Fritz
Amusing.. And kind of disturbing at times (passages on curettage and the “gritty” sound a womb makes when you are cleaning it out...)
Not the best, but it's like saying that it's the foulest angel you've ever seen. Just a very good series of books. I think one of the finest I have ever read. It makes you laugh out loud, wipe away several tears, it's beautiful.
There's a great talent in the writing of J.K. Rowling that is able to convey the feelings of a teenage boy and the love and room a father-figure should offer.
This was wonderful.
It's similar to American Gods as it visits and explores the multifaceted world of gods and fables in a very profound way. But it is more like an epic fantasy story, but just set in a completely different world that most Tolkienesque fantasy explores.
It's fun and edgy, violent, graphic, sensual. It's all these things.
But! I found “A brief history of seven killings” by Marlon James a much more compelling read. And this story didn't really engage me emotionally to the protagonist or any other of the characters. So. For all of the world building, African folklore and love for it's breadth of stories, the complexity of story and language being used I give it 5 stars. But I subtract one star for not engaging me more and having me emotionally invested.
Can't wait to read the next instalment.
This books is so profoundly sad. It is beautiful, it's atrocious. The prose is great. As is the whole portrayal of not just an American household, but I think a very Western household. Divorces and affaires, wine and prestige, achievement and disappointment.
However the whole speculative nature of the story is kind of weird, and was kind of off putting. The main character: Zuckerberg is writing the story of the ‘Swede' (who is the actual main character), and does so mainly based on assumptions he is filling in after eating a meal with him and finding out he passed away shortly after.
Great story of daring and compassion. However the writing style is sometimes needlessly complex with a ton of sub-sentences which make it hard to follow what is going on.
It's heartbreaking, and watching the film after having read the book was a great experience of accenting the more emotional scenes.
Ender's game is a book that is simple in its language, and grand in its story. Ender is the protagonist in a world where an alien invasion (in 2 phases) has shaped the outlook on the world. Fear of a third invasion shapes the world in a unique political reality: unity among the nations with one common enemy: the buggers.
The story revolves mostly about a young boy (Andrew “Ender” Wiggins) that is broken down again and again to be used as the ultimate weapon in the fight against these aliens.
The book really excels in hooking the readers and creating sympathy for the empathetic and strong Ender. A riveting read that you will devour in no time.
The only thing that confounded me was the intelligence of all the Wiggins children. Where did it come from? From the story it seems that the father is a daft simpleton, and the mother is not really a very important character.
I'll leave you with this beautiful quote:
In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.
For me all the expectations were quite high. First of all because of all the high-spirited commentary written on both the back and the front of this book. Second, because it is a winner of the Man-Booker Prize, this usually translates to something I will like.
Not so. The first twenty pages I was somewhat baffled and intrigued by the profound and rich vocabulary John Banville so elaborately brings to the table. Moreover the subtle (and not so subtle) references to the other arts, (ancient) mythology give a sense of depth to a monologue.
This continues to go on and on and on and on like a little riverbed never growing to full width. The fascination with a woman's armpit and the stubble there on I did not find as intriguing as I believe the writer himself. And the memories that might not be accurate, or were they, or no let's go back, style does not appeal to me either.
I was glad to arrive at the end of the book. For one because this meant the end for John Banville to me, but also because the end had a little twist and suddenly found me interested. Still not interested enough to receive more than 2 stars though. Call me a simpleton, or not.
This was unlike anything I've ever read. For that it gets 5 stars. Not sure I completely comprehend what happened.
If you like “Stranger Things” and a shitload of literary references this is for you. Don't read the synopsis it's better to have everything come as a surprise.
This book was a pleasant surprise. I was thinking it was going to be pretty pulpy. But it wasn't. It's a gothic or mystery type novel. It has mystery and unraveling. It is a work that has elements of feminism and socialism which is a nice break from most Victorian-era novels. Which are mostly about modesty and puritanism.
Update: reread it in English. It was even better.
