Marki
“I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”
Thank you, Maya Angelou. It is an honour being your daughter.
absolutely brilliant connection of dystopia, cautionary tle, sci-fi, lyricism and a bit of stream of consciousness. love love love ♥
It's incrdible this book was written when it was written. Adressing cleverly all of the bullshit that was told about women throughout history and disassembling all the excuses for and ways of misogyny. Hope this book gets more recognition, as it's the perfect predecessor for Brave New World or Handmaid's Tale.
+the atmosphere and writing are so beautiful
+historical detail
+quirky places
+Albie, Silas, PRB
+gorgeous cover
-the switching narrative didn't work that well
-the lovestory
-pacing
3,5*
4,5zvláštní kniha, která ale dává smysl a dobře zobrazuje témata, kterými se zaobírá. no a co, že někdo je spoko nemít partnera a jenom pracovat v sámošce. to, že keiko si u sebe doma nechá týpka, o kterým přemýšlí podobně jako o kočce, jenom aby ji okolí (nejlépe zobrazené snachou týpka “do toho mi nic není, ale *nevyžádané organizování života) dalo pokoj je zároveň vtipný a tragický. bonusové body za konec.
Doporučeno lidem, kterým se líbilo Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine
přidávám citaci od autorky: “I wanted to illustrate how odd the people who believe they are ordinary or normal are. They are the so-called normal people, but when you switch the direction of the camera, it is they who appear strange or odd.” velmi relatable pro mě jako někoho komu přijde “najdi si jednoho partnera do konce života, vezměte se a mějte děti a 9 to 5 job” jako to scifi.
I think it's important to know that this is a medical manual. It's written by two female medics and it shows - everything is about statistics and research, and that's okay, it contains relevant and useful info.
However one section that left a really bad aftertaste - side effects of hormonal contraception. This book presents itself as a feminist piece served to empower people with vaginas with knowledge and encourage them to not be ashamed of their experiences. And yet it tells the readers that side effects of contraception are basically dismissable, be glad you're not pregnant, and absolutely doubts and disvalidates any connection between hormonal contraception and mood swings/depression ending the speculation how whomever voiced their experience probably just thinks the mood changes are caused by the pills when it's something unrelated and they don't know. Silly women. Topped it all off, following a bunch of statistics, with the sentence “feelings are not facts” which to my liking echoes way too closely Ben Shapiro's carchphrase “Facts don't care about your feelings.”
Alsotries so hard to be progressive and inclusive, but often fails short. Mentions trans people, marks them as valid but then sticks to the labels like “female organs” and “female hormones” which was a bit disappointing. Pretty heterosexual even though sometimes the authors do remember queer women exist. Also occasional medical fatphobia. But a good purely medical scientific basis for vaginas & co.
Solid 3.5, I didn't expect anything super deep and academic and that's indeed what I got and I'm happy about discovering cool women I didn't know about and learning more about those I already knew. If you want to learn something new without it being too difficult, this is a book for you.
I was hesitating to pick up this book, because I didn't know if I'd enjoy a book, where the protagonist is in love with chemistry (silly, I know, but high school left its mark on me). Boy am I happy I decided to give it a shot!
The premise is fairly simple - Elizabeth Zott vs. the patriarchy and sexism of 1950s. Elizabeth is a chemist, she's unmarried and later has a child out of wedlock. She's direct, says exactly what she thinks and calls people out on their crap. Her refusal to play the game and stroke men's egos and patiently pretend she's not bothered by the discrimination and sexual harrassement is what costs her her opportunity to obtain a doctorate. When she becomes pregnant, she's given the sack. A new opportunity arises when she (after some hesitation) becomes the host of a new cooking show, where she decides to teach women some chemistry on the side and mainly their worth.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing is so good, it felt like nothing is just fluff. I especially applaud Bonnie Garmus on her chemistry/science lingo, since from what I gathered she herself is not a chemist. I feel like there was really good balance between the narrator's voice, which felt kind of snarky at times and it was amazing, and direct speech combined with looking into the character's point of view or their inner thoughts. The book is also funny and the humour is dry and kind of sassy, just like Elizabeth herself.
