angela_iseli's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
marissa_nicole's review against another edition
dark
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
triplecitrus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
heyyyther's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. For sure a really interesting choice to read during our own pandemic and quarantine situation, similar to the novel’s.
literadreams's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
bundy23's review against another edition
3.0
It says Kafkaesque in the blurb and that's much that's exactly what it is. I though it was somehow neither good not bad but if you're really into the absurdism of Kafka this might be right up your alley.
oddly's review against another edition
3.0
A contagious disease in an unnamed country is upsetting the balance of society, and our unnamed narrator, who thinks he is moving to this country for a job opportunity instead gets lost in a tangled web of bureaucracy, mountains of trash and the vermin that come with it, and questions about the life he left behind.
Hye-Young Pyun’s novel [b:The Hole|31213272|The Hole|Hye-Young Pyun|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473929444s/31213272.jpg|51867833], which won the Shirley Jackson award, felt to me an entirely different style of writing from this book. It is actually impressive how different these books are; I wouldn’t have recognized that they came from the same author. While The Hole is an insular and claustrophobic story that leans heavily on the build of dread throughout and the main character’s lack of ability to do anything about his situation, City of Ash and Red has a much larger story to tell.
This book truly owes a great debt to Kafka, whose witty and frustrating satire seems hidden behind many of the books strange hierarchical paths of confusion that seem to swallow the narrator whole. Throughout, he tries to get in touch with the person who supposedly got him the job, but between language barriers, the disease making everyone extra suspicious, the red tape of pointless paperwork that seems to get nothing accomplished, and the fact that point of contact has such a common name that he (or she?) might as well be anyone on the street, he can’t get any information that is useful.
The book is very dark and bleak for the character, but at the same time there is a humorous undercurrent at the pure absurdity of his situation, and it is pure Kafka.
His journey spirals downward rapidly, his daily life dissolving into something that barely resembles living and his mind deteriorating with his isolation from his mother country and any truth that he thought he knew about himself.
Parts of the narrative felt underdeveloped to me and the full impact of the book fell a bit flat, but this has to be one of the more unique and strange apocalyptic narratives I have ever read.
My thanks to Skyhorse Publishing for sending me an advance copy of this book to read and review.
Hye-Young Pyun’s novel [b:The Hole|31213272|The Hole|Hye-Young Pyun|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473929444s/31213272.jpg|51867833], which won the Shirley Jackson award, felt to me an entirely different style of writing from this book. It is actually impressive how different these books are; I wouldn’t have recognized that they came from the same author. While The Hole is an insular and claustrophobic story that leans heavily on the build of dread throughout and the main character’s lack of ability to do anything about his situation, City of Ash and Red has a much larger story to tell.
This book truly owes a great debt to Kafka, whose witty and frustrating satire seems hidden behind many of the books strange hierarchical paths of confusion that seem to swallow the narrator whole. Throughout, he tries to get in touch with the person who supposedly got him the job, but between language barriers, the disease making everyone extra suspicious, the red tape of pointless paperwork that seems to get nothing accomplished, and the fact that point of contact has such a common name that he (or she?) might as well be anyone on the street, he can’t get any information that is useful.
The book is very dark and bleak for the character, but at the same time there is a humorous undercurrent at the pure absurdity of his situation, and it is pure Kafka.
His journey spirals downward rapidly, his daily life dissolving into something that barely resembles living and his mind deteriorating with his isolation from his mother country and any truth that he thought he knew about himself.
Parts of the narrative felt underdeveloped to me and the full impact of the book fell a bit flat, but this has to be one of the more unique and strange apocalyptic narratives I have ever read.
My thanks to Skyhorse Publishing for sending me an advance copy of this book to read and review.
gladdenangie's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book to read during our own quarantine days. The story was really dark with several graphic and disturbing scenes. Not one I’d recommend to everyone, but interesting nonetheless.
Some of my favorite quotes...
“This despair at knowing he would never make his way back weighed heavily on him. And he grew unhappy at the thought that he might never again run his fingers along the fine grain of ordinary everyday life.”
“The biggest impact the epidemic had on people was not infection and death but rather suspicion of others for fear of exactly that. Every person except for themselves was a potential pathogen, and every place outside of their own homes was dirty beyond belief and had viruses floating in the air.”
“Fear and rumors and viruses shared a similar nature. They bore a tremendous vitality of their own, oblivious to human efforts to stamp them out. They could spread rapidly even while offering no clue to their routes of transmission. And they would burn for a long, long time, like dry grassland, only to vanish in an instant as if doused with water.”
Some of my favorite quotes...
“This despair at knowing he would never make his way back weighed heavily on him. And he grew unhappy at the thought that he might never again run his fingers along the fine grain of ordinary everyday life.”
“The biggest impact the epidemic had on people was not infection and death but rather suspicion of others for fear of exactly that. Every person except for themselves was a potential pathogen, and every place outside of their own homes was dirty beyond belief and had viruses floating in the air.”
“Fear and rumors and viruses shared a similar nature. They bore a tremendous vitality of their own, oblivious to human efforts to stamp them out. They could spread rapidly even while offering no clue to their routes of transmission. And they would burn for a long, long time, like dry grassland, only to vanish in an instant as if doused with water.”
angiegladden's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book to read during our own quarantine days. The story was really dark with several graphic and disturbing scenes. Not one I’d recommend to everyone, but interesting nonetheless.
Some of my favorite quotes...
“This despair at knowing he would never make his way back weighed heavily on him. And he grew unhappy at the thought that he might never again run his fingers along the fine grain of ordinary everyday life.”
“The biggest impact the epidemic had on people was not infection and death but rather suspicion of others for fear of exactly that. Every person except for themselves was a potential pathogen, and every place outside of their own homes was dirty beyond belief and had viruses floating in the air.”
“Fear and rumors and viruses shared a similar nature. They bore a tremendous vitality of their own, oblivious to human efforts to stamp them out. They could spread rapidly even while offering no clue to their routes of transmission. And they would burn for a long, long time, like dry grassland, only to vanish in an instant as if doused with water.”
Some of my favorite quotes...
“This despair at knowing he would never make his way back weighed heavily on him. And he grew unhappy at the thought that he might never again run his fingers along the fine grain of ordinary everyday life.”
“The biggest impact the epidemic had on people was not infection and death but rather suspicion of others for fear of exactly that. Every person except for themselves was a potential pathogen, and every place outside of their own homes was dirty beyond belief and had viruses floating in the air.”
“Fear and rumors and viruses shared a similar nature. They bore a tremendous vitality of their own, oblivious to human efforts to stamp them out. They could spread rapidly even while offering no clue to their routes of transmission. And they would burn for a long, long time, like dry grassland, only to vanish in an instant as if doused with water.”
zhy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0