drplantwrench's reviews
129 reviews

I read this book with high expectations. I have continually heard the name of this book as a classic that should be read. The first few chapters are fairly good, and quite humorous. However, it devolves into glib meaninglessness and preposterousness.

Perhaps this book was groundbreaking for its blatant depiction of sex, feminism and gender, but none of it seemed to say anything of meaning, and thus has not aged well. Besides the "both sides"-ism of most of the messages, none of the characters are particularly interesting. Each has their own flaws that are glossed over instead of explored and exposed (e.g. I found Garp to be a hypocritical ***, but the book doesn't really explore it well enough, imo). Likewise, the books within a book were all said to be very good, but none of them were particularly interesting or good either.

Overall, I would say it's an okay book, but been way too overhyped.

My second Murakami book, after The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. The first few chapters took me off guard, and wasn't sure if I liked it. But after about 100 pages, I could not put the book down, another Murakami classic. Steeped in mystery and surrealistic, yet somehow also extremely personal and engaging, I am left thinking I will reflect on this book for years to come.

Excellent book! It nicely combines several different genres while also combining plot with philosophy. The detective aspect of the book makes it a "cannot put down", while the philosophical undertones of perspective prevent it from feeling cheap or shallow. Though most of the theological history was relatively lost on me, I feel like this book has a little bit of everything that canplease all, much like a well stewed chili.

I knew this would be a classic as soon I started reading it. It has tempo similar to books that I loved as a child, but without the simplicity that would cause it to be dull reading it as an adult. Highly recommend it for practically anyone, but I personally cannot wait to read this to my daughter when she's a bit older.

It's as good as everyone says. Personally, I prefer Isaac Asimov as my genius sci-fi author, but Frank Herbert provides a good complement with Dune. In fact, I would say there are several types of people who would want to read this book: sci-fi fans, environmentalists, etc. Just go get it!

Really loved book one - that alone merits a five star rating for this book. The first book is hilarious, engaging, and exhilarating. It only makes the fact that the second book remains unfinished even more frustrating. I did not know that it was unfinished before going in, and I really think the second book is not even worth the read. I wish Gogol had the opportunity to finish this, as it would certainly be one of the true classics among all books. Still, even the first book is genius and deserves a read. Just know it remains unfinished!

I really enjoyed this book, though it as not at all what I thought it was. Perhaps I more than others relate to existentialism and searching for meaning in suburbia. I saw other reviews that critique this book "for nothing really happening", which I suppose is true - nothing really happens. of course I would argue that nothing really happens in most of life, especially during life's most important moments. That said, I do think things happen in this book, but that's not even the point - the point is this was the advent of exploring the pointlessness of life in American literature. If that type of thing sounds alluring to you, I highly recommend. If that sounds like a huge pain, then skip it (though I'd feel bad for you).