Montgomery Webster
Story: 7.0 / 10
Characters: 8.5
Setting: 7
Prose: 7.5
My second Murakami book. A friend insisted I give Murakami another try, that The Big Sheep Chase wasn't the best book of theirs to start with. You'll be happy to know that they were right. This book was much better. Overall, I enjoyed it very much.
You'll be saddened to hear that I'm still not going to read Murakami again. The story didn't get started until 30 - 55% of the way through the book. Wasting that many pages is unforgiveable.
DO NOT RECOMMEND MURAKAMI TO ME AGAIN...
Story: 5 / 10
Characters: 5
Setting: 5
Prose: 3
A strong concept, but with a poorly balanced plot. Half the book was spent setting up the story, leaving little space for a proper pace. In the end, the concept is the only thing to take away from this one...
Memory triggers: TV eyes, eternal public protests, reality TV
Took someone to the library to show them how to find books that they can read while learning English. This was exactly what I was looking for.
Sadly, the book was not that good. I generally do not like short stories though, so it is a bit hard to judge. The only really good part is the lessons it is trying to teach: if you cannot sleep, try again later; do things during the day when they are open. Very insightful.
This was my favorite “religious” book as a child. Should go back and read it one day, but life is so short...
I really liked the 1st half of the book, especially the train exercise. Here's what I wrote when I had to return the book to the library, “Probably the most important mental strength book you'll read in your lifetime. Improved my efficiency and life satisfaction exponentially. Hopefully you heard it here first.”
When I finally got access to the book again 3 - 12 months later, I read the highlights, and didn't like the rest of the book. Besides the train exercise, it is probably sufficient to contemplate the concept of “acceptance”. As the book says, life is suffering, and all the things you've struggled with continuously over the years aren't going away. Stop fighting them, and focus on the real work ahead.
Story: 7.5 / 10
Characters: 7.5
Setting: 9
Prose: 7.5
Tags: Human-robot romance, parenting, friends, becoming an adult, passion, direction, goals.
One of the best romance novels I've come across.
Story: 7.0 / 10
Characters: 7.0
Setting: 7.0
Prose: 7.0
Tags: Japan, love, obligation, other, race, ethnicity, war, tradition, career
Story: 3 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 7
Prose: 6
Another direction-less, terrible tale. The plot is entirely driven by arbitrary consequences. While some might find this structure poetic, most readers will be left wanting. Please stay away for this boring book.
Tags: Knife tattoos, dystopic cults, art after the apocalypse
I read 3 of the 14 short stories:
1. You Triflin' Skunk!
2. The Will
3. Dark Benediction
Dark Benediction was the only one I liked. I'm generally not a fan of short stories.
Absolutely worthless. The only illustrations the book includes are comics. However, images would be very useful to describe different postures to avoid.
My first biography.
I was looking for a history of Esperanto and chanced upon this biography. There was a lot of very detailed information that was not terribly interesting, such as correspondence letters with friends. Nevertheless, it was a good read. Not only did I learn about Esperanto' history through 1939, I was introduced to a new religion: the Baha'i faith. Since the book stops there, it is not a full history of Esperanto.
The best part is really the end. Obviously, fiction books are good at creating suspense. Since this is the true story of someone's life, the suspense is much more powerful and emotional. Have not felt that before..
This was not the scifi book I was looking for.
Just a poor, suspense drama. Found the style quite difficult as well. Luckily, Bester is mostly scifi and will try reading The Demolished Man next.
Absolutely fantastic biography of Dr. Low, an innovative neuropsychiatrist. The book shows the discovery of cognitive-behavioural therapy, though it does not specifically call it CBT. Dr. Low also tailored that technique for group therapy and the book shows how he created an international organisation to spread his technique, Recovery International.
I recommend this book for anyone interested in biographies.
Story: 2.5 / 10
Characters: 4
Setting: 6
Prose: 5.5
Themes: Autofiction, autobiographical fiction, numerology, safe sex, AIDS, writing, editing, celebrity, fame, exposure
My first Hungarian book. Not terribly good. Spent half its length setting up the story, which did not turn out to be very good besides.
Took very little away from this book, which is apparently about children with Nonverbal Learning Disorder. Not at all recommended for adults looking for more information.
The only thing that I learned from it was how it framed disorders in relation to one another. For example, a child's struggle with NLD can cause Depresssion, Anxiety, &c. Very interesting...
Story: 3 / 10
Characters: 9
Setting: 5
Prose: 7
I've decided to start breaking down my ratings better. Generally, story is the only element that matters, since literature is a storytelling medium. Thus, my regular rating focuses only on that. You can easily see from the rating breakdown that besides the story, this book was generally quite strong. A similar idea to the wolves in Vinge's Zones of Thought trilogy. Nevertheless, not recommended.
This was the only book my landlady (Dawn) had that sounded good. Actually, I knew it was probably the predecessor to the film “What's Your Number?”, which I remembered was an interesting story.
The book is markedly different, but just as funny. Truly, incredibly written and insightful. Definitely recommended.
