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A review by kate66
Owlish by Dorothy Tse
2.0
2.5 (half a point for the lovely narration).
I have a feeling that I'm missing a lot of metaphors in this novel. As a story it is bewildering, as a metaphor its even more confusing.
Professor Q is having a mid-life crisis. His career and marriage are stagnant. His home country is in flux having been ceded back to its original controllers ten years before. His escape is in a doll collection that he keeps hidden in his study. He finds gratification in dressing and playing with the dolls but that desire becomes out of control when he becomes the owner of Alliss, a life size ballerina doll.
Here's where I started to get lost, mainly because you are never sure what is real and what is dream.
I listened to the audio version and I had to keep going back on what I'd just heard because sometimes the end was so abrupt that I was positive is missed something crucial. After much deliberation I think Dorothy Tse has left so many open ends because life is like that. I understand that Nevers is a metaphor for Hong Kong and its current state of turmoil. No one really knows what will happen there or what is happening to its citizens.
We are left wondering what happened to Alliss, Professor Q and his wife. I am also still bewildered as to whether Owlish was a real person or just another facet of Professor Q's personality.
It's an interesting read. Writing this review (such as it is) has given me more of a headache than listening to the book. I'm definitely intrigued by Dorothy Tse and will search out more of her work.
I have a feeling that I'm missing a lot of metaphors in this novel. As a story it is bewildering, as a metaphor its even more confusing.
Professor Q is having a mid-life crisis. His career and marriage are stagnant. His home country is in flux having been ceded back to its original controllers ten years before. His escape is in a doll collection that he keeps hidden in his study. He finds gratification in dressing and playing with the dolls but that desire becomes out of control when he becomes the owner of Alliss, a life size ballerina doll.
Here's where I started to get lost, mainly because you are never sure what is real and what is dream.
I listened to the audio version and I had to keep going back on what I'd just heard because sometimes the end was so abrupt that I was positive is missed something crucial. After much deliberation I think Dorothy Tse has left so many open ends because life is like that. I understand that Nevers is a metaphor for Hong Kong and its current state of turmoil. No one really knows what will happen there or what is happening to its citizens.
We are left wondering what happened to Alliss, Professor Q and his wife. I am also still bewildered as to whether Owlish was a real person or just another facet of Professor Q's personality.
It's an interesting read. Writing this review (such as it is) has given me more of a headache than listening to the book. I'm definitely intrigued by Dorothy Tse and will search out more of her work.