My impressions of 『オルタネート』

Japanese books read: 56. I finished 『オルタネート』by 加藤シゲアキ . Before I share my impressions please keep in mind that this book was very challenging for me. I was able to follow the story but I missed a lot of details and nuances. This book was difficult at my current level. That's why I intend to read it again in the future. The following is just my current opinion. When I read the book again in a year or so my opinion may be different. Please take it with a grain of salt.

Main characteristics

First of all, it was very different from the books I've read before. The pace is very slow, in my opinion. There are 3 main characters and the point of view changes in every chapter between these 3. So it took a lot of time until I was familiar with every character. Only the last few chapters break this pattern and have a much faster pace than before. 

Another difference is that it seems to be a slice-of-life story. I usually read fast-paced stories where a lot of things are going on. This book, however, is very quiet. Except for a few events the "drama-level" was very low. It is probably too boring for people who like fast-paced books full of action, drama, danger and excitement. It was too unspectacular for my taste, to be honest, but I wanted to give the book a chance and I wanted to know how it ends. But I know that not everyone is as patient like me.

The matching app オルタネート

I had no prior expectations but while reading the book I hoped that the story would go in a certain direction. I thought the matching app that is mentioned a lot in the book would be the center of the story. I was curious who developed it and why. I thought the story would be about the downsides of this kind of apps and social media, which would have been exciting and interesting.

However, I was a bit disappointed that it’s not that kind of book. Even though the book is named after the matching app and although this app is used very often in the story, the app itself seems not as important as I thought in the beginning. From what I understood, it’s just a part of the every-day-life of the characters, much like Twitter or Facebook, for example.

What is special about the app in the book is, that it can only be used by 高校生 . However, I couldn’t find out why. Plus, this app makes it possible to find your "perfect partner" by comparing your genes with other users. This was interesting. I expected that this app would be the central topic of the book but it doesn’t seem to be the case. The story is more about the individual struggles of the main characters. The app and the characters are not unconnected, of course, but the app itself is not the topic of the book.

It is a very interesting idea with a lot of potential but the story goes in a very different direction and many questions I had about this app remain unanswered, which is a bit disappointing. Maybe I missed some information, so I'm not 100% sure, of course.

Special topics

Every character is connected with another topic. Cooking, gardening and music, for example, were very important topics. Even though it is a slice-of-live story about young people the book is full of quite special vocabulary. I’m not familiar with these topics in Japanese which is one reason why this book was quite difficult to read. 

The charm of the book

I really don’t want to say the book is boring. It’s just a different kind of book and I respect that. It’s not an action-thriller and it doesn’t have to be. I think the focus of the book is more on emotions, relationships and the ups and downs of life. I feel that it’s that kind of book where the details and nuances are important to really understand the charm of the book.

That’s why I think that my language level is not high enough to judge the book fairly. So please take it with a grain of salt. I’m fully aware that what I write here is not my final opinion. Maybe I'll update this post in the future after reading this book again.

Did you read this book? I would love to hear your opinions! :)