marina_ada's reviews
140 reviews

When I picked up this book, I didn't really know what I was expecting, but it was a definite surprise at first, but not in a bad way. While initially, the book's format and essay-like structure was new and slightly daunting, I began to really enjoy Green's opinions, experiences and anecdotes. It felt like a conversation with a friend, constantly alternating from sarcastic humor to deeply emotional recounting to nostalgically sharing happy memories. After growing up with John Green's fictional novels, seeing this new side of his writing was like revisiting my childhood.

The whole book taught me so much about the world, about life and history and geography and brotherhood and love and anything and everything in between. That's not to say that there were moments where my lack of Americanized knowledge was evident, hence my recent google searches for "Auld Lang Syne" and "Where is Indiana?", but overall the book was a breath of fresh air in an increasingly human-centered planet.  I'd give Canada Geese, Halley's Comet, and New Partner a 5 star rating. 

And so, I give The Anthropocene Reviewed... 4 stars 

Despite its menacing 900+ pages, I couldn't put it down, in typical Murakami fashion. In the beginning, the characters seem weirdly selected, random individuals who's thoughts and behaviors aren't really explained much.
As time goes on (and a lot of time goes on), their motives, reasoning, and links are explained, yet there is still something that feels... off. While Aomame's character development is deep and well thought out, Tengo seems to be mindlessly put together, and I found him much harder to understand as a person - but maybe that's what Murakami intended. 
The third book may be slightly overdrawn, with the endless scenes of Aomame and Tengo doing virtually nothing just to keep the tension for the reader, leaving you feeling kind of frustrated and angsty. 
I've heard people complaining that the narrative spends too much time in the past, what happened before rather than what is happening now, but I actually enjoyed getting an insight into Aomame and Tengo's childhood, especially with Tengo's father. 
It's true that there are many mysteries that go unsolved, many character left veiled in a cloud of mystery, but overall, this really is a wonderful example of Murakami's master storytelling and his incredible ability to keep you hooked, even on characters that don't mean much. 

This was the most frustrating book I've ever read. Frustrating because it made me so angry, and frustrating because I loved it. The Trial is confusing, overwhelming, infuriating and disorientating, leaving you feeling intensely uncomfortable and angry with the world. K's unforeseen arrest and his mishandled case portray the disorganization of the judiciary system, the uncontrollability of life, and the complete lack of empathy that many in power may have. K. is constantly barred from living his life as he intended, whether that be by police officers, paperwork, or the labyrinth-like government departments that leave him with no escape. The ending is sudden and shocking, the story never really ends properly, yet it weirdly feels complete. The entire experience of reading this book is deeply disturbing, yet I would most definitely do it again, and recommend that everyone do so too.