Reviews

The Fox and Dr. Shimamura by Christine Wunnicke, Philip Boehm

brittb's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Maybe I missed the point or it was lost in translation. The main character had an obsession with his sexual appeal to women because of the fox diagnosis but also hysteria? 

hannahedi's review against another edition

3.0

An interesting look at both the eastern tradition of fox spirit possessions and the western tradition of female hysteria, and a juxtaposition of the two. Short and strange.

blessa's review against another edition

3.0

a strange book. the multiple layers of narrative and time-flux are akin to a phrase itself in the book...."a wild shadow play"; gradually takes on the disjointed, constrained movements of beckettsian theater where the reader is only peeking in from the fire exit door. despite the unrootedness and localized-mythos context of the plot i feel any comparison to writers that try to construct similarly ephemerally "eastern" worlds/narratives (i see murakami mentioned a few times)--there is a deep disquiet underlying it all, and is barren of that fluid spark. i only wonder how many of these quirks of language are the consequence of translation. maybe one day (if my german is ever good enough!) i'll revisit it, but in the original text.
note--if i weren't on a 5 hour train ride, i wouldn't have finished it. appropriate adjectives: "dry", "uninhabitable"

complexwillow's review

challenging informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

izabrekilien's review

2.0

Mmmmmm.... I enjoyed the beginning, it wasn't gripping, but... enjoyable. Then I laughed and smiled here and there, but I didn't really see where the story was leading to (oh, well, more or less, but it just didn't interest me much). Shimamura made me laugh several times, but really, I didn't feel the pull to just grab the book and read it until the end because I got bored here and there, too.