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liketheday's review against another edition
2.0
This book, man, I don't even know. The first chapter is delightfully weird, with a man just trying to live an extremely boring life even after he gets a note at work that completely upends said life. If the book had just been that short story, this would probably have been a five-star review. But then... it continues. We follow other characters I don't care about for a while until they meet back up with my friend Boring Man, but by this time he's doubled down on the boring, sent away the exciting, and now I don't care about him either. Also people excitedly drink pee and I just can't even.
My library checkout expired with 7% of the book left to go and after I went through all the trouble of turning on my wifi, going to the app, redownloading it, waiting for hoopla to set the book up again, and reading that 7%, the ending was so annoying I wished I hadn't.
But seriously, though, if you have access to hoopla, read that first chapter and then stop. That chapter's existence redeems this entire book for me.
My library checkout expired with 7% of the book left to go and after I went through all the trouble of turning on my wifi, going to the app, redownloading it, waiting for hoopla to set the book up again, and reading that 7%, the ending was so annoying I wished I hadn't.
But seriously, though, if you have access to hoopla, read that first chapter and then stop. That chapter's existence redeems this entire book for me.
_viscosity_'s review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bettyvd's review against another edition
3.0
Als een schrijver een ijzersterk eerste deel schrijft, vol elegant, droog cynisme en vervolgens opvliegt om in de hemelen een barok intermezzo te projecteren en dan landt in een licht absurde mengeling van de twee eerste delen, hoeveel sterren geef je dan? Hoe erg ben je dan als lezer het vreemde slachtoffer van een kip van een schrijver? Wormachtig erg. Ik hield van de kip in deel een.
dadtheroadmasterowner's review against another edition
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
danserra's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
panieldope's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so bizarre and grotesque and compelling that I have to think it was made for me.
mtillstaff's review
2.0
What's fun about a book subscription is you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes the books are a wonderful surprise. Sometimes they are not. This falls more in the latter category. I felt this book required a lot of generosity of spirit and effort-- you have to accept a lot of things (a hen, an abrupt marriage, a turd to name just a few) which really don't make a lot of sense. I was only willing to do that for so long. Eventually my patience ran out and I skimmed the final 30 pages or so. I suspect there is some payoff at the end, but I missed it or didn't hard enough for it.
mjkienbaum's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mgerboc's review
4.0
I have been fascinated by contemporary literature coming out of millennial aged Mexico lately. Yuri Herrera, Valeria Luiselli, and now this book by Daniel Saldaña París - all intensely creative and willing to take risks.
Among Strange Victims is wildly funny and relatable. The feeling of ennui, contradictions in life, and lack of attachment is incredibly described in some of the most incisive and sophisticated prose I’ve ever read. I would even venture to say that it gets to be too much at times, and there are some loose ends, but overall, a very worthwhile read in what I think will soon be considered part of this explosion of creative talent coming out of 30-something Mexicans.
Among Strange Victims is wildly funny and relatable. The feeling of ennui, contradictions in life, and lack of attachment is incredibly described in some of the most incisive and sophisticated prose I’ve ever read. I would even venture to say that it gets to be too much at times, and there are some loose ends, but overall, a very worthwhile read in what I think will soon be considered part of this explosion of creative talent coming out of 30-something Mexicans.
hilaritas's review against another edition
2.0
Most of review concealed behind a cloud of unknowing pending the discussions of my book club.
The writing, or more technically speaking, the translation, in this book is very fine. The sentences are crisp and flow well, and at points Saldaña París uses a lot of doubling up and repetition that suggests the emotional or neurotic state of the protagonist. However, that wasn't really enough to save the book for me, as overall I found this to be an arid, lifeless affair. The book listlessly follows the boring exploits of a museum bureaucrat who collects used teabags and somehow ends up married to a secretary after a bumbling series of misunderstandings based on a note he never gave her. Later, said protagonist visits his mother at a university town, where he falls in with a cultish group and then falls in love with a magical, mute 18 year old. Barf.
If this is parodic, it is written in a voice so wry and dry that I died of dehydration just trying to get through the desert of its somehow interminable ~250 pages. None of the women in the book are given any real characterization, and exist merely as foils for the desires of the protagonist to play out. If this book is meant as a criticism of the institution of marriage, it's so alien from my experience of what a marriage is like that it falls completely flat. Similarly, any criticisms of the alienation of modern life, academia, or art that we're supposed to glean here are lost in absurdity.
That said, there are moments of enjoyment to be had along the way. Like I mentioned earlier, the prose is really nice throughout, and some of the passages giving voice to Rodrigo's obsessive thoughts are pretty good (e.g., the early sections that read like a hip, D.F. Underground Man, the part where he makes himself sick thinking about his mother and her lover having sex in the next room, etc.). Also, the project of the cultists (to hypnotize themselves to bring back art from the future), while stupid from a plot and character perspective, is a pretty fun idea. Ultimately, I think it was how terribly this book ended that annoyed me, as it could have been redeemed. However, having the disaffected married neurotic wander off to be redeemed by the power of a magic woman who just won't talk back was so revolting that it poisoned the whole project. I wish this were better.
If this is parodic, it is written in a voice so wry and dry that I died of dehydration just trying to get through the desert of its somehow interminable ~250 pages. None of the women in the book are given any real characterization, and exist merely as foils for the desires of the protagonist to play out. If this book is meant as a criticism of the institution of marriage, it's so alien from my experience of what a marriage is like that it falls completely flat. Similarly, any criticisms of the alienation of modern life, academia, or art that we're supposed to glean here are lost in absurdity.
That said, there are moments of enjoyment to be had along the way. Like I mentioned earlier, the prose is really nice throughout, and some of the passages giving voice to Rodrigo's obsessive thoughts are pretty good (e.g., the early sections that read like a hip, D.F. Underground Man, the part where he makes himself sick thinking about his mother and her lover having sex in the next room, etc.). Also, the project of the cultists (to hypnotize themselves to bring back art from the future), while stupid from a plot and character perspective, is a pretty fun idea. Ultimately, I think it was how terribly this book ended that annoyed me, as it could have been redeemed. However, having the disaffected married neurotic wander off to be redeemed by the power of a magic woman who just won't talk back was so revolting that it poisoned the whole project. I wish this were better.