This book was a refreshing surprise. I’ve read quite a few books that bored me recently, whether it was because they came off as terribly pretentious This book was a refreshing surprise. I’ve read quite a few books that bored me recently, whether it was because they came off as terribly pretentious or had un-interesting characters, so finding a simple but very human story, written without any frills or snooty artistic statement, was unexpectedly delightful – even when the story got crushingly sad.
“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” is about friendship, love, video games and the way all those things get tangled up in our messy lives.
Sadie first meets Sam at the hospital: she is visiting her sister who is undergoing treatment for leukemia, and Sam is recovering from a severe foot injury sustained during a car accident. He hasn’t spoken to anyone since the accident, but when Sadie sits next to him in the game room as he plays Mario Bros, he begins to finally open up. But as friendships do, this one takes a sudden turn and Sadie and Sam won’t speak to each other for years. They bump into each other in a T-station in Boston and reconnect when Sadie hands Sam a game she has been working on; he plays it with his roommate Marx and suddenly knows that the only thing he cares about doing now, is making a game with Sadie. They embark on this project with Marx as their producer, and Sadie’s mentor as support, and at first it seems like a dream come true. But nothing is ever really that simple or static.
This novel is full of little insightful sentences that I couldn’t help but take a few seconds to underline, because they really captured truths I had experienced first-hand, or seen from very close, but not often encountered put into words in books. I know Sadie irritated some people, and with reasons; she does make a lot of rash and often irrational decisions, but while I would not want to hang out with her in real life, I really felt for her. She was so finely and realistically drawn, very human, very contrary: I have known Sadies, and the best you can do about them is give them a hug, they need it. I was actually much more annoyed with Sam, though just like Sadie, he is only really guilty of failing to communicate adequately. I also enjoyed the non-linear way the story was told, unfolding on how small moments have long-term impacts on people’s lives, how small details can turn lives around so dramatically – even when you don’t realize it right away
Other reviews mention that you do not need to know much about video games to enjoy this book; I am not a gamer, and if anything, I appreciated the details in which they explore the way games are created from scratch, because I really had no idea how this process worked at all. I do wonder how someone who actually knows games very well would enjoy the book, or if they would find it tedious. But the video game aspect is actually not the real focus here: what this book is about is the bond between people who care for each other, how that changes and evolves with time and experience – and what truly loving someone is about. It’s not romantic, if anything, it’s often quite tragic and difficult. But that’s life, I guess! I really appreciated that these characters were unpredictable, confused and infuriating, because that’s much more honest than what I am used to seeing in books about girl-meets-boy.
A fun, moving, off-beat book, with a lot of heart....more
Early in this fantastic introduction to existentialism/historical biography of it’s most prominent thinkers, Bakewell mentions that for a while, existEarly in this fantastic introduction to existentialism/historical biography of it’s most prominent thinkers, Bakewell mentions that for a while, existentialism had fallen out of fashion with academics. This gave me pause. I struggled to remember if one of our many philosophy professors had covered the existentialists when my bestie and I were in college – I couldn’t remember any of them every mentioning it. I checked with her, because she is my second brain, and she confirmed that I am not senile, and that over the course of our 2-year Liberal Arts degree, the entire existentialist movement had been gracefully glossed over by the faculty. Before I fell in love with Simone de Beauvoir a couple of years ago (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), all I had ever known about her, Sartre and Camus had been learned pillaging my mother’s library, and not at all from an academic context. But I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with Bakewell: while the existentialists were put on the shelf for a while, I find their history and their thinking more relevant than ever, and well-worth exploring – or re-exploring!
“At the Existentialist Café” is one of those fantastic non-fiction book that is so well-written that it proves hard to put down, that explains complicated events and ways of thinking in simple terms yet does not talk down to the reader who may not be a phenomenology expert, and where the obvious love the author has for her subject does not make her forget it's darker facets.
Most people know the names of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Pointy and Martin Heiddeger, but not much about their lives, their ideas and their impact on culture. Sarah Bakewell discovered Sartre’s fiction as a teenager, and has clearly never fallen out of love with existentialism. With wit and compassion, she puts the philosophers in their social and historical context to illustrate how they came to develop their philosophy and how the course of history, especially World War II, influenced their thinking and their work. The biographies are not deep dives, but go a long way to make the work easier to relate to and make sense of.
Bakewell is also quite honest about her subjects’ ambiguities, contradictions and struggles to apply their philosophic principles to their lives as honestly as possible – which obviously opened the doors to may conflicts, fights and serious falling outs between them. But as she points out herself, people are often more interesting than idea, and these people were exceptionally interesting, partially because of their flaws.
As mentioned previously, I think that Bakewell is right to argue that the existentialists’ emphasis of authenticity and freedom are issues that concern us now more than ever, in the hyper-connected yet bizarrely shallow world we live in. But I also understand how mis-understandings and clichés have been factors that put the entire movement out of fashion in the 1990s and early 2000s. I feel like those years were less cynical, less morally confusing and less dangerous than the point we are at now, and that it must have felt like a bummer to think about being in bad faith and being responsible for one’s existence at a point where we were just excited about the new millennium.
To me, this is a fascinating subject, and I find significant overlaps between existentialism and many aspects of Zen Buddhism (both of which can be described as philosophies of action), and also with the ideas behind what one might call "punk philosophy" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0w4O...).
Reading this made me shift “Nausea”, “The Mandarins” and “The Second Sex” a little closer to the top of my pile, and appreciate the Beauvoir and Camus books I’ve gobbled up over the past few years even more. If you have ever felt hazy about what existentialism is about, or if you are simply interested in the lives of Beauvoir, Sartre and their colleagues, I can’t recommend this book enough....more
What a strange and delightful book this is! I was fairly confident that after “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell”, Susanna Clarke would write somethingWhat a strange and delightful book this is! I was fairly confident that after “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell”, Susanna Clarke would write something wonderful, unexpected and magical, and she did not disappoint.
It’s the kind of book that is better cracked open with as little knowledge of the story as possible: you just have to take a deep breath, dive in and trust that Ms. Clarke know what she is doing, but I’ll still give a quick summary. A man who goes by the name of Piranesi lives in a labyrinthine house made of endless halls, corridors and rooms, filled with beautiful statues. The tides of the ocean flood the lower section of that house, and Piranesi gets his sustenance from the water. His only company are birds, the skeletons of people he assumes were previous occupants of the house, and a man he calls the Other, who visits him from time to time. But once day, the peace of this existence is broken when another person begins visiting the house, making Piranesi doubt that things are quite as he believes them to be.
The story of this lonely and quiet man unravels in a way that makes it very hard to put the book down: you simply need to know what’s around the corner for Piranesi. I’m sure one could spend ages taking this book apart and see it as metaphor for the loss of innocence, but I think it would be a mistake to overthink this one: it is a book you have to immerse yourself in like a warm bubble bath and let it do its thing. It struck me as having the same spirit as John Crowley’s “Little Big” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) but more readable.