The characters were also super well written, none of them were flat and I think all of them were interesting - except for Calvin, who was kind of boring to me (sorry Calvin). I can see how Elizabeth could be annoying to some readers, but because the book has such strong feminist theme, she makes me feel connected to all the women before me who stood up for women's rights (and she is also shown supporting the civil right's movement), she just feels like an adopted ancestress. Her daughter is the “kid genius” kind of trope, but she still reads as a child and is likeable. I also appreciated that the men in the book have a variety of character and are not as despicable as Elizabeth's boss.
The only thing that was a bummer was the beginning - it takes a whole half of the book to get to the cooking show, which is presented as the main premise. I feel like the backstory of Elizabeth and Calvin dragged on a bit and I'd welcome if it were swifter. Also sometimes the role of Six-Thirty, Elizabeth's dog, seemed a bit off, can't quite say why. But except that I feel like the story was very well built, it included one of my favourite tropes, the found family. And the ending was splendid.
All in all, I really recommend!
Nechápu proč je tahle knížka tak populární.
Plusy: hezká obálka, zajimavej formát, z postav Simone a Karen.
Jinak protagonista a protagonistka jsou naprosto nesnesitelný sebestředný fracci, nezaznamenala jsem jedinej moment kdy by udělali něco kvůli čemu by mě mělo zajímat co s nima bude. Zbytek postav kromě Karen, Simone a Camily byl mdlej a lehko zamenitelnej. Když umřel Teddy už jsem si ani nepamatovala kdo to je. Při odhalení Velkého Plot twistu na konci v podstatě šlo jenom o nějakou dodatečnou informací, ale nepřišlo mi, že by to příběhu dodalo nějakou extra dimenzi. O romantizovani svazku mezi Camillou a Billym za použití tropu “rozumeji si tak hrozně moc že nemusí o ničem komunikovat a už vůbec ne o svých problémech” a “pro některé lidi se vyplatí Trpět” už ani nemluvím.
Tohle je prostě další věc ze série “Marki čte současné populární knihy a je úplně mimo proč je to taková senzace”.
A great echo of classical Gothic stories, I loved Noemí as a badass main character who still feels realistic and I'm excited to read more from Garcia and more Gothic tales
Masih is amazing. I hope to have at least a fraction of her spirit and determination
I was so ready to love this but it just didn't click with me like I thought it would and sometimes it was way too slow-paced
Oh god I loved this.
This book is like getting to know a person. And I truly couldn't stand Eleanor at the beginning, but then you kinda uncover why she is the way she is and start to empathise with her. It's about the safety of routines, rationalising, importance of friendship (bless Raymond honestly), how little things can change your life, acceptance, therapy and change.
This is a book for anybody who has experience with family trauma or trauma in general or is patient enough to get to know a person stuck with their own demons, unknowingly. She is after all, completely fine.
4,5⭐
A marvellous tale of dealing with change, connection between living creatures and pushing through hard times with a very special protagonist.
First of all. An octopus as one of the main characters AND chapters from his POV? I was so excited when I read the first one from Marcellus's point of view in first person. I love this book just for that concept and giving Marcellus an actual voice of his own.
The characters were nicely fleshed out and diverse, at least considering ages and lifepaths. I apprecited all of them, I liked reading the stories of older people like Tove and Ethan,but I especially Aunt Jeanne, the sailor-mouthed old lady still getting some and I wish we would've seen more of her.
The plot was nicely balanced between the mystery and the inner workings and struggles of Tove and Cameron especially.
I read this in one day and I recommend it wholeheartedly. Dive deep into the story if you happen to swim across it :)
Moc pěkně a rychle se čte, obsahuje důležité postřehy ohledně populismu a historie i přítomnosti mentality českého národa a politiky.
3,5*
I kinda got what this book was trying to do, by the formatting and language at least. But I didn't really get it story wise.
I liked the vibes and the more postmodern form, but I really had to push myself to finish it and this book is really short!
Well, wanted to read it because of Women's Prize and I did! Have to decide if I'll keep it or sell it.
Pros: The way this books reads like a classical novel (which is something Clarke know very well how to do), the language is so pretty.
The setting of the House has its charm - freely flowing water, thousands of statues, star constellation named Good mother, the Lamppost, the Rose; fish and clams and an octopus.
I liked the protagonist - he is trusting, practical, kind, curious and in general I feel like he embodies the good in human nature.
The plot and the way it unravels and is reflected in the language.
Cons: I'd love more lore! Not that this is necessarily a flaw but I'm sure I'm not the only one who is left wondering about a lot.
