dlberglund's review
3.0
This book was actually two novellas (neither of which go well with the cover image). I have not seen the anime based on the title story, so I had no preconceptions. The title story was interesting. A little bit dated (originally published in 1967), but the repercussions of the main character's actions are interesting to follow.
The second story/novella was VERY dated, tragic, and was not entertaining to me.
The second story/novella was VERY dated, tragic, and was not entertaining to me.
krestik's review
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
ikouroughli's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
little_miss_3657's review
lighthearted
fast-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
2.5
_ana_'s review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
hfejvi's review
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
bibliobunny's review against another edition
2.0
Ummm... Ova knjiga je prevedena sa engleskog prevoda što je samo po sebi loše. Mnogo toga se gubi i prevodu sa jezika na kom je delo originalno napisano.
Nisam sigurna da li je prevod loš ili je samo loše napisana. Stil je i više nego jednostavan, likovi su jednodimenzionalni, jedino što mi se dopalo u ovoj knjizi jeste zaplet mada da budem iskrena ni on nije najbolje razrađen.
Knjiga takođe sadrži i novelu 'Tvar od koje su noćne more sačinjene' i ista je stvar kao i u prethodnom slučaju.
Nisam sigurna da li je prevod loš ili je samo loše napisana. Stil je i više nego jednostavan, likovi su jednodimenzionalni, jedino što mi se dopalo u ovoj knjizi jeste zaplet mada da budem iskrena ni on nije najbolje razrađen.
Knjiga takođe sadrži i novelu 'Tvar od koje su noćne more sačinjene' i ista je stvar kao i u prethodnom slučaju.
bibliozeka's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
aotora's review
3.0
This was… interesting I guess.
I watched the movie a while ago - I didn't expect to get two short stories - I actually kind of sort of liked them both - thought I did like the second one more I guess.
The first one is The girl who leapt through time - The gist of the story is pretty much the same as the movie - but I do prefer the movie over this story I guess- it's an okay story but it's not amazing or magical like the movie was- It's a story about three friends- well mainly two - one being Kazuko and the other being Kazuo. When Kazuko accidentally finds Kazuo making a potion in the lab she smells it and gets the power to both teleport and go back in time at will. Her science teacher (that is really freaking chill and accepting of the fact that she has these powers and believes her right away) -tells her to go back in time to see who was in the lab because she fainted the first time she was in there- Turns out that it was Kazuo all along. He is actually from 26. century and he is 11 but way more smart because future - in the future everybody starts learning at age 3 because they use their subconscious mind and they actually learn in their sleep - he made a potion that made him go back in time but he forgot to take the potion with him so he was stuck in the past. He fabricated his entire history making his friends and teachers believe that he had been living in that town and going to that school for years when it was actually just a month and he hypnotised a childless couple to believe that he was their son - in the end he confesses his love to Kazuko, tells her that they will meet again but he has to erase all of their memories because people from the future can't tell people from the past about the future and he just did - he erases everyone's memories, she faints and when she wakes up she forgets him and nobody else remembers him either - the book ends with her walking past his old house, smelling lavender that his "dad" grew and having a faint idea that she smelled that before- that ending really got on my nerves - what was the point of him confessing her love for her?! That came and went by in a second and it was just so freaking pointless, it added nothing to the story aside from her being upset because she'll have to forget him - they didn't even kiss and she never even confessed that she loved him too or anything - it was just so freaking pointless. I preferred the film romance and ending to this book - this one just felt so …. abrupt and fast paced.
The second story is called: The stuff that nightmares are made of
This book is about facing your fears and finding out where they originate from. It's about Bunichi, Masako, Yoshio and Etsuko. Masako is afraid of the Prajna masks and she doesn't know why. One day she goes with Bunichi to his house so they can study, she then remembers that last time she went to his room she fainted. When they go up he scares her wearing a Prajna mask - she freaks out but doesn't know why, she is also afraid of the heights. Her little brother is wetting his bed because he is afraid of a woman with scissors standing in the bathroom - it turns out to be made up by his mind because his mother constantly said that she'd snip off his weenie if he didn't start playing with other boys instead of other girls- man that part was …. weird to read to say the least- his sister convinces him that that woman is not real, he stops wetting the bed- all is well until he starts again and he says that he saw a man's head in the hallway- they figure out that their father got sacked and he came home drunk saying that he got "chopped off" really loudly and Yoshio heard that in his sleep and his mind conjured an image of a decapitated head he saw in the hallway. By the end of this short story Masako finally understand why it was that she was afraid of both the mask and the heights- turns out that when she was little she was walking over the bridge and her friend scared her wearing that mask, she freaked out and pushed her off the bridge and her friend survived but got stuck home with pneumonia, once she finally recovered Masako and her family moved away because of her father's new job- she also repressed the memory getting sick herself and when they moved she believed that her friend died- in the end they meet up, she remembers, they apologize and she conquers her fears and her little brother finally conquers the bully that is constantly teasing him about playing with girls- that's the end of that story I guess. I really liked the idea about exploring your fears and where they come from and then conquering them - this story was good, the first one was mediocre and boring.
