melissa
It was a very interesting read, though a bit repetitive through the middle. Kartini's push for education for girls, her critic of the Javanese culture, and a lot of questions about the glorification of the colonizers, and their “open-minded” culture, while faced with their racism and destruction in your own land. The letters read as a continuous search for answers, sadly Kartini died at the age of 25, four days after childbirth.
I think I would've enjoyed it more if I had read one question a day, instead of reading it all in a few sittings, cause all the numbers and facts get jumbled after a while. However, I found it so inspiring for people who love sci-fi and want to write sci-fi. Science pushed to its limits is such an interesting premise. Each one of these questions would've worked beautifully for a prompt for a sci-fi film (or book) based on actual science facts.
(i spent a whole hour doing this gif, and it's worth it)
I don't know if someone not interested in physics would enjoy it, but it is written very humorously, and KXCD's stick figures will always bring a smile to anyone's face.
It was fun, but I think Cogman bit more than she can chew. The universe of Invisible Library is quite complicated in itself. The concept of The Library, the parallel universes, and finally the alternate our protagonist's adventure is happening in, are all too confusing to be all happening in the first instalment of a series. There is no use of the “outsider figuring out the world” trope, that the reader would identify with, and no scene explicitly explaining everything early on (like the “yer a wizard ‘Arry” in Harry Potter). The protagonist basically discovers something then explains to us why that's supposed to be Major, so basically I had no emotional investment.
However, the adventure/spy/thriller part of the book is quite good, which makes it fun even through all the confusion of the universe's inner politics. I have some curiosity to see how the series will continue, but I don't know if I'm gonna read the next book.
This is a good book. It could've been one of those “you're on the spectrum but you shouldn't be coddled, and ta-da now you're a productive member of society” kind of book, but this one surprised me.
Marcelo is pushed into the “Real World”, the working world, and is confused by all the unspoken rules, and understandably so. It plays on the trope of “foreigner trying to understand this strangers' land custom”, kind of critique on society. Marcelo is questioning all the rules in life that we take for granted, and it's quite interesting. The most major themes are Sexuality, Religion and Work Ethics. I love how the book portrayed the protagonists Asexuality, and him trying to figure out how it “works in the real world”. I've been noticing this trend whenever a teenage character is on the spectrum, the next question is, “what about their sexuality?”, and it's somehow expected of them to be Asexual (even though no studies have found any correlation between the two -but really not many studies have been made). So really, if you've ever been confused by Asexuality, i feel this book goes through all the facets of it. Also Marcelo is trying to figure out the different natures of love, and what it means to make the right or wrong decision.
Even though it's a YA book, it didn't feel like an adult condescendingly writing to teens, so major positive points for that, and pretty accurate description of a person with High Functioning Autism. Also major positive points, Marcelo evolves throughout the book, but without conforming and compromising himself.
Glad I finally read it. It's been on my tbr list for years. Did not know what to expect. I know of Myles' poetry, but this is autobiographical prose. Some essays I really loved, and would remember forever, cause they really touched my heart, but others felt like a friend telling me what they did last night. Which could be fun, but I really couldn't follow who's who in the story.
I do like that the book is really genuine, and I feel like I know who Eileen Myles is, as a person, more than the writer.
It's such a confusing book. How can someone understand how so clearly how humanity works, but still be racist, anti-semitic and colonial. Some paragraphs were brilliant but mostly it was about how even though America is flawed it's still the greatest country, brushing over slavery and the genocide of the natives, cause they were savages.
Read it twice, first translated by James Legge, and really disliked it, second translated by Dwight Goddard and Henri Borel and really loved it. So concerning this book specifically, take your time searching for the best translation for you, cause it can make a huge difference in the reading experience.
I understand why people love this book. It feels like a religious book but without the religion and its dogma. It's such an interesting choice of Gibran to go with the concept of the fictional prophet, to share his way of thinking and living. The book is beautifully written, the style flows through, like your floating down a stream. Very similar to the surrealism in his artwork.
A really cozy book, and a lovely homage to fanfiction. Somehow with Greek plays or folktales everyone accepts the many reiterations of the same story, but doing the same thing with modern fiction, and everyone is flabbergasted that it exists. Fanfiction is such a beautiful playground for writing, it reminds me of when were kids playing with action figures, and we had a Wolverine one (and had no idea who the guy was) so we decided he could fly with his hair. It's building many universes out of that one, and to me, it's imagination at its funnest.
In this book we follow Cath, a Simon/Baz fanfiction writer (kind of a Harry/Draco thing), entering her first year in college. It's slow paced, it's like we're with her during that whole first year, while she figures out her roommate, her friends, her family and the difference between creative writing and fanfiction. It's just nice all around.
It didn't feel like a YA adult, but a book aimed for 10-12 year olds, the characters are not fully-fleshed but more like archetypes. Still a great book for kids, about the importance of kindness, bravery and acceptance. The book is touching, I just had a problem with the whole “life balances the good with the bad” kind of message, like sure you're poor but you have friends, or sure you're disfigured, but you have a great family. Like that's not how life actually is. But anyway, children's book, will not read too much into it.
This one surprised me. I had never heard of it, and stumbled upon it on an app. It looked short enough and I love tea so said I'd go for it. But it turned out to be so much more. It's about the tea ceremony, and how its tradition reflects the Japanese culture, taoism and zennism. It's about how these traditions are fading with the influence of the west, about materialism and the illusion of progress the more we're further from nature. There are a lot of beautifully written pages, here's an excerpt:
Tell me, gentle flowers, teardrops of the stars, standing in the garden, nodding your heads to the bees as they sing of the dews and the sunbeams, are you aware of the fearful doom that awaits you? Dream on, sway and frolic while you may in the gentle breezes of summer. To- morrow a ruthless hand will close around your throats. You will be wrenched, torn asunder limb by limb, and borne away from your quiet homes. The wretch, she may be passing fair. She may say how lovely you are while her fingers are still moist with your blood. Tell me, will this be kindness? It may be your fate to be imprisoned in the hair of one whom you know to be heartless or to be thrust into the buttonhole of one who would not dare to look you in the face were you a man. It may even be your lot to be confined in some narrow vessel with only stagnant water to quench the maddening thirst that warns of ebbing life.