Sean
The man who literally wrote the book on comics and graphic novels ([b:Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels 60113 Making Comics Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels Scott McCloud https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1427577266s/60113.jpg 58487], [b:Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art 102920 Understanding Comics The Invisible Art Scott McCloud https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328408101s/102920.jpg 2415847], and [b:Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form 60116 Reinventing Comics How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form Scott McCloud https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1440618749s/60116.jpg 154633]) has proven, if there had been a shred of doubt, that he can also just as literally simply write a very good book. Poor David Smith–no, not that David Smith; the other David Smith–has had a life I wouldn't wish on an enemy. Death, stolen success, and failure have been his story, and, since our secular culture can think of nothing worse and no better way to measure failure, he is also a vir.... a vvvvr.... virg... sorry, I can't even bring myself to type the word, it seems to be so dreadful a condition. In the very depth of his misery he is given a gift beyond compare, but his use of that gift is up to him. We watch him succeed, only to have that success snatched away. We watch him fail. Mostly, we watch a man who wants, who yearns so mightily, whose inner artist screams for release, but who doesn't know quite what it is he wants. His failure is legitimate; it is not just because bitter hacks refuse to acknowledge his greatness. Their criticisms are right: he is unfocused, immature, insubstantial. His salvation--by way of true love--could have been as gagging as a finger down the throat, but it did not feel that way. It seemed to me honest and realistic. And the fore-ordained end--his death and his true love's death--was a relief. I dreaded a last minute reprieve, a gooey sop thrown to the sentimentality of the reader, but McCloud didn't do that. God bless him. David died; Meg died; I'm going to die (maybe today, who knows?). I am so grateful I took my co-workers suggestion and read this book.
Exciting and compelling. Hannah made me care about the characters very much. Although I know nothing about the time and place, it certainly feels like I learned about real people and the real horror they went through. I cried more than once. There is a bit of twist to the story which was a surprise, but not at all unpleasant.
Every book I read about the evils done by otherwise good German people, my ancestors, reminds me: NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!
It is difficult to review a book of fragments. The few poems which can be read as entire poems are indeed beautiful, and the translation is sometimes quite lovely, but so many consist of just one word per line. If you read this, you will be examining a collection of historical relics, not a book of poems. However, the introduction is very good and worth the read. If you are really interested in Sappho, read it with joy. If you just want to read some great Greek poems and get a feel for them, almost anything else would be better.
Pretty spectacular. I could say that about anything that Klassen illustrates, but this book deserves that word more than most. Spectacular!
I, who am borderline illiterate when it comes to pictures, have nothing meaningful to say about this. It has all been said much better by other reviewers here. I am glad I followed up on reading it. It is a majestic concept and the art is generally very nice.
[I am adding this sentence to my review: Months after having finished this book, I must honestly say that it has changed my life for the better.]
I liked it very much and find his ideas really helpful. I have already begun applying the idea of mini habits and it is making things easier for me. People complain about a bit of repetitiveness, but that's OK; it really doesn't detract from the message. And if it is annoying, that just means you don't have to read every word to get the point!
A good book and I recommend it to anyne struggling with consistency and good habits.
Al-Zayyat presents a thorough and compelling portrait of a young Egyptian woman struggling with te tension her own self and the demands imposed by her society. The moral seems to be that society's oppression and torture is effective because we coöperate.
I didn't love it perhaps quite as much as its predecessor, but I read Space Merchants long ago enough, at an early enough age, that it has sunk into the nooks and crannies of my hidden brain, and so maybe I love it out of proportion. But this was very good, well worth reading, and it reinforces the same message quite well. I think it would be monotonous if read immediately after Space Merchants, but after several years, it was really enjoyable and a little bit inspiring.
I love Odd Thomas. I'm in love with Odd Thomas. And thus my shock and finding myself barely able to finish this book. The art, fine though it is, simply is not my style at all (I admit to a prejudice against typical manga style cartooning). But the writing. Oh, I was so sad. I give it two stars rather than one only because I love the character so much.
I continue to love Odd Thomas and the books about him. Also, I love Koontz's Catholicism.
I simply do not understand those reviewers who complain about wooden characters. I find the characters human, rich, and as fully developed as is reasonable to expect.
