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tanothaniel's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
a weird read that will not appeal to everyone, but if you do end up liking it, it’s a masterclass in how to create an unreliable narrator. felt like i got punched in the jaw at certain points where i was confronted with how the MC had strung me along. you are left with little idea of what actually occured, and you have to rely entirely on your own ability to read between his lines.
janaroos's review against another edition
4.0
The ending is a masterstroke which had me considering 5 stars, but although the book is very engaging, the narrator's naivety was at times quite frustrating. For a story focused on the titular good soldier, I also don't really think that Edward was that well illustrated. Most of the retelling is focused on Leonora, and the narrator's strong identification with Edward at the end seems a bit out of left field.
faintgirl's review against another edition
2.0
Has to be the mark of a great book when two (albeit stupidly busy) months later you don't remember a single thing about it.
pantsuitparty's review against another edition
3.0
You know that thing where the protagonist isn't aware of his own blatant biases? This has that in spades. Narrow selectivity with odd shades of truth. The narrator's interpretation of events is so contradictorily one-sided, it leaves the lion's share of responsibility to the reader and his/her own ability to draw conclusions from the mishmash timeline of infidelity, dishonesty, and affectation.
An impressionistic bric-à-brac with fair gusts of social satire blowing its story into a measured set of obscured truth clumps.
An impressionistic bric-à-brac with fair gusts of social satire blowing its story into a measured set of obscured truth clumps.
kirsten0929's review against another edition
5.0
Had the urge to read it again right away, which for me is often the sign of a five-star. Not a lot of plot, very much about the individuals that make up the two couples. Loved that I was kept on my heels, never quite sure what was going on - which works because it is intentional (as opposed to just bad writing). Thought the narrator, one of the main characters, was great not because he was particularly likable but because he was kind of clueless, a little superficial, and not completely reliable.
emmajdavies's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I like the idea of the story and there was some good evocation of the time period and some good writing but in the end I felt like I just didn’t care that much about any of them.
jemmak's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thelyingbitch's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
zosia's review against another edition
4.0
Rounded up to 4 stars as the last 30 pages were brilliant. A very interesting unreliable, elliptical narration with a lot of time-shifts, which made me think of the works of Barnes or Ishiguro. What I disliked, however, were the dull, ridiculous characters and the main story...