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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Homophobia, Police brutality
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book really hasn't aged well. All the male characters are obsessed with sex and are terribly chauvinistic. All the female characters are sluts, apparently. Ugh. But the story was interesting and even though the chauvinism was hard to tolerate I stuck it out because I wanted to see what happened. The ending was like falling off a cliff without hitting the bottom
I remember this book fondly. Very atmospheric, mordant sense of humour and food! I always forget the title - The Angst-Ridden Executive. It's annoying that goodreads lists it under it's spanish name as I can't do a simple search on the one word I remember - "executive"...
Another enjoyable thriller, with interesting insights into post-Franco Catalonia/Spain. Pepe the Private Investigator is an engagingly flawed human being with a healthy interest in good food...
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Political crime thriller taking place in Cataluña during the transition years in Spain, with an outsider gourmet detective. Interesting to read the social commentary, entertaining but jarring outdated depiction of women.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Aunque no es un género muy típico para mí, me gusta las novelas que traten de la criminalidad. Los personajes son bastante bien escritos, pero la trama me confundió un poquito. Lo que dice la novela de la corrupción de la derecha y la ultra derecha, y su perspectiva sobre un Catalonia durante la transición, es muy pertinte, pero odiaba el papel de las mujeres en la novela. Cada mujer es un objecto sexual (aún el protagonista imagina el sexo con casi cada mujer que aparece, incluso la viuda del víctima), y suelen ser histéricas obstrucciones al trabajo importante de los hombres. Claro, son personajes, es una historia, pero me sentía un poco incomóda con el tratamiento de las mujeres, sobre todo porque los 'buenos' sexualisan cada una, pagan prostitutas y amenazan la violencia. Quizás sí, podemos reflejar sobre el machismo y patriarchado que fondaban esos agresiones, pero a veces es difícil analizarlo en el abstracto porque nadie duda sus actitudes.
Sorry, it was boring. I will loose this book somewhere... Maybe somebody will like it.
Some distinctly quotable lines--mainly about food--but the story itself was a combination of thin, and confusing. (The latter complaint is partially a fault of the book's design; it's not terribly clear, typographically, when characters or even scenes change.)
That said, though, the plot still seemed almost beside the point, in some ways; the main character's meals are by far the most memorable part of the book. Then again, I don't know that much about post-Franco Spain; maybe if I did the political context would have made more of an impact.
That said, though, the plot still seemed almost beside the point, in some ways; the main character's meals are by far the most memorable part of the book. Then again, I don't know that much about post-Franco Spain; maybe if I did the political context would have made more of an impact.