Alicia
Owes quite a debt to [a:Stephen King 3389 Stephen King https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] and [b:The Stand 149267 The Stand Stephen King https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1213131305s/149267.jpg 1742269].There's quite an ebb and flow to the pacing of this installment.My interest waxed and waned right along with it.Enough thoughtful and different about this that I'll read through to the second book. At least it's shorter than this one was.
What a strange tale...
To think that in more than 500 years, humans will still remember HAL as a dangerously sentient AI and still quote Whitman and still use the same txtslang as kids today...
As a book created from a collection of datum - transcripts, chatlogs, security reports, AI monologue - it has its failings (voice, occasionally, which I won't discuss because I think my concerns are a massive spoiler) and its shining moments of mundane, beautiful humanity.
Some pages are quite stunning. Some moments are quite wrenching. Some insights are quite arresting.
Quite an interesting experience. Do not be daunted by 600 pages. They fly past like so much stardust and space detritus: grab onto that which intrigues you, and let the rest wander out into the universe.
Aja's art is incredible, the pacing and characterization are stellar, and the scope is delightful. Superheroes don't have to be saving a world or galaxy in peril for their heroics to be super.
I always appreciate a protagonist who recognizes that they aren't everyone's favorite. Clint Barton certainly has his failings, and I've never been much of a fan of him in his supporting role in Avengers books and films, but Fraction has created a much more sympathetic and interesting character here than I've encountered elsewhere.
What a strange piece of writing this was.
Starts slowly, burns a bit about a third of the way through, then lags when it should be exciting, as our protagonist is investigating a murder and corporate crime, and preparing to avenge his uncle. A sense of anachronism pervades the book. I felt these characters would be better off stuck in a spy novel from the 1930s, and our characters not knowing how iPhones or birth control works only made the feeling worse.
My first Begley, and certainly won't be my last, as he has real talent and skill - I so appreciated his facility in jumping from one point on our locally historical timeline to the next - but I was left feeling quite empty, as the skill did nothing for this rote plot.
I finally met Kevin Keller, and I like him. As much as any resident of Riverdale USA can be, Kevin is a pretty realistic teenager - he's got a family who loves him, but who he doesn't always get along with, friends who respect him, even when they're being snarky or gossipy, and a diversity of interests, from surfing to eating to shopping to acting to sci-fi to boys.
Kevin's gay, and while that facet of his personality does manage to find its way into every storyline - this is still Archie's world, where dating and romance figure large in the lives of these teens - his sexual orientation doesn't usually take top billing or become overwrought or preachy. He's just a kid trying to make it in these crazy comic times. He's a klutz, kind of forgetful, and juggling responsibilities and interests can be tough, and get a bit hectic at times, regardless of who you think is cute. After all, Kevin is the Class President, a lifeguard, and a world traveler. He's also dedicated to his friends and family, and stands up for the people he likes and respects. He's a good fit for Archie and friends, and his adventures and personality stand up to the time-tested favorites like Betty and Veronica, Moose, Dilton, Reggie and the rest of the gang. Was Jughead always such a jerk, though? I don't know that I would have loved him so as a kid if he was so mean back then...
Braithwaite, coming off his service with the RAF, where he was a highly trained and respected engineer, finds his race makes his skills unwelcome to prospective employers after his demob. He finds himself teaching in a school in inner-city London in a class of children who are hostile to him and to the learning environment on the whole. Braithwaite treats his young charges with adult dignity and respect, and expects the same from them. The results are, for me, not unexpected: the youths show themselves to be sensitive, intelligent, curious, caring, courageous people. Through the year the new teacher spends with his first class, he encounters bigotry, the disillusionment of fellow teachers, the socio-economic constraints facing his students, and institutional prejudice against these youths and their families and potential.
Quite charming, and surprisingly (unfortunately) timely and contemporary. This is the true story of a man who truly understood what it means to be charged with educating his students, the massive duty a teacher carries. The challenges Braithwaite faced post-WWII resonate today, and the book dates itself only in archaic gender expectations, and a scene in which teacher spars with one of his students during PE and lands a cracking punch.
Fascinating insight into what Hitch's leading ladies went through in the course of making the films that define his genius, and their talent, as well as a skimming of his psychological profile that made him and his films the successes, and failures, that they were.
Too repetitive, though, which could be expected from the third book by this particular author on Hitch and his life and works. Seems that Spoto started with a wide angle shot and kept getting closer with his successive examinations of HItch, and this third didn't quite hit the mark. The overuse of those ten-dollar words (sometimes employing the same word multiple times on the same page, mercy!) and constant reiteration of his thesis made for a bit of a drag at times.
Nevertheless, a must read for the Hitchcock addict. At least it's a breezy read.
Wasn't as crazy about this book as I was prepared to be. I had heard so many delightful things about the book - its fantastical cast of characters, its inventive time travel, its historically situated and referential plot, its relatable teen male lead, its charmingly detailed setting, its collage-style use of text and vintage photographs - that I was expecting to be absolutely blown away by the inventiveness and story. I found all of these things to be present, and enjoyable elements, in the book, but I was left feeling that I was slogging through a peat bog through the final 100 pages, as Jacob and his peculiar friends do so often. I felt the story suffered from an uneven distribution of detail to move the action forward - too much at once, too little for too long a time, too much exposition and explanation crammed between entire swaths of the book that seemed satisfied with being evocative and informative in all the wrong ways.
I hate seeing reviews that say this book is a “must read for girl gamers!” Why not boy gamers, or young women or men or anyone else? It's a great short piece about working together, organizing, learning about other people's life situations before judging them, gaming, self-esteem, the dangers of the internet, and becoming confident speaking up for yourself and other people.