Writing style.
I am down for any book, as long as the author can play with the language. It can be long winded as Wallace, or poignant like Vonnegut, or poetic and soft like Haruf, or dry and almost scientific like Asimov, or logic bending like Pratchett, but all these authors can use language like an instrument. This property doesn’t make a book easy to read, but makes it most definitely worth my while.
It is! I also find unsettling how human-like the cast looks, both with the eye and the position of the elbows…
I started Blood Meridian by McCarthy. It was a Christmas gift from an American friend. I had never heard about it before then, and I went into it more or less blind. It’s a much bleaker read than I was expecting, but the language is keeping me hooked: it has been a while since last time I had to check the meaning of an English word, and this me taught me plenty.
On the side, I’m reading a German young adult romance novel to learn better German. It’s a light read, to nicely compensate and lift my spirits a bit.
From an academic level, he stands aside, presenting himself as and taking pride in being a “poet maudit”, a cursed poet. So his themes are very peculiar. But he also has a really good classical education, thus he builds very balanced verses, while often playing with the musicality of words.
For me, very personally, it sounds so incredibly good while being almost over the top dark and tortured. I love the contrast that creates.
The poem I particularly like is the one he chose as introduction of his works. It’s alluring, while alluding to the future corruption. I imagine it to be the call of a new drug.
A problem with poetry is that it cannot be translated, so I’ll refer the originals:
- Correspondences by Baudelaire (what do you get if you mix many drugs in the French noble 1800s)
- The Road not taken by Frost (every choice has a consequence)
- Invictus by Henley (the power of the will and the soul)
- Non chiederci la parola by Montale (the impossibility of knowing)
As an Italian, I’m most definitely biased, but the Divine Comedy, and mostly the Inferno, are worth a read if you are willing to read the notes (all the historical references are near-impossible to understand otherwise). Some sections are romantic, some politic/religious/esoteric, some epic, a couple really fun. There is a bit for everyone. The Paradise becomes more serious, concentrating most on religion and politics, and I found it less exciting.
Lol! My mum still asks both me and my husband (“techy” jobs according to her) to solve all her problems with computers/printers/ the internet at large/ any app that doesn’t work… the list is endless. I take it as a statement of how proud she is of me that she would still ask us first, even if we haven’t succeeded in fixing a single issue since the time the problem was an old cartridge in the printer some 5-6 years ago.
I think the Tiffany Aching quadrilogy is also great, a bit apart in the discoworld, sweeter and less irreverent.
I walked into a random bookstore and got advised to read “Rossignol” by Audrey Pleynet. As far as I know it has only been published in French, but I hope this is going to change.
It’s a short read, but absolutely amazing. A woman is on the run, and mixes memories of her past in a futuristic space station to flashes of her escape. Only slowly do all the pieces fall together, creating a tale with many emotions, strange characters and glimpses of a lively mixed station where all are welcome, but where tensions between groups are rising.
I loved it for the deep characterization of the main character, while all others are just fast drafts. I loved it for the sci-fi and the politics and the action.
I started it yesterday and already finished it.
Thanks for the extra info. In the meantime I finished the book, so I have a better outlook. At the beginning, the push is towards a revolution against the authoritarian regime, with some sprinkles of “workers unite”, so I expected to go more towards socialism. Then it becomes more clear that he is against all a d any government, even while accepting that it can’t work. Quite interesting overall!
Me too! I haven’t read the second one because I don’t want to invest too much in a series that doesn’t go anywhere (yet?). But as soon as number 3 comes out, I’ll read all of them.
I am reading “The moon is a harsh mistress” by Heinlein. It’s the first time i read him in the original language, and it’s glorious! He talks about a moon uprising against the earth government. The book reads a bit like a battle diary, at times quite dry. The part I love the most is how he plays with so many political and ethical concepts, like completely supporting prostitution. His extreme left tendencies are not hidden in this book. I’m enjoying it a lot!
I couldn’t finish Dead Souls. It’s supposed to be hilarious, but i just did not get it. How do you like it so far?
Yeah, I’m a competitive person by nature and I have to force myself to not keep track of how much I read. It’s silly, I like reading, I see no added benefits to reading “more”, I’d rather read more interesting things, even if slower. But if I keep too much track of my Goodreads account, I start competing with myself from last year and… it makes no sense! But little numbers growing is such a primal push.
