Reviews

A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman

juunaonno's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

brunogcarr's review against another edition

2.0

Sim, venceu o Prémio Man Booker International. Sim, a escrita não tem muito que se lhe aponte. No entanto, o livro não funcionou comigo, procurei até ao final encontrar algo que me prendesse ao livro e isso simplesmente não aconteceu.
Voltarei a Grossman, ainda assim.

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

1.0

Oh man. International Man Booker Prize. And it just wasn’t good. The entire book takes place during a stand up comedy act. An audience member and the comedian share back stories and flashbacks. Unfortunately the comedian is doing a comedy act as the book rolls forward and it was just not funny. I chuckled once through the six-hours of reading. And the dramatic backstory just didn’t hold my interest. Perhaps it was the translation, but I’m nearly certain it was just a boring story.

juliancmajor's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

fantasynovel's review against another edition

3.0

I don't know why I didn't enjoy this book. I feel like it was trying so so so so so hard to create a piece of meaningful art that each element was super obvious in what it was trying to do. I know that humor wasn't really the point of this book, but it's bold to make you spend 200 pages with an unfunny comedian. Though of course that's the predicament of the audience in this book. Unlike the audience, though, I wasn't actually listening to a real-live person recount a tragic formative memory, and didn't owe the narrator anything that people owe to each other. I still read the whole thing, but it was a slog.

andrewmf's review against another edition

2.0

Didn’t really enjoy. Feels like the story doesn’t move along. Ended up putting down with 20% to go

ingeborg_frey's review against another edition

Very good

footprof's review against another edition

4.0

IT was good. Depressing and hard to put down.

aya_the_papaya's review against another edition

5.0

Powerful in a way that sneaks up on you - the power of a simple and moving story. A book about bullying, growing up, immense grief and trauma, and love, all told through the slowly cracking facade of (practically) a clown. I was fully transported into this world.

adide8's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5