Wulf C. Krueger

This is a nice, quick read and serves well as a (very short) introduction to the two protagonists, an engineer and a slightly flippant, well, whatever Bartleby is.

Of course, this is a short story at best and I would have wished it to be a bit longer but it's certainly entertaining even though it felt a bit like fast food - good but it leaves a tad bit to be desired and a slightly guilty pleasure.

I might buy a complete anthology of James and Bartleby but certainly not individual stories - there's just not enough substance to justify that if all stories are as short as this one.

»Forever is two immortal elves, sipping pink champagne by a burbling stream, then exploring the wild, gorgeous woods around them in everlasting harmony. Forever is set in New Zealand, not New Jersey.«It was around Christmas when I came across [a:Heather Havrilesky 397284 Heather Havrilesky https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1535559576p2/397284.jpg]'s essay “Marriage Requires Amnesia” (which is an adaptation from this book) in the New York Times.In it, Havrileski poignantly describes her 15-year marriage to Bill Sandoval. While reading it, I laughed out loud and I cried and sometimes all of it at the same time. Being in the 23rd year of my marriage myself, I felt both understood and like gaining a better understanding of my wife.»But we weren't married yet, so he still thought he could do whatever he wanted.«I couldn't wait to see “[b:Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage 58079443 Foreverland On the Divine Tedium of Marriage Heather Havrilesky https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1627323359l/58079443.SY75.jpg 91022043]” released in early February because I was hoping for more of the same. And I got it - to some extent.Divided into four parts, “Foreverland” reads like the memoir of a relationship - starting at the tumultuous courtship between Heather and Bill, we learn a lot about Heather who tells us precisely who she is and what she craves at the age of 34:»I wanted a husband. One that looked nice. [...] with a solid career to match my own. I wanted a hunky, square-jawed, mature listener. [...] a nurturing daddy type who would hang on my every word. And I wanted an athlete. [...] an intellectual who was also a comedian, but with a nice ass. I wanted a cross between a therapist and a cowboy.«This is when she meets Bill, a professor. Who is, as we're going to learn, hot and incredibly patient and, on the other hand, »he is more or less exactly the same as a heap of laundry: smelly, inert, useless, almost sentient but not quite.« before he had his first coffee (which I can totally relate to!).Marriage, kids, the suburbs, pestilence and plague follow and are explored in-depth in this wonderfully liberating book. While Havrilesky is both exploring and explaining her marriage, she delivers an unapologetically honest account of both their struggles. A totally honest Havrilesky dispels the myths of “happily ever after” and marriages without issues.From the small annoyances...»A simple inquiry—“What are we going to do about dinner?”—incites an existential crisis, the 742nd of its kind since your wedding day.«... to completely questioning everything...»I wasn't sure I wanted to spend forever with anyone, least of all myself.«... this was a breath of fresh air. A much needed breeze to blow away the fairy tale depictions of love and marriage to create space for a more understanding and a more humane approach.At times, the book drew out a little - there was a lot of stuff about the kids around the 50% mark and rambling descriptions of life in the suburbs (which seem to be very similar in Western societies, even on different continents...) but at about 70% Havrilesky picks up the pace again and I was laughing tears. When my daughter (20) came along and I let her read some passages, she giggled and triumphantly shouted “That's YOU, DAD!”.And I cannot really deny it. In some aspects I'm Bill. If I were the type, I'd get myself a t-shirt saying “I'm Bill”. But, luckily, my wife is also a bit of a Heather. And so am I, too. And she can be a Bill at times.Maybe you're going to say, “But my marriage is perfect! My partner farts a scent of roses!”. Well, maybe I'm the odd one out - or maybe you are. Maybe Havrilesky gets it all wrong, I don't know (it's just that a lot of it makes sense to me!).At no point, though, does Havrilesky claim to present any universal truths about marriage. She doesn't fall prey to making one - her - marriage as a blueprint for all marriages. That's part of what I like a lot about this book. In fact, she states it clearly:»This book represents my personal attempt to understand why I signed myself up for the world's most impossible endurance challenge.«To me, Havrilesky very much succeeds at that while also rationalising feelings of doubt, “the darkness” as she puts it:»I wrote this book to explore that tedium, along with everything else that marriage brings: the feeling of safety, the creeping darkness, the raw fear and suspense of growing older together, the tiny repeating irritations, the rushes of love, the satisfactions of companionship, the unexpected rage of recognizing that your partner will probably never change. And in writing this book, I discovered new layers within my marriage and myself, haunting and chaotic, wretched and unlovable.«Thank you, Heather, for this book! And thank you to you, C., for being my “partner in crime” for all this time and, hopefully, for a long time to come.Four out of five stars for the book - and an extra one for courage and honesty!Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

