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I really did not understand what the author was trying to do with this book. I understand that Gilbert travels to Japan on a whim and decides to follow in the steps of Basho. In Tokyo, he meets a young man following a book on places suitable for suicide. At each spot in their travels, the reality doesn‘t fit the splendor described in the books. No suitable spot for suicide is found. The majesty of Basho‘s Japan no longer exists. Otherwise, 🤷🏻‍♀️

Next up from #mbi2019 #manbookerinternational2019 - I adored the other book I read by this writer so I‘ve got high hopes! Probably my favourite cover of the bunch too.

#mbi2019 #manbookerinternational2019

Hard to review - beautifully written, completely original and I adored the experimental but intuitive structure (I think this will divide opinion but I loved it). My only issue is that I don‘t know if I can really root for a book that disturbed and depressed me this much. I think I can, which is why I went with ‘pick‘ but this was one of the emotionally hardest books I‘ve ever read.

#manbookerinternational2019 #hoopla This was a short, sweet novel about a small group of soldiers in the Russian Civil War. This isn‘t a war novel, though. It‘s about the friendship between the four young men of the title, how their friendship grows, and how it quickly falls apart in the face of war. The writing is spare and direct to the point of feeling choppy. It is also, unfortunately, spare of details of time and place. Overall 3.5⭐️ #mbi2019

On to my next #mbi2019 #manbookerinternational2019 book! This is great so far, but I‘m having a bit of a hard time reading at my usual pace atm. The political situation in the UK is really messing with me and even tho I‘m doing better than I have in years just personally with my mental health, every time I get reminded what country I live in I just feel awful and exhausted. :/

The first #mbi2019 #manbookerinternational2019 book to blow me away! I could happily see it make the short list and win. I wasn‘t always completely sure what was happening, but the language and characters meant I didn‘t completely care. It was trippy, fairytale-ish and absurdist and I could have read it for double the length. Comparing this to the shape of the ruins, I think I prefer my political novels as dreamy and bizarre as possible.

While I liked the taut, evocative writing and the gorgeous cover, the stories themselves often felt empty to me. These stories are absurd and sometimes horrific, but horror and absurdity alone are not enough for me. There are some really great stories here, but not enough to make up for the more so-so ones. 3⭐️ #manbookerinternational2019 #mbi2019

I‘m at around 5.5 hours for #24b4monday and just starting on my next #manbookerinternational2019 pick! The writing style is amazing so far I‘m so excited.

It‘s a Friday, it feels like spring and I‘m just waiting for my bf at the cinema to see Us which I‘m very excited for. Good evening!

It‘s too many damn pages for any man to understand!

I just couldn‘t get on with this one. I feel like a philistine but the politics was impenetrable and the characters didn‘t feel real enough to bear the weight of it. I spent most of it thinking about how much longer there was to go. #manbookerinternational2019

Few pages of my next #manbookerinternational2019 pick before I go to sleep. This one is Colombian. It looks very unusual, drawing two different political crimes together in a series of investigations, and I‘m a bit confused about how it will fit together as a novel. I‘m hoping to find it surprising and original but it might just be odd. I have to go in optimistically tho!