A review by amrituu
The Pine Islands by Marion Poschmann

dark sad 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

2.5

Picked this up in a clearance section and was intrigued to try something different to my usual, and also an author from another country. May have been misled by the cover art (though it is appealing) and the many positive reviews - this book was not half as funny or as endearing as those two elements initially led me to believe. We follow a character who is making a drastic change in his life and searching for meaning, but I didn't feel any meaning or emotion come through until the last few pages. I think it's meant to be funny that Gilbert is pretentious and set in some haughty views, but it just made me care a lot less than I probably should have.

I appreciate that maybe the different cultural setting (German protagonist visiting Japan) may mean some of the nuance of the writing is lost on me. There are some beautiful passages of writing and nice inclusions of haikus, but generally the narrative didn't keep me gripped.