MOON MOON

This book is lucky it has a really beautiful cover otherwise I wouldn't have shown interest on it. I'm confused about why exactly people find this good. I'm not saying it's horrible either but it's a 3-star book at most. Did I read this too fast? Did I miss some nuances in my desire to finish it in one day? I do admit I sped through the last playground scene. It was a bit much with little to no merit to it. If it did have something to say, I see that there is no way I could have agreed with it.

Is this book supposed to be poignant? Am I supposed to relate to any of these character's world view? If there is any character whose viewpoints I could sympathize with, it would be the main character. I felt happy that he took steps to fix what he wanted to be fixed. I can't accuse him of cowardice for not standing up to his bullies all this time. It was brave of him to confront Momose, unlike Kojima whose entire philosophy seemed to be to just bear every bullshit life throws at you. I'm sorry but I know a lot of words were wasted on her trying to explain herself but in the end, I still don't understand her. Maybe it's because I live in a country where everyone is constantly self-flagellating as a way to appease their Christian guilt that I just find anything that even remotely smells of self-pity and forbearance for forbearance's sake mildly disgusting. What was her point anyway? That it's okay to suffer because her suffering has meaning? On the other side of the spectrum we have nihilistic Momose who thinks suffering has no meaning so whether you suffer or not doesn't matter. He reminds me of Camus' Meursault. I am inclined to agree that life is meaningless but to deliberately ignore the suffering that your actions bring just because life is meaningless? I feel like anything I say to counter that would just be falling right into Momose's trap. He would hit me with a "Gotcha! That's exactly why being an asshole is permissible!" What a horrid and very interesting character.

I guess over all I'm just confused about what the book is trying to say and who it is talking to. The ending certainly seemed very hopeful which I appreciate but it was overpowered by the pervasive nihilism throughout the book. I'm obviously not saying that only happy and positive books can be considered good but the message here is a bit murky. I'm trying to read reviews for it but my toxic trait is that I only want to read negative reviews of things I don't like so that I can feel validated about my opinion and so far, people seem to really love this book. Maybe it's time to see what others have to say, even the positive ones. Maybe I AM missing something. I'll update you if I change my opinion. Or not. Who gives a shit, right, Momose?

EDIT: I just read an amazing review that really pushed the scales out of my eyes. I didn't even know a "novel of ideas" was a thing! So that's what books like these are called. This is why you always refer to people who are smarter than you before spouting bullshit. Anyway, I change my mind. This book isn't bad. It's not supposed to have a 'message' because it's exploring Nietzschean ideas. I am genuinely amazed! I should read book reviews more.