All in all this gets 3 stars because the first story really drags the whole book down for me.
I watched the movie a while ago - I didn't expect to get two short stories - I actually kind of sort of liked them both - thought I did like the second one more I guess.
The first one is The girl who leapt through time - The gist of the story is pretty much the same as the movie - but I do prefer the movie over this story I guess- it's an okay story but it's not amazing or magical like the movie was- It's a story about three friends- well mainly two - one being Kazuko and the other being Kazuo. When Kazuko accidentally finds Kazuo making a potion in the lab she smells it and gets the power to both teleport and go back in time at will. Her science teacher (that is really freaking chill and accepting of the fact that she has these powers and believes her right away) -tells her to go back in time to see who was in the lab because she fainted the first time she was in there- Turns out that it was Kazuo all along. He is actually from 26. century and he is 11 but way more smart because future - in the future everybody starts learning at age 3 because they use their subconscious mind and they actually learn in their sleep - he made a potion that made him go back in time but he forgot to take the potion with him so he was stuck in the past. He fabricated his entire history making his friends and teachers believe that he had been living in that town and going to that school for years when it was actually just a month and he hypnotised a childless couple to believe that he was their son - in the end he confesses his love to Kazuko, tells her that they will meet again but he has to erase all of their memories because people from the future can't tell people from the past about the future and he just did - he erases everyone's memories, she faints and when she wakes up she forgets him and nobody else remembers him either - the book ends with her walking past his old house, smelling lavender that his "dad" grew and having a faint idea that she smelled that before- that ending really got on my nerves - what was the point of him confessing her love for her?! That came and went by in a second and it was just so freaking pointless, it added nothing to the story aside from her being upset because she'll have to forget him - they didn't even kiss and she never even confessed that she loved him too or anything - it was just so freaking pointless. I preferred the film romance and ending to this book - this one just felt so …. abrupt and fast paced.
The second story is called: The stuff that nightmares are made of
This book is about facing your fears and finding out where they originate from. It's about Bunichi, Masako, Yoshio and Etsuko. Masako is afraid of the Prajna masks and she doesn't know why. One day she goes with Bunichi to his house so they can study, she then remembers that last time she went to his room she fainted. When they go up he scares her wearing a Prajna mask - she freaks out but doesn't know why, she is also afraid of the heights. Her little brother is wetting his bed because he is afraid of a woman with scissors standing in the bathroom - it turns out to be made up by his mind because his mother constantly said that she'd snip off his weenie if he didn't start playing with other boys instead of other girls- man that part was …. weird to read to say the least- his sister convinces him that that woman is not real, he stops wetting the bed- all is well until he starts again and he says that he saw a man's head in the hallway- they figure out that their father got sacked and he came home drunk saying that he got "chopped off" really loudly and Yoshio heard that in his sleep and his mind conjured an image of a decapitated head he saw in the hallway. By the end of this short story Masako finally understand why it was that she was afraid of both the mask and the heights- turns out that when she was little she was walking over the bridge and her friend scared her wearing that mask, she freaked out and pushed her off the bridge and her friend survived but got stuck home with pneumonia, once she finally recovered Masako and her family moved away because of her father's new job- she also repressed the memory getting sick herself and when they moved she believed that her friend died- in the end they meet up, she remembers, they apologize and she conquers her fears and her little brother finally conquers the bully that is constantly teasing him about playing with girls- that's the end of that story I guess. I really liked the idea about exploring your fears and where they come from and then conquering them - this story was good, the first one was mediocre and boring.
All in all this gets 3 stars because the first story really drags the whole book down for me.
bluenicorn's review
3.0
I'm going to call these novellas. I think that the translation feels a bit formal, speech-wise; but there's the foundation of really good stories, so I'm interested in the anime. The titular novella left my heart hurting a bit.