kelvin
It was so good! Strom so poignantly captures the struggles of migrating to a completely new world, and the consequences of cultural loss. Each character is written so beautifully, showing their individual strengths, weaknesses, and the difficult interpersonal relationships which they hold so dearly and yet seem so willing to toss away.
Grass Roof, Tin Roof felt very much like a memoir that was somehow written by five individual characters. I would love to read multiple entire series devoted to each one–Hus's especially, as I felt there was a substantial part of his life that we completely missed on. But maybe that's just due to him having given up his past a long, long time ago.
I'd definitely love to reread this novel again. Strom's style of writing and conveying her thoughts as living, breathing things has also served as a strong influence for my own thinking, and my own writing. <3
aughh so sad and so real :sob: wanna stuff my piano newspaper now and light it on fire :3 i hope the main character is ok!!
I love this book sm, Constance Wu's story is so beautiful and raw— she accepts the experiences that have shaped her, whether they were initially difficult or positive— and looks after them with a certain fondness. Might be one of my favorite books now I dunno
Fiesta, at its heart, is an introspective look into the social life of the young yet aging expatriate in a wealthy postwar 20s. Pain is a major theme–from the passionate yet strained relationship between our main characters, to Brett's various romantic interests littered throughout her story, all of the characters experience pain on various different levels. It's a testament to the hopelessness that those who lived during the first world war felt, but also to their deep resilience and yearning for better life.
Hemingway writes in such a sharply beautiful yet cohesive way. His descriptions of the life and and atmosphere in both Pamplona and Paris are not only deeply immersive but also describe the thoughts of the characters. The scenes in the countryside of Spain were most beautiful to me, though I think the entirety of the novel is incredibly pretty in a way that I don't think I'll ever see again.
**
It was very hot and bright, and the houses looked sharply white. We turned out onto the Gran Via.
‘Oh, Jake,' Brett said, ‘we could have had such a damned good time together.'
Ahead was a mounted policeman in khaki directing traffic. He raised his baton. The car slowed suddenly, pressing Brett against me.
‘Yes.' I said. ‘Isn't it pretty to think so?'
(216)
I loved this anthology so so much! The beautiful intertwining between fanciful yet intelligent fantasy stories and strongly relevant and insightful essays was just a delight to absorb and read over and over again.
The stories in The Way Spring Arrives were all just so masterfully beautiful. Some made me cry, some made me deeply nostalgic, and a few had me in deep thought. The quality and brilliance of the stories only feeds my yearning to study eastern asian languages like Chinese and Japanese, to read what is obscure literature in the western world that would be otherwise out of my reach.
The Way Spring Arrives proved to be a delicious introduction for me to chinese fantasy and science fiction. The inclusion of anglospherically well known writers as translators and their deep knowledge of both chinese and english literature really helps bridge the gap between what is historically two well-alienated yet overflowing worlds of literature. I also appreciated the anthology's exclusivity of female and nonbinary writers. I think that the western world of literature has a lot to learn from this book and its publishing.
The Way Spring Arrives is definitely a book which I could read over and over again, and bring with me someday on a trip to some different world.
I really love the subtle references to chinese culture in this book, as well as the breathtaking worldbuilding and delicious art style!
the art style is like a soft ice cream on a warm summer day <3 each panel has so much detail and thought yet are so colorful and pretty! My dream artstyle frfr. oh and the story is cool too
an emotional and heartfelt (truly) memoir about growing up chinese american and plus the art style is so funny and feels very flowy? goals fr
Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun is a beautiful exploration of what it means to love. Through the eyes of Klara, I experienced an intimate coming of age; the inevitable separation of two childhood friends and their deep love for each other; and the solemn beauty of a person falling and getting back up again.
Kafka on the Shore is unlike any novel I've ever read. Murakami's incredible writing, his frequent shifts from melancholic poetry to absurdist realism, had me submerged in so many different emotions throughout. The dynamic between Kafka's world and Nakata's was also beautiful–though they and their respective supporting characters never meet, I felt as if they had known each other for a long, long time.
Murakami, through the various characters and their interactions, asks the question, “what do dreams and memories mean?” The philosophical aspect of the novel was deeply provocative, prompting me to question my own beliefs about my own self and the metaphysical. The conversations between Kafka and Oshima seemed more like Murakami asking me questions, offering answers, and contemplating over his own thoughts.
Kafka on the Shore has had a large impact on me. From the characters' perspectives on their everyday lives to the experiences which they find themselves going through, I've found myself thinking about the novel even while I wasn't reading it. Kafka on the Shore has certainly sparked a love for Murakami's writing, and I'm excited to read more of his work.
Thank you, Haruki Murakami, and Evynn <3
like nothing I've ever read before, but it is so so good I'm deciding between binging no. 2 and no. 3 or savoring it like the delicious feast it is
A painterly, beautiful, and mesmerizing journey of friendship and discovering one's self! Each of the panels are so funky, pretty, and almost trippy to a sense, I could stare at them for a long time
RAHHH it's so good I love the characters the world building and the writing are sublime! 10/10 would read again, favorite fantasy novel now (ps sabran and ead's relationship is so cute! love them)
I really enjoyed the large scope of this book in terms of timespan! Circe's journey is so expansive and yet powerful and fascinating. Also !! Madeline Miller is an amazing writer frfr, there are so many passages in this book that are just poetry
the story is heartbreaking yet at the same time hopeful and shows how the human spirit can endure and even thrive in the face of its darkest moments.
A visceral, raw, and deeply honest look into the lives of low-class southern Americans living in a dark 1950s South Carolina, Allison paints a reality that what seems like a conventional, tightly knit family has trudged through for countless generations. I have many mixed feelings about the writing of Allison and her intensely detailed depictions of Bone's experiences. It is incredibly important that often avoided issues such as sexual assault, domestic oppression, and classism are discussed more openly and without inaccuracy or misrepresentation. Efforts to censor or block such content are directly harming already narrow perceptions of what are very prominent, widely-affecting issues.
However, countless scenes in the novel deserve a strong content warning, and not every reader is in the right place to read Bastard out of Carolina. I believe that there definitely is also harm posed in reading sensitive content unaware. In this aspect, Allison unintentionally alienates a portion of her audience and also antagonizes her own self through their lens. In the environment of a university-level literature class, I observed varying degrees of discomfort among my peers regarding the content of this novel. Contrary to Allison's noble intentions, I felt as if many students may further disregard issues like sexual assault and connect them with feelings of uneasiness and embarrassment due to this.
In the end, Bastard out of Carolina is absolutely a literary milestone for not only the American social landscape but on a global scale as well. The censorship in schools which it faced upon its release only serves as a testament to that. As Allison explains herself, “that was what my book was about; telling a story that made sense of what did not make sense...[for] anyone who wanted to point to it and say “that's my story” (314). Bastard out of Carolina's ability to bring people out of the shadows and express their traumas and past experiences with beautiful rawness is in itself profoundly beautiful.
Allison explains the reasoning of ending the novel the sort of angry way she did in her afterword. “I can change so much; how people think about rape and child abuse, and working-class families and the nature of resilience, and even perhaps something about how love can both save us and not save us...” (319) I love this!!
“I am not an angel,” I asserted; “and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself.” ― Brontë, Jane Eyre
“Are not all [things] strange to those who stand outside of them?”