図書館革命 (図書館戦争, #4) by Hiro Arikawa

図書館革命 (図書館戦争, #4) Reviews

• 
  Alyssa

  This was so good! 😱
  And concludes the series perfectly.
  
  Now making this one of my favorite series of all time. Both subject, story and characters. ❤️
  
  Just to give you an idea of how sucked into the story I was, my bf just rolled his eyes at me about an hour ago because I was still up at 4am reading the book. 🤣
  
  (Once again, full English review below.)
  
  ✩
  
  [ Reviews des tomes précédents :
  1 |
  2 |
  3 ]
  (Si ce n'est pas déjà fait, vous seriez inspirés de lire celles-ci d'abord car je vais me contenter d'écrire dans la continuité des précédents tomes.)
  
  Alors que j'attends généralement les derniers tomes d'une série au tournant, et en particulier les dystopies (*ahem*THG/TMR*ahem*), j'ai été ravie de voir que je ne finirais pas sur une déception. Ce dernier tome de Library Wars ne fait que confirmer la qualité de cette série et le travail de l'auteure pour construire son monde fictionnel, son histoire, ses personnages.
  
  Vous remarquerez que j'ai bien généreusement attribué une note de 5 étoiles à ce volume (contre 4 pour chacun des volumes précédents), ce qui est un fait assez rare en soi pour être mentionné. (J'ai un peu du mal avec les notes "parfaites", d'où que ça arrive très peu souvent.) C'est d'une part pour saluer cette belle conclusion à une série qui restera à l'avenir très chère à mon cœur, mais aussi parce que ce volume a un petit quelque chose en plus par rapport aux précédents, que je vous explique d'ailleurs tout de suite.
  
  Donc, comme mentionné plus haut, j'ai fini de lire ce dernier tome à 4h du matin, car je n'ai tout simplement pas pu m'arrêter en chemin... ce qui ne m'était pas arrivé depuis longtemps, soit dit en passant. Contrairement aux précédents qui s'articulaient autour de 5 chapitres traitant chacun d'une petite affaire et pouvant donc presque se lire de façon indépendante, dans ce volume, c'est une seule grosse affaire qui nous préoccupe. Le tout, sans véritable temps mort.
  
  En fait, ce tome pourrait presque se lire seul. (Ce que je déconseille cela dit, car d'une part on y perdrait tout le développement des personnages et des éléments de compréhension sur certains points, et d'autre part parce que les autres volumes valent tout autant le coup d'être lus car chacun apporte un peu d'eau au moulin.)
  
  Pour résumer très vite fait... Dans ce tome-ci, le Japon est victime d'une attaque terroriste dont les détails s'apparentent énormément à un livre d'un certain Kurato Toma. Le Comité d'Amélioration décide se s'en prendre à l'auteur en question, ce qui ouvre un nouveau point de débat sur la censure vs la liberté d'expression. Le tome tourne ensuite autour du Groupe d'Intervention des Bibliothèques qui va devoir protéger l'auteur, et mène l'histoire sur des questions aussi bien politiques que sociétales. (Sans oublier l'évolution des relations des personnages, en particulier entre Iku et Dojo, qui approche de sa conclusion également.)
  

  « Parfois, l'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions. Les personnes qui pensent à mal ont clairement conscience de leur soif de destruction. Tandis que ces braves gens ne se rendent pas toujours compte des dégâts qu'ils peuvent causer. »

  
  Je l'avais dit sur le premier tome, mais je le redis car ça s'applique toujours autant : cette histoire est presque trop réaliste, d'où son impact d'autant plus fort.
  
  Le résumé (plutôt mauvais) que je vous est fait vous fera probablement penser à d'autres livres ou films (perso, ça me fait penser à quelque chose type Les Experts ou NCIS, ce genre de séries policières, où je suis quasi sûre qu'il y a au moins eu un épisode dans le genre), mais ce livre-ci sera un des rares à porter sur le côté politique qu'implique l'affaire et à apporter un vraie réflexion sur la censure.
  
  Mais au-delà de tout ça, ce que j'aime dans cette série, c'est qu'on ne reste pas dans le pessimisme ambiant avec une ambiance lourde car les personnages sont toujours là pour nous apporter le sourire au détour d'une page. (Iku et Dojo méritent un trophée pour les idioties qu'ils apportent parfois. 😏)
  
  Bref, je ne sais pas trop quoi ajouter d'autre à ce niveau car au bout de 4 reviews, j'ai un peu l'impression de me répéter. LISEZ-LES ! (Les livres, pas mes reviews. Enfin si, elles aussi, mais c'est secondaire.)
  