Not necessarily literal winter, but when i need something cozy and comforting, maybe somewhat meditative, I always turn towards The Lord of the Rings. All the characters are so pure, and simple, the story is pretty, beautiful and calming, the evil so obviously evil. And the language, while maybe dry, is soothing and takes a lot from oral tales. It all makes for a comfort read.
I loved that episode ! One of the few I watched multiple times (together with the zombie apocalypse)
Wow, that’s great news! Thanks for sharing! I read my father’s version, so definitely older than 1991.
I just started reading The Moon is a harsh Mistress, I’m hope it keeps up with the hype.
I randomly picked up “On”, an old sci-fi book I never heard of. While reading, I understand why it got lost in the mists of time, but it’s an okay read with an interesting idea: what if gravity went sideways?
You are not! Books are not time bound! How are you liking it?
I have just finished “Stolen Focus”, all in all an enjoyable and relatively informative read on the key ingredients of attention and why we struggle with it nowadays. While some parts were unexpected, and the topic was fairly deeply researched, i still felt like i already knew a bit part of what he talks about. Okay book, would not recommend unless you are really into TedTalks.
I also read “A Little Life”: American slice of life. This might be the book with the longest list of trigger warnings that I have read, easily rivaling Berserk (the manga), and it’s absolutely worth it. It has some pitfalls (namely, everything is a little extreme), but the psychological characterization of the characters is gut punching and reminds me of the best of Victor Hugo and Dostoyevsky. Fullheartedly recommend to anyone that can stomach written violence on many forms.
Now I’m here looking for inspiration on my next read.
Overview: 3.5/5 stars
This book talks about difficult themes in the history of Africa and then US, centered around discrimination and exploitation. The book follows a variety if people along the last three centuries that dealt with various elements of discrimination, with slavery being a central theme.
While the topic in interesting, the writing style felt mostly flat to me. The characters were human, but it felt most of them were objects of their own lives instead of subjects. It seems they suffered not only from the outside world but also a lack of inner development. That was true not only of the characters that had limited to no agency, but also of the ones that had freedom and took revolutionary actions: they all felt limited and fairly unengaging.
From the more academic perspective, it gives glimpses of philosophical debates in the history of African Americans. This was the but I personally enjoyed the most.
All in all, an okay book about an interesting and well-researched topic.
I’m looking for a book that would explain the ideologies that played into the creation and development of the European Union. I’m less interested in the practicalities. Do you have a suggestion?
My kid is crawling all over the place and learning to stand. He is little less than a year. What are some games I can start playing with him? What games did you play with your little one?
No spoilers here, but there will be spoilers in the comments
As the third book of the Locked Tomb quadrilogy, Nona the Ninth is wild. What do you think of it? And what do you think the ending means?
Politically, Napoleon divides the history of Europe in “before” and “after”. He grabbed the power in France after the Revolution with such skills that he had virtually no opposition. From there he conquered everything, from Egypt, to Russia and Spain. His fall was equally momentous. And then he did it again, leaving everyone confused and the political board of Europe forever reshuffled.
Victor Hugo is a man of that time, trying to make sense of all of this turmoil while mainly talking about people and their inner worlds. In Les Misérables he concentrated on the lowest of the low, poor people making bad choices.
At the time, it was believed that crimes had to be punished, but there was no hope for the criminal to be reinstated into society as a fully functioning member. Hugo makes the opposite claim: criminals are just good people in bad situations. And he talks about them.
While the length can scare readers off, I would encourage anyone to start it. Every page is a little masterpiece of human perception and empathy, with an author taking his time to fully build up not only stages but also souls.
By this I mean, a book you had to brace yourself to read, and you feel proud for having read. Did you enjoy the process of reading it?
Is it interesting characters? Or believable motivations? Maybe writing style? Is the world building?
And how likely are you to enjoy a book that doesn’t fit your own criteria?
A bit criticism to the Silmarillion is that the style is very dry and the plot is disconnected.
This is by design. The Silmarillion wanted to be the creating work of the UK mythology. As such, it mimicked the style of other mythological sagas: the Mabinogion most notably, the minor Homer, the Eddas. Part of the idea is to create a shared well-know scene from which other authors can draw to set their own works.
In some ways, it was incredibly successful: nowadays it’s impossible to talk about Elfs without referencing Tolkien’s in some ways.
I read Plainsong by Haruf some two years ago, and I was immediately enamored with it. All characters are so easily relatable and the whole story unfolds along a sweet melody. While bad and sad things happen, you still feel lulled by the background song and you know things are going to get solved. For any fan of “slice of life” and small stories.