beaneater

I loved the All Systems Red, I DEVOURED the first book. But Artificial Condition somehow felt way weaker for me.

"And I noticed that when I prayed to God for mercy, I had not, as had been my habit, prayed to the Great Leader, Kim Il Sung, who was the closest thing to a deity that I had ever known."

I'm surprised this biography isn't more well-known, and it's sad that not many people know about this significant piece of history. Reading from Kim Hyun Hee's pov, I couldn't help but feel deep sympathy for her and her incomprehension, she truly believed that carrying out the act would unify Korea. She honestly did not, and could not, know better. Even if she had, it's not as if she would have had the choice to say no. Kim Hyun Hee mentioned 1984's similarities to the regime of North Korea and rightfully so.

It has been 38 years since the Korean Air Flight 858 tragedy, yet North Korea does not seem to have made any progress over the years. The unification of Korea still feels like a distant reality... one that may never happen.

I don't think I've ever read something so terrible in my life before. Pointless narrative, flat characters and unnecessarily long. Even though I've read this book way back in my teens I can still remember how horrible it actually was. I felt like the whole plot was lifeless and unimaginably naive with zero logic... just like our main protagonist.
I take this book as a kind of satire on Twilight saga. I guess there's no other way to put it, unfortunately. I think there was a stab at it but I think it missed me.
If it would be possible my rating would be zero for sure.

I'm not into short story collections in general, but this was a good read. One can take a break from more challenging reading with books like this, or by "killing time" when you're waiting for the fifth one in the office.

Of the collection, I liked Quitters, Inc. and The Ledge the best, they seemed the closest to reality of all the stories. I'd have to say the Battlefield was the most boring. So far so good for a first King story, next time I'll tackle the author's more familiar work.

Ziyi Zhang portrayed the role of Chiyo/Sayuri so convincingly and beautifully that I decided to read the book years later to see how it really was.
The author's writing is so engaging that after reading it, I feel as if I lived the life of the little girl with the grey-blue eyes myself. For us lay people, the author was able to describe in vivid detail the life of the mysterious geishas and what they had to go through to become the best artists they could be. The deeper I got into the plot, the more respect I had for the geishas.
Although Chiyo's story is pure fiction inspired by a real geisha, it's almost surreal that somewhere in the land of the rising sun, this actually happened and how many of those women could then say they were as lucky as the protagonist.

Let me add an interjection so that the author is not believed every word on the page, because geisha is not a courtesan, but happens to be a very respected artist, even in today's Japan.

Nietzsche had a brilliant mind, though his views were often controversial and, I believe, frequently misunderstood or misrepresented. His philosophy can be quite challenging, even for more advanced readers. Twilight of the Idols is a good starting point for understanding Nietzsche's broader body of work, as well as his perspective on the world.

It seems misguided to label Nietzsche as a fascist (a movement that didn't arise until 30 years after his death), anti-Semitic (unlike his sister, who edited his texts to align with her own beliefs), or even misogynistic (he had a close friendship with the writer Lou Andreas-Salomé). Nietzsche was indeed many things, but none of these. Yet, it is precisely on these issues that Nietzsche remains vilified and misunderstood by many to this day.

I mentioned earlier that Nietzsche possessed a brilliant mind—this also includes his use of irony and sarcasm, which isn't always immediately apparent in his writings. Once a reader becomes more familiar with Nietzsche, they may come to see him as quite the joker.

This was a very slow burn read. It was as slow as it could get, and you might think it would bore you to death! Well, what luck that Ishiguro wrote it. He could literally write a thousand pages about one unimportant event, and I would still read it because of how grippingly he writes.
You might think that all the details seemed unnecessary for the plot or character development, but after the big secret is revealed at the end, you'll understand what it was really about, and those unimportant events will suddenly feel very important.
I loved how the author teased you about the secret, like ‘you'll know it in the right time,' and always revealed just enough to keep you reading.

As a sci-fi fan, I found the sci-fi elements in this book to be very subtle—really just a dash of it. It could also be a good starting point for readers who want to get more into this genre.

The all time favourite. The masterpiece. The chef's kiss.

I would read this piece anytime in a year with a blink of an eye! It has amazing plot with all the background details, likeable characters with very realistic reactions and behaviours AND the sad twist at the end.
If Mr. Blair would be alive today I would kiss his feet thousand times.

To tell you the truth, I was never a big fan of the film adaptation and it may have distorted my perception of the book a bit. But I'll try to be objective and see this first installment of the trilogy in all its glory, which everyone is rightfully praising.
The story is definitely out of its time, for which the author deserves a bow and a standing ovation. The first volume is so enriched with the history of a non-existent world that it feels almost real in places. History described in such depth that it may bore some readers to death, but extremely important to understanding the storyline.
I'm not rushing into the second volume, but it would be a shame to walk away from such a fantasy at the outset.

