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Multiple Choice (2016)

by Alejandro Zambra

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3902165,706 (3.86)11
"NAMED ONE OF THEBEST BOOKS OF THE SUMMER BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, ELLE, THE HUFFINGTON POST AND PUREWOW "Latin America's new literary star."--The New Yorker "Brilliant. Like a literary exercise for the mind, but strangely fun to decode."--Elle "The most talked-about writer to come out of Chile since Bolaño," (The New York Times Book Review), Alejandro Zambra is celebrated around the world for his strikingly original, slyly funny, daringly unconventional fiction. Now, at the height of his powers, Zambra returns with his most audaciously brilliant book yet. Written in the form of a standardized test, Multiple Choice invites the reader to respond to virtuoso language exercises and short narrative passages through multiple-choice questions that are thought-provoking, usually unanswerable, and often absurd. It offers a new kind of reading experience, one in which the reader participates directly in the creation of meaning, and the nature of storytelling itself is called into question. At once funny, poignant, and political, Multiple Choice is about love and family, authoritarianism and its legacies, and the conviction that, rather than learning to think for ourselves, we are trained to obey and repeat. Serious in its literary ambition and playful in its execution, it confirms Alejandro Zambra as one of the most important writers working in any language"--… (more)
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» See also 11 mentions

English (19)  Galician (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (21)
Showing 1-5 of 19 (next | show all)
3.5 ( )
  elenamnls | Jun 27, 2023 |
Ohmygosh, this. This this this. I wanted to cry. I wanted to laugh. I want to find the Spanish edition and puzzle my way through it (in both senses.) I am by no means finished with this. I want to go through sections every year and reflect on how life changes. ( )
  whakaora | Mar 5, 2023 |
This is the worst book I've ever experienced. How this book was hyped so well is a mystery.

The entire book is a series of multiple choice questions. In one section the reader is to determine which of 5 words does not fit in with the rest. In another section one is to rearrange several sentences to place them in the most logical order. One section has a sentence with missing words and the reader's task is to supply the missing word from several choices. The final section is a reading comprehension section in which three short passages are read and then you answer a series of multiple choice questions about the story you just read. The answers often fail to have a right or wrong answer, but are merely subjective.

I failed to see the purpose of a book written in this format. Did Zambra do it just to be different? I have no idea, but I do know I'll never recover the few hours I spent with this book. Don't waste your time or money on this waste of paper. ( )
1 vote dwcofer | Aug 31, 2022 |
Entirely unique. The reader gets to participate in the creation of meaning, free to decide between any of several narratives presented in clean, sly, cutting language, even in translation. Absolutely delightful. If you need structure, resolution, or hand-holding, though, this may present a challenge. ( )
  MaryJeanPhillips | Jun 22, 2022 |
It seems like this is a very hit-or-miss book, but I loved it. I'm always searching for challenging books, and this fits the bill. But more than that, the writing is beautiful and the emotions clear. Definitely worth the time to read and think about. ( )
  Elna_McIntosh | Sep 29, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 19 (next | show all)
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In exercises 1 through 24, mark the answer that corresponds to the word whose meaning has no relation either to the heading or the other words listed.
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Another thing, while I have the chance, about dogs and cats: parents want their children to be dogs, but children are always cats. Parents want to domesticate their children, but children are like cats: you can't domesticate them. (p. 100)
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"NAMED ONE OF THEBEST BOOKS OF THE SUMMER BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, ELLE, THE HUFFINGTON POST AND PUREWOW "Latin America's new literary star."--The New Yorker "Brilliant. Like a literary exercise for the mind, but strangely fun to decode."--Elle "The most talked-about writer to come out of Chile since Bolaño," (The New York Times Book Review), Alejandro Zambra is celebrated around the world for his strikingly original, slyly funny, daringly unconventional fiction. Now, at the height of his powers, Zambra returns with his most audaciously brilliant book yet. Written in the form of a standardized test, Multiple Choice invites the reader to respond to virtuoso language exercises and short narrative passages through multiple-choice questions that are thought-provoking, usually unanswerable, and often absurd. It offers a new kind of reading experience, one in which the reader participates directly in the creation of meaning, and the nature of storytelling itself is called into question. At once funny, poignant, and political, Multiple Choice is about love and family, authoritarianism and its legacies, and the conviction that, rather than learning to think for ourselves, we are trained to obey and repeat. Serious in its literary ambition and playful in its execution, it confirms Alejandro Zambra as one of the most important writers working in any language"--

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