I just love Skippyjon Jones. I appreciated seeing a bit more of his personality–his fainting–and SJ with an ice cube frozen to his face is just too much. Today, all my co-workers had to listen to me laughing like an idiot and singing the Skippito song. Good thing I work in a library, where such behavior is not quite so odd.
Fascinating, amazing, interesting, and over my head. Worth reading if it does not tax your brain too badly. It probably deserves five stars, but I am giving it four because of the difficulty I had with it.
As is true of other excellent retellings of classic stories, this one stays true enough to the original to give it a meaningful connection, while blazing new trails of its own to tell a story that rings true and important today. (The worst stories of the sort – surely you have endured a few – are either pointless imitators or they wander so far afield there is nothing in common with the old story but the names.) Noah is a good man, who loves the world and all its creatures. But when The Creator directs him through visions to prepare for the end, the pressure is too much for him. He struggles to figure out what to do in the absence of absolute knowledge, and he makes a few really bad decisions on the way. The evil that lurks in the hearts of all humanity lurks even in his, righteous though he be. But at the end, there is a measure of hope.
Of course, we all know how the story of humanity's continued existence is going so far, so we are forced to decide if we are happy with how this episode of our story ended.
I have not read any Hemingway since The Old Man and the Sea in high school, and that made hardly any impression on me at all; so we may as well say that this is my first exposure to him.
I certainly understand why the parodies of his writing are as they are, why he is considered so easy to imitate for humorous effect, but My word! how far superior to him imitators is Mr. Hemingway. His writing captures, with the fewest words possible, exactly each place and person and feeling. Without any obvious attempt, Hemingway depicts bleakness and self-pre-ocupied love and war-torn scenery so clearly that it quite took me away from home to Italy of a century ago.
I thoroughly enjoyed A Farewell to Arms and intend to read at least For Whom the Bell Tolls.
[Whine: On getting about halfway through this novel, I realized that I would need to devote much more time and attention to writing my review than I normally do. The book deserves the extra thought and attention. I began making notes of points I wanted to think about and write about. I knew that without notes I would never remember everything I loved the story and the writing. Of course, I lost my notes. And now, after several days of searching, I am no longer able to write the review I wanted since the important points are slipping away. And now I just don't have the time to focus on writing a review, so I guess i will just give up. So WHINE!!!]
The story is so simple, but the structure is so complex, and the writing has layers upon layers. Every character and event is connected to every other, and serves as part of a continual running self-commentary.
As a mystery it was good. I enjoyed the ride to the surprising conclusion. I admit–I solved it! Ha! About two sentences before the reveal. I guess that doesn't count.
But of more importance than the mystery, of course, is the whole trilogy's question, “What would you do, really do, if the world were about to end?” (Perhaps we can translate that into “What would you do if you were going to die some day?”) I like Palace's answer.
I read it at the suggestion of a co-worker whose tastes often agree with mine, and I liked it. I had a pleasant evening with it. I shan't be reading the next volume, though, I think. ... I enjoyed the story, the art, the conceit of a somewhat-self-consciously D&D type world. All good stuff. i just get tired of the growing trend of everything being as crude as possible and everything being just like what the reader already knows. I rather miss a bit of nobility, a bit of exoticness in personalities. Sex, drugs, and the word “fuck” get to be real boring after a while, and I'm about at my limit. But other than that, I liked it.
Although it reminded me of why I don't read many books aimed at a young teen audience, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It is evangelism for reading–especially for reading good books–and the world could use more of that.
Fun. I read it more for professional reasons than personal, so I'm not invested enough to write a review.
The most compelling study of the inner life of a dying person I have yet read. Tolstoy continues to prove himself a master of the human mind and spirit.
Even though I do not much care for Fables, I really enjoyed this Unwritten volume. The end left me speechless.
Utterly beautiful and heartbreaking, this book had an odd effect on me: I spent more than a week just sad for the poor German people. A book that opens my heart this wide is a good book.
A worthy successor to Annihilation. It was tough to put down and I had no choice but to read it much faster than I had originally planned. I just couldn't stop. I am most definitely looking forward to Acceptance.