The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa
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Book Reviews of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Book Review: Fast and entertaining, but nothing new if you've seen the anime...
Summary: 4 Stars
The original novel version of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a fast-paced, entertaining read. The translation is very well done, and reads smooth and naturally.
Without delving too deeply into the plot, the story is told from the point of view of Kyon, a freshman boy entering high school. He meets an odd girl, Haruhi Suzumiya, who isn't interested in "normal" humans. Soon, he's drawn into her web of weird pursuits... against his will. But he soon discovers that his rational view of the world may not be as accurate as he once believed; and the cause of this abnormality may be closer than he thinks.
The anime adaptation of this book sticks extremely close to the original text. In fact, most of the dialogue, both inner monologue and spoken, is taken word for word from the book! If you've seen the anime, it is unlikely that you will learn anything new. There are a few new lines of dialogue here and there, but otherwise, its kind of like reading the script to the show. This book covers the first six chronological episodes of the anime.
Personally, I actually prefer the anime a little bit. The illustrations in the book are weak compared to the show, and seeing the scenes play out in motion is bit more satisfying. That said, the book is enjoyable, and if you prefer reading to watching, or are just curious to see Haruhi's story in its original format, then I do recommend it. Here's hoping the rest of series is released soon!
On side note, the hardcover edition is light, sturdy, and attractive. Perfect for a collector, and I'm glad I chose it.
Book Review: Starts out good
Summary: 4 Stars
I used to watch the anime that was inspired by the book. The anime was very hyper and energetic, so I decided to take a try. I'm glad that I did because I loved this book so much.
Despite being the title character, Haruhi is not the character who is narrating the novels, but her "friend" Kyon is the main character. Haruhi is an ordinary high school girl who is quite bossy, but she has a power in her that she doesn't even know about. Kyon and the others are gathered to Haruhi due to her powers, and they try to keep her happy or elso the world maybe in trouble.
Kyon's narrations are quite funny to be honest. If he wasn't the the narrator, I wouldn't have kept reading the series if Haruhi narratored. Haruhi is almost like a bully and a jerk for most of the novel, but she does get her friends in a lot of weird and funny situations.
The writing style was very fast paced and suspenseful, but it almost makes it hard for rest of the series to continuely be excellent in comparison. There were a few grammar mistakes from the translation, but it still was a good read.
Book Review: Not as terrible as people seem to think, but...
Summary: 4 Stars
Yes, it is lacking a bit (when it comes to artwork, style, sticking to the story, so on and so forth) but I have to give my compliments to the artist for doing what they did, specifically because this manga came before the anime, and even before that, there were just a few illustrations in the light novels to get an idea from.
Also, I have to say that the artist could most certainly work on basic things like backgrounds and such, and the story is excellent ( at least, in my opinion).
alltogether i would suggest buying this if you have a liking for science fiction-type writings, and also manga, of course. If you liked the anime, though, i wouldn't head for this that quickly, because it doesn't quite follow the same "out of order" format, and lacks a few things that the anime has. But I suppose you can.
Book Review: Review for the light novel
Summary: 4 Stars
This review is for the English translated light novel version of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
While there were some points of the novel where I questioned the quality of the translation, I did enjoy the humor and narration style-- which is saying something since I haven't enjoyed many recent YA books from English authors.
I would recommend the light novel to anyone.