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1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Astonishingly bloated and poorly edited, yet with enough nuggets of interest to pull me through. An odd duck.
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Dec 14, 2011 12:10
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 20:46 |
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Conduit for Sale! posted:Haruki Murakami is one of those authors like Salman Rushdie* that started out great but have gotten worse as time goes on. A Wild Sheep Chase, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and Norwegian Wood were his best books, and everything written since then have either been rote, by the numbers books trying to recapture the magic of Norwegian Wood or weird, highly ambitious books that fail to live up to their promise (I don't know about his non-fiction or short stories, I never read any of them). Kafka on the Shore was sort of a combination of the two, and the breaking point for me. It sounds like I made a good decision to quit reading his novels, seeing how bad 1Q84 (ugh, even that title is terrible) sounds. His book on running is a lovely little read. When I think about it in comparison to 1Q84, a what, 900+ page beast, I wonder how on earth he managed the reverse alchemy of turning so many words into so little substance. I've really enjoyed most of his titles before this: Kafka on the Shore and Wild Sheep Chase in particular, so this is coming from someone with a semi-chubby for the guy already. I usually dig the somewhat naive style he has (at least when translated into English - I've no idea whether or not he's considered a fancy-dan in Japan) but there were so many redundant or completely obvious descriptions and phrases that the book felt mannered and patronising - a bad children's novel for adults. Granted, he's trod close the edge of that in much of his work, yet this book really slapped me in the face with it. Chamberk posted:Yeah, I finished 1Q84 and it was by no means his best, though it was a pretty entertaining read.
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Dec 15, 2011 10:47
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I remember reading that when it was released (over 10 years ago?!) And eagerly anticipating the sequel...
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Feb 2, 2021 20:34
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Really enjoying The Weird anthology 22 stories in. There are obviously variations in quality, but they've all been interesting, particularly the newly translated stories from authors I'd never heard of.Reaverbot posted:Finished The Ritual by Adam Neville. The first half of this book is a grizzly, tense atmospheric joy that plays to my love of woodland (possibly) supernatural stuff and hiking-gone-wrong stories. That's Nevill. He has great ideas and openings but just can't nail the last third.
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Apr 8, 2021 12:14
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Hyrax Attack! posted:The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss. Also great. This was really good. A genuinely compulsive read.
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Dec 14, 2021 11:13
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Jedit posted:Now you're making me wonder which bit you just got to. "Something is trying to hide", maybe? I just read that bit. Looking forward to more.
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Mar 31, 2022 15:10
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The Ibis trilogy by Amitav Ghosh, a historical epic set at the start of the Opium Wars. Really enjoyed it and would welcome recommendations for more fiction from this era/location told from the perspective of the victims of the British Empire/unfettered proto-capitalism.
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May 1, 2022 21:27
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Just finished Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter. This was real good. I recommend it as well.
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Jun 28, 2022 10:53
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ProperCoochie posted:I finished Count Zero by William Gibson, the middle book of the Sprawl trilogy. I liked it, possibly maybe a little bit more than Neuromancer. I thought it was sometimes difficult to know what was going on, which is apparently a common criticism of these two books. Easy to read in 50 page chunks but if I took a break for a couple of days, it was difficult to get back into the story.
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Jan 10, 2023 23:41
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3D Megadoodoo posted:Der nasse Fisch by Volker Kutscher. Police crime mystery set in Berlin in 1929. Nothing special, but refreshing in that the main character is a complete gently caress-up and a murderer, like all cops. They made a TV series based on the book/series called Babylon Berlin, which is also the name of the translation I read. Apparently it is/was the most expensive European television production ever. The show is well worth watching if you like that setting.
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Jan 24, 2023 16:05
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I liked it all, but the vibes in the first half of the book are my favourite. The more expository second half didn't have the same feel, though it was still interesting.
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Oct 16, 2023 18:16
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 20:46 |
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A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth This is the longest novel I've read (almost 1500 pages). I've been picking away at it since October last year, with a few other books in between. I don't think I've fully absorbed it yet. I also think I'll miss being able to dip into it as I've become so used to the setting and characters over the last few months. The quality of the prose was so consistent and pleasurable to read that it never felt like a "heavy" book despite its length. Even the many pages dedicated to post partition politics were interesting and well written, though I admit my progress probably slowed whenever they appeared. Given my lack of knowledge of post partition Indian history, I'd love to know how accurate the book is in representing the time period. It's a shame that most of the main characters are middle/upper class/caste. Definitely going to read something short and snappy next.
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Mar 13, 2024 02:43
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