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brunogcarr's review against another edition
2.0
O conceito da reunião destas histórias é interessante, mas o livro cai no aborrecimento ao fim das primeiras páginas e só muito pontualmente há uma brevíssima faísca.
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
4.0
In an era of extinct speices, the idea of writing about lost objects is apt. The theme is good but stories inspired by them are of mixed qualities. The best writing in this book (the 5 star worthy one) was also most non-fictional - two prefaces and an essay on lost works of Sappho. These three parts are most strongly evocative. Sappho's songs have an aura of themselves; the prefaces were full of real images of lost objects two of them struck out - the shadows of those killed in nuclear attacks in Japan and bodies mumified by volcanic eruption in Pompeii. A third image that remains is Skelton of dianasour though I don't remember which part of book that one is from. The other parts (mostly two-three star worthy ones) that were more creative were also less likable despite being sometimes based on good themes.
I still want to read more from this author. So 4 stars instead of the average 3.
I still want to read more from this author. So 4 stars instead of the average 3.
caislekyle's review against another edition
3.0
At times heartbreaking but mostly just interesting while you’re reading and out of thoughts when you aren’t.
katellison's review against another edition
4.0
formally eclectic and sonically stunning.
favorites include Caspian Tiger and Encyclopedia in the Wood
massive props to english translator Jackie Smith - i would love to get my hands on this in the original german.
favorites include Caspian Tiger and Encyclopedia in the Wood
massive props to english translator Jackie Smith - i would love to get my hands on this in the original german.
sam_bizar_wilcox's review against another edition
4.0
Physically gorgeous and conceptually arresting, Schalansky's An Inventory of Losses is one of the most delightful literary treats: a genre-less series of musings and writing that remind the reader of the power of language in the act of recollection, and the inevitability of forgetting. Though some of the essays/passages work less than others (and though the prose isn't always able to capture the magic of what, I think, the author intends) Schalansky's subjects are consistently charming, consistently poetic, as they are assembled in a rich catalog of nonexistence. The narrative that unfolds is one of an archivist on an ill-conceived mission for preservation, one as plagued by folly as it is by romance. At its core, however, An Inventory of Losses does what all good literature ought to do: it forces the reader to recognize truths that are inherent but challenging to acknowledge. Here, we direct our vision to ephemeral inevitability.
By flying so close to this truth - that all things will eventually disappear, that all things must pass - however, the book gives the reader not a morbid or melancholic glance at life and the world; rather, it opens our eyes to an almost limitless potentiality of how time can change things. As it directs our attention to the fleeting and gone, the book gives a greater sense of what it might entail to be infinite.
By flying so close to this truth - that all things will eventually disappear, that all things must pass - however, the book gives the reader not a morbid or melancholic glance at life and the world; rather, it opens our eyes to an almost limitless potentiality of how time can change things. As it directs our attention to the fleeting and gone, the book gives a greater sense of what it might entail to be infinite.
renbuecher's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
1.5
die Idee hinter dem Buch hätte so toll sein können, aber leider war, bis auf ein paar Ausnahmen, das Buch einfach nur langweilig