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falling_like_icarus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Dehumanising
herri1je's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of the most strange books I've read. It's beautifully written, almost poetic, and narrated with awe and brutality. This was such an original book that barreled through levels of terror then walloped me with a abrupt ending, like I'd been struck by a train.
lydia_woolf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tinylove's review against another edition
4.25
This book!
I picked it up completely at random at the library. A tiny book, translated fiction, it had not fallen on my radar at all on its own. So I thought I would give it a chance and see! And I was sure confused at times, and unsettled, but I was not disappointed! Reading it was an experience.
I really loved the unreliable narrator and the repetitive speech patterns (?) in the writing... it had great rhythm and poetry in how it was written, the misleadingly simple language, the violence and love written with the same care. It left me thinking about it for a long time afterward, the entanglement of regret, resentment, war and trauma, childhood friendship intertwined with rivalry, envy and comparison, carrying all those you loved in your heart crossing over to possession... a story within a story, hidden, all the different interpretations of the same events by different people... including ourselves as the readers, who are left to interpret the story as we will. Not much happens, to be fair! But also so much is found enclosed between the two covers of this book, the man talking about his life and his battles and madness and trauma and loss. A very small book that packs so much! It might not be for everyone; actually; it certainly isn't. But it spoke to me, it did, it did!
I picked it up completely at random at the library. A tiny book, translated fiction, it had not fallen on my radar at all on its own. So I thought I would give it a chance and see! And I was sure confused at times, and unsettled, but I was not disappointed! Reading it was an experience.
I really loved the unreliable narrator and the repetitive speech patterns (?) in the writing... it had great rhythm and poetry in how it was written, the misleadingly simple language, the violence and love written with the same care. It left me thinking about it for a long time afterward, the entanglement of regret, resentment, war and trauma, childhood friendship intertwined with rivalry, envy and comparison, carrying all those you loved in your heart crossing over to possession... a story within a story, hidden, all the different interpretations of the same events by different people... including ourselves as the readers, who are left to interpret the story as we will. Not much happens, to be fair! But also so much is found enclosed between the two covers of this book, the man talking about his life and his battles and madness and trauma and loss. A very small book that packs so much! It might not be for everyone; actually; it certainly isn't. But it spoke to me, it did, it did!
andalara's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jiminluvr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
christinatrieuu's review against another edition
5.0
"Yes, I understood, God's truth, that on the battlefield they wanted only fleeting madness. Madmen of rage, madmen of pain, furious madmen, but temporary ones."