July 7, 2024

A wild ride

I'll start this review with a quote from bookmeter user jm "解釈するというより、まさに体験するという作品。"

This is the kind of book where different readers may arrive at very different conclusions and different interpretations. In some ways the book tries to convey meaning, in other ways it almost feels like it actively tries to evade it.

There are recurring themes such as watching someone, being watched by someone, nakedness and how it relates to being watched, the box as a device that interacts with and interferes with both watching and being watched and the identity or a lack thereof of the person within the box.

Nothing is quite as it seems and streams of consciousness intertwine to create a coherently incoherent flow of symbols, metaphors, meaning and meaninglessness. As a reader we are used to trying to grasp how the protagonist is situated within the world he lives in. However in this book it is not clear who the protagonist is, or if there even is one. As a reader this might make you feel like you're climbing a mountain without any safety equipment. At times this can feel unnerving, at other times perhaps freeing.

This is not a light read, but if you are interested in something truly unique and if you are ready to relax, take a seat in this rollercoaster of a novel and just accept the scenery around you, including all the ambiguities and ridiculousness, you may find something meaningful, stimulating or at the very least something you haven't seen before.

Gradings:7
1
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p_0000 graded
on September 13, 2024
similar in difficulty toコインロッカー・ベイビーズL43
p_0000 graded
on September 13, 2024
harder than瓶詰の地獄L39
p_0000 graded
on July 7, 2024
similar in difficulty to砂の女L45
p_0000 graded
on July 7, 2024
harder than化物語 (上)L37
p_0000 graded
on July 7, 2024
harder thanハーモニーL38
p_0000 graded
on July 7, 2024
harder than人間失格L40
p_0000 graded
on July 7, 2024
harder thanこころL38