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nookandcrannyseattle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0
Unhinged 😂😂 I love it.
aramirezreyes's review
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
anushb's review against another edition
3.0
Some really funny parts. A lot of philosophy went over my head. An extra star for making me remember my strong dislike of Foucault.
iancarpenter's review
1.0
Abandoned. I don't see how anyone not versed in semiotics and the various theorists' dismantling of each other's ideas would enjoy this book. I spent way too many years immersed in and loving that field and still the humour of Foucault saying "forget Barthes" (because Jean Baudrillard wrote "Forget Foucault") is just way too "clever" for me. But the writing and translation are great - definitely going to check out Binet's HHhH.
moncoinlecture's review against another edition
4.0
Quand on trippe linguistique, ce roman est parfaitement jouissif! Sinon... ça risque d'être un peu ardu par moments. Une enquête avec l'élite intellectuelle française des années 80, qui démarre lors de la mort de Roland Barthes... et si ce n'était pas un accident? Érudit, prenant... bref j'ai vraiment aimé.
lindzlovesreading's review against another edition
5.0
I am the mark for this book. Very European, very esoteric, and at times very surreal. At university I went through a large Stucturlism and Barthes faze, and when I mean faze I mean I tried unsuccessfully to write my Honours thesis in a structurlist format and I read Mythologies. As soon as humanly possible I was all over this book. Since I had read HHHH I kind of knew what I was getting into, and because of HHHH I had no idea what I was getting into. It starts with the surprising death of Roland Barthes and then through each encounter and plot twist we almost enter different parallels and matrixes. Where it is all fiction and all reality. And more important all novelistic - after all it is language that is the basis of society and culture. And the book revels in this.
It is weird and wonderful, so I am not particularly fussed if this novel achieved any of it's goals. I adored the writing, I adored the mixure and mockery of the ideas. Espcially the idea of using very much alive human beings as characters in your novel, the baggage and morality this carries. This was a completely bazzerk novel, where the rules do no apply at all, and I loved it for it.
It is weird and wonderful, so I am not particularly fussed if this novel achieved any of it's goals. I adored the writing, I adored the mixure and mockery of the ideas. Espcially the idea of using very much alive human beings as characters in your novel, the baggage and morality this carries. This was a completely bazzerk novel, where the rules do no apply at all, and I loved it for it.
yvngkafka's review against another edition
4.0
This book is the best case scenario if your lefty theory buddy tells you he’s writing a novel
emannuelk's review against another edition
3.0
Um livro bastante divertido e que consegue unir bem a leveza de um romance policial bastante simples com uma série de referências à vida intelectual no começo da década de 1980. O tÃtulo deveria ser "A Sétima Função da Linguagem", mas acho que editora imaginou que, com o tÃtulo original, ia cair no limbo dos livros acadêmicos quando, na verdade, tem uma apelo bastante amplo. Achei a leitura fácil e imagino que mesmo quem não conhece Roland Barhtes ou Foucault deve gostar do livro, embora conhecer figuras como essas e um pouco de suas teorias torne a experiência mais completa. As referências são constantes e uma parte grande da diversão é ver como algumas personalidades se adaptam ao estereótipos de um romance policial. Eu, particularmente, não gostei muito de como alguns personagens são retratados, especialmente as intelectuais mulheres, e nem de alguns momentos em que o romance tenta ser metalinguÃstico, o que me pareceu fora de lugar. Dito isso, chega a ser surpreendente que esse livro consiga incluir alguns plot twists bem interessantes considerando que toma por base acontecimentos em maior ou menor grau históricos...
paulineg's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0