Lisa Cotton
Didn't really connect with this, though I did like the theme and how it was presented. Felt nothing for the characters. Was only mildly curious. Also, I went in with hopes of luxurious language but it disappointed on that front (though those expectations are my fault, not Nabokov's).
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Saint-Exupéry's words somehow bypass the eyes, and sink directly into the heart, leaving you marvelling. This is a book I'll return to again and again.
(I got my copy from a “mystery book” vending machine in Singapore. Such good luck to get something by the author of my childhood favourite! And how wonderful to have fallen in love with it so easily!)
Very pleasant - I adore Tristan Gooley's passion and his ability to highlight the wonderful details of the world that you've observed every day of your life and somehow never consciously noticed.
This book didn't sing to me on such a deep level as Outdoor Clues & Signs, perhaps because I don't share the passion for water, but it was still a delight.
I enjoyed the theme, but found the selection of stories hit-and-miss. Some I adored, some I rolled my eyes at.
Before It Disappears - 2
“With a tissue, he wipes his tears first and then his d—.” Yuck.
One More Thing Coming Undone - 3
The “twist” felt like the narrator had been lying to me.
White Wine - 4
Magdala, Who Slips Sometimes - 3
I liked it, but the diorama made too much of a caricature
Codas - 4
The Love Story - 4
The Human World - 1
A ridiculous premise, explored in a frustrating manner. Largely a list of examples of the unjustness of the world, presented without analysis.
It Was Summer - 5
Beautiful and deeply human
From the optimistic title and vibrant cover I was anticipating something considerably less bleak.
I wouldn't have minded that if I cared at all about the characters, but I didn't feel I was given enough to be able to feel anything for them.
I adored it. Dickens' fluid flowery descriptions and repeating motifs (smoke-serpents & melancholy mad elephants) really struck me, and held my attention throughout. I felt everything he asked me to feel - fury, pity, horror, wonder - and joy that I did not grow up under Gradgrind, so that I can and may feel those things.
“... and the moment shot away into the plumbless depths, to mingle with all the lost opportunities that are drowned there.”
I wasn't as alarmed by this as I think I should have been, on reflection - other than that thrillingly disturbing scene at the end (the sledgehammer). Everything these kids do makes sense to them, and there's nobody around to teach them otherwise - and somehow that seems to justify their behaviour.
Aching & joyful. Came across this at the library and sat down to read one or two poems, but ended up devouring the whole thing. I love how Alice Walker writes of distress and despair in such a calm and potent way - distanced but certainly not detached. “The Taste of Grudge” was a particular highlight:
“My love
will flow
around
your
rocks
break
your
dam
& live
in
all
the
trampled
plants
of
your
fouled
wilderness.”
The hyperbole, sensationalism, cliffhangers and cherry picking of data drove me up the wall. I read the (inexplicably long) chapter about barefoot running with one eyebrow raised, all the unnecessary tales of Jenn and Billy's drunken antics made me embarrassed on their behalf. And yet, I still enjoyed this. Once I realised I had to take everything with a tablespoonful of salt, and that I would need to do my own fact-checking later, it was a fun story.
The glittering diamond of this novel for me is Lord Henry, whose persistent stream of horridly witty, alarmingly destructive aphorisms is continually hilarious - a reprehensible character, but still so utterly charming. “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself” - what terrible advice to give to an impressionable young lad!
Dorian's downward spiral was captivating throughout. Though he didn't knowingly sell his soul, he had his chances to use his gift for good rather than evil, and poor Dorian chose the dark path. What would I do? What would anyone do?
An enjoyable adventure story that certainly surpassed my expectations - I did not expect a book about rabbits journeying through the country to have quite so much depth. It's insightful, and brutal, and dark at times - for example:
“Well, if you want a doe, you have one—any doe in the Mark, that is. We're not officers for nothing, are we? The does are under orders and none of the bucks can stop you.”
And I thought this was a kids' book!
It gets 3 stars because it took forever to get into and I didn't feel warmth for the characters. I was hoping to feel some sort of magical connection to this book since it regularly features on lists of favourites, but I simply found it to be pleasant reading, and I'm not sad it's over.
I ploughed through it, in that way that is so easy to do with McEwan. It was easy and gripping, but goodness me did I feel let down by the ending. What a fizzling out.
Entertaining, gripping for sure. But the ending was a let down - I was anticipating (and imagining) a great twist. For all the suspense and tension, it petered out somewhat at the conclusion.
I enjoyed this. I love Saul Williams' fast-paced writing. I get so swept up in the fluid sound and the rhythm and the wordplay (even when it's cheap). It's as though the pages turn themselves. The intensity of the madman's ravings is palpable.
Four stars: I can't say the subject matter deeply touched my heart, but it was a damn good time reading it.
(Yikes - I feel even more fraudulent reviewing poetry than I do reviewing novels)
Jesus. What an immense & powerful bleakness. I was on edge. I was terrified for them. My heart was on the brink of breaking throughout.
I picked up this book wanting to be moved, and it absolutely delivered. It was harrowing, brooding, aching. I'm in pieces now.
“In the nights sometimes now he'd wake in the black and freezing waste out of softly colored worlds of human love, the songs of birds, the sun.”
This book is hope and this book is longing. John Green knows beauty and darkness, and he knows how to put beauty and darkness onto the page. This book is perfect.
I didn't mind the disturbing, uncomfortable, ugly parts - I want a book to make me feel something, after all. But this was just so very tedious.
Brilliant, just brilliant! I recently learned that 5 stars means “it was amazing” on Goodreads. And with that newfound knowledge I'm giving this one 5 stars. It's hilarious through and through - laugh out loud kind of hilarious - struggling to stifle your chuckles on the bus kind of hilarious. I quite literally cried with laughter at points. I can barely believe it was written 130 years ago - it does not show its age at all.
It's cheeky, it's slapstick, it's insightful, it's witty, and it's just so beautifully British. Perfect. I loved it.
Update: Totally just re-read this book within six months. Well, I just enjoyed it so damn much. It was as much fun the second time round, if not more!
Update after third reading: This has become an all-time favourite and I've determined to read it once a year - at least! I still find it so funny that my giggles while reading it have annoyed the people around me.
DNF. I really thought I was going to love this - I really like the premise. But the writing style was tedious to the point of infuriation
This absolutely sang to me. I wished it wasn't so short. Who better than Murakami to describe the painful and mundane details of long distance running? He is a master at turning tedium into beauty.
It's not just about running. It's also about writing, and about growing old. It's about challenging yourself and finding peace with yourself. A delightful insight into Murakami's mind.