4 and a half stars, because I still like “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” better, but still and amazing, contemplative work of fantasy that is not to be missed....more
The title is a bit misleading, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. This book is really about Wright wanting you to know why he thinks secular Buddhism mThe title is a bit misleading, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. This book is really about Wright wanting you to know why he thinks secular Buddhism makes sense, and why mindfulness meditation is good for you. Wright goes with the basic idea that suffering is caused by our desires, and that our desires are caused by our illusory perception of reality. Buddhist practice aims to bring people out of that state of delusion and suffering, but Wright wanted to know, very practically, how that works. How does keeping the mind still and counting your breath while sitting in front of a wall make things clearer? He uses evolutionary biology and neuropsychology to dig at that question, and I must say that he comes up with very interesting explanations.
I have read plenty about the overlaps of Buddhism and psychology and physics, but the evolutionary biology is a new perspective I hadn’t dwelled on before, I found the information provided by Wright fascinating. Biology, after all, affects our behavior, and the way Wright connects it to the Teachings makes an awful lot of sense. As does the way he explains the role of our conscious mind and the way our emotions often end up taking the wheel.
I liked the passages on fundamental attribution error, as this is something I try to remain very aware of; it goes back to the axiom of grandmotherly wisdom that you should be nice with everyone because you never know their story, and their rudeness might have nothing to do with you, but be part of a greater context you have no knowledge of. Cheesy, but nevertheless important to remember when faced with difficult people.
This book is written in a very accessible, conversational tone, and quite relatable to anyone who first came across Buddhism in the Western world. To anyone who isn’t familiar with the practice and philosophy, it is a clear book on how it all works, but it doesn’t contain any sutras, or anything like that. This is really a purely practical work on how the mind and brain work to defuse harmful habits and behavior when we engage in regular meditation practice.
There is no mysticism or superstition in this book, which I appreciate greatly, as it can be a really helpful resource even for the biggest skeptics. You don’t have to believe in anything supernatural to understand what Wright is saying, nor to understand how meditation works and its effects. I was practicing cognitive behavioral therapy, as recommended by a mental health professional, for a long time before I started practicing zazen; it has been a very important tool for dealing with anxiety, anger, self-confidence and abandonment issues, and when I started getting serious in my Zen practice, the parallels were quite obvious right away. But I was also aware that they had different goals: the first one was to help me function in my daily life without getting paralyzed by the tricks my mind was playing on me, and the second was about reaching a very different kind of clarity. While there are similarities between CBT and zazen, it’s crucial to remember that they do not have the same purpose. I am not 100% on board with blurring the lines between therapy and spiritual practices, even when they feel very similar – which is really the main bone I have to pick with this book. Mindfulness meditation is great tool, but Buddhism is not therapy and should not be sold as such.
I can see how it could have felt very fluffy to some people, but I really think this was meant as an introduction to Buddhist ideas: there are plenty of other books with which one can deepen their understanding of Buddhist philosophy, practice and history. Anyone curious as to how their brain works while they meditate will find this interesting, if occasionally a bit irritating....more
Last book of the year!! Thank you so much, Becky Chambers, for providing me with the sci-fi comfort my heart and brain needed.
I don't Re-read in 2023:
Last book of the year!! Thank you so much, Becky Chambers, for providing me with the sci-fi comfort my heart and brain needed.
I don't think I had noticed this the first time I read this book, but this time around, I was struck with the emphasis Chambers put on some professions that aren't often discussed - in real life and in the realm of science-fiction: morticians and archivists (Véro, this is definitely the "Wayfarer" book for you!). But more precisely, I was struck with the relationship between Eyas, our (for lack of a better word) space-mortician, whose job is it to handle dead bodies, funeral ceremonies and subsequent "recycling" of the remains into compost, and Sunny, the host (i.e. sex worker) she befriends. Chambers talks about both of their professions with incredible respect and dignity, and I loved it. The two lines of work are often met with tons of prejudices and are deeply misunderstood, and it's lovely to see her bring her heart-warming humane touch to those jobs. I would have loved to see more of their relationship.
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I just love Becky Chambers. There's no way around it: she writes the kind of sci-fi I've always wanted to read. She writes the kind of sci-fi I wish I had written! "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) was probably my favorite book of 2017, and I have been eagerly anticipating new "Wayfarer" installments since.
"Record of a Spaceborn Few" starts out shortly after the end of "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet"; but the setting couldn't be more different. After the Earth was rendered uninhabitable, humans built the Exodus Fleet and left their home planet in search of a new place to live. While they were eventually accepted as part of the Galactic Commons and settled small colonies on a few planets, a community of humans remains on the fleet. Known as Exodans, they cherish their traditions and are fiercely loyal to their way of life. But over time, so many have left the Fleet, to settle on other worlds, live different lives. Are the Exodans fated to eventually vanish? How can they insure no one forgets where they came from and how hard they worked to get there? The Exodans are confronted head-on with these questions when a tragic incident kills a significant number of their community.
Just as in Chambers' first book, the story is told by multiple points of view, painting a rich and multilayered picture of what life is like in this universe. She writes with profound compassion and optimist humor; qualities I hunger for insatiably. Her inclusive approach to character development never feels forced: in her head, people have simply gotten to the point where they understand that being open and accepting is the only way to make sure we all survive whatever we have to face.
In Chambers' vivid and flawless world-building, humans were essentially refugees, tolerated by the Galactic Commons and only recently been made an integral part of its community: in many ways, they are still figuring it out, and dealing with a heavy heritage. Some of the characters in this story were born on the Fleet, and for a myriad reasons, want to protect and help it endure... or they begin to wonder if it really is the place for them. A newcomer and an alien academic have a very different interest in this living relic of Human culture: can it be a home? What can their culture learn form it? Their voices are distinct, their personalities and backstory very fleshed out; you get invested in each story line.
"Record of a Spaceborn Few" is engaging, moving and thought-provoking: it's Chambers' most human-centric work yet, and it is a remarkable exploration of what an uprooted humanity - who still hold on to what makes them unique in this big, diverse and complicated universe they travel through - could be like. She has given us consistently amazing space operas for the last few years and I hope she never stops! I can't recommend her books enough. If you are a fan of the series, you cannot miss this wonderful novel....more
DO NOT read this review if you are planning on reading "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet" and haven't gotten around to it: there's kind of a majoDO NOT read this review if you are planning on reading "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet" and haven't gotten around to it: there's kind of a major spoiler in the opening on "A Closed and Common Orbit".
Chambers' second book opens very soon after the rather thrilling conclusion of "Angry Planet". Following the catastrophic damage inflicted in her system, Lovey, the Wayfarer's AI, was rebooted, erasing her memory of the personality she had developed over her time on the ship. She abruptly decides to do what her socialized version had wanted: download her "consciousness" inside a "kit", a near perfect replica of a human body that allows her not only to leave the Wayfarer but also to pass as a biological being. Unfortunately, such kits are highly illegal in the Galactic Commons, and anyone involved with them can be sentenced to long prison terms.