  Mais si je devais résumer ce que je retiens de ce livre et cette série et qui pourraient vous motiver à vous lancer dedans : (1) une histoire solide, (2) une fiction réaliste et développée, (3) des réflexions fortes sur des sujets importants et toujours d'actualité, (4) des personnages attachants, (5) beaucoup d'humour.
  
  Voilà voilà !
  
  D'ailleurs, je pense que ma prochaine lecture sera
  Fahrenheit 451 pour rester dans le thème.
  
  ✩
  
  [ Reviews for previous volumes:
  1 |
  2 |
  3 ]
  (In case you missed them, you might want to read these first because I'm gonna write as a follow-up to the previous volumes.)
  
  Although I'm usually expecting too much from the last book of a series, especially distopias (*coughs*THG/TMR*coughs*), this was great to end on such a positive note. This last Library Wars volume confirms the quality of the series and the work the author did to build her fictional world, story and characters.
  
  Rare enough fact to be mentioned: I went ahead and put a beautiful 5 stars instead of my usual 4, to honour this lovely conclusion to a series sure to be close to my heart from now on, but also because this specific volume has a little something extra compared to the previous volumes, and that I'm gonna explain right away.
  
  As mentioned above, I stayed up very late to finish reading this. It has been quite a while since the last time I read a book in one sitting by the way. Unlike the previous books which were built in 5 chapters each revolving around a small case, this time it's one big case that will keep us busy the whole book. And this, without any down-time.
  
  Actually, you could almost read this book as a standalone. (I wouldn't recommend it though because you'd lose everything the previous books built to make it even better than it already is.)
  
  Long story short... In this volume, Japan is victim from a terrorist attack, which closely ressembles a book from a certain Kurato Toma. The committee decides to attack said author, which open a new debate about censorship vs freedom of speech. The book then revolves around the librarian forces trying to protect the author, and leads the story towards questions both political and societal. (Not to forget, the evolution of the relationship between the protagonists, in particular Iku and Dojo, which reaches its conclusion as well.)
  
  I said this for the first volume, but it still applies: this story is almost too real, which makes its impact even stronger.
  
  The summary (pretty bad one) I did might remind you of some other books or movies (personnally, it reminds me of those CSI or NCIS TV series, in which I'm pretty sure there's at least one episode with a similar case), but this book is one of the very few to address the political implications and bring a real reflexion about censorship.
  
  But beyond that, what I like about this series is that it doesn't stay in that gloomy pessimistic atmosphere because the characters are always there to bring a smile to your face. (Iku and Dojo deserve an award for all the stupid situations they create sometimes. 😏)
  
  Well, not too sure what I could add because after 4 reviews, I kinda feel like I'm repeating myself. READ THEM. (The books, not my reviews. Actually these too, but that's secondary.)
  
  But if I had to sum up what I retain from this book and series and that could motivate you to get into it: (1) a solid story, (2) a realistic and developed fiction, (3) strong reflexions about important topics that are still relevant, (4) endearing characters, (5) a lot of humour.
  
  That's about it!
  
  By the way, I think my next reading might be
  Fahrenheit 451 to stay on topic.
• 
  Wan Norjihan Abdullah

  Toshokan Kakumei (Library Revolution) brings the library wars into a globally discussed issue. When an attack on a power plant mimicking a story of a novel, the author of it has been chased down by the Media Improvement troops.
  
  This should be a light novel series (being 3 preceding serials : Toshokan Sensou/Library Wars, Toshokan Nairan/Library Schism and Toshokan Kiki/Library Crisis) but the issues in the novels is with reading, about the concept of book banning, politics, intelligence and standing up to one principle.
  
  Those who love books and libraries should read these books. Highly recommended.
  
  'I wish I could read and understand Japanese'
• 
  Justine

  review to come!
• 
  Carina

  I loved this book so much! The conclusion to the whole story and how they managed to get th public to critisize the Media Improvement Act was amazing and really clever! The whole story around that actor was so smart and I think it was really reflective of society. Not to mention the conclusion tothe lovestory of Iku and Doujo. I loved how he laid Toma-senseis fate in her hands and trusted her to do it when he was injured. I loved how they met after Iku had confessed to him already and he mad eher do it again. It was just sweet. The whole build-up to their relationship was so well done over the three books and you could definitely see their character development. The epilogue just left me swooning!
• 
  Erika

  このシリーズの根幹「図書館が武装する」に未だに納得しきれてないので、今回もイマイチ...いや、もしかしたら舞台が私の身近な所じゃなかったら(架空の国とか)、もっと楽しく読めたかも。
  でも西多摩出身で小中高大と青梅線中央線をだんだん東に出てきた身としては...うーん。武蔵境って私の大学ある所やもんな...
  なので、政治的駆け引きも途中から斜め読み。(亡命云々のくだりは興味深かった。が、今のトランプ政権下の米国大使館...と思うと、果たして当麻氏のゴタゴタをどうツイートするのかな、と考えて複雑な気分に)銃器でどんぱちの戦闘シーンも斜め読み。
  
