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Ididsoidid

Ididsoidid

Joined December 2018

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War and Peace (Revised) by Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy
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Ididsoidid
Trainspotting | Irvine Welsh
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Dark and comedic, and at times disturbing. I loved how Welsh has managed to develop such complex characters and humanise them, whilst also embedding political and societal issues in this tapestry of vignettes. The code-switching and use of Scots added another layer of richness as well. Might not be for everyone but it‘s a brilliant novel. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
No One Is Talking about This | Patricia Lockwood
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How do you capture the entire gamut of social media in a novel that is only 200 pages long? In fact, try doing it in only half the novel. This was dizzy, funny, terrifying, and ultimately heart wrenching. Im still struggling to accept that some of the most beautiful prose I‘ve read is in a novel which is 30% cringy sex jokes.

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Ididsoidid
Dangerous Liaisons | Choderlos De Laclos
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Merteuil and Valmont weave increasingly elaborate schemes and affairs as they each compete for the others approval. The letters reveal so much personality but you never know if you can trust the authors‘ intentions as the stakes and consequences become increasingly severe. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
The Purloined Letter | Edgar Allan Poe
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An intriguing detective mystery and sets the tone for the next book on my reading list…
7/10

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Ididsoidid
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Mehso-so

Another dark and evocative tale, it‘s clear why Poe is so renowned as a master of gothic fiction. I love how he can conjure up an incredibly precise setting in so few pages although I didn‘t enjoy this plot of this one as much as the others. 6/10

Graywacke Have you watched the series? My daughter is pressing me to watch. 4mo
Ididsoidid Not yet but I keep meaning to! It will be interesting to see how they can make it span multiple episodes. 4mo
3 likes2 comments
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Ididsoidid
Pit and the Pendulum | Edgar Allen Poe
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I read a few of Poe‘s short stories for Halloween and this was definitely my favourite. Poe manages to develop a lot of tension in a few short pages and a sense of mystery and foreboding. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
At Swim-two-birds | Flann O'Brien
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A disorientating novel within a novel within a novel. As witty as it is confusing; flitting from ancient legend to modern myth as the narrator and characters soar across Dublin and Ireland. I expect there‘s much more depth to be revealed on second reading. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
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Funny, inventive and totally illogical. Perfect escapism on a rainy Sunday. 7/10

10 likes1 stack add
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Ididsoidid
Crome Yellow | Aldous Huxley
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Mehso-so

A small group of well-to-do gather to spend a summer at Crome. Each brief chapter could almost be read as its own short story, (one of which seems to have evolved into A Brave New World). I didn‘t find it particularly exciting or eventful but there were humorous moments as Huxley mocks and humiliates his cast of self-centred socialites. 5/10

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Ididsoidid
Piranesi | Susanna Clarke
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Piranesi lives in an enigmatic and intriguing house, gradually revealed to us in the form of his journal entries. I wasn‘t sure at first but I quickly fell for his naive charm and the incredible world he inhabits, and in the end I didn‘t want to leave. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
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Such an impressive novel. Following generations of the Del Valle/Trueba family Allende weaves a tapestry of shifting politics, intergenerational trauma, and pivotal events in Chilean history. Humorous and hopeful, yet fraught with horror and tension. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
A Modest Proposal | Jonathan Swift
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A significant satirical commentary on society and the politics of 17th-19th century Ireland and Britain. It provides a glimpse into the prevailing behaviours and beliefs of the upper classes in respect of the poor. It should provoke further investigation and study of Irish history pre-independence and reflection on the social contract and purpose of government.

