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lilly71490's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
grayjay's review
3.0
This is a story about a little girl or boy who lives alone with her mother after her father is put away for murder.
Much of it is mundane, but told from the child's perspective it becomes absurd. The child's mind, it's perspectives, it's reactions to adults and other children. He/She is constantly swept away by the surreality within his/her own mind.
"The story of my life: hearing a voice, understanding the orders it was giving me, wanting to obey, and not being able to."
Much of it is mundane, but told from the child's perspective it becomes absurd. The child's mind, it's perspectives, it's reactions to adults and other children. He/She is constantly swept away by the surreality within his/her own mind.
"The story of my life: hearing a voice, understanding the orders it was giving me, wanting to obey, and not being able to."
danielamadrigal's review against another edition
challenging
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
vaishnavi_jadhav's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.0
The beginning seemed quite interesting, however as the book progressed it got me more and more confused. One of the main confusion was whether the protagonist César Aira is a boy or a girl ? It could be due to translation, although I believe it's the perception of the character that he refers to himself as a girl whereas others refer to him as a boy. I found the hallucinations and imagination of a six year-old quiet fascinating. The writing is mature yet childish. I believe the biographical part of this book is more about developing the imaginative ability by the author which blurs the lines between fact and fiction.
bboduffy's review
4.0
Traverses the line between fantasy and reality, perception and deception, memory and authorial bias. A quick, engrossing read - so much so that, while lost in the pages on the subway, someone plucked my wallet from my purse. But actually.
rgbesqq's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
miri_dbr's review
4.0
"En esto último era coherente. La actitud de mis padres para conmigo tenía siempre el fondo de "esta vez has ido demasiado lejos". Nunca era de "has vuelto desde demasiado lejos", seguramente porque de ahí no se volvía"
"Su filosofía primera y última era que una vida social intensa exigía mucho consumo de humor"
(agree)
"El clima era muy bárbaro, muy salvaje, muy struggle for life".
"cayó en la trampa de la intuición que vuela a oscuras y da en el blanco antes de que el entendimiento pueda empezar a hacer lo suyo..."
"yo jamás habría dejado mi suerte en manos del azar"
(procede a dejar su suerte en manos del azar)
Aquí una lectora muy crédula que no tiene ningún tipo de conflicto con el absurdo. Las posibilidades de morir en una máquina de helado son pocas pero nunca cero.
"Su filosofía primera y última era que una vida social intensa exigía mucho consumo de humor"
(agree)
"El clima era muy bárbaro, muy salvaje, muy struggle for life".
"cayó en la trampa de la intuición que vuela a oscuras y da en el blanco antes de que el entendimiento pueda empezar a hacer lo suyo..."
"yo jamás habría dejado mi suerte en manos del azar"
(procede a dejar su suerte en manos del azar)
Aquí una lectora muy crédula que no tiene ningún tipo de conflicto con el absurdo. Las posibilidades de morir en una máquina de helado son pocas pero nunca cero.
sbaylouny's review
2.0
Found it interesting in the beginning when the ice cream poisoning event occurred but then the story (more like a stream of memories than a plot) began to fall flat for me. I found the writing well done but often got confused as to what was actually happening - although I guess that is slightly the point. I only was able to realize a sense of appreciation for this book once I read other reviews explaining the development of this character into an author beginning to learn about fact vs fiction in storytelling, mixed with a quirky childhood imagination gone wild. I can see elements of the growing author throughout, though if the book was any longer, I don't know that it would have been worth my time.
sundayblues's review
3.0
this begins and ends with strawberry ice cream! it’s ultimately an appealing book, both a realistic evocation of childhood and childishness, as well as a more mature work of charming strangeness.