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A review by konniecanread
The Melancholy of Resistance by László Krasznahorkai
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A really really good book, though hard to read. While I appreciated the theme (the collapse of the USSR and the impending doom its citizens felt in the years leading up to it), the style was what really stood out to me.
The first thing you notice when you read this book is the sentences. Often pages long, they meander about with no real aim, sometimes dwelling on experiences or idea, but also often drawn to new things the character comes across or thinks of. Frequently you get the impression that the author himself did not know where the sentence would take him when he started it.
The second thing you notice is that no experience is raw. Everything is always cast in the light of the person doing the experiencing. There is not just a room, there is the room that reminds you of your family home, or the room that is claustrophobically old-fashioned, or the room that smells of cigarettes your last partner used to smoke.
These two features capture parts of our subjective experiences that I think books often fail to convey. It made me really appreciate and understand each character fully, to take them as they are in their entirety, in a way I am rarely able to do.
The first thing you notice when you read this book is the sentences. Often pages long, they meander about with no real aim, sometimes dwelling on experiences or idea, but also often drawn to new things the character comes across or thinks of. Frequently you get the impression that the author himself did not know where the sentence would take him when he started it.
The second thing you notice is that no experience is raw. Everything is always cast in the light of the person doing the experiencing. There is not just a room, there is the room that reminds you of your family home, or the room that is claustrophobically old-fashioned, or the room that smells of cigarettes your last partner used to smoke.
These two features capture parts of our subjective experiences that I think books often fail to convey. It made me really appreciate and understand each character fully, to take them as they are in their entirety, in a way I am rarely able to do.