Reviews

La croce buddista by Lydia Origlia, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

Only show reviews with written explanations

errski's review against another edition

4.0

This was a really fascinating book. This is a story of obsession told like a recounting of a story from Sonoko's point of view. Throughout the book, it's like nothing is really as it seems, as the story progresses we as the reader learn more and more about the twisted characters that Sonoko is interacting with. It's so twisted, when I couldn't believe it could get crazier, something else happens.

Spoiler

Example, at the end, I couldn't believe Mitsuko was giving them sleeping drugs daily and just totally ruling over their lives and emotionally abusing them, but I guess that that's the point. The shock of human nature is the kind of draw a lot of people have to things like true crime and thrillers, while there are no thrilling emotions, the characters alone are terrifying.

I would really say 4.5 stars, it's hard to give this 5 though, but I did really like it.

rimbea's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

cbxtherine's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I loved how at every turn love suicide was always on the table and nobody seemed to question it

lydiahephzibah's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Setting: Japan
Rep: sapphic Japanese protagonist; Japanese author

This is very surprising for its time (published in 1928) but that doesn't make it good. None of the characters made any sense and nobody was likeable or even particularly interesting, had this been longer than 172 pages I would've DNFd.