (I think), but for now: I loooooved the way everything tied together, though I had hoped for a little more closure. Still, this waReview coming later (I think), but for now: I loooooved the way everything tied together, though I had hoped for a little more closure. Still, this was the best.
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I have so many questions, and had expected everything to tie up a little more. However, I think this is one of the best books I have ever read, and am looking forward to getting into all of Murakami's other works, as soon as this has sunk in a bit. (Also thanks to Kate Pfeil's youtube channel for finally making me pick this up, in spite of recommending not starting with this one.)
This novel takes magical realism to its extreme, juxtaposing the contemporary with the horrors of the past underlying it. Though I usually don't care for WW2 stories, I found the few parts that considered this topic extremely interesting in this novel. They were a part of the war history I had never heard about, and took gruesome to its extreme.
The main focus of the novel, however, lied in the contemporary tale of Toru Okada and the strange turns his life takes when first his cat, and then his wife suddenly disappear. It takes him into a maze of psychics, wells, foretellings of his faith and the horrors of war, and even the obscure and mysterious other side of the world. While he is a quite plain character, I started to really love him, and just adore both Murakami's writing style and the elements of mystery and mystique he constantly places in his novels - most notably, of course, the cry of the wind-up-bird. My only critiques are that I don't understand what was going on yet exactly, having hoped for everything to be tied up a little more. Because of this, the ending didn't really have that ring for me ending sometimes have.
However, it is also nice to know that this book holds secrets that will maybe over time, maybe never, reveal themselves eventually. What particularly struck me was the way murakami uses magical realism. It felt as a way to deal with the unexplained and to cope with it - that moment when you feel you already knew something someone was going to say before they did, or when you knew exactly what time it was before you actually looked at the clock. It accepts these rarities and makes place for them in the intertwining mystery of conscious, unconscious, and everything else that is in our life.
If you think in any way that this book might be for you and you are interested in magical realism, please give it a go: it is an epic tale that mixes magical realism with the extremely disturbing, and the conscious-unconscious battle with the mundane. It is an experience like no other.
(also, I think this might be really interesting in light of its place within the postmodern tradition and its relation to modernist works, particularly in its treatment of the supernatural and superstition, particularly with regard of things like 'death by water'. omfg) (also, I lovelovelove Malta and Kreta so much)...more
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