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A review by peripetia
All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami
2.75
I just didn't get much out of this novel. I'm having a streak of bad to mediocre reading experiences, which may have made me more negative when listening to the audiobook, but still, I'm just not satisfied.
The narrator of the book is passive and lacks any kind of personality or opinions. She is quite empty, except for her occasional anxieties. Her contributions to conversations are limited to repeating the last word of a sentence the other interlocutor just said. She drifts from pointless scenes to other pointless scenes.
The start of the book was quite promising. It's the middle that was bad, with nothing happening - and although I'm aware this is not a plot-driven novel, I would expect some character development from a character-driven novel. She takes some actions that seemed pretty random to me. That's it. I sped up the audiobook to get over the slog, and the ending did pick up a bit, if only to explain everything.
The themes of the book, such as expectations for women, were thoroughly explained through long monologues. or I guess dialogue, but the main character provided nothing to them so I don't think it counts as a conversation. Side characters tell you about the issues regarding the conflicting expectations put on women, but otherwise the themes are barely there. The main character goes to look at some books, but even then she has absolutely no opinion or interpretation of what she sees.
And then in the end she shakes of her vacant brain and explains to another character her feelings which we didn't really see during the book. The loose storylines were not resolved, at least in a way that I would have been satisfied with.
Or maybe her thoughts and feelings were presented so subtly that I as an idiot missed them. Sure, I'll accept that, but still I found the book so underwhelming, boring, and a waste of effort.
I am also very much a plot-driven reader and I didn't find enough of a well-rounded and interesting character to enjoy this. So, if you're into "character studies" (again, I don't think this is one but ok), this could be for you. At least the protagonist is different than most.
The narrator of the book is passive and lacks any kind of personality or opinions. She is quite empty, except for her occasional anxieties. Her contributions to conversations are limited to repeating the last word of a sentence the other interlocutor just said. She drifts from pointless scenes to other pointless scenes.
The start of the book was quite promising. It's the middle that was bad, with nothing happening - and although I'm aware this is not a plot-driven novel, I would expect some character development from a character-driven novel. She takes some actions that seemed pretty random to me. That's it. I sped up the audiobook to get over the slog, and the ending did pick up a bit, if only to explain everything.
The themes of the book, such as expectations for women, were thoroughly explained through long monologues. or I guess dialogue, but the main character provided nothing to them so I don't think it counts as a conversation. Side characters tell you about the issues regarding the conflicting expectations put on women, but otherwise the themes are barely there. The main character goes to look at some books, but even then she has absolutely no opinion or interpretation of what she sees.
And then in the end she shakes of her vacant brain and explains to another character her feelings which we didn't really see during the book. The loose storylines were not resolved, at least in a way that I would have been satisfied with.
Or maybe her thoughts and feelings were presented so subtly that I as an idiot missed them. Sure, I'll accept that, but still I found the book so underwhelming, boring, and a waste of effort.
I am also very much a plot-driven reader and I didn't find enough of a well-rounded and interesting character to enjoy this. So, if you're into "character studies" (again, I don't think this is one but ok), this could be for you. At least the protagonist is different than most.