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<book id="2753476">
  <title><![CDATA[Une affaire personnelle]]></title>
  <isbn><![CDATA[2234048664]]></isbn>
  <isbn13><![CDATA[9782234048669]]></isbn13>
      <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
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  <original_publication_year type="integer">1969</original_publication_year>
  <original_title>A Personal Matter</original_title>
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  <average_rating><![CDATA[3.98]]></average_rating>
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  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2753476.Une_affaire_personnelle]]></url>
  <authors>
        <author id="14162">
      <name><![CDATA[Kenzaburo Oë]]></name>
      <role><![CDATA[]]></role>
      <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14162.Kenzaburo_O_]]></url>
      <average_rating><![CDATA[3.87]]></average_rating>
      <ratings_count><![CDATA[2368]]></ratings_count>
      <text_reviews_count><![CDATA[275]]></text_reviews_count>
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    <review id="9343507">
    <user id="416390">
    <name><![CDATA[Paul]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Nottingham, The United Kingdom]]></location>        
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">1567088</id>
  <isbn>0330344358</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780330344357</isbn13>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">11</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Nov 20 01:33:39 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Nov 24 14:25:40 -0800 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[People love this damn book but I wanted to climb inside the pages and tip our hero into a cement mixer so he could become part of the foundations of the new Tokyo and therefore perform the only useful act in his miserable life. Fantasy : Bird (the main guy here) meets Holden Caulfield and Kurt Cobai...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9343507">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9343507]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="28733719">
    <user id="1349290">
    <name><![CDATA[Anna]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Rockville, MD]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1349290-anna]]></url>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
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</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Shavit B.]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jul 30 07:46:11 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jul 31 15:07:06 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I think one reason I love this book so much is because I really detested it when I started reading it.  Like, I really really hated the main character.  The book starts off with this 20-something college professor named Bird, who is wandering the streets after drinking in a bar.  His wife is in the ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28733719">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28733719]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="15692941">
    <user id="810875">
    <name><![CDATA[Keith]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Moorhead, MN]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/810875-keith]]></url>
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  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>3</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[serious readers]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Feb 18 09:05:25 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Feb 18 09:24:05 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I had never read Oe, although I was aware that he had won the Nobel Prize.  The blurbs on the cover report that this is his most popular book, published around the time I graduated from college in the late sixties.  I didn't know what to expect,  but was surprised to discover a Japanese existentiali...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15692941">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15692941]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="3653351">
    <user id="223993">
    <name><![CDATA[Anne]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Oakland, CA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/223993-anne]]></url>
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    <book>
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  <isbn13>9780802150615</isbn13>
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  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Jul 27 10:28:59 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Jul 27 10:28:59 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Kenzaburo Oe, a resident of Tokyo, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994. The father of a child with brain damage, A Personal Matter, appears somewhat autobiographical, as it tells the story of Bird, a man whose wife has just given birth to a baby with a severe brain injury. The novel, ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3653351">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3653351]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="45361667">
    <user id="1185590">
    <name><![CDATA[Mike]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Philadelphia, PA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1185590-mike]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1228067841p3/1185590.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
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  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
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  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Feb 04 10:15:45 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Feb 04 10:31:11 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Amazingly tight existentialist story about moral choices. Really my only complaint has to do with the last 3-4 pages, and it's hard to talk about those pages in any specific detail without giving away the book's ending. I was totally on board up to and including the moment in which Bird makes his ch...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45361667">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45361667]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="5380568">
    <user id="253073">
    <name><![CDATA[Alex]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Chicago, IL]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/253073-alex]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-111x148.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">25191</id>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Aug 30 15:12:56 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Sep 11 19:47:28 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I know that it seems pretty cheesey but this book is very personal.  The author does an excellent job of getting the reader to feel the complexities that the main character has to face and really feel for the decisions that the main character makes. I kept wondering with great angst why the main cha...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5380568">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5380568]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="78851861">
    <user id="1073899">
    <name><![CDATA[Sophie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Kunming, China]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1073899-sophie]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1209261576p3/1073899.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
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  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Nov 24 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Nov 24 09:24:10 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Nov 24 11:05:14 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[&quot;Because a youth who tries so hard to be faithful to the warp in himself that he ends up searching the street in drag for perverts, a young man like that must have eyes and ears and a heart exquisitely sensitive to the fear that roots in the backlands of the subconscious.&quot;<br/><br/>&quot;...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78851861">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78851861]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="56817669">
    <user id="2189610">
    <name><![CDATA[John]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Gainesville, FL]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2189610-john-story]]></url>
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    <book>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed May 20 20:59:59 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed May 20 21:00:13 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Financially, I felt cheated when I bought this. $3 is too much for a tattered, coffee-stained paperback, but I just decided to yield to the sharks that prey on college students, and unfolded a few bills. The topic alone assured me that it would be a good read, and I did want this book on my shelf as...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56817669">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56817669]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="2917392">
    <user id="165855">
    <name><![CDATA[Wendy]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Oakland, CA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/165855-wendy]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1183400480p3/165855.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">25191</id>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jul 10 15:11:52 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jul 10 15:13:11 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[On the one hand, I found this book often off-putting. On the other hand I found it to be fascinating.<br/><br/>To be very lazy and compare Oe to a different Japanese male novelist: I found Oe to be more interesting and more compelling than any of the Murakami I've read.]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2917392]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="78115861">
    <user id="1125599">
    <name><![CDATA[Nikki]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Louisville, KY]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1125599-nikki]]></url>
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    <book>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="2009" />
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Nov 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Nov 17 13:52:11 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Nov 25 16:25:44 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Nothing but admiration for its abrasive truth through hearty prose.  Oe's use of metaphor was perfection.  If this story is any indication of the style in the rest of his books, I greatly look forward to reading more.<br/><br/>The protagonist, Bird, is stripped of a typical reservedness to expose ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78115861">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78115861]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="57125923">
    <user id="2348494">
