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A review by silverbullet
Der Wal und das Ende der Welt: Roman by John Ironmonger
4.0
3.5/5 ✨
Some books' impact on the reader's life depend on when the book is read. Reading this book in COVID times (or listening to the audiobook in my case) was a somewhat disturbing but also heartwarming experience.
The novel describes human interaction in times of crisis (economic instability, broken supply chains and a flu pandemic - 2020 anyone?) while adding interesting dialogues in the form of philosophical, religious and economic discussions on various topics to the mix.
What I didn't like about the book though was the somewhat slow beginning; it took me some time to remember all the names and only after pushing through the first few chapters did I start to get interested in the villagers' and Joe's story, which brings me to the next point. Joe is a too shallow protagonist for my liking. Somehow he didn't seem to have any struggles in life despite not finding the right woman and I would have liked to follow his character development some more.
Some books' impact on the reader's life depend on when the book is read. Reading this book in COVID times (or listening to the audiobook in my case) was a somewhat disturbing but also heartwarming experience.
The novel describes human interaction in times of crisis (economic instability, broken supply chains and a flu pandemic - 2020 anyone?) while adding interesting dialogues in the form of philosophical, religious and economic discussions on various topics to the mix.
What I didn't like about the book though was the somewhat slow beginning; it took me some time to remember all the names and only after pushing through the first few chapters did I start to get interested in the villagers' and Joe's story, which brings me to the next point. Joe is a too shallow protagonist for my liking. Somehow he didn't seem to have any struggles in life despite not finding the right woman and I would have liked to follow his character development some more.