  ならば何をちゃんと読んだのかと聞かれると...最後の方は全部斜め読みになってたかも...
  中心となるキャラは、やはり画一的で薄っぺらく感じるし、主人公2人やその周りの恋の行方も、あぁそうですか、くらいな感じ。
  ラノベだからかなぁ。
  
  そのメインの恋愛も、同じ図書館隊員同士じゃなくて、良化隊員と図書館隊員との間の愛、とかにした方が、もっとハラハラして面白かったんじゃないかな。
  ここに登場する良化隊員はやはり書き割りの「頭悪い悪役」そのものだし...(この「ロミジュリ」的展開を思いついたのは、台風の中差していた傘が壊れた笠原の為に、彼女が図書館隊員だと知らずに、自分の傘を譲ってくれようとして、逃亡中の当麻氏を見つけてしまってボコられる羽目になった名も無き良化隊員が一瞬登場したので)
  
  今回も巻末に児玉��との対談が載っていて、本編とは関係ないけど、「作家は切り捨てる能力が必要」という言葉が印象的だった。ただのうんちく垂れ流しになるのを避けるためには、学んだ事を90%切り捨てる。(QEDシリーズの作者と編集者に聞かせたい)
  
  コンセプトは面白いし、ハマる気持ちも理解は出来る。
  番外編の5-6巻も読もうと思うので、及第点の星3つ。
  
  2020/1/23追記：
  「別冊図書館戦争I」のあとがきより：
  ９.11はトム・クランシーの著書が参考にされたんじゃないかという話があった→当麻蔵人は、トム・クランシーのもじり！
• 
  Amber Grissom

  English e-book translation by Melithiel. By far the best content of the four novels, and now I'm said that it's over. A thoroughly enjoyable series that makes me question a lot and think more abstractly about the effects of censorship. There is a good balance between the high action moments that take the lead in this novel and the lighthearted romantic side notes. Personally, this has a high re-read likelihood.
• 
  Gracie

  This was the best book out of the 4! My favorite out of the series and one of my favorite out of all my books! I loved it and it ended perfectly not lacking in anything. When the book was over I was happy and it didn't leave me wanting more. I hope one day that it will be printed in English so I can own my own printed copy of this book!
• 
  Hiu Ying

  漂書已記錄。
• 
  Kristina

  Book 4 had the most interesting subject matter, but had somewhat of a slow pace. The scenes in and on the way to Osaka lacked the sense of danger they should have had.
  
  When I first stumbled across the Library Wars manga at my local library, I was very intrigued by the premise: libraries militarized in order to battle censorship. As a fan of books like Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next Series, how could I resist? Sadly I after reading the first volume, I felt disappointed. It felt too shallow. Iku was too immature. It was too unbelievable that she could get away with yelling and cursing at her superior officer. There didn't seem to be a justifiable reason for Dojo's romantic interest in her. The character development seemed lacking.
  
  I decided to give the original light novel a try, as experience had showed me that they often make up the difference when the manga is lacking in these areas. The novel definitely filled in some of those character development gaps, but not enough to make me continue the series at that time.
  
  Recently, I decided to give book 2 a shot. I'm not even sure what spurred the desire. I'm glad I did. What had seemed like a shallow YA plot developed a much deeper political tone. I didn't feel like Iku matured much by the end of the second book, but I saw more development in the other characters, and we got to see more inside Dojo's head.
  
  Books 3 and 4 were definitely the highlight of the series. I felt like Iku finally experienced some significant growth. I also find myself thinking a lot about the political themes: the role of government, censorship, protecting personal freedoms even at the expense of the "greater good", fighting terrorism, allowing people to choose for themselves.
  
  The romance and humor are fun little additions to break up some of the seriousness of these political themes. I'm glad I gave this series another chance.
• 
  Elizabeth Fleming

  I love this series with a passion. Firstly, because the subject, censorship and freedom of speech, lie close to my heart. Secondly, because of how diverse and charming the characters are, and how much you can see them grow throughout the story.
  And last, but not least, because of those light-hearted moments of humour and fluff between the heavy politically discussions and military battle scenes.
  It's for these three reasons I've not only read the light novels, but also watched the anime, the anime OVA and the three live-action movies, simply because I can't say goodbye. I still have the manga on my list, luckily enough.
  
  Livejournal's Melithiel did an amazing job with translating the novels, offering her own little explanations for non-Japanese readers.
• 
  Syl Cypher

  Cette série est un vrai petit bijou <3