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Ididsoidid
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A very haunting, almost gothic account. The atmosphere depicted is so encompassing I really felt pulled into the author‘s despair. As a memoir, there is a struggle to reconcile with the vulnerability; a reluctance to impose thoughts on other characters and need to maintain their privacy. Occasionally the deflection into poetry seems pretentious or narcissistic, and lacks definitive conclusion. Nonetheless a beautiful and emotional book. 7/10

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Ididsoidid
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Another fun and lighthearted trip to enjoy the last of the summer. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
Cronica de Una Muerte Anunciada | Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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Everyone knows Santiago is going to be murdered, yet nobody manages to prevent it from happening. An intriguing premise for a crime novel, and told from the perspective of a witness turned journalist. Márquez captured the by-stander effect decades before smartphones. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
Memory Police | Yoko Ogawa
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Mehso-so

In a society where everyone is made to forget, how do we remember who we are? I loved the stillness and quiet suspense that hangs over this novel; and the secondary tale that is woven throughout adds an interesting parallel. 6/10

Ididsoidid I hoped by the end more background would have been revealed and felt there were some inconsistencies to the disappearances that confused the narrative. I would have liked more resistance but ultimately I appreciate the author‘s commitment to the idea, taking it to its ultimate conclusion. 7mo
9 likes1 comment
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Ididsoidid
Close to Home: A Novel | Michael Magee
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I found Close to Home a very familiar account of post-recession Belfast, the despondency and anger that followed the promise of growing up in the early millennium. The writing feels authentic and it‘s a quick one but I‘m curious how engaging it might be for readers from elsewhere? 6/10

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Ididsoidid
The Master and Margarita | Mikhail Bulgakov
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I had a lot of fun with the pace, energy, chaos and surreal humour in The Master and Margarita. I felt I missed some of the allegory and references through my lack of knowledge of Bulgakov and his experience in the Soviet Union, but this depth also makes reading about the novel very rewarding. 7/10

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Ididsoidid
Love After Love: A Novel | Ingrid Persaud
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A story of unlikely companions, Betty, her son, Solo, and Mr. Chetan, spanning over a decade as they each reconcile with their past and its impact on their ongoing relationships. Not my kind of novel at all, but I did appreciate the rich cultural insight into life in Trinidad. 4/10

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Ididsoidid
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I bought this edition for Turn of the Screw, a classic ghost story. A mysterious short novel with lots of moments to unpick in order to understand what may be going on. James‘ Victorian phrasing and extremely drawn out sequences of commas can be very suspenseful but it gets exhausting at points. The frame story adds authenticity whilst questioning the reliability of the narrator. Great book for a discussion group. 7/10 (Still to read Daisy Miller)

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Ididsoidid
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A classic Spanish novel written in the 16th century by an unknown author. Lazarillo recounts his resourcefulness in a struggle to escape poverty against the odds. Funny and sympathetic, Lazaro reveals the hypocrisy and vanity of those in positions of power at the time. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
Foster | Claire Keegan
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I‘m so impressed again by how much Claire Keegan says in a short story. I thought Foster seemed more completed than Small Things Like These, and it‘s made me reflect more on the life experiences of friends. 7/10

SamAnne Just picked this up from the library. 14mo
Ididsoidid Enjoy, I recommend the film An Cailin Ciuin (if you can find it) as well! 14mo
sisilia I agree. This is better than Small Things 13mo
10 likes3 comments
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Ididsoidid
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Mehso-so

Picked this up for the beautiful cover illustration alone. The story of Atile‘i, Taiwanese folklore and magical realism were a highlight in this ecological parable. Some of the characters (Detlef and Sara) seemed superfluous and distracting and I still don‘t understand the ending. I could have enjoyed it a lot more and I‘m not sure how much of this is down to clunky translation or the original text. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
Nausea | Jean-Paul Sartre
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Mehso-so

I gave up on this previously when I was at university as I felt I had grasped the existentialist concept and didn‘t need to read past the third of fourth bout of Roquetin‘s nausea. I definitely appreciated it more this time around and even found it quite humorous. Ultimately there isn‘t much plot and the characters are unlikable, but it is philosophically thought provoking. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
Swimming in the Dark | Tomasz Jedrowski
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Poignant and compelling, I read it in a day. There were a lot of references and parallels to Giovanni‘s Room so I am curious if it might be tedious for someone who hasn‘t read it first?

