I debated with myself over giving this book two or three stars. When it gets right down to it I don’t think this is a bad book, it’s actually a really neat book with an interesting, if not slightly bizarre, story line. I just didn’t like it all that much, it was only “ok”. I was told this book made a person completely change the way they look at gender, life, and love. It didn’t do that for me.
If you are at all interested in reading this book, it is not a difficult or long read. It may be worth reading just to satisfy your curiosity.

*sucks air through teeth*

Oooh. Hmm. This is a tough one. This book took me an uncharacteristically long time to read. Not because it was difficult, but because it didn't really hook me at any point. Then I blasted through the last 100 pages when it went from a plodding tale to a roller coaster ride because it was heaven and then hell and allmovingsoquickly. Then the brakes were slammed and it was all over. I felt like I had missed something. Did I miss something?

I don't suppose stories have to have a tidy ending, but what was the purpose of the gender switching other than being an interesting element? Why did the character become male again immediately after being brutalized as a female? Was that supposed to be deep? Why did the main character meet the girl in the cemetery and then just sort of settle? Did they literally become one in the end? Am I being too literal? I'm trying to figure out some of the symbolism here but I can't quite find it.

There were parts I enjoyed and parts I didn't. I liked the fluidity of the character's gender change mentally and emotionally. I found the story itself a bit cumbersome. Overall, for me, it was just ok.

Probably the saddest ending of a book I have ever read. Sort of felt like the entire book was a set up to shove you off the cliff that was the end. Nevertheless, still a pretty captivating read. I probably marked down the most quotes from this book than any other I've read recently, but to me the story didn't necessarily match the beauty of the prose. Probably my least favorite Martel book, but that's not really saying much, considering they are all wonderful.

Self is an exercise in self-indulgence. While I appreciated the intersections of gender and language, I found the narrator pretentious and insufferable. The novel has interesting meta-narrative through-lines. (For instance–how much of this story is biographical allusions to Martel's own sense of self?How does the narration and plot evolve when you grasp the many languages presented in parallel throughout the text?) But it's hard to overcome a sense of antagonism toward your protagonist.

The story is rich with metaphor, applied in fresh ways. It's distinctly Canadian in setting and worldview. Perhaps my trouble with this novel will settle over time, and my appreciation will flourish.

But–for a little while, at least–I need a break from the introspection.

As is to be expected with Yann Martel, this book left me with a great feeling of "I was not expecting that".

==========

How I feel about Zagreb:
"Roetown, of mixed economy, neither boom nor bust, just ordinary times — that is, hard — had a slightly run-down aspect, I suppose. But in a pleasing way, like a man you love who has buttoned his coat up wrong."

==========

"Politics is not for the tortured at heart. Once you’re tortured, you’re no longer good at it, you’re on your way out. The responsible exercise of power requires a dull-headed certainty about things, a limited linear quality called “vision”. To knock on strangers’ doors and canvass, to stand up and make partisan speeches, to set priorities and make decisions — in short, to peddle conviction in a daily way — you need vision. I had, have, none."

==========

Master Thesis Anxiety:
"But I couldn’t. As soon as I got close to starting anything, I was beset by questions and hesitations. What I was about to do was so important, so significant, that it always required further consideration. My spontaneity would fizzle. I would put off my oeuvre another day. Tomorrow at eight-thirty I would start, for sure. Meanwhile, in joyful anticipation of this, I would go for a walk and then read."

==========

"Busy as we were with the illusory concerns of our student lives"

==========

Clever idea, but crossed too many boundaries and became too weird for me.

A strange book that I am not sure if I liked or not. I think this is Martell emerging as the writer who created Life of Pi, but he is nowhere near his later standard with this novel. Self is incredibly self-indulgent (perhaps purposefully, given the title). At times it works well and it makes some valuable reflections of life and existential dillemas, other times it comes across as completely contrived and hollow.
I found the frequency of sex scenes distracting from the story, not least of all because of their intricate, detailed descriptions, as with the frequent discussion of menstruation. I don't even know where to begin commenting on the spontaneous gender shift of the central character. Again something I think of more as a contrivance than serving any real purpose in an otherwise thoughtful novel.

Jedyne co tu było ciekawe to ostatnie 50stron ale sam zamysł ksiazki jest dziwny i jakoś źle zrobiony.

The author seems sure of himself, perhaps a little too sure for a first book. The novelty of a narrator changing sex from male to female, then being raped, and returning to a male felt pompous and really cringy. So cringy that in my opinion, I don't think that Yann would have had the same career trajectory had this book been released in 2017. I guess I never will read "Life Pi", after all.

Liked this and studied it with my book reading club. Very talented man and was able to make the gender transitions complete with out a false note.

Two stars for the language. I am yet to read a more confusing or confused book.
Hard to believe the same person wrote Life of Pi.
Not sure I even want to understand this book or what the author is getting at. Seems apt for present woke times we live in. Astounding it was 1st published in 96!
Is the narrator a male or a female? Male turned female and then male again?
Was so confused that after the first 100 pages read some of the reviews here. I'm not the only one who thought this book is a crazy one.
Those who claim to get the author and what he's trying to get at, kudos!
My head is spinning like top and I just want to forget I read this crap. Towards the end the book gets pornographic, too.
Definitely not keeping this in my library.

Yann Martel stands as my favourite writer when it comes to voice, and with Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood as the greatest living Canadian writer.

That said, if you're like me and came to this book AFTER Pi, and even after Beatrice and Virgil, be prepared. It is a haunting text, stunningly well-written as usual, but it is incredibly explicit. I am not much one for squirming, but if you're not in the mood for pages of sexual description, or for the awakening of male and female forms to puberty--and all it entails--it is a hard read at times. But, there is a purpose, and as with every other thing I have read by this modern genius, it all adds up in the end. Challenge yourself and stick it out.