I never learn... Classics and I are incompatible and yet I still hope to come to terms with at least some of them. “[b:Rebecca 17899948 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386605169l/17899948.SX50.jpg 46663]” by [a:Daphne du Maurier 2001717 Daphne du Maurier https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1422444467p2/2001717.jpg] was another attempt at just that - and one that failed.The unnamed heroine and narrator meets Maxim de Winter, a widower, agrees to his marriage proposal after a few weeks, and moves with him into his ancestral home Manderley where nothing much happens for a long time. The shadow of Maxim's first wife, the eponymous Rebecca, looms large over their marriage, and the new Mrs. de Winter finds herself constantly compared to her predecessor and struggling to fit in with the household staff and society.Maxim is also very thoughtless and inconsiderate towards the protagonist, especially in the early stages of their marriage. He doesn't fully open up to the new Mrs. de Winter about his feelings and emotions which leads to misunderstandings and a lack of communication between them. A lot of that stems from what our heroine calls her “shyness” which is more of a question of her being young, inexperienced, and lacking in self-confidence. She has grown up in a very different social milieu from the aristocratic world of Maxim de Winter.However, her lack of self-assurance and her fear of making mistakes often lead her to second-guess herself and defer to others, which initially gave me the impression that she was not very smart and I did not find her very likeable.Returning to Maxim, who is also often preoccupied with his own concerns and doesn't always consider how his actions and words might affect his new wife. For example, he takes her to Manderley, his family estate, without preparing her for the expectations and traditions of the household staff and the local society. He also doesn't defend her when she is criticised or belittled by others which in turn puts him into a rather unsympathetic light to me.Adding to that is the fact that Maxim treats his wife like a child (and actually calls her that...) or pet which she perceives pretty well:»That's what I do to Jasper,' I thought. ‘I'm being like Jasper now, leaning against him. He pats me now and again, when he remembers, and I'm pleased, I get closer to him for a moment. He likes me in the way I like Jasper.'«(Jasper being one of their dogs.)A lot of what made me feel rather coolly for the new Mrs. de Winter was based on her constant melodramatic and annoying self-pity (in contrast to self-compassion!):»As I sipped my cold tea I thought with a tired bitter feeling of despair that I would be content to live in one corner of Manderley and Maxim in the other so long as the outside world should never know. If he had no more tenderness for me, never kissed me again, did not speak to me except on matters of necessity, I believed I could bear it if I were certain that nobody knew of this but our two selves. If we could bribe servants not to tell, play our part before relations, before Beatrice, and then when we were alone sit apart in our separate rooms, leading our separate lives.”«What I really did like was the prose - its elegance, beauty, and artistry. Daphne du Maurier's writing style is characterised by richly descriptive language, vivid imagery, and a keen attention to detail that creates a sense of atmosphere and mood. Her prose almost flows like music, like a symphony, with a rhythm and flow that can be both soothing and haunting, creating a powerful atmosphere.The novel's language and style also reflect the time period in which it was written, with a focus on formality, decorum, and the conventions of English society. This adds to the novel's sense of historical authenticity and contributes to its enduring appeal as a classic of English literature. It really felt like being there, witnessing it all oneself.»She would tear off sheet after sheet of that smooth white paper, using it extravagantly, because of the long strokes she made when she wrote, and at the end of each of her personal letters she put her signature, ‘Rebecca', that tall sloping R dwarfing its fellows.«And, yet, that pretty much nothing continued to happen for more than two thirds of the novel frustrated me. Especially since after a certain discovery things started to happen very quickly. Pretty much at breakneck speed we're rushed through the final third of the novel with hardly any time to get “acclimated” to the new tempo. Things started to feel rushed until we came to the sudden and unexpected ending.Two out of five stars! The End.Well, not quite, actually: If you're into mostly character-driven Gothic novels and always wished you lived in early-twentieth century England as an aristocrat, this novel might be for you. For me, it's back to more modern endeavours. Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam

No time for a real review so let me just leave this here: This was just as great a read as the first one at the very least.