Lovey's adaptation from being an omnipresent AI with eyes and ears all over the ship and a permanent connection to a huge information network... to a self-contained being who's sensory input is limited by her human-shaped kit's perception capacity is quite a roller-coaster. Luckily for her, Pepper the spunky engineer is there to help her adapt and learn to pass as human. Pepper is the perfect teacher and friend for Lovey (or Sidra, as she chooses to call herself), because she knows first hand what its like to be ripped away from the only world you have ever known and forced to quickly adapt to an alien (no pun intended) environment. Before she was Pepper, she was Jane 23, one of hundreds of slaves scrap salvagers; she had never seen the sky, or any being that hadn't been genetically engineered like herself, for that matter. Until the day she escaped.
What Chambers started with "Angry Planet" continues seamlessly in "Common Orbit": a clever, complex, fully realized world-building filled with wonderful, multi-dimensional characters. It also follows the template of a space-opera: a characters-driven story that happens to take place of Port Coriol, a space-travel and commercial hub. Two characters instead of an ensemble this time, and while I missed Kizzy and Doctor Chef, the new players brought to this universe's stage are just as memorable.
The way Sidra perceives the world around her and learns to navigate it is so cleverly described, as are the strange new feelings she must learn to deal with. Her being overwhelmed by people, sounds - basically sensory overload - is an unexpected but when you think about it, normal side-effect of her condition: having a finite body.
Pepper is a character that we only meet quickly in "Angry Planet", but her background is fleshed out in flashbacks that alternate with the current timeline of Sidra's assimilation into society. Chambers has created a strong and yet incredibly vulnerable character with Pepper, and young girl who was raised by machines and who somehow came out of this strange education being more human than most.
Parenting, racism, sexuality, colonialism: Chambers uses sci-fi the old-fashioned way, to talk about real-world issues in a different context, and while she tackles firmly contemporary topics (gender identity is the first that comes to mind), I loved seeing Le Guin, Silverberg and Heinlein's influence come to the surface.
Call me a sap, but something about Chambers' stories moves me: the woman writes with such compassion, humanity and kindness, as well as humor. I read "Common Orbit" while vacationing at my in-law's cottage by Lake Ontario, looking at the waves and eating Ginger-Os and you know what? This book is like Ginger-Os: unexpected, delicious, comforting, familiar and yet completely refreshing. Dear Becky: please write many more of these! I love your books to bits!...more
Now THIS is why I read speculative fiction. To have my mind blown by very intelligent stories that do not underestimate the reader and that force my bNow THIS is why I read speculative fiction. To have my mind blown by very intelligent stories that do not underestimate the reader and that force my brain to venture somewhere it doesn’t usually go. I love stories that blend themes you do not expect to work well together: when an author has the skill to mix ideas like the nature of language and time, math and theology and human perception, I’m a very happy reader indeed!
This collection by Ted Chiang had been on my radar for a while. I have only started enjoying short stories over the past couple of years. I used to get annoyed with the format, always wishing the stories would be longer so I could sink my teeth in them and explore the world a bit more deeply. But now I appreciate that a well-executed short story is like a perfect little hors d’oeuvre: it’s just one or two bites but it surprises and delights you.
Here is a short summary of my favorites:
“The Tower of Babylon” follows a builder hired to work on the famous pillar to Heaven. The workers have reached the “vault” of the sky and must now dig upwards in order to continue building. I love revisited Biblical stories, especially when they are about human intelligence and ingenuity as opposed to supernatural events, and this story pays more homage to the engineers, architects and builders of Antiquity’s great monuments than to the Divine per se. It felt to me like a newly discovered Scheherazade story.
"Understand" follows an idea similar to the one in Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon": a man is given an intelligence-enhancing hormones, but the similarity to the classic story ends there. He begins to identify patterns with remarkable speed, and his self-awareness becomes extreme. Hiding from the CIA, which he is convinced is looking for him, he begins to work on reaching what he describes as a rational enlightenment. But then he gets in touch with another person who has also been given the hormone, but who has been putting the changes to use in a very different way. It's hard to reflect on this one without spoilers, but it opens a fascinating line of thought about intelligence and compassion.
"Division by Zero" is about a mathematician who creates an equation that essentially invalidates mathematics as a whole, and subsequently goes insane, as she has just disproved the validity of her life's work. This isn’t a favorite per se, but it is still very thought-provoking and interesting.
"Stories of Your Life" is the short story the movie "Arrival" was based on (thoughts about the movie at the end*). It is a mind-blowing, intricately woven story about the nature of language, free will and time, with wondrous and bittersweet implications. A strange race of aliens makes contact with humanity; Louise Banks is a linguist selected by the feds to try and establish clear communication with them. They figure out that those aliens have two different languages, one spoken and one written, which implies and entirely different way of thinking about things and perceiving reality. As Louise becomes more and more adept at the written form of the alien language, she begins to understand her own life in a new way. I loved this story, for it's deeply human complexity and interesting reflections on linear time... and parenthood. Now I want to re-read "Embassytown". Incredible.
"Seventy Two Letters" is a steampunk exploration of the power of names, and the way automation and artificial intelligence has changed economy and the work force. In this alternate version of Victorian London, scientists have come to the conclusion that the human race will become extinct in a handful of generations, and decide to find a way to create humans in a steampunk version of what we'd call in vitro. This leads to both great and terrible possibilities, including the prospect of a eugenic manipulation of who can and cannot have children. Chiang uses this fable as a stylish reflection on science and technology used without moral barometers, or with barometers set in the wrong direction. It has many interesting ideas, but could have used some fleshing out.
"Hell is the Absence of God" is a lot to unpack, and it's probably my favorite of the collection – ex aequo with the title story. In the world of this novella, angelic visitations are a frequent occurrence, which often results in miracles and revelations, but also deaths and tragedies. The story focuses on how 3 people react to the results of such visitation. Neil lost his wife, who was what made him feel good about both life and God, and he is now angry, and desperate to find a way to be reunited with her in heaven. Janice was born with flippers where her legs should have been as the result of a visitation witnessed by her mother; but a subsequent visitation miraculously restored her legs and she now struggles to make sense of her situation. And finally, Ethan is a very devout man whose faith has always lacked a specific focus. After her legs are restored, he gets in touch with Janice in the hopes that talking to her will help him find a perspective with which to align his devotion. I love stories that speculate about Biblical stories being literal reality people must cope with. The idea of a specific set of rules that determines what happens to you if you adhere to them has always stuck me as entirely discounting the messy and imperfect world we live in, not to mention the sliding scale of human intent – and blind obedience of those rules has a tendency to create more complications than ignoring them. Chiang touches on faith, grief, humanism, the ineffability of the divine as a concept… As I said, a lot to unpack! It reminded me of Neil Gaiman's short story "Murder Mysteries" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...).
