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book_soulsbee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Violence, and Murder
jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
A fictional spin on the experiences of Russian master, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky.
tbr_tyrant's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mosesp's review against another edition
4.0
Maybe the best book about grief I have ever read. There's also some politics, but that's incidental.
catrink's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book but the story fell flat...
basedgoth's review against another edition
1.0
Only got interesting towards the end then tapered off into obscurity. Some memorable quotes in here but not really worth reading the whole book for. Liked where the story was going but the themes Coetzee spent time trying to convey left me bored. And what’s with all the weird perversions on women and young girls?
kitness's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Why even use Dostoevsky's name when all you want to write about is yourself?
I'm very lucky that my first Coetzee was "Waiting for the Barbarians." This book has a lot of the same character themes, but much less well done, and completely missing the clear plot muddied surrealistically and grand statements about humanity and societies. Like "Foe," this one is just a lukewarm stream-of-consciousness flappycake.
I thought when I read "Waiting for the Barbarians," I had happened upon a living brilliant writer, each of whose books would be masterful and deep. But now I've read these three, and it's just the one. I don't know if I will ever try another Coetzee. He needs to get his head out of his ass.
Similar, far better things to read:
Crime & Punishment
The 13th House by Zameenzad
Chekhov's short stories
Moravagine
Lolita
To The Lighthouse
Invisible Man by Ellison
I'm very lucky that my first Coetzee was "Waiting for the Barbarians." This book has a lot of the same character themes, but much less well done, and completely missing the clear plot muddied surrealistically and grand statements about humanity and societies. Like "Foe," this one is just a lukewarm stream-of-consciousness flappycake.
I thought when I read "Waiting for the Barbarians," I had happened upon a living brilliant writer, each of whose books would be masterful and deep. But now I've read these three, and it's just the one. I don't know if I will ever try another Coetzee. He needs to get his head out of his ass.
Similar, far better things to read:
Crime & Punishment
The 13th House by Zameenzad
Chekhov's short stories
Moravagine
Lolita
To The Lighthouse
Invisible Man by Ellison
laura_cat's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe I needed to have read Dostoevsky to fully appreciate this book.
iammandyellen's review against another edition
4.0
this one's a fictionalized account of Dostoevsky's return to russia upon the death of his stepson. i love coetzee most for his exquisite rendering of painfully awkward everyday injustices. i read them wincing. and to imagine fyodor! what a mind to assume, of all minds!