“Being human totally sucks most of the time. Videogames are the only thing that make life bearable. - Anorak's Almanac, Chapter 91, Verses 1 – 2” Actually, for me, being human doesn't suck and yet I fully sympathise with the feeling that videogames do add to life – always provided we can agree that books count as well. This book, in fact, made me smile a lot and remember a lot of things from my childhood and youth – during the 80ties which feature more than prominently in this wonderful geeky, nerdy story. I'm three years younger than Cline but it seems we share a lot of experiences and, maybe, some notions about life: “So now you have to live the rest of your life knowing you're going to die someday and disappear forever. “Sorry.”” This, Cline says, might be one way to summarise what life is about and how it ends. It's certainly a very sobering way of expressing it. Nevertheless, it's true. In 1979 in the hilarious “Monty Python's Life of Brian” Eric Idle already sang “Life's a piece of shit / When you look at it” and that's pretty much the situation in which our hero, Wade Watts, finds himself: Living in 2045 on an Earth that has been devastated by climate-change, wars for resources, with his parents dead, he's a loner. Wade lives with his unloving aunt in her trailer but mostly stays out of her way in his hideout, hidden away in OASIS, an immersive virtual reality simulation that let's its users escape from the harsh reality. By heart, Wade is an egg hunter, a “gunter”, who is searching for the Easter Egg in OASIS the finder of will inherits the entire wealth of OASIS' founder. “Ready Player One” tells the story of the hunt for that egg and the inheritance. The entire book is full of references to the 80ties and I've had so many “WTF” moments, e. g. when Cline mentions FidoNet (in its time the largest private pre-internet network) - of which I had the honour to be a member (2:2437/209 and others) of for more than a decade. For me, the book exactly hits its mark because of the many “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt” moments: I've played most of the games, watched most of the films and have heard most of the music. Cline obviously knows his target audience very, very well, even quoting the right role models: “I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal. - Groucho Marx” I even felt like the author describes feeling at times and, I guess, that's why this book made such an impression on me – I felt at home, it felt like the book was written for me. Of course, we tend to whitewash our childhood, gloss over the rough patches we all went through. Maybe that's why I like this book as much as I do and maybe I'm being played here but if that's the case I'm going along willingly because everything feels so right. I'd totally be a “gunter” in the scenario presented here, I'd certainly loathe the evil mega corporation and I'd love to be Wade.I'm writing this review on Linux in text-mode (-nw) Emacs (not vile vim!) running in a Konsole (not a typo!) window with zsh; right after reading the book on a jail-broken Kindle. If you understood that, you're my brother (or sister, for that matter!) and I guarantee you'll enjoy this book. If not, well, I'm not sure... I'm not sure what today's kids will think of this book unless they're totally geeky and/or nerdy because my very own offspring doesn't really know most of the games and films mentioned throughout the book. They might still enjoy it for the action and adventure, for the unbridled joy this book permeates despite the dystopic setting. At its heart, “Ready Player One” is more than a glorification of the “good old times” (which the author knows full well weren't that great) or one of the escapism OASIS allows for (the danger of which the author recognises very clearly as we see when he introduces a certain “device” at the very end). It's a story of survival in spite of the odds, of true friendship beyond the confines of gender or skin colour: “I understood her, trusted her, and loved her as a dear friend. None of that had changed, or could be changed by anything as inconsequential as her gender, or skin color, or sexual orientation.” It's a story of finding love and a bit of coming-of-age. And for me, it's an instant classic (totally awesome stuff!) that's going right into my “Favourites” shelf! P. S.: “I'd heard all the clichéd warnings about the perils of falling for someone you only knew online, but I ignored them.”, says Wade at one point.I did, too. I've now been married to her (in the real world!) for about 20 years and she's hopefully still reading my reviews. :-) I love you, C. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