“Liking What You See: A Documentary” is a fascinating reflection of the way people judge each other based on appearances and attractiveness. Calliagnosia is a neural modification which makes the person who underwent the procedure incapable of perceiving attractiveness in others. The final story of the collection is a transcribed documentary, explaining how scientists came to identify the neurological pathways that led to perception of aesthetic beauty and found a way to block it in people, effectively creating groups of people who would never discriminate based on the attractiveness of the people they interacted with. A few months ago, I came across an article discussing the notion of attractiveness as a privilege, in the same way that race or gender can be a privilege. I think it definitely can be, and the pressure of looking good can have such nasty effects on people. We tell people how they look doesn’t matter all the time, but has there ever been a bigger lie? This story tackles the consequences of making that lie a reality, in a brilliant, subversive thought experiment. The documentary transcript format usually annoys me, but in this case, it's perfect to illustrate the subject matter effectively.
In short, any lover of speculative fiction ought to read this little collection. They are impressive, intricate, thought-provoking, emotional yet not sentimental, and rooted in rationality without being dry. Chiang truly is a master of the short story. 5 stars, even if one disappointing story and a couple of weaker ones keep this collection from being flawless. Read it anyway!
*I watched “Arrival” soon after it came out, and despite my not finding it perfect (I don’t think I’ll ever like Amy Adams in anything), it still vastly exceeded my expectations – but then, I should know better than to doubt Denis Villeneuve’s ability to make awesome movies. It was the kind of very cerebral sci-fi I live for, focusing the idea of first contact on something much more existential than simply shooting at aliens (or have them shoot at us). The short story is structured around a dual narrative, which isn't how the film goes, and I must say I preferred the short story's approach, which is more consistent with the theme. Still absolutely worth watching!...more
4 and a half stars, rounded up. This is a novel about the good intentions that pave the road to Hell…
Greene’s prose is truly beautiful, simple yet ele4 and a half stars, rounded up. This is a novel about the good intentions that pave the road to Hell…
Greene’s prose is truly beautiful, simple yet elegant, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how eerie it was that he penned this novel in 1955, making it more than a bit prophetic: it could be looked at either as a strange love triangle, or as a metaphor for the way naïve, well-meaning Americans clumsily try to help out people they perceive as less privileged or sophisticated than them – and wreck everything in the process.
Post-WWII Britain was on the decline: exhausted, struggling (and failing) to keep its various colonies in check, not sure how to really find its place in the 20th century; as where post-WWII ‘Murica was triumphantly buoyed by its newly acquired image as liberators of the oppressed. They had just saved the day in Europe, right? They could go around and do that everywhere now! Woohoo!
Alden Pyle is an enthusiastic, ambitious but misguided young CIA operative, who’s learned everything he knows about Viet-Nam and what’s going on there in books. Thomas Fowler is a cynical, world-weary, opium-smoking British journalist who has worked as a war correspondent based in Viet-Nam for years. He befriends the eager and idealistic Pyle – an odd friendship if there ever was one, as they both view the country they find themselves in very differently. This is illustrated by the way they see and treat Phuong, Fowler’s much younger Vietnamese mistress. Phuong is in many ways like a pet to Fowler: he is very fond of her, wants to take care of her and protect her, but he mostly keeps her around because he’s lonely and probably fears dying alone. To Pyle, she’s an exotic beauty in need of rescue, and in his mind, nothing could make her happier than becoming the wife of an American and relocating to the Land of the Free.
I found myself wondering: who the Hell is this woman, anyway? Cuz neither one of these guys see her for what she really is. And since this story is told from Fowler’s point of view, we never get to know either! Is she really being used by Fowler, or does she know exactly what she’s doing? Does she really prefer Pyle to him, or is she just doing what’s in her best self-interest? Is she playing those two men, who both objectify and underestimate her in different ways, against each other?
Her lack of development was the only thing that irked me with this book: aside from that, it's a nearly perfect novel, beautifully constructed and cleverly paced. I read “The End of the Affair” years ago, and to be honest, I forgot almost everything about it besides the broad strokes of the story and a distinct feeling that while I had enjoyed the prose, the story irritated me insufferably (and yet I gave it 4 stars? I’ll have to revisit it and clear this up…). Probably because of the Catholic thing making everyone miserable. Or because I am so over the theme of obsessive love/lust. I was very relieved to find “The Quiet American” a much richer and more sophisticated story, and while the characters can be pathetic at times, they are not as infuriating as Bendrix and Sarah were.
A quick but wonderful read. Highly recommended!...more
I’m struggling to review this. Not because I didn’t like it, on the contrary, I really loved this book. Vonnegut’s dark humor, sharp wit, insight and I’m struggling to review this. Not because I didn’t like it, on the contrary, I really loved this book. Vonnegut’s dark humor, sharp wit, insight and candor have never made me happier than in “Breakfast of Champions”. But how does one summarize this messy, hysterical, heart-breaking book?
Kilgore Trout wrote a silly sci-fi novel, in which humans have been replaced by robots. Dwayne Hoover is a successful car-dealership owner who’s sanity is slowly slipping away, and when he reads this book, he starts to believe that he is the only human left in a world populated by robots. That’s about as much straight-forward plot as there is in this book: the rest is a non-linear arrangements of anecdotes, convoluted sub-plots, strange factoids, and deadpan explanations for complex idea that will make readers laugh, cringe and think.
You can take it at the first degree, and read it as a bizarre farce, or you can dig a little deeper and see that dear old Mr. Vonnegut is trying to reconcile himself with the fact that the world is a mess, that we have a hard time perceiving other people are anything else than automatons and that if we are confused and outraged and feeling lost, it’s not because we are insane: it’s because the human culture doesn’t make a lick of sense.
This satire of modern life doesn’t feel dated, even if it was originally published in the 70’s. I love how Vonnegut’s rather bleak outlook and opinions didn’t stop him from having a sense of humor about it – even when said sense of humor is a bit juvenile. Some people find his tone arrogant, but I find him at his whimsical best in “Breakfast”: the only way to keep some sense of sanity in the incredibly fucked up world we live in is being able to laugh at it and enjoy it in spite of its utter ridiculousness. One of my favorite TV shows is “Rick and Morty” and as I read this book, I realized that Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland must be huge, huge Vonnegut fans. “Breakfast of Champions” is offbeat, coarse, crushingly tender and utterly brilliant. My favorite work of his so far!...more
Paris, noir murder investigation, time-travel, archaeology. Gimme, gimme, gimme!!! I do so love it when a writer takes all my favorite things and putsParis, noir murder investigation, time-travel, archaeology. Gimme, gimme, gimme!!! I do so love it when a writer takes all my favorite things and puts them into a book I can devour excitedly. A part of me is always a bit frustrated I wasn’t there early enough to write it myself, but what can you do? I opt to simply enjoy the ride.
In 2266, a nano-robot apocalypse has forced humans off their home planet; Verity Auger is an archaeologist who digs up evidence of the past civilisation from an eerily deserted Paris. After one of her research expeditions goes wrong, she is recruited by a secret agency who wants to send her back to Paris. Like way, way back… Her storyline is intertwined with Wendell Lloyd’s, a jazz musician/private detective who works in 1959’s Paris. But then again, it’s not quite the 1959’s Paris we know from our history books… In this slightly off City of Lights, Lloyd investigates what seems at first like a suicide, but the deeper he digs, the more he realizes there is much more to this case than anyone could have anticipated.
It’s impossible to summarize the plot more than this without giving it away, and this book is simply too awesome to spoil. Alastair Reynolds is an astrophysicist, and it shows: the sciency bits are well-written and make sense. But don’t make the mistake of thinking this is dry just because the author is a big nerd: his prose is evocative and lush. I was pleasantly surprised and very excited by the style of “Century Rain”; it’s a real pleasure to read a gorgeously written book that doesn’t underestimate the reader’s intelligence! I could see the story unfold before my eyes and many scenes kept me on the edge of my seat, manically turning the pages. Of course, this book requires patience. No exposition is given about Verity's world until very, very late, so you just have to roll with a few weird words without fully knowing what they mean for quite a while, but that turns out to be part of the perfect pacing! And when the explanations do happen, they are as disturbing as they are familiar - and well worth the wait!
Strong and realistic female characters in sci-fi are not exactly a dime-a-dozen, but here we have Verity. Very intelligent, driven, stubborn – but also too dedicated to her job to find enough time for her marriage or children. Her mind is sharp, but she has a very short fuse and her impulsive reactions have a way of complicating things… I liked her just as much as she annoyed me, which is really perfect. You know early on that her storyline will inevitably cross Lloyd’s, and I couldn’t wait to see how the disillusioned jazz-loving detective would deal with the hot-tempered archaeologist.
This book really impressed me and I can't recommend it enough and not just to sci-fi fans: everyone who loves a good story and great writing needs to get a copy of this genre-bending book! 5 stars and a well-earned spot on my "favorite" shelf!...more
I've been an Against Me! fan for a few years now. I can't remember what record browsing session led me to them, but I picked up "The Acoustic EP" and I've been an Against Me! fan for a few years now. I can't remember what record browsing session led me to them, but I picked up "The Acoustic EP" and was blown away by the rawness of the vocals, the gallows humour and the ironic political commentary. I felt that they were mocking everyone: the right-wing politicians AND the anarchists. That appealed to me immediately, because self-righteousness is not something I deal with very well, even when I share the person's (or group of people's) opinion and ideology. "A punk band who calls out the punks on their hypocrisy?" I thought. "Well, that's worth paying attention to!"
Fast-foward to 2012, when I read Tom Gable's story and his coming out as transgender in Rolling Stone. I remember crying when I read the article. I'm cis-gendered, I'll never understand what Laura Jane Grace went through, but I know what it's like hating the skin you live in, feeling that what people see has got nothing to do with who you are. Obviously, my struggles are completely different from hers, but I could feel her pain in the interview, and I was very moved. When I heard about this book, I knew immediately that I had to read it.
The struggle and guilt associated with Grace's gender dysphoria is a theme that runs from the very beginning of the book up until the end, where there is a stronger focus on it, as this is the point in her story when Grace came out as trans and began her transition process. But mostly, this is the story of someone who loved punk music and its politics, who wanted to make it on that scene and what a struggle that ended up being.
"Where are you supposed to go when you no longer feel welcome in the places you turned to because you didn't feel welcome anywhere else?" That quote about Grace's disappointment and disillusion with the punk scene resonated very strongly with me because it captured my own experience of a scene that claims to be anti-conformist and all-inclusive... but where everyone is a white dude in a Misfits t-shirt... The heartbreak of being rejected by a subculture you turned to because it was the only one that welcomed the kind of freak you are is a terrible feeling of loss and isolation. Through Against Me!'s lyrics, I had guessed that Grace had experienced this, but reading her diary entry made that a certainty - and I now relate even more to my favorite records.
People romanticize the musician's lifestyle to an incredible (and delusional) degree. Even with label support, being in a band is very hard work that is not taken very seriously by many - fans and family included. Touring takes a huge toll on physical and mental health, there is an enormous amount of pressure and precious few tangible rewards, and Grace tells it - warts and all. The only book that I have read that gives a more brutal picture of life as a touring band is Henry Rollin's "Get in the Van". I was amused/horrified by the anecdote on how Against Me! managed to alienate Anti-Flag (one of my favorite bands) on their tour opening for them, and by the descriptions of Fat Mike as "Mayor of Warped Tour", getting the NOFX shows scheduled according to his level of hangover-ness.
The tone is straight to the point, incredibly honest and confessional. Grace won't sugar coat anything, least of all any aspects of her own behavior that was less than exemplary. She freely admits to having been a complete asshole on several occasion, she acknowledges how she might have hurt others: many rock autobiographies read as long-winded justification for terrible behavior (I'm looking at you, Anthony Keidis and Slash!), but this isn't what LJG is doing at all. And that is quite refreshing, to be honest. The quality of the writing is not the same in the narration and Laura Jane's journal excepts. I prefer the style of the journal, which is much more intimate, obviously; the regular narration is a little bit flat, but it's an easy, fluid read.
As I read "Tranny", one of the things that fascinated me the most was knowing where the inspiration for Against Me!'s songs and album titles came from, the entire process behind the records seeing the light of day. It made me see them in a whole new different light, and it's an interesting experience to rediscover music that you love and look at them from this new perspective. I revisited by stack of Against Me! records and found them even more layered and impressive after reading this book.
This is a great book for fans of Against Me! and Laura Jane Grace, but also for anyone interested in punk rock and gender identity. I tore through it in a couple of days and highlighted many passages. I have to say that the last part of the book gutted me: Grace took a brave but extremely hard decision about herself and her life and she has paid a very heavy price to be who she is. I admire her determination but my heart broke for the things she lost in the process.What a bravely written memoir and what a real, inspiring person....more
I loved Blake Crouch’s exploration of the question: what if at a specific junction in your life, you had made a What a clever, thought-provoking book!
I loved Blake Crouch’s exploration of the question: what if at a specific junction in your life, you had made a life (and perhaps world) altering decision? We all wonder about that from time to time and while I am a firm believer of “everything happens for a reason”, I admit it’s hard not to be tempted by the rabbit-hole that this question is.
Jason Dessen is thrown head first down that rabbit-hole, and you get to take the plunge with him and go “What the fuck is going on?!?!” for about 350 pages when you crack “Dark Matter” open. Jason is a brilliant scientist, who gave up research when his girlfriend Daniela got pregnant and happily settled in his new life as a husband, father, and professor of undergrad physics. Life is good, quiet, unambitious. Then one evening, as Jason is headed back home after sharing drinks with his old college roommate and former lab partner, a masked man kidnaps him and knocks him out. When he comes to, his life is not the one he remembers. His house is different, his family are nowhere to be found, he is being treated like the King of Science by colleagues he doesn’t know for having conducted an experiment he doesn’t understand…
It’s impossible to go into more details without spoiling it, but I must say this book threw a lot of curve balls at me. While I saw a few things coming, I was also stunned by many other twists and turns. I plowed through this book, deeply resenting my short commute to work because I wasn’t able to read more. I can already see this as an awesome, fast-paced sci-fi movie. Hopefully starring an artfully aged Jake Gyllenhaal…
This novel is the kind of book that bends your mind into a pretzel in a way that would make Philip K. Dick proud. The main trope is nothing new in the realm of science-fiction, but the execution is what makes it stand out: the science exposition is not too complicated, so that dumb people such as myself can still understand what’s going on, but they sound like they make enough sense to be plausible (I’d be curious what an actual physicist would think, but alas, I don’t have one kicking around to check the science-y bits). And most importantly, you feel emotionally connected to Crouch’s characters, something that doesn’t happen all that often either with sci-fi or with thrillers. Granted, my husband being a geeky Jason might have made the story tug at my heart strings a little harder than intended by the author, but I’ve read a few other reviews, and I am clearly not the only one who cared deeply about Jason and wanted him to figure out what in the Hell was going on.
I docked half a star because honestly, that thing Crouch does where he needs a new line for every single sentence when the tension is mounting drove me insane. I think an editor should have pointed this out to him: about 40 pages per copy could have been saved had he not been so trigger-happy with the “return” key. But besides that annoying editing madness, this was an excellent, fast-paced read that made both my brain and my heart freak out. Highly recommended!!...more
I am a pretty voracious and eclectic reader, which is a lot of fun because I never really get bored with my readings. But I find that with time, it maI am a pretty voracious and eclectic reader, which is a lot of fun because I never really get bored with my readings. But I find that with time, it makes finding really original books way harder than it used to be. That’s OK, it doesn’t take any of the joy of reading away, it just means I am not as often surprised as I wish I was when I pick up a new book. I get it, it’s hard not to be derivative in one way or another when there are books about every imaginable subject matter out there: it makes truly out-of-the-box books a rarity.
About 30 pages into “The Library at Mount Char”, I knew a few things: 1. I was going to like this book very much, 2. I was getting that butterfly-like feeling of excitement that comes from reading something unlike any book read in recent memory, 3. I would eventually have nightmares about David, one of the most memorable characters I have come across in a long, long time.
“The Library at Mount Char” is a gory, mind-bending work of dark urban fantasy. Or maybe horror/sci-fi? It is very hard to pigeon-hole… As I devoured it, it reminded me of my first Neil Gaiman reads, but way bloodier and a bit less lyrical (many reviewers compare it to “American Gods”, and I have to agree, there’s definitely a similarity in broad themes, atmosphere and brilliance). I was thrilled to find so many unexpected twists, unique and creepy characters and fascinating world building. There is dark humour scattered through the blood and guts that are generously spilled through this story, making the violence towards humans and animals a little easier to deal with; but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a bit queasy from time to time.
The story centers around Carolyn, a young woman who used to be what she refers to as a “regular American”. But some unspecified disaster occurred and she was taken in by Father, a god-like creature who has many other aliases and who has apparently been ruling over Earth for millennia. He adopted twelve young children, his Librarians, and teaches each of them a catalog. Carolyn’s is languages, but there are also animals, healing, mathematics, war... They are strictly forbidden from studying another Librarian’s catalog and are harshly and violently punished if they step out line in any way. Dying is not the cruelest thing that can happen to a disobedient Librarian… At some point, Father disappears, leaving his Librarians unable to get back into the Library, so they try and figure out what happened to him and how they can get him – and their home - back.
The more I think about it, the more I see this story as a speculation on the theme of “what if God decided he needed apprentices, and what would his relationship with them be?”. The struggle for the throne seems inevitable, which would be why he wouldn’t give a single one of them the entirety of his knowledge, and why he would prevent them from learning each other’s craft as much as possible; so that no usurper could get rid of him.
The setting is the United States, but it’s very hard to say when this story is supposed to take place. There are plenty of references to small familiar things (Reese’s peanut butter cups, Taco Bell, Listerine), but there’s an entire alternate universe mythology weaved around those familiar elements that gives the entire story a surreal vibe. The kind of vibe that makes normal things one has always taken for granted kinda spooky…
The plot in convoluted, but brilliant. You get thrown head first into the story, without any set-up or exposition, and then, well, you just need to keep reading rabidly because you need to know what the hell is going on. And you’ll want to know it all: the present day actions as well as the flashbacks, giving you a glimpse into all the characters’ often disturbing history. There’s plenty of foreshadowing, but surprise and after surprise makes this one of the most exciting books I have come across in ages. The gallows humour used by Hawkins in the chapter titles alone made me giggle, but really, when you laugh reading “The Library at Mount Char”, it’s kind of like laughing with a mouthful of blood because the next creepy, disgusting bit isn’t far away.
Power corrupts, we’ve all heard that, but some of the characters in this novel have not simply been corrupted: their humanity has been stripped away. As I said above, David freaked the fuck out of me (that being said, I also think this character is pure brilliance!). The very image of a man who walks around caked in blood from head to toe, wearing an army jacket and a lavender tutu makes me cringe; especially when we see time and time again how much pleasure this guy gets out of killing and mangling people… And his relationship with Margaret… *shudders*As for Carolyn, her evolution left me slack-jawed and bug-eyed. She’s shy and bookish, but extremely – and I mean extremely - clever.
Also, I will always love Steve for the following line, which sums up my own decade-long relationship with Buddhism:
“Oh. Are you a Buddhist?” “No. I’m an asshole. But I keep trying.”
Steve is a great “normal guy”, who was dealt a bad hand, had some truly terrible luck and is now doing everything he can to keep his nose clean. He gets tangled up in the Librarian’s schemes to reclaim their home and will make some very interesting friends along the way. As for Erwin, the only other non-Librarian character, he’s your typical military muscle guy, but he also packs a very powerful brain: not a combo one encounters very often, and he is quite aware of that. He uses the stereotype of the big dumb guy to keep his profile low while staying three steps ahead of almost everyone.
The concepts of the “heart coal” and a word for promise that roughly translates as “a bone that cannot be cracked” charmed and surprised me. I finished this book satisfied and moved by the ending, and knew that it had made its way into my favorites list instantly and that I would have to re-read it, knowing what I know now to look for clues and other subtleties I might have missed the first time around.