Some things I liked:
p. 24: “ Come tomorrow, if you like, to the grave. I said I'd go alone, but perhaps that's the point; perhaps we are always alone, no matter the company we keep.”
p.127: “Sometimes I think I sold my soul, so that I could live as I must. Oh, I don't mean without morals or conscience - I only mean with freedom to think the thoughts that come, to send them to go, not to let them run along tracks someone else set, leading only this way or that..' .... ‘I've sold my soul, though I'm afraid it didn't fetch too high a price. I had faith, the sort I think you might be born with, but I've seen what it does and I traded it in. It's a sort of blindness, or a choice to be mad - to turn your back on everything new and wonderful - not to see that there's no fewer miracles in the microscope than in the gospels!”
p. 216: “‘No such business', he said cheerfully. ‘I'm quite religious you know: no patience for the supernatural'”.
p. 343: “We've loved each other so long I've never been a man and not loved her. I can no more imagine life without her than without my own limbs. Who will I be if she is gone? If she is not looking at me - will I still be here? Will I look in the mirror one morning and find my reflection gone?
Some words I liked or did not now:
genuflect - kneeling in a religious manner (for a shrine or something)
auspicious - favorable circumstances
declivity - incline or gradient in height
beck - brook or stream
tincture - a trace or vestige
distrait - preoccupied
homunculus - a miniature human
caul - a portion of the enclosing sac of a fetus
shingle - beach gravel
This was a very interesting read. I am an Afrikaner by heritage and have been living in the Netherlands for most of lifespan (with some in between periods of a few months). To hear the story of the ANC and Nelson Mandela himself was rather remarkable and at times shocking.
It startled me at times to find out that some of the things I had come to believe about the ANC or Winnie Mandela were mostly propaganda by the Nationalist government (at least according to this book).
Other things that stood out were the parts about the armed struggle. Some of that struggle mentality still comes back in the strikes and violence in South Africa nowadays.
The autobiography is easy to read and well written with detailed accounts of some of the trials and more intermittent reporting on some of the prison life.
What I also hoped to find in the book, but could not was information on the Reconciliation Tribunals. But that was only after the book was published. So yeah for me. Strong moment.
All in all, a book worthy of your attention
I loved this book. It is very funny, has a weird love interest which isn't really central to the plot, but also somehow is.
More of a scholarly book on Miracles. Talking about the natural and the supernatural. Good book, a bit of a tough read if you are used to Mere Christianity (which is a breeze)
A nice outline of the different kinds of love we can experience in a lifetime as well as the importance of these different kinds of love.
Awesome graphic novel.
Witty and original it combines Video Games style points and explanation of people. Very funny
Similar to JK Rowling Collins grabs the attention with a story in a slightly but not too different a world then we know. The story is quick and the narrative lean. An exciting plot with some nice surprises. The writing however is clearly not British and comes with some extra cheese. But not too much.
I liked it. Will surely read the other two.
A splendid story, revolving around a architectural work of art and the people who inhabit it. From the twenties through the WWII to the fall of the commies, with a wonderful knack for sadness and melancholy.
The only real downside was the sadness and weight of it all, the portrayal of Weltschmerz which really had the potential to sink in deep down, was always quickly followed by a sensual scene which felt out of place.
This book is phenomenal. It's a story, a memoir, a commentary on art and an unconstrained critique of the patriarchy and the way women are portrayed or reviewed in the art world.
It's also cool to see how far we've come.
“It seemed strange that people would be interested in any conversation between such a homogenous crew: four straight white European men in their 50s, all divorced and now with childless younger women in their early 30s. “ (From the chapter “Add it up”).
The quote from the book here is no longer a very new statement, now it's become the norm to question a panel where the members are all white straight males.
The book is really a sort of reflective spiralling into the mind of Chris. She falls in love with (the idea) of Dick. It's a hell of a ride.
Very interesting book, loved most of it very much.
The only thing that kind of bothered me is that then author comes across as both incredibly nihilistic and deterministic of how the world works. Kind of confusing. For all the nuance he brings in certain areas he is very adamant about his perception on what the myths are we build our lives around.
Anyways.. A good read.