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wallros's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
mihu_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
emi_dilli's review against another edition
4.0
Much like if Camus’ narrator of The Outsider were a Japanese mother going through divorce.
At first I felt the distance between me and the narrator was too great. I was frustrated I couldn’t get inside her head. She was unpredictable and chaotic. Then I let go and allowed myself to be swept up in her self-destruction and neglect and abuse of her daughter.
I wanted so often to shake her by the shoulders and tell her to stand up for herself in the face of male bullies so that she wouldn’t take our her repressed anger on her daughter. The narrator is a real reminder of all the things I fear becoming as a parent.
At first I felt the distance between me and the narrator was too great. I was frustrated I couldn’t get inside her head. She was unpredictable and chaotic. Then I let go and allowed myself to be swept up in her self-destruction and neglect and abuse of her daughter.
I wanted so often to shake her by the shoulders and tell her to stand up for herself in the face of male bullies so that she wouldn’t take our her repressed anger on her daughter. The narrator is a real reminder of all the things I fear becoming as a parent.
bryn_thecowboy's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
krythstal's review against another edition
5.0
"Qué profundidad. Me embargaba la tristeza. Y, finalmente, me llegaba un sonido desde el fondo, como el ruido de un cristal roto. No, algo más bello y agudo. Para mí, era el sonido de los huesos humanos al quebrarse. Y, una vez que recibía ese eco, por fin me quedaba tranquila."
intenta no decir MADRE durante 12 capítulos seguidos challenge. lo de que la autora sea hija de osamu dazai y me haya enterado ahora... wow.
intenta no decir MADRE durante 12 capítulos seguidos challenge. lo de que la autora sea hija de osamu dazai y me haya enterado ahora... wow.
lottie1803's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
_shanara's review against another edition
4.0
"I'm her mother, all the same, I thought. Even if I was an incorrigible fool, I wanted to believe that there was still something fundamental in me worthy of my own respect."
:( motherhood
:( motherhood
mobyskine's review against another edition
4.0
A delicate yet unsettling premise of 12 fragments that revolves around the trials of life and solitude of a young woman who just separated from her husband and need to raise a two-year-old daughter alone in her new apartment. I love the sentimental and melancholic setting and how the storytelling could grasped the lonesome beauty of lights that always came streaming through her apartment’s windows— each moment and glow that the woman encountered subtly reflected her present emotions, of thoughts and lingering past that delved vividly through her days of surviving.
Neat prose with slow-moving progress, bit exhausting too to follow few of her rants and musings, and somehow her interactions with the daughter can be distressing much— those late night drinks, sleep till late and to ignore her daughter’s needs at times. An absorbing exploration that actually made me understand more on the reality of a single parent; of the imperfection and flaws, the anxieties and struggles to bear and deal on their own while still striving to provide the best for the child.
Love how the author managed to relate and explicate the issues on societal prejudice, patriarchal culture as well on marriage and relationship dynamics to present-day concerns despite this being first published in the late 1970s. I like the few last chapters of it; the relation of deaths to her luck and guilt, ways she dealt with her relationship conflict and discovering the new change. It was such a quiet, enlightening and heart-moving read to me. 4 stars to this!
Neat prose with slow-moving progress, bit exhausting too to follow few of her rants and musings, and somehow her interactions with the daughter can be distressing much— those late night drinks, sleep till late and to ignore her daughter’s needs at times. An absorbing exploration that actually made me understand more on the reality of a single parent; of the imperfection and flaws, the anxieties and struggles to bear and deal on their own while still striving to provide the best for the child.
Love how the author managed to relate and explicate the issues on societal prejudice, patriarchal culture as well on marriage and relationship dynamics to present-day concerns despite this being first published in the late 1970s. I like the few last chapters of it; the relation of deaths to her luck and guilt, ways she dealt with her relationship conflict and discovering the new change. It was such a quiet, enlightening and heart-moving read to me. 4 stars to this!
virgilsaeneid's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5