an incredibly unique read; keun's prose is so sprawling and endlessly lopping around itself in ways i have never experienced before. it's both the biggest strength and the one drawback of this book, for me. whilst undeniably stylish and with many moments i felt so enamored by the writing, there were other moments where i found myself completely removed from the story, its character and the words on the page.

this is one of those books where even though i didn't absolutely love it, i could understand it being someone's favourite. i think i could learn to love this book, to be honest. right now, i think it is just very good.

also the last ten pages very nearly made me shed a tear. quietly heartbreaking.