    <name><![CDATA[Synesthesia]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Abington, MA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2348494-synesthesia-gibson]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1243453390p3/2348494.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">25191</id>
  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780802150615</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sat May 23 23:37:18 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat May 23 23:40:21 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Yes, the main character is totally a wimp. I feel sorry for his wife, laying in the hospital not knowing what's going on.<br/>The main character, Bird is immature. He's trying to escape from his problems through having an affair and alcohol. I sympathize more for his baby lying in the hospital figh...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57125923">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57125923]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="76940096">
    <user id="1017623">
    <name><![CDATA[Andrew S ]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1017623-andrew-s-taylor]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-111x148.jpg]]></image>
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  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
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  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Nov 06 13:03:22 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Nov 06 13:11:14 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Powerful book but, like everything by Oe, sometimes emotionally difficult to read.  Oe does not shy away from the &quot;dark side&quot; of human nature.  Of course, as with any post-war literature from Japan, one must put it in the context of what the culture was going through at the time.  In 1964,...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76940096">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76940096]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="50564900">
    <user id="159749">
    <name><![CDATA[Elise]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[La Jolla, CA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/159749-elise]]></url>
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  <id type="integer">25191</id>
  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780802150615</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
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    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <read_at>Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Mar 26 18:06:52 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Mar 26 18:13:25 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I don't really give this book 2 stars. I give it &quot;?&quot; stars. I'm not sure whether I love it or I hate it, if it's postmodern, postwar brilliance or bullshit. The main character undergoes his character arc abruptly in the last several pages; not sure if that jives with me.<br/><br/>One thing...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50564900">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50564900]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="27861558">
    <user id="849135">
    <name><![CDATA[Julia]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/849135-julia]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1201627865p3/849135.jpg]]></image>
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  <id type="integer">25191</id>
  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780802150615</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
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    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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      </shelves>
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  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Nate Meltzer]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 21 10:31:44 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Aug 04 08:09:08 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This was about a young man whose wife has just given birth to a baby with a brain hernia, and how Bird - the father - reacts to this news in the opening days of his son's precarious life.  The experience brings him back to his college girlfriend, who provides him comfort in some disturbing (to me) w...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27861558">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27861558]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="21968405">
    <user id="185835">
    <name><![CDATA[Yulia]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/185835-yulia]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1247934049p3/185835.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">25191</id>
  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780802150615</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Jun 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri May 09 22:57:27 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jun 09 16:03:57 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Update:<br/>Ah, it's no use.  On others' encouragement, I took the book out again and I tried it and was just as repelled by the knotty writing and overworled imagery as before.  If it is a translation issue, I'll just have to wait for it to be redone.  And as for learning about the challenges of h...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21968405">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21968405]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="8849937">
    <user id="158678">
    <name><![CDATA[Lisa]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Los Angeles, CA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/158678-lisa]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1202524037p3/158678.jpg]]></image>
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  <id type="integer">25191</id>
  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780802150615</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
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    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Nov 08 14:00:28 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Nov 25 12:45:44 -0800 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[It's as though Oe has collected all the selfish, ratty, whiny, dirty, horrible traits of everyone you know and used these scrapings to create a protagonist. <br/><br/>It was unpleasant reading, partly because all of the awfulness was at least partly recognizable as my own awfulness. Does that make...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8849937">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8849937]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="44813148">
    <user id="600126">
    <name><![CDATA[Katherine]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Francisco, CA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/600126-katherine]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1226863029p3/600126.jpg]]></image>
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  <id type="integer">25191</id>
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  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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      </shelves>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jan 29 19:16:02 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Mar 01 21:31:47 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Don't recommend this book to anyone who needs to <em>like</em> the main character. It's hard to imagine anyone less likable than Bird - within hours of learning that his newborn son has a brain injury and will either die or grow up severely handicapped, he's getting smashed with his high-school-buddy-turned-...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44813148">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44813148]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="1327303">
    <user id="90786">
    <name><![CDATA[Lee]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Philadelphia, PA]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/90786-lee]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1179699395p3/90786.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">25191</id>
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  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sun May 20 15:26:17 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Oct 09 16:14:17 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[If you've never read this one and you're looking for a shortish novel that rocked hard enough to win the dude the Nobel Prize, something you can read before the weekend ends, something with serious existential, historical, and cultural HEFT, but also relatively easy reading, here ya go. I taught thi...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1327303">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1327303]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="24762280">
    <user id="375317">
    <name><![CDATA[Joshb]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/375317-joshb]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1192994873p3/375317.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">25191</id>
  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780802150615</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jun 17 20:15:08 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jun 17 20:20:18 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Very much recommended - partially so someone I know will read it and I'll have someone to discuss the ending with. I so badly want to give this five stars, and it's nigh-impossible to discuss why I wouldn't without ruining the whole book. So, I'll just say this:<br/><br/>1. What a potent/chilling ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24762280">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24762280]]></url>
</review>
    <review id="9618528">
    <user id="590870">
    <name><![CDATA[Judith]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/590870-judith]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">25191</id>
  <isbn>0802150616</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780802150615</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">786</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">98</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Personal Matter</title>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167621616m/25191.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25191.A_Personal_Matter</link>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Nov 27 14:50:32 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Nov 27 15:09:16 -0800 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Right after I read Plum Wine, I read this book for my next book club meeting. The narrative takes place in the same era, mid-1960s Japan, this time in Tokyo.  <br/><br/>It is a coming-of-age story, although the protagonist is in his late 20s when the book begins.  Nicknamed Bird, he is an instructor...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9618528">more...</a>]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9618528]]></url>
</review>
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