In this latest instalment in [a:Lisa Regan's 6443334 Lisa Regan https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1589563239p2/6443334.jpg] Detective-Josie-Quinn series, Josie is called to the body of a young woman. She soon starts to discover links to past crimes, a wealthy family in a small town not far from her native Denton and even to Anya Feist, the local pathologist with whom Josie had already formed a fledgling friendship.As in most of Regan's books in this series, one of the team plays a big part in the mystery and in this novel it's the afore-mentioned pathologist who has a complicated past...Also in line with most of these police procedurals, the plot is very engaging: I found myself reading at pretty much every opportunity and it was with a heavy heart that I had to return to my other responsibilities. At many times, this book was a total page turner, exciting, thrilling and suspenseful.Whereas in a few previous novels in this series, there were problems with pacing or keeping things interesting, this was never the case in this one. After the unnecessarily brutal prologue, this book captured my interest and never let go. Beyond the interesting mystery and its satisfying conclusion, the new insights into Anya were well done and the developments between Josie and Noah were... promising!Also along on the ride - albeit in very minor capacities - are Trinity, Josie's twin sister, and her husband, Drake. There is also one very unfortunate event, but it does not detract from the book in any way. »No regrets.«All in all, this was a very entertaining and highly welcome return to Josie Quinn. If you enjoyed previous novels in this series, you'll feel right at home in this one and if you didn't, this might be a good second attempt!Five out of five stars!Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam

First “Vikings” came along and rekindled my interest. Next I stumbled upon “The Last Kingdom” and I was done for - Uthred, a hero, between both worlds - Dane and West Saxon. A guy whose survival to old age tells us we can rest assured he will survive whatever fate (which is all!) throws in his way.Intelligence, courage, boldness, daring, audacity! All “mixed” into one man, one hero! Irresistible!Bloody battles, cunning, betrayal, you name it, it's all here. Written in long, flowing chapters including stirring descriptions of the land and its people.King Alfred of Wessex, pious yet clever, ensnaring Uthred into his service time after time.Raw, mediaeval and wild!Highly recommended to anyone liking historical fiction and can stomach a very “generous” share of violence.Five out of five stars and now please excuse me while I devour the next instalment.Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam

So nicht, Mr. Jordan

Auch bei mir der Eindruck, daß Jordan schlicht nur noch Geld machen möchte. Um seine Figuren, die er lieblos und farblos beläßt, geht es ihm nicht mehr. Den Inhalt dieses Bandes könnte man problemlos auf einer DIN-A4 zusammenfassen.
Ich hatte nicht viel mehr erwartet - wohl aber erhofft. Ich werde auch den nächsten Band kaufen, aber ich kann nur jedem empfehlen, sein Geld besser zu investieren als in dieses Buch. Und das sagt ein ausgesprochener WoT-Fan...

“Agnes” von Peter Stamm war eine eher ungewöhnliche Lektüre, obschon der Inhalt wenig überrascht: Der namenlose Ich-Erzähler, ein Schriftsteller, trifft bei Recherchen zu einem Buch auf Agnes, eine Physikerin.Nach einer kurzen Zeit der Annäherung finden beide zusammen. Fasziniert vom Geschichtenerzählen bittet Agnes ihren Partner um eine Erzählung, die sich fortan als roter Faden durch das gesamte Buch zieht. Dabei kommt es immer wieder zwischen wechselseitigen Beeinflussungen der semi-fiktionalen Geschichte und den im Buch behandelten Erlebnissen.Genau diese Verflechtungen bilden einen Teil des Reizes dieser kurzen, lakonisch-distanziert erzählten Novelle. Es ist keine wirklich außergewöhnliche Geschichte, die hier erzählt wird und ihr Ende wird bereits mit dem ersten Satz des Buches vorweggenommen. Dennoch gelang es Stamm, mein Interesse dauerhaft aufrecht zu erhalten.Zweifellos hilfreich dabei waren die kurzen, prägnanten Kapitel, die sich meist in zwei bis drei Minuten “weglesen” ließen. Obwohl “Agnes” kein “pageturner” im klassischen Sinn ist, war es auf seine ureigene Weise fesselnd und interessant. Weithin offen ist es zweifellos in seinen Interpretationsmöglichkeiten und so bin ich nicht überrascht, daß es in einigen deutschen Bundesländern als Pflichtlektüre für das Abitur eingestuft ist. Für einen Deutsch-Lehrer zweifellos eine “Goldgrube”!Vier von fünf Sternen.Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam

This was an amazing and deeply touching read. I was born in 1975 and, being the son of rather politically interested parents, I remember the Soviet-Afghan War and the Mujahideen and their respective roles in Afghanistan since about 1985. I intellectually knew about the atrocities committed during that war, during the in-fighting among the Afghan warlords and, later, by the Taliban. This book, though, tells the very personal story of Mariam, the illegitimate daughter of Jalil Khan, a prosperous business man from Heart, and Nana, one of his servants. While the early parts focus entirely on Mariam who desperately wants to be accepted by her father, we later get to know Laila and her parents (and a few other very memorable characters) as well. Mariam's and Laila's ways cross when they both get married to Rasheed, the owner of a small shoe shop in Kabul. When I started reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, I thought it was a bit slow but when I noticed I had finished about 75% of the book in one marathon reading session without even noticing the time passing, I understood how wrong I was. I had practically been glued to my Kindle even though reading what both women suffer through was, at times, hard. I simply couldn't help myself, though, because this book tells of suffering but is definitely not about it. It's in fact a very personal history of its heroines, their loving, their losses, their children, and families. Neither Mariam nor Laila ever give up; they do what they have to do (and sometimes that's horrible) and still manage to retain their humanity. Since I always at least roughly knew what year I got told about, I could compare at which stage of my life I was at the time. It was shocking to read how people literally got shredded to pieces by rockets in Afghanistan while I was getting married and our first child was born. I did not only intellectually know what had happened but I felt like I actually got a glimpse of the personal tragedies. “A Thousand Splendid Suns” pretty much lets those splendid suns shine on those two women as fictional examples of what actually happened to thousands of Mariams and Lailas in Afghanistan. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

»I only need repent, they say, and I will go to heaven and live for evermore in the blessed company of the saints.And I would rather burn till time itself burns out.«(Same here!)“[b:Sword Song 1297150 Sword Song (The Saxon Stories, #4) Bernard Cornwell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630471317l/1297150.SY75.jpg 3186921]” is yet another great entry in this series! Uthred is supposed to capture Lundene - London - for King Alfred as a wedding present to Aethelflaed and Aethelred.Of course, Uthred prevails but only after a lot of water (and blood) runs down the Thames...At least, though, for a while Uthred can truthfully state »We were so happy.« - a very much deserved state of mind for both Gisela and him.We get to see some more humour in this book as well...»I killed that ship's crew to save myself having to kill hundreds of other Danes.”“The Lord Jesus would have wanted you to show mercy,” she said, her eyes wide.She is an idiot.«I would have immediately read on in Uthred's story but I don't want to burn out my reading interest in him so I've temporarily gone on a different reading path!Meanwhile, four stars out of five for this book!Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam

So far, this was definitely the weakest instalment in the otherwise amusing Bridgertons series.The story isn't really that interesting and the narrative dragged on rather uninspired so that I was actually bored at times which isn't exactly my intention when reading a fluffy easy-to-read romance.What annoyed me the most, though, and made me almost quit this book was Colin Bridgerton himself. So, you know, this series of books is set in the early 19th century and, fortunately, as a society we've made a lot of progress - Women's suffrage, emancipation, feminism, and so on.And I'm really happy about that.Thus, I already have to temporarily suspend a lot of truly heartfelt convictions and disengage large parts of my brain in order to be able to enjoy this kind of book: I have to completely disregard more than 100 years of social, societal and emancipatory advances. I do so and, consequently, tolerate a whole lot of outdated nonsense and I find that all the more difficult if a book isn't truly worth it. I can do it because I love to giggle at amusing, witty bantering in a love story which, fortunately, happens a lot in the Bridgerton series. I can do it because I truly hope that any reader will know that the story is set in the bad old times and that times have greatly changed for the better. And I do temporarily suspend my convictions because I crave happy endings - sorry, can't help it. How dare you, though, Colin Bridgerton, to be angry at your love interest because she's acting on her own, because she's at least somewhat independent?! How dare you berate her for having a secret?! How dare you, Julia Quinn, to belittle your cast and, in extension, yourself and your audience like that?! (Not to speak of actually harmfully influencing younger, impressionable readers.) At the one major altercation between Colin and Penelope, I was about to rage-quit because I just couldn't stand that level of drivel.And it went on!»The shock was gone, replaced by a simple, primitive need to claim her, to brand her, to mark her as his.«Excuse me?! He wants to “brand her”, like cattle?! And how does Penelope react only a little later, thinking about herself?»She had been born for this man«Again, I was about to quit when things evened a little out at least and this possessive crap was slightly reigned in.Ultimately, though, Colin Bridgerton turns out to be just the despicable guy I had him pegged for:»She had no right to put herself in such a precarious position without consulting him first. He was her husband, or would be, and it was his God-given duty to protect her whether she desired it or not.« I just hope this series doesn't get any lower than this because I don't think I can take much more of this kind of backwards madness. Two out of five stars. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram