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fuwddwuf's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Woof. A pebble in the sea of misogyny-literature.
daja57's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Zeno is a rich but incredibly ineffectual hypochondriac.
This novel is set in Trieste in the early years of the twentieth century (1900s) when Trieste, now part of Italy, was the naval base on the Adriatic Sea for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Zeno is a rich man who over-analyses every thing he does, from getting married (to the wrong woman) to taking a mistress to being an immensely unsuccessful businessman. It seemed to me a rather more explicit version of The Diary of a Nobody except that it had fewer laughs and significantly more words.
Perhaps that was the point. Zeno could not decide on any action unless he had considered it from every perspective. Usually, what he did was embarrassingly inappropriate, at which point he reanalyses everything to prove to himself that he was right after all. I suppose it was meant to be funny but the joke was suffocated under the weight of words. Wearisomely long-winded.
chiaraaaa's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
amirisdepaula's review against another edition
3.0
Uma constante relação de amor e ódio presente até o fim do livro.
tsefalofor's review against another edition
3.0
got halfway through 'the story of my marriage'. some fun, i enjoyed the preface and translator's note the most, how interesting about trieste in the 19th c.! i'm enjoying the 19th c. right now, learning about the 19th c. in german and french classes. thought i was enjoying the rest of the book but ive been reading it for a month so maybe not and i have to remind myself that if not it's okay to stop (okay, okay...). so i returned it to the library. and i peeked through the hole to the returns room - have you looked through there? how handsome... i need to get in there! thought of climbing through, if only i were wincy
queen_ale_'s review
challenging
reflective
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
4.0
rosierfleuri's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
speranta's review against another edition
5.0
Such a masterpiece!
The storyline is told like an episodic autobiography written at the request of a psychoanalyst, who admits to publishing the letters out of spite for the patient who stopped attending therapy sessions. It's one of the most original ideas - and the novel is one of the first to publicly present the subject of therapy in the last century.
The author also apparently foresaw the invention of the atomic bomb within Zeno's philosophizing war at the end - immense bombs would be invented with the best intentions, but fall in evil hands - we still live to see the history.
I loved the attention to detail. Each character is intricately described, even as it it clear that the presented image is but a distortion of the main character's skewed perception.
Zeno's inadaptability reminded me of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and of Kafka's oddly intelligent but misplaced characters.
The storyline is told like an episodic autobiography written at the request of a psychoanalyst, who admits to publishing the letters out of spite for the patient who stopped attending therapy sessions. It's one of the most original ideas - and the novel is one of the first to publicly present the subject of therapy in the last century.
The author also apparently foresaw the invention of the atomic bomb within Zeno's philosophizing war at the end - immense bombs would be invented with the best intentions, but fall in evil hands - we still live to see the history.
I loved the attention to detail. Each character is intricately described, even as it it clear that the presented image is but a distortion of the main character's skewed perception.
Zeno's inadaptability reminded me of Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and of Kafka's oddly intelligent but misplaced characters.
maribr75's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
idgey's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75