Exit A
by Anthony Swofford
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 58)
Read in April, 2007
i like anything (books, movies, tv shows) that is set in japan, deals with the idiosyncracies of japanese culture, and basically reminds me of all the times i've been there. like lost in translation, exit a evoked memories of the crowded subways, the black suits of the business men, the bicycles of the housewife, the mom and pop shops that dot the rushed, neon illuminated, mad house that is tokyo. the story, about a straight laced football star who gets sucked in by a rebellious general's daug...more
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Read in October, 2007
Sweet Jesus this book was terrible. I'd say the dialogue was stilted but that's not fair to the word stilted.
I have a masochistic streak so I made it all the way to the end. The ending was good news/bad news kind of thing. The good news was that the book was over and I was free of it. The bad news was that the ending was executed as clumsily as the rest of it. A major character undergoes a change of heart that comes out of nowhere. It was almost as if Swofford's editor told him "You ...more
I have a masochistic streak so I made it all the way to the end. The ending was good news/bad news kind of thing. The good news was that the book was over and I was free of it. The bad news was that the ending was executed as clumsily as the rest of it. A major character undergoes a change of heart that comes out of nowhere. It was almost as if Swofford's editor told him "You ...more
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Read in January, 2008
I only got a few dozen pages into this book before I put it down in favor of something else in the latest haul from my LPL. I found the writing, voice, and characters to be identical to 'Jarhead,' - overwrought, two dimensional, and unbelievable. As one of the first memoirs to come out of the first Gulf War, it was easier to overlook these annoying traits in Jarhead. Much harder to do in this one.
I've rotated it to the bottom of the pile and I'll give it another shot in a few weeks.
I've rotated it to the bottom of the pile and I'll give it another shot in a few weeks.
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Having mostly enjoyed Swofford's first book, the hugely successful Gulf War memoir Jarhead, I was curious to see what his fiction would be like. This somewhat uneven debut is written in much the same style prose, and does an equally good job taking the reader into a world they probably don't know firsthand. For full review, see http://www.amazon.com/review/R...
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Read in January, 2007
"...a stilted read, awkward and inconsistent. And while its title may allude to station signage at Haijima, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and other Japanese rail stations, the same universality is not present in the narratives it contains."
-- from Metro Pulse www.metropulse.com, March 1, 2007
-- from Metro Pulse www.metropulse.com, March 1, 2007
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I got this because it was based in Japan. Okay characters that you could sympathise with and the story isn't too too bad but I think the balance between the past and the present isn't done very well at all. Really easy read (I read it in 4.5 hours sitting on the Country Link.)
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Read in January, 2008
If you'd like to experience this book, but you don't want to spend the hours it takes to read the 287 excruciating pages, you could simply stick a fork in your retina and get the same effect. That said, Jarhead is great. Read that instead.
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i got around to reading jarhead a year ago, got pulled in, saw maybe half the movie a few months ago, didn't get so pulled in.
the review is sketchy, but i'll probably end up reading this one.
the review is sketchy, but i'll probably end up reading this one.
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Read in July, 2007
I like this book, even though it was somewhat uneven. One thing I appreciated was that the author was very specific in what year things were happening. I like this in books.
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Read in March, 2008
I liked it, the first half of the book (teenager-hood) was more interesting to me, but I plowed through adulthood to the (kinda abrupt) end, and it was worth it...
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A cucumber sandwhich with a little crushed pepper on top. Light, easy-reading with a few punches but essentially little real substance.
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Read in March, 2008
Decent novel but the ending was predictable and quite cheesy. I imagine the book easily turned into a Hollywood production.
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Read in January, 2008
interesting book but slow in the beginning and predictable in the end... still a decent read...
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