Scan barcode
remocpi's review against another edition
3.0
Entretenida novela, primera que leo de este autor. Un antiguo jefe de recursos humanos de una mediana empresa acaba en el paro y tras cuatro años subsistiendo de minijobs y perdiendo escalón a escalón todas las esperanzas que le iban quedando; pero un día le llegan noticias de un proceso de selección para un trabajo que será la solución a todos sus problemas.
La descripción del descenso al abismo de un parado de 57 años es bastante inquietante y me recordó mucho a otra que sí fue de verdad, la de la loca de la Fallarás. Es un retrato costumbrista de una clase media aspiracional que no puede llegar. Luego llegamos a la oferta de entrevista de trabajo y la novela cambia de registro, transformándose en una novela de aventuras que poco tiene que ver con la primera parte en cuestión de estilo y velocidad.
Un par de curiosidades: Cada vez que alguien pone la tele o la radio a lo largo de toda la novela se dan dos noticias: una sobre alguien que ha ganado una cantidad obscena de dinero (trader, CEO...) y otra sobre despidos masivos y EREs que tienen lugar en alguna empresa. Además, me pareció raro ver un "mañana en la batalla piensa en mí" como frase que estaba un poco encajada a martillazos, pronunciada por el prota. Dije anda, como el libro de Marías (que es en realidad una frase de Shakespeare). Luego, al final del libro, el autor destripa, restriega por la cara del lector, que ha dejado por el texto referencias (homenajes) a algunos autores favoritos, entre ellos Marías. Qué poca finesse, oiga.
En conjunto es una lectura entretenida, que pretende ser moralizante a la vez que ágil y emocionante. Para mí se queda en entretenida como lectura de verano.
La descripción del descenso al abismo de un parado de 57 años es bastante inquietante y me recordó mucho a otra que sí fue de verdad, la de la loca de la Fallarás. Es un retrato costumbrista de una clase media aspiracional que no puede llegar. Luego llegamos a la oferta de entrevista de trabajo y la novela cambia de registro, transformándose en una novela de aventuras que poco tiene que ver con la primera parte en cuestión de estilo y velocidad.
Un par de curiosidades: Cada vez que alguien pone la tele o la radio a lo largo de toda la novela se dan dos noticias: una sobre alguien que ha ganado una cantidad obscena de dinero (trader, CEO...) y otra sobre despidos masivos y EREs que tienen lugar en alguna empresa. Además, me pareció raro ver un "mañana en la batalla piensa en mí" como frase que estaba un poco encajada a martillazos, pronunciada por el prota. Dije anda, como el libro de Marías (que es en realidad una frase de Shakespeare). Luego, al final del libro, el autor destripa, restriega por la cara del lector, que ha dejado por el texto referencias (homenajes) a algunos autores favoritos, entre ellos Marías. Qué poca finesse, oiga.
En conjunto es una lectura entretenida, que pretende ser moralizante a la vez que ágil y emocionante. Para mí se queda en entretenida como lectura de verano.
mg_espi's review against another edition
3.0
Aunque tiene un giro muy chulo a mitad del libro, me he quedado con la sensación de historia floja. Es estretenido pero me parece que tiene demasiadas páginas para poca chicha.
A ratos parece escrito con desgana. Suelo ser muy fan del señor Lemaitre, pero en este caso no me ha fascinado como lo hace con otras novelas.
A ratos parece escrito con desgana. Suelo ser muy fan del señor Lemaitre, pero en este caso no me ha fascinado como lo hace con otras novelas.
divina_lisi's review against another edition
3.0
El rush que traía de las novelas negras de este mismo autor (la serie del comandante Verhoeven) me hizo esperar algo similar de ésta. Me decepcionó un poco pues su trama es muy oscura y lenta; un monólogo gris. La serie en netflix está igualita.
iphigenie72's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ccopeland28's review against another edition
1.0
Nope. I really thought I would enjoy this because of my almost 25 years of working in Human Resources. Unfortunately, I found this implausible and completely unrealistic. Not just the book as a whole, but each part as I was reading it.
manolitagafotas's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
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
3.0
pheromonecvlt's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I enjoyed this way more than I should have - considering it only gets 2.7 stars (max) but a book can be enjoyable without being GOOD - right.