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Ididsoidid
A Game of Thrones | George R. R. Martin
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Mehso-so

Having watched the series, I decided to give Game of Thrones a try. In the end I think it‘s more successful as a tv show. The depth of world building is impressive but I found some of the writing quite silly when it came to some of the dramatic or more… passionate scenes. I was surprised such a well known book would still be so badly edited, as I noticed lots of typos and duplicated sentences. Probably won‘t be reading the rest of the series. 5/10

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Ididsoidid
The Virgin Suicides | Jeffrey Eugenides
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I didn‘t enjoy the last Eugenides novel I read but this was completely different. I understood it more as a book about the teenage boys and an introspective on the male gaze that it was about the Lisbon sisters. The writing was really evocative of a certain time and place. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
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Mehso-so

A horrifying subject and highly significant when it was written. For a short book, Heart of Darkness took a very long time for me to read as the prose and layers of allegory were quite challenging. I lack the context and knowledge to interpret all of it, but rather than dwelling on this novel to search for meaning I would prefer to invest the time in other books to better understand the history. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
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Evocative, intriguing, dark and really quite funny. I found the story of Janina investigating the strange deaths of her neighbours both fun and thought provoking. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
Small Things Like These | Claire Keegan
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A short book with a lot to say. It‘s impressive how atmospheric and sensitive Keegan can be with so few words. It was interesting to focus on a male character when the events are centred on the persecution of women. It did seem like the beginning of a longer book, and the sparse dialogue could have been parody at times. 7/10

5 likes1 stack add
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Ididsoidid
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A wild ride. It‘s not very often that a cast of so many awful characters is so enjoyable. A satire of schemes and ulterior motives as each character attempts to wield a horrible accident to their own advantage, but the joke is on them. 8/10

BarbaraBB Such a great read!! 1y
5 likes1 comment
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Ididsoidid
Cain | Jos Saramago
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Mehso-so

What if we have been mistaken and Cain was the good guy all along? A thought provoking theological premise, lots of interesting questions raised but it seemed the plot lost its way whilst wandering in the desert. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
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Perfect Halloween reading. Great writing ensures a sense of something sinister on its way, a constant building of ominous energy. The ending was unexpected but it wasn‘t the explosive conclusion I think it deserved. 7/10

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Ididsoidid
Giovanni's Room | James Baldwin
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A short story brilliantly narrated. David‘s efforts to escape both the morality of his American upbringing and his own contradictory desires play out in the small and suffocating atmosphere of Giovanni‘s room. 9/10

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Ididsoidid
Summer Book (Revised) | Tove Jansson (Intro by Esther Freud)
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Mehso-so

With summer ending I thought it might be time to try this, the adventures of Sophia and her grandmother as they spend one or many summers secluded on an island. Sometimes sweet, sometimes melancholy, something in the timelessness or detachment from society gave me sense of foreboding that I can‘t quite decipher. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
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A fun holiday read filled with self deprecating Irish humor. 7/10

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Ididsoidid
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A brilliant spy thriller which constantly had me second guessing who was double crossing whom. Leamas is sent on one last assignment in the shadow of the recently constructed Berlin Wall that leaves him questioning the politics and morality of both sides. A great book cover as well. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
Shalimar the Clown | Salman Rushdie
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A novel about love and revenge where characters traverse Kashmir, Europe and California. Their lives parallel the history and politics of the nations involved, and each new event adds to the depth and richness of their narrative. A few too many tangents but some of these were also the most enjoyable parts of the book. 7/10 Sad to hear of the attack on Rushdie and I hope his condition improves.

