Daniel’s review of The Box: A Novel > Likes and Comments
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Excellent review Daniel, sounds quite unique!
It is unique and a very challenging read, Maureen. I haven’t encountered many books like it.
Wonderful review, Daniel. I am glad you’ve found the experience of reading this enriching in spite of the challenge. I feel the same: it is a unique piece of contemporary literature that does not afraid to push the boundaries properly. I liked this daring experimental feeling. Also I agree to create any reader’s interpretation one might need it more than once. Certainly it is valid in my case:-). It is unfair comparison, but this is the type of literary “incoherence” I enjoy the most. Thanks again for your great review.
I had meant to mention in my review that I am indebted to you for guiding me to this book,Katia. It is indeed a challenging undertaking because the text is filled with so many levels of meaning. My comment in my last paragraph about turning dissonance into melody captures my reading experience. I was immersed in listening to voices….both the narrators voices and those of the people they were talking about. Eventually I found a rhythm in their tones.
Loved reading your thoughts on this! The idea of language as texture and dissonance turning into melody really caught my attention.
The novel is a very challenging read, Taufiq. It is a puzzle with layers of ideas told in different narrative voices. Nice hearing from you.
The rhythm and musicality of this text is a brilliant observation, Daniel. Also the voices: it is so difficult to create even one distinctive voice. Someone said Virginia Woolf has managed 6 in “Waves” and it was a stunning achievement. But this author as well I think is very good at it. Also the atmosphere of the parts is quite distinctive in spite of it being set in a single location so to speak. On the top of it I personally was impressed how she describes the art, especially the installation in the third part (or was it the second?). I was seeing the artwork in my mental eye so clearly. I wonder was it created in her mental eye or she has seen it for real somewhere. In any case it was amazing. But why this book came to mind in comparison with Audition is because how she makes very abrupt, unexpected moves between the parts that throws the reader out of the text without giving him the opportunity to settle. I thought Audition did it in the middle of the book as well. But I find here it is done more so successfully. And yes, the mystery of the box:-). I guess I need to read it once more to figure out was it important or not what was in it:-)
Relating to rhythm, tone and music is the only way I could begin to synthesize the novel, Katia.The first time I really focused on this idea of musicality and rhythm was when I saw August Wilson’s play SEVEN GUITARS.The “ guitars” were seven people who were eulogizing a dead musician right after his funeral. Wong takes this idea much further with this disparate group who are clearly( as she notes) on society’s margins.Tone and inflection are different in each section and concentrating on that aspect helped me gain a focus. Each part is atmospheric in its own way because the circumstances of each narrator is so different. I found it fascinating to decipher the circumstances of the narrator and then filter in the information the narrator was relaying from second and third hand sources.It is quite a complex creation.The art appeared in section two.I thought sections one and two were particularly brilliant…Also,I really did think that the box was a macguffin in the way Hitchcock and Truffaut discussed in their book.However, I Lao thought that the box,in conjunction with the never ending snow was a metaphor for the ways our minds entrap us. As regards Audition: I thought that Audition was a more polished or slick piece of writing.This novel( THE BOX) was a much braver novel.
What a challenging book to read! I admire your ability to transcend the need to be enthralled with a fast-paced narrative to having immerse oneself and really reflect and feel before you can go on to the next page.... otherwise, all the nuances you highlight would be lost.
Hi Jsiva! This was one of the more unique and challenging books I have read recently. I seem to be attracted to books that experiment with language and cadence in some form.
Daniel! Wonderful review! Keep experimenting....and writing amazing critiques!
I had a hard time figuring out to write about this book, Fran.
Great review! Glad someone is reading these kinds of books!
I try to mix it up, Tara. I am happily reading Elizabeth George’s latest Lynley book😀
Daniel wrote: "I try to mix it up, Tara. I am happily reading Elizabeth George’s latest Lynley book😀"
Yes, you do, why I enjoy your reviews!
Daniel, this sounds like a rather complex and challenging book to read, but you've written a lucid review that gave me a sense of the mystery surrounding the peripatetic box and the eclectic nature of the 'Englishes' unique to each narrator.
Very well articulated Laysee. The framework you just described expands into a maze of thought and possibilities.
Your enthusiasm for the puzzles in this text is great to read about, Daniel
It is quite an interesting book, Fionnuala. Our GR friend Katia recommended it as a follow up to as spirited discussion of Kitamura’s Audition.
The "box" has always held a certain allure, hasn't it? Perhaps starting with Pandora's?
Daniel, I'd love to know more about your reading process. Your picks are really varied and inspiring. Do you ever do reading projects? Are you primarily a mood reader?
No projects,mJulie. Just moods and whims.This one was a recommendation arising from a discussion of Audition by Katie Kitamura.
"Moods and whims!" There's the title of your memoir, Daniel.
