Book Review: Number 9 Dream

Book: Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell

I am not sure what made this book grab my attention. It was probably the cover (which was a mess of things I didn't understand) and the blurb at the back. It was set in Tokyo, about a 20 year old guy searching for his father. Seems pretty normal so far ... yet it was written by a Westerner who stayed in Japan for a long-ish time. Hmm. Pretty interesting.

Then, I read the first few pages. It was a good writing style, and the book felt good in my hands, so I bought it.

Do I regret this impulse buy? Yes and no.

As a whole it was interesting. the plot kept moving on to the next item. However, there were some items that I thought was pretty useless. (there was a little story within a story that didn't seem to have much relation with the real story ... and that little story was REALLY dull to me) However, despite some boring spots, SOMETHING made me keep turning the pages. Something most books seem to lack nowadays. You just end up wanting to know whether THIS TIME Eiji (the main character) would really find his dad.

There were some action-type stuff, yet there was still this very nice countryside/seaside scenes that fulfilled all my action/sentimental needs.

There wasn't much character development, although we see very interesting stories (about other characters) in the book.

the flow was pretty good, until you get to the end ... (no spoilers here) .. it just falls on its face for me.

When I got to the end ... it was like ... I'm not sure. It was so detached and stupid.

The last chapter was pretty silly too.

All in all, pretty disappointing. However, the first 4/5 of the book was mostly good.

Overall, I give it a score of:
Plot: 4.5/5 (pretty good, except for the dive at the end)
Characters: 3/5 (main character was a bit lame, but the side characters were ok)
Narration: 4/5

TOTAL: 11.5/15

Good book that keeps you guessing and turning the pages. Not in the bottom of the pile, but nowhere near the top. (upper middle-ish)

It honestly had a lot of potential. But I felt that the author lost his plot/characters in the middle and just kept writing to have some sort of conclusion.