It felt a little surreal (and now pretty ironic) to read about rating on Goodreads, tweets, instagraming etc. and then here I am sitting and writting my thoughts on this book.

To be honest I feel a little puzzled as I don't really know what to expect from this book and not quite sure if I should rate it 3 or 4 stars. The plot itself was very interesting and as many has already mentioned - the first half of the book got me hooked and couldn't geet away from it. The second half though... it felt kinda repetetive in a while and it really didn't bring anything new to the plot in my opinion. Of course June was exposed in the end but she still somehow made it look like an accident like Athena's unfortunate death. I guess once you are drowning in a huge lie you cannot simply swim out of it.

I obviously know nothing about publishing a book but in today's society I can see that being somewhat diverse sells good and could bring you better benefits and you can even lie about it.

I chose the book very randomly, not knowing what to expect, and it was a pleasant surprise. The story is told to us from different points of view and the further the reader gets into the story, the more they start to realise the connections.
“Isn't that why we're here? To leave a mark on wilderness?”

Gaspery searched for the anomaly until time itself led him to it. Even though he knew where his path led, he still followed the trail of events. Events that he knew were inevitable anyway.
“The traveler's presence itself is a distruption.”

The reader wonders at one point, if we were in his shoes, would we have done anything differently? But by the time we see that the anomaly is already repeating itself, we would have to realize that it's too late to do anything differently anyway.
“I'd do it again, I wouldn't even hesitate”

It was natural to assume that BNW would be as much to my liking as the notorious classic 1984. Mr. Huxley did build a very interesting idea of an anti-utopian world that might not be that far from the one we have today, but somehow his ideas didn't fully transcribe to paper.
If I were to rate the work purely from a philosophical point of view, I would certainly have to give it one star more.

“But that's the price we have to pay for stability. You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We've sacrificed the high art.”

“They think I'm a wizard. They think I'm a fucking wizard.”

I was in a reading slump and needed something short to boost me. Elder Race was definitely the perfect choice, and I wanted to read something from Tchaikovsky forever.

At first, the story might seem more like a fantasy than sci-fi, but do not be fooled. It's actually part of the clever and dark twist. In just a few pages, Nyr -an anthropologist, sort of a “wizard” if you will- and his humaneness really grew on me. His humor is just a bonus to his misadventures on Sophos 4.

A book with a new and fresh idea that could have had much more potential. However, I feel like it wasn't carried through to the end and some history to why the situation is the way it is there was pretty missing. The reader is just thrown into the plot without any explanation and will be expected to understand everything.
As a dystopian sci-fi, the book didn't really impress me with anything other than the idea and it read very quickly due to the short chapters.
I kinda see where the author was pointing with the story. I see today's greedy and hypocritical society in the book. A society so greedy that they “eat” themselves out of greed.

But what spoiled the reading for me the most is the translation. Stylistically, I loathed it and felt like I was reading a fan fiction story on Wattpad. For me, this translation looks like it's from an elementary school kid who doesn't have a sufficiently developed vocabulary yet.
But despite the terrible translation, I give the book a better 2 stars.

“So we's the same. Just a different color.”

Geez, I had trouble finish this book. I think it's a brave move to write about racism from a priviliged side of story. Judging from the experiences that the author has first hand, I'd say that the story is pretty even accurate one even though this is supposed to be a fiction. Being POC myself I could relate to the hate you get because of the different color of your skin. It makes my blood boil just to read about it.

As a non-native english speaker I had quite hard time reading Aibeleen's point of views as they were written in a accent. But I loved her personality, how much she actually cared and all the bad things happened to her she wasn't vengeful towards anyone - always so calm, waiting for the moment she strikes back but she never did. She just went with her life like “it is what it is” and move to another chapter. I think that's what makes the book so good and so real for this.

The bittersweet ending.

The book that inspired not only the famous Star Wars. A story so sophisticated, thoughtful and as mentioned for the millionth time - complex. I'll admit that reading it was a little challenging for me. I didn't know what I was getting into and the complexity of the history of the world of Dune took me by surprise. So I cracked through the first book very slowly and carefully, even going back to important passages that were very essential to understanding the lore. And I don't regret a single line.
Politics plays a big role here too, and it makes the book all the more real. Baron Harkonnen as a villain was great. He was a properly greedy man, and it was his greed that was his undoing.
But after 600 pages, I need to read something where I don't have to engage my brain cells so much.

Dune learned to walk so Star Wars could run.

It's just a shame that D. Lynch screwed up the film adaptation (Dune, 1984) like hell.

Even when I struggle to read such complex series as Dune and it always gets me into a reading slump whenever I decided to open the book, I just enjoy the lore sometimes so damn difficult that my little pea brain cannot comprehend it.