Translated works are always a weird one for me. I feel like so many works lose some of their impact and rawness upon translation. This isn't the case here. This work is very well translated. It retains the impact, but the main character is just insufferable. Count how many times he says he is fifty seven. It's so many times. Being fifty seven is his only personality trait. Seriously, Alain, do better. We are given NO other interests. Which doesn't always bother me but in this case it does.
Also, this book was written in 2010, so around the time of the last economic recession. The main character grasps his single straw, that he is unemployed, to justify his selfish and bizarre actions. Like - the recession was truly terrible, but I don't think a white middle class heterosexual man is the best platform to choose to display this struggle. The only reason he was struggling to pay the mortgage of his house was because he had remortgaged it to renovate. That was his biggest financial concern. He can't go out for nice meals or buy nice clothes. It just seems quite out of touch. He frequently complains about not being able to afford luxuries. That's what annoyed me.
The writing is good - but the plot is agonisingly written by someone with privilege. It just made me mad. As you can probably tell. On reading the cover I thought he was in danger of losing his home, maybe in massive debt. He wasn't. Everything he does (apart from his being made redundant four years prior to the opening of the book) is his own fault, because he is an unpleasant person who needs to work. He looks at men the same age as him and analyses them like they are somehow at fault for being employed.
So yeah - I would like this book if it weren't for Alain - who happens to be the narrator for most of it.
Translated works are always a weird one for me. I feel like so many works lose some of their impact and rawness upon translation. This isn't the case here. This work is very well translated. It retains the impact, but the main character is just insufferable. Count how many times he says he is fifty seven. It's so many times. Being fifty seven is his only personality trait. Seriously, Alain, do better. We are given NO other interests. Which doesn't always bother me but in this case it does.
Also, this book was written in 2010, so around the time of the last economic recession. The main character grasps his single straw, that he is unemployed, to justify his selfish and bizarre actions. Like - the recession was truly terrible, but I don't think a white middle class heterosexual man is the best platform to choose to display this struggle. The only reason he was struggling to pay the mortgage of his house was because he had remortgaged it to renovate. That was his biggest financial concern. He can't go out for nice meals or buy nice clothes. It just seems quite out of touch. He frequently complains about not being able to afford luxuries. That's what annoyed me.
The writing is good - but the plot is agonisingly written by someone with privilege. It just made me mad. As you can probably tell. On reading the cover I thought he was in danger of losing his home, maybe in massive debt. He wasn't. Everything he does (apart from his being made redundant four years prior to the opening of the book) is his own fault, because he is an unpleasant person who needs to work. He looks at men the same age as him and analyses them like they are somehow at fault for being employed.
So yeah - I would like this book if it weren't for Alain - who happens to be the narrator for most of it.
yetanothersusan's review against another edition
3.0
I am a Pierre Lemaitre fan and am so very thankful that his books are being translated. He has a wit about him and a beautiful writing style. That being said, reading this one was somewhat of a struggle. The story felt like a ginsu knife commercial: "but wait there's more." Every time the reader got to what felt like the climax of the plot, something changed and the story went on and on. Parts of the story that didn't seem to be important received a lot of page space and this left me confused, as though Mr. Lemaitre wasn't sure where the story was going so just kept on free form writing, hoping something would coalesce. This won't keep me from reading the next book he writes. Some book has to be your least favorite from an author, right?
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and MacLehose Press in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and MacLehose Press in exchange for an honest review.
charf47's review
4.0
Inhuman Resources is very different from 'Alex' and 'Camille', Pierre Lemaitre's previous books that I have read. Like them, though, it is immediately engaging and the entirely unexpected twists and turns of the unusual and intriguing plot kept me on the edge of my seat. The interesting characters are well developed and completely believable. Highly recommended. Thanks to Quercus Books MacLehose Press and NetGalley for the ARC.