Reviews

Адските машини за желания на доктор Хофман by Angela Carter

eb00kie's review against another edition

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Read up to 52% plus the end 5%. Kudos to the brilliant evocative cover of the 2010 Penguin Modern edition. 

Basically the story reads like de Sade fanfiction and Alice in Wonderland had a book baby, in the style of Candide's philosophical journey.

Practically, the core mystery of the infernal machine is crushed under the dull mindlessness of Desiderio's internal monologue and a series of dull, if grotesque, encounters - aesthetically similar of Candide, maybe? But in nature more Lolita.

There is no character growth, very little character work to speak of in general and worst of all - it's all filler. If you take the beginning of Desiderio's journey and his arrival at the endpoint and delete everything in between, I'm not sure much of the story is lost, because there is a lot of repetition and the episodes appear crushingly pointless.

As it stands, the mystery is in the last 5% and it is that
the infernal machines are volunteers fucking continuously until they explode into energy, which Hoffman uses to affect/change/stop time.
however up to this rather innovative idea Desiderio spends the book engaged in a Candide-like journey with the dullest 'autobiographical' reflections - peregrinations and reflections that, by most appearances end up meaningless intrinsically and plot-wise. Of these meaningless encounters that didn't affect the plot, make a philosophical statement or create some innovative literary sequence, a particular highlight is that
Desiderio spends some time engaged at some point to a 10yo and they perform several sexual acts, not including penetration. Why did that need to be in the book? Not only was it grotesque - it was useless.

oblivione's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

spiritlesscatalyst's review against another edition

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adventurous funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

pollincowbell's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

bc1969's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.5

lost_in_a_leabhar's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious

3.5

oshkosh25's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

suzsta's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious

3.0

immodest_medusa's review against another edition

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I love this book, have read it before. I DNFd because I just could NOT get on board with the narrator, I don't know why. They just weren't who I wanted for Desiderio; perhaps if I had never read this before then maybe I would have been able to enjoy it

jonahtriestoread's review against another edition

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3.0

The infernal r