This is a book for patient people with strong stomachs, who like very weird, fucked up stories. If that’s your cup of tea and if you love the work of Gaiman, Lovecraft, Mieville and Vandemeer, chances are, you will really enjoy “The Library at Mount Char”! It is a wonderful, fresh, weird and very enthralling read that I recommend enthusiastically. And Mr. Hawkins, can you please write more books? Because if this is your debut novel, I really can’t wait to read what you will come up with next! Thankies!...more
Mr. Christopher Buehlman, who impressed the socks right off me with “Between Two Fires” and “Those Across the River” has done it again (or after? I keMr. Christopher Buehlman, who impressed the socks right off me with “Between Two Fires” and “Those Across the River” has done it again (or after? I keep forgetting the order these books were published in)! I love a good, gruesome and creepy vampire story: I’m kind of over the tortured, Goth vampires, and definitely over the irresistibly sexy ones. Vampires are not sexy: they don’t have a pulse, that’s gross.
Buehlman’s vampires are definitely, wonderfully gross. They live in the Manhattan subway tunnels, they go kinda batshit as they get older, when they “charm” people it makes them drool a little… Basically, they are icky and don’t really try to pretend otherwise. But since this is New York in the 70’s, everything is dirty and in an advanced state of disrepair, so it’s not like they need to camouflage themselves that much. Joey Peacock was just turning into a teenager when, as he puts it, his clock was stopped and he was turned into a vampire. Now he lives with a loosely knit community of vampires under the leadership of Margaret, the vampire who turned him. Life is not bad for Joey: he feeds well (but avoids killing or “peeling” people, as that would draw unwanted attention to the underground), he goes to all the cool clubs (CGBG, Studio 54, etc.), doesn’t have a care in the world, really. Until he spots something very disturbing as he’s riding the subway one night: vampire kids, who seem to be hunting in packs.
Now in every vampire book I have ever read, there are always clear rules about NOT turning kids into vampires: that seems to be universally frowned upon by the undead of every mythology. I think kids are naturally creepy, so if you give them fangs on top of it, it’s definitely chilling, and Buehlman nails the terrifying vampire kids. He also doesn’t shy away from gore, and when you find out what these kids have been up to, and how they got there… Let’s just say it’s very, very unpleasant.
As with the other two books by Buehlman that I have read, “The Lesser Dead” is hard to put down: the pacing is great, you always want to find out more, and he knows just how to hook his readers with just a touch of foreshadowing and the perfect little twists we couldn’t have expected. Joey doesn’t tell his story linearly, he meanders in a very realistic conversational way.
You know when you get to the end of a chapter, turn the page, read the last sentence and go “Aw, man!” out loud? I did that at least four times reading this book, probably louder when I got to the last ten pages... The ending was wonderful, tying the book’s story together with other known events in an ambiguous tongue-in-cheek way. But what makes this book really great is that Buehlman knows how to give true heart to his stories. His characters are well-developed, their backstories fascinating and heartbreaking. Everything is laced with dark – and slightly disgusting - humour, because let’s face it, our narrator is an unreliable, undead teenager, but it still has a great emotional weight.
Christopher Buehlman is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers: his books are creepy, clever and always surprising and exciting; “The Lesser Dead” is now officially my favorite vampire book! I highly recommend them to all fans of the horror genre and well-written fiction in general....more
Does nature actually care about you? Is it as gentle as a bunch of adorable hippies and vegetarians would have us 4 and a half stars, rounded up to 5.
Does nature actually care about you? Is it as gentle as a bunch of adorable hippies and vegetarians would have us believe? Or is it cruel, cold and sick of you and your shit and your baffling attempts to restrict, tame, organize and domesticate it?
Let’s be honest here: I totally succumbed to the “holy cow, this book has a gorgeous cover, I wants it!” urge. Granted, that urge was backed by the idea of a very unique apocalyptic tale, albeit one where trees sprout fully grown out of the ground in the middle of a quiet summer night, destroying houses, buildings, roads and cars, and killing countless people in the process. Now survivors have to figure out a way to travel this newly forested world they live in. Also, there are foxes. I love foxes. But I digress.
The story centers around Adrien, a middle-aged, out of work teacher, who only wants to get in touch with his wife Michelle and go back home - that is, once the authorities have sorted out this crazy tree business. He reluctantly teams up with Hannah, a nature loving single-mom, whose delight at this sudden change the world has undergone will soon be dampened… Along with Hannah’s teenage son Sebastian, and a young Japanese girl named Hiroko, they set out west to find Hannah’s brother and to try to get Adrian to Ireland so he can be reunited with his estranged wife.
This book sways from dystopian literature into magical realism and back. Does it manage to balance the two genres in any satisfying way? I think so. It is, not unlike “Station Eleven”, a “soft” apocalypse book: there are gruesome details, but this is not about how the world ends, it is about how the sudden arrival of the trees and destruction of their environment affects people and how they grow through the change. There seems to be a few titles like that out there these days, and I have to say, I love that kind of character study. Throw a few mysterious fairy-like creatures and (omg, omg, omg) weird unicorns in the mix and I will be a satisfied customer.
Adrien is a wonderful everyman: unable to function without electricity, used to his comfort and processed food, he’s the least prepared person when nature brutally reclaims his home and his town. He sees the entire situation as a terrible nightmare and expects that the government and the army will take the trees down and rebuild. When that doesn’t happen, he has no choice but to learn to navigate this new reality: his evolution from defeatist slacker into a loyal, strong friend who will go to great lengths to for his companion is the core of the novel, and it is fascinating. The new world he must deal with has more in stores for him than he could have imagined, and this is both shocking and delightful.
Hannah is his polar opposite: the “treepocalypse” is simply nature reclaiming what is rightfully hers in her eyes, and it takes a very personal shock to make her realize that the nature she held in such reverence can be as cruel and as bloodthirsty as humans. This almost ridiculously optimistic hippie’s disillusionment is heartbreaking: I’ve known plenty of adorable, deeply deluded Hannahs, and while she is much more resourceful than Adrien when it comes to navigating the new forest, she has no way to cope with the ruthlessness of nature. She undergoes a severe crisis of faith and I was very curious to see how she would resolve it.
Seb and Hiroko were my favorites. Their strengths complemented each other so well, and I loved watching them take down their respective walls and form a strong bond. And I want them around when the end is nigh, because while I would not be quite as helpless as Adrien, I’d still be majorly screwed if I was left to survive in the wilderness all by myself.
Reading “The Trees”, I was reminded of the gorgeous Brian Froud fairy drawings, that were stunning, erotic and disturbingly creepy all at once. We like to white-wash fairy tales, but in the older folk tales, those creatures were often malevolent and murderous. Even the pretty ones that set out to seduce mortal men would end up killing them. Clearly, Ali Shaw did his homework there and his supernatural creatures are not sanitized.
The reason I docked half a star is because the book is rather slow to start. For the first hundred or so pages I was like “Oooooook… what else is happening?”. That being said, I read the last 150 pages in one sitting, squeaking and (according to my husband) making funny face from my corner of the couch. You could not have pried the book out of my hand if you had tried, and that finale was simply awesome.