That title covers a lot of ground, Julie😃
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Maureen
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Sep 30, 2025 06:29AM
Excellent review Daniel, sounds quite unique!
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It is unique and a very challenging read, Maureen. I haven’t encountered many books like it.
Wonderful review, Daniel. I am glad you’ve found the experience of reading this enriching in spite of the challenge. I feel the same: it is a unique piece of contemporary literature that does not afraid to push the boundaries properly. I liked this daring experimental feeling. Also I agree to create any reader’s interpretation one might need it more than once. Certainly it is valid in my case:-). It is unfair comparison, but this is the type of literary “incoherence” I enjoy the most. Thanks again for your great review.
I had meant to mention in my review that I am indebted to you for guiding me to this book,Katia. It is indeed a challenging undertaking because the text is filled with so many levels of meaning. My comment in my last paragraph about turning dissonance into melody captures my reading experience. I was immersed in listening to voices….both the narrators voices and those of the people they were talking about. Eventually I found a rhythm in their tones.
Loved reading your thoughts on this! The idea of language as texture and dissonance turning into melody really caught my attention.
The novel is a very challenging read, Taufiq. It is a puzzle with layers of ideas told in different narrative voices. Nice hearing from you.
The rhythm and musicality of this text is a brilliant observation, Daniel. Also the voices: it is so difficult to create even one distinctive voice. Someone said Virginia Woolf has managed 6 in “Waves” and it was a stunning achievement. But this author as well I think is very good at it. Also the atmosphere of the parts is quite distinctive in spite of it being set in a single location so to speak. On the top of it I personally was impressed how she describes the art, especially the installation in the third part (or was it the second?). I was seeing the artwork in my mental eye so clearly. I wonder was it created in her mental eye or she has seen it for real somewhere. In any case it was amazing. But why this book came to mind in comparison with Audition is because how she makes very abrupt, unexpected moves between the parts that throws the reader out of the text without giving him the opportunity to settle. I thought Audition did it in the middle of the book as well. But I find here it is done more so successfully. And yes, the mystery of the box:-). I guess I need to read it once more to figure out was it important or not what was in it:-)
Relating to rhythm, tone and music is the only way I could begin to synthesize the novel, Katia.The first time I really focused on this idea of musicality and rhythm was when I saw August Wilson’s play SEVEN GUITARS.The “ guitars” were seven people who were eulogizing a dead musician right after his funeral. Wong takes this idea much further with this disparate group who are clearly( as she notes) on society’s margins.Tone and inflection are different in each section and concentrating on that aspect helped me gain a focus. Each part is atmospheric in its own way because the circumstances of each narrator is so different. I found it fascinating to decipher the circumstances of the narrator and then filter in the information the narrator was relaying from second and third hand sources.It is quite a complex creation.The art appeared in section two.I thought sections one and two were particularly brilliant…Also,I really did think that the box was a macguffin in the way Hitchcock and Truffaut discussed in their book.However, I Lao thought that the box,in conjunction with the never ending snow was a metaphor for the ways our minds entrap us. As regards Audition: I thought that Audition was a more polished or slick piece of writing.This novel( THE BOX) was a much braver novel.
What a challenging book to read! I admire your ability to transcend the need to be enthralled with a fast-paced narrative to having immerse oneself and really reflect and feel before you can go on to the next page.... otherwise, all the nuances you highlight would be lost.
Hi Jsiva! This was one of the more unique and challenging books I have read recently. I seem to be attracted to books that experiment with language and cadence in some form.
Daniel! Wonderful review! Keep experimenting....and writing amazing critiques!
I had a hard time figuring out to write about this book, Fran.
Great review! Glad someone is reading these kinds of books!
I try to mix it up, Tara. I am happily reading Elizabeth George’s latest Lynley book😀
Daniel wrote: "I try to mix it up, Tara. I am happily reading Elizabeth George’s latest Lynley book😀"Yes, you do, why I enjoy your reviews!
Daniel, this sounds like a rather complex and challenging book to read, but you've written a lucid review that gave me a sense of the mystery surrounding the peripatetic box and the eclectic nature of the 'Englishes' unique to each narrator.
Very well articulated Laysee. The framework you just described expands into a maze of thought and possibilities.
Your enthusiasm for the puzzles in this text is great to read about, Daniel
It is quite an interesting book, Fionnuala. Our GR friend Katia recommended it as a follow up to as spirited discussion of Kitamura’s Audition.
The "box" has always held a certain allure, hasn't it? Perhaps starting with Pandora's?Daniel, I'd love to know more about your reading process. Your picks are really varied and inspiring. Do you ever do reading projects? Are you primarily a mood reader?
No projects,mJulie. Just moods and whims.This one was a recommendation arising from a discussion of Audition by Katie Kitamura.
"Moods and whims!" There's the title of your memoir, Daniel.
That title covers a lot of ground, Julie😃