Anyway, the 2nd book was slightly different from the first one not just by the length nor complexity of the story. Second book is much more focused on the politics of Dune rather than grandiosity of Paul Atreides. In my opinion Messiah is way better than Dune, It adds greater depth and understanding to the first book. If you read the first book, then Dune Messiah is just a must because you will learn that Paul was just a mere human after all.

I was very excited to finally read this book but it left me somehow unsatisfied. The dystopian world of Gilead does sound complex, atrocious and also interesting. However the story of how the world became the way it is felt incomplete and we didn't really get much details of how it works or why it was okay for everyone to live in the system of Gilead.I found the narrative a little bit erratic, the main protagonist kept jumping from one memory in the past back to the present and it was very confusing at times. We know much more details about the main protagonists past before Gilead than the Gilead world itself which I think is a bit of shame and the potential of this story could be great but it is missed out. Also, what was wrong with the dialogue commas? I really couldn't tell if the characters are talking to each other or if the sentences are in the head of our protagonist.But I appreciate that the author choose kind of “open” ending for the readers and let us ask the questions if she really did get out of the Gilead or was she killed or worse... was she caught?

Never in my life I felt so sorry for a spider... safe to say I'm really a human (not a flex). I know back in 70s the sexism was pretty "normal" but oof. Besides that, PKD had really beautiful and terrifying visuals of the future. Started reading cause of the movie adaptations, stayed for the philosophical aspect.

Nathaniel as the main young protagonist is stubborn and at times indecisive. But his stubbornness and indiscretion often pays off. He crosses paths with the (not so) powerful genie Bartimaeus - a demon with a narcissistic nature that doesn't irritate the reader with its hubris, but instead greatly amuses and makes us adore him even more.
So we have two characters with completely different characteristics, but who complement each other so beautifully and go hand in hand. Although they would sometimes prefer to strangle each other, there is a strong bond between them and we as readers witness some bromance moments.

The trilogy had me laughing so many times that I was clapping at some passages for a week. It's been a while since I've read the series, but I remember it with a smile, and maybe I'll read it again sometime to remind myself of Bartimaeus' colossal drama.

I enjoyed the narrative from three perspectives, we saw different thought processes in each of the characters and also their personal shift due to even the smallest event. If they were giving out awards for the greatest characteristic shift in literary creation, Walter Tevis would definitely win it for Bentley. His phrase: “My God, the world can be beautiful sometimes.” resonated with me, and even after finishing the book, the character left me with a strange feeling. Perhaps my biggest regret was that a world automated by robots-with humanity slowly sinking into extinction because it relies on technology of its own creation-didn't feel complete, and I would have loved to read more about such a dystopia. It was still missing something. The plot idea is certainly interesting, topical...? I see that more on 1984 than Mockingbird.

I don't usually read nonfiction, but this piece intrigued me. As has been mentioned here, the author over-promoted his favourite brand for my taste, and it may then appear to the reader that he likes to brag about it.
I didn't think I'd be taught as much by the content of the book, as I've been interested in minimalism myself for a while now. But it surprised with tips that were also focused on the psyche and mindset of the individual and not just material things. The book overall was written in the style of the author's confession and told us the ins and outs as if we were longtime friends meeting for afternoon coffee. That's one of the reasons the book earned a high rating from me - it feels more real and the reader doesn't feel like they're reading in a textbook.

There are some favorite passages that I had to file away in my reader that are important for me to think about:

“When we look at things this way, we realize that many of our wishes have actually been granted. So why don't we feel satisfied? Why do we become unhappy?”

“All these things eventually turn on us; we become slaves to our belongings, forced to spend time and energy caring for them. We lose ourselves in our possessions. Our tools become our masters.”

“Holding on to things from the past is the same as clinging to an image of yourself in the past.”

I was really looking forward to getting into this piece. I was partly disappointed and partly “learning for life”.
I don't like very detailed descriptions, and fishing doesn't really do anything for me, but I found Hemingway's detailed descriptions quite entertaining as well. I did have a little trouble getting through the beginning, though. Being a thin book of a few pages, I spent perhaps more time reading it than I needed to.

I made the mistake of reading the book in English before I read it in Czech. I'm not ashamed to brag that my English is C1, but no one prepared me for Victorian English.
Because of this, I found the first few chapters very difficult to read and although the chapters are very short, I found the reading long.
Thanks to what a very rich vocabulary Mr. Dickens had (and that he wasn't afraid to use it), I learned quite a few new/old words. Maybe that's why Oliver Twist came out at almost 500 pages, when I think half that would have been plenty. But it wouldn't be Dickens if he hadn't written so much and we didn't know the grand story of Oliver Twist.
By the end of the book, I was relieved that the main character of the story had finally achieved the well-deserved peace and understanding he had lacked since birth.

Just re-read this a second time to remind myself what it is so appealling about this book that people still read it after 36 years that it has been published the first time.

I get that it suppose to be motivational and inspire you in some way but I'm a realist and if you like to have rose-colored glasses on, this book is for you.