I strongly recommend this book to people who like dark fairy tales and who are looking for a completely unique and surprising book about the apocalypse. I will be looking into Ali Shaw’s other books eagerly....more
I’m never sure what to make of what I just read when I finish any work by Warren Ellis. The man is undoubtedly a genius who writes ultra-bizarre mind-I’m never sure what to make of what I just read when I finish any work by Warren Ellis. The man is undoubtedly a genius who writes ultra-bizarre mind-bending stories laced with a heavy dose of gallows humor, and I love that. But I usually turn the last page and it takes a while for my mind to process what just happened. There is always so much going on and maybe my brain is slower than I like to think… When a friend told me about Ellis’ new graphic novel, I asked to borrow it immediately and read the first half before bed last night and the second half while drinking my morning coffee. And now my head is spinning a little.
“Injection” is classic Ellis: a weird blend of science and… not quite supernatural, but you know, not really explainable in terms of science either? Five crotchety characters, a government experiment gone wrong, surreal turns of event… I will not repeat the Goodreads synopsis because it is pretty spot on. If you have never read Ellis before, be ready for buckets of weird, dark and sometimes gory stuff. But you should also be ready to be completely engrossed and fascinated and unable to let go until you flipped the last page, even if that means missing the morning bus. Seriously, the man is a very impressive writer.
The dialogues are sharp and the artwork is stunning; the narration is non-linear and requires a good deal of focus to make sense, but I promise it (mostly) all comes together in the end… I just love the idea of folklore taking over technology and seeking to control the world: it’s not quite sci-fi, not quite fantasy but totally trippy. Kinda like “X-Files” meets Philip K. Dick meets “The Crystal Cave”. I also immediately liked his characters, who are (predictably, for Ellis) jaded, cynical, bitter and borderline insane. I look forward to them being developed further in the next issues.
I will probably be giving “Injection – Volume 1” another read, to make sure I have completely absorbed it, and I am impatiently waiting to the second installment. He’s definitely got my attention! 4 ½ stars rounded to 4, because it was over too soon for my taste and because some stuff remained unexplained. I hope we get a bit more info in the next one!...more
“My Father’s Glory” is one of my all-time favorite books, and when I saw the graphic novel version in the book store, I had to have it. Especially sin“My Father’s Glory” is one of my all-time favorite books, and when I saw the graphic novel version in the book store, I had to have it. Especially since I had just come back from a vacation in Marseille, where I made a point to go to the small village of La Treille, where a good part of this story takes place.
It is a very surreal feeling to look at these illustration knowing I have actually stood on the little plaza faithfully drawn on the page, and to imagine that Pagnol walked those steep little streets too when he was a child!
For fans of the book, this graphic novel is a very faithful adaptation of the original material. The artwork is beautiful, and I can vouch that the landscapes and settings were very well researched!
I docked a star, because as much as I love this story, the graphic novel media did not quite capture the same emotional weight as the book – or the cinematic adaptations directed by Yves Robert. I can’t quite put my finger on what is missing, it really only is a tiny little je-ne-sais-quoi, but I didn’t feel quite as moved as with the original and movie version. But honestly, this is really just me: if you love Pagnol’s work, get your hands on this book now, you will not regret it!...more
What a strange little book! I really had no idea what to expect when I got into this one, and I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. I would be hard-pressed to tell you what kind of book it is: fantasy, horror, psychological thriller? It doesn’t fall neatly into any category; the wide umbrella of “speculative fiction” is the only fair way to shelve this.
The more I think about it, the less I understand why this book isn’t more popular, as while the plot is a simple (and perhaps slightly dated, with the liberal usage of the word “groovy” and all) “spiritual road trip”, there are many, many layers to Silverberg’s story. My husband found a copy of this book in his grandmother’s huge stack of old sci-fi paperbacks, and I dearly wish she was still around so I could have asked her what she made of this!
The plot summary is deceptively simple: four college kids go on a quest to find an ancient secret cult that has the power to make them immortal. Only groups of four applicants can request initiation, and they must do so under the knowledge that to succeed in becoming immortal, two of their numbers will die: one by his own hand, and one by the hand of his companions. That was enough to make me want to read it. I love weird, twisted and dark stories and if you sprinkle some occult stuff on top, I get very curious. When that kind of story is well written, it is such a pleasure!
Silverberg chose to tell this story by alternating the narration between his four acolytes. A lesser writer would have bollocked it right there: alternating POVs, especially first person narrations, are very tricky, because you need to give your characters distinct voices. I think that he pulled it off quite nicely! They are very stereotypical at the beginning: a blue-blood jerk, a farm-boy Adonis, a nerdy Jewish guy, and a conflicted Catholic homosexual (he's actually bi). But as you go along their creepy road trip with them, you peel off layers and start seeing them for more than the stock persona they hide behind. Their group dynamic, severely influenced by their respective backgrounds and relationships to being included or excluded (all of them think they are superior to the other three, of course) makes the story even more interesting because it allows you to glimpse at how they see each other.
And let’s get this out of the way now: those boys are terrible. They do not have two redeeming qualities to rub together, and I started wondering which one I wanted dead the most relatively early. But they have to be awful: the wish for immortality is such a narcissistic desire, and they behave just like idiotic twenty year-olds are expected to.
I will not spoil it for anyone: it is quite worth the read, and at a meager 220 pages, you can get through it in a few sittings. But I will say how much I loved the small ambiguities the reader is confronted with through the book. Is this Brotherhood of the Skull for real, or are they an elaborate hoax? Are they really performing immortality-inducing rituals, or are they just fucking with those poor boys’ heads? I honestly cannot make up my mind about it, and I loved having no easy answers at the end of this book. Is it supposed to be a metaphor, or should it be taken a bit more literally? I think it is the perfect way to wrap up a story about the quest for immortality – hard answers would not make this book quite as special as it is left somewhat frustratingly unresolved.
It must be said that while I found the story very compelling, this book could not have been published today. It was written in 1972, and there is a dated sprinkling of casual sexism, homophobia and anti-Semitism in the four characters' inner monologues - which may completely turn off some readers. I tried to keep in mind that this was not written for a modern audience in mind, but it made me cringe. No matter how fascinating the premise is, I can't give a book that makes me cringe a full five stars.
I also can’t in good conscience review this book without mentioning that Silverberg’s women characters exist only to be decorative sexual objects, which is very annoying (“The Man in the Maze” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) had the same problem). His ideas are great and thought-provoking, but his dated views are frustrating. I know that’s not the point of the story he was telling, but it’s hard not to get annoyed with it. I do wonder how a group of four women applicants would have done in similar situations…
4 stars and a high recommendation for anyone looking for a challenging book that is quite unlike anything they have read before!
Since the last time I had read “The Book of Skulls”, I read a lot of books by Laird Barron (he is a genius, check him out), and I wonder if he also enjoyed this often overlooked Silverberg novel, as there are definitely some thematic parallels in his stories and this one: he writes amazing short stories that blur the line between cosmic and psychological horror, where his characters are often put in situations where reality/dreams/other places are difficult to tell apart…...more
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