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Ididsoidid
On the Road | Jack Kerouac
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Mehso-so

Perhaps an insight into a specific subculture in America, but to me it was a lifestyle less shocking, less radical, less cool, and less profound than Kerouac obviously thought it was. For a tale full of fast cars, sex, drugs and alcohol it was quite boring and repetitive. 4/10

Pip2 I am 202 pages in and am beginning to agree with your review. 11mo
9 likes1 comment
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Ididsoidid
Kitchen | Banana Yoshimoto
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Mehso-so

A short novel and companion novella about coming to terms with a bereavement. Melancholy, but infused with cheerful moments and ultimately hopeful. The clipped sentences and structure can be a bit disorientating as the plot and context switches very abruptly, I‘m not sure if it‘s an intentional style or a result of translation. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
The Little Prince | Antoine de Saint-Exupry
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A lovely short story to help provide some perspective during gloomy winter days. 7/10

“Les gens ont des étoiles qui ne sont pas les mêmes”

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Ididsoidid
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Evocative and fast-paced, the story is told like a film with the narrative cut between scenes and characters. Fun to read and showed me a different perspective of familiar locations across North London. 7/10

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Ididsoidid
Foe | J. M. Coetzee
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Written in parts, first Coetzee uses Susan Barton to provide a new perspective on the tale of Robinson Crusoe‘s island. Through her, in parts 2 & 3 I really enjoyed how the narrative contorted and led me to question the process of writing itself, and issues regarding voice, race and gender power imbalances, and also the concept of truth in storytelling. I got lost in the final (very short) part but not to the detriment of the whole. 8/10

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Ididsoidid
The Bluest Eye | Toni Morrison
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On the surface, a story of a little black girl who wishes for the epitome of white beauty standards: blue eyes. I found it really thought provoking, a lesson in intergenerational trauma and betrayals, and revealing of the subtle, implicit biases in society and in myself. I loved the writing. Powerful and painful. 9/10

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Ididsoidid
The Cat and the City | Nick Bradley
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Panpan

As compilation of short stories on life in Tokyo, I enjoyed the concluding reflection that a city consists of millions of people intertwined but looking inward on their own little story. Unfortunately I wasn‘t a fan of the book, the tone of the writing felt patronising and a bit disturbing at times. The cat also seemed somewhat superfluous, more of a marketing ploy than part of the narrative. Just not for me. 3/10

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Ididsoidid
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A very unique and original story, with incredibly rich descriptions. Really well written, there were moments where I thought the choice of words was clumsy but I‘ve put that down to the translation. Even though it gathers pace I found myself a bit impatient towards the end, I suspect the movie spoilt it for me! 7/10

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Ididsoidid
Day of the Triffids | John Wyndham
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Mehso-so

Somewhat sentient, carnivorous plants, an extraterrestrial disaster striking most of the world blind and a fatal plague convene to wreck havoc on suburban Britain. The fallout prompts a philosophical debate over how to rebuild society. Considering Wyndham had a free hand, the reasoning and conclusions felt very contrived and unfounded. The sci-fi and fight for survival were compelling but the politics let it down for me. 6/10

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Ididsoidid
A General Theory of Oblivion | Jos Eduardo Agualusa
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Mehso-so

Locking herself away for 30 years, Ludo evades an incredibly tumultuous period in Angola‘s recent history. The writing is very compelling and cinematic, I found it really hard to put down. Some elements of the story frustrated me but I enjoyed the journey across Angola and was left wanting to learn more. 7/10

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Ididsoidid
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A really delicate and considered novel about Tom Birkin, returned from the horrors of the front, as he simultaneously restores an unusual medieval fresco in a rural English church and his own fragile psyche. It reminded me of Steinbeck in style but with more humour. Beautiful. 7/10

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Ididsoidid
Elefant | Martin Suter
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Mehso-so

Schoch unwittingly embarks on a life changing adventure as he tries to save a tiny pink elephant from life as a lab subject and circus performer. I liked how the various strands slowly tie together and the writing seems well researched but was perhaps a little dry for it. Not as humorous or sentimental as I expected and the moral issues raised only superficially. Nonetheless a refreshing alternative to typical crime thrillers (+ elephants!) 6/10