Scan barcode
akhmalaiman's review
1.0
Most probably one of the worst books I've ever read in my entire life.
Rating: 1/5 star
This what happens when a brilliant scholar who studied law, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, sociology, art history, and anthropology writes fiction - the book is full of unnecessary facts and details and this can result to the work being a total masterpiece or a total garbage. In this case, latter.
The book tells a story about a man named Virgil who one day gets a voice message from an (unknown) girl saying they're breaking up. Apparently, he's suffering from amnesia as a result of his depression. So he starts to panic soon after this message appeared.
The words used are refined. In fact, too refined that I zoned out 90% of the time cause I barely understood what I read. The narrative style is not direct - most are flashbacks. This is how they book's structured:
-Unknown girl breaks up with me
-I'm gonna find this girl
-I live in an apartment full of prostitutes
-Go to psychoanalyst
-I'm crazy
-I'm cancelling my apartment lease
-I love Paris
-I miss mom & dad
-Life is like a circus
-I'm being promoted!
-I'm rejecting the promotion
-No! Don't cancel my apartment lease!
-I'm being arrested cause they think I'm a pimp
-My best friend is a lesbian
-I hate Paris
-I will reconcile back with this unknown girl
-Life is like a universe
................what the fuck. Spoiler: Both Virgil and Clara (unknown girl) didn't even meet!
Page 154 is enough to summarise the whole story: The truth was that for years he'd made a desperate effort to obtain normality that, deep down, he despised. The mask was coming off, and he didn't regret it.
Rating: 1/5 star
This what happens when a brilliant scholar who studied law, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, sociology, art history, and anthropology writes fiction - the book is full of unnecessary facts and details and this can result to the work being a total masterpiece or a total garbage. In this case, latter.
The book tells a story about a man named Virgil who one day gets a voice message from an (unknown) girl saying they're breaking up. Apparently, he's suffering from amnesia as a result of his depression. So he starts to panic soon after this message appeared.
The words used are refined. In fact, too refined that I zoned out 90% of the time cause I barely understood what I read. The narrative style is not direct - most are flashbacks. This is how they book's structured:
-Unknown girl breaks up with me
-I'm gonna find this girl
-I live in an apartment full of prostitutes
-Go to psychoanalyst
-I'm crazy
-I'm cancelling my apartment lease
-I love Paris
-I miss mom & dad
-Life is like a circus
-I'm being promoted!
-I'm rejecting the promotion
-No! Don't cancel my apartment lease!
-I'm being arrested cause they think I'm a pimp
-My best friend is a lesbian
-I hate Paris
-I will reconcile back with this unknown girl
-Life is like a universe
................what the fuck. Spoiler: Both Virgil and Clara (unknown girl) didn't even meet!
Page 154 is enough to summarise the whole story: The truth was that for years he'd made a desperate effort to obtain normality that, deep down, he despised. The mask was coming off, and he didn't regret it.
geriatricgretch's review
4.0
I didn't like this book at first, and then I did. Beautifully translated.