Scan barcode
A review by vacanthungarian
J by Howard Jacobson
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Sort of post dystopian and apocalyptic, but not so thriller. The story revolves around two people who come from parents who are not from the village. They are vastly mistrusted by the locals and generally disliked, but very much encouraged to pair up because somehow this will restore an equilibrium across the nation... Or at least that's what I think was happening. The protagonist and his counterpart are both quite deep, reserved and painfully unhappy every step of the way.
This book is a major slow burner. It does drag on with the author almost going off on an over articulated tangent every few pages. Yet despite all this additional brooding material, it is actually quite hard to decipher what's actually going on. Or maybe I just switched off... but it is needlessly cry tic for such a long story. It is also very dep essing throughout as the pair never seem to be happy in any scenario. There were some parts when the story becomes interesting and starts to flow, only to return to being a literary equivalent of an NFL game with endless interruptions.
I did find it a little irritating that the protagonist with the English name is basically being ostracized by the people with the Jewish names and occasionally you catch a little animosity towards that culture.
Overall, I didn't take much from this book and found it to be quite forgettable. Not terrible, but probably not worth the bother.
This book is a major slow burner. It does drag on with the author almost going off on an over articulated tangent every few pages. Yet despite all this additional brooding material, it is actually quite hard to decipher what's actually going on. Or maybe I just switched off... but it is needlessly cry tic for such a long story. It is also very dep essing throughout as the pair never seem to be happy in any scenario. There were some parts when the story becomes interesting and starts to flow, only to return to being a literary equivalent of an NFL game with endless interruptions.
I did find it a little irritating that the protagonist with the English name is basically being ostracized by the people with the Jewish names and occasionally you catch a little animosity towards that culture.
Overall, I didn't take much from this book and found it to be quite forgettable. Not terrible, but probably not worth the bother.