Lee
While I did not love the narrative nor the characters much, there is no denying the prescient impact of how well this parallels what is occurring in the United States. I like the concept and framework of Dream Hotel, just didn’t thoroughly enjoy the characters and their development. Not to make qualitative comparisons, what Lalami accomplishes is in the same vein of Philip K. Dick’s pre-crime parables in Minority Report—PKD himself of course being directly influenced by Huxley, Orwell, Wells, and Bradbury. All the terrible things occurring in Dream Hotel are not only real, but occurring as we write and read this (to a slightly lower degree of dream reading tech so far).
The likes of Palantir are undeniably actively pursuing and researching how to make this mind and dream reading tech a reality, which when paired with their already existing invasive facial recognition tech, will essentially erase any sense of privacy. Think the pre-crime AI pool girls from Minority Report blended with the dream marketing tech of Nic Cage’s Dream Scenario, backed by big money secretive corporations like in Inception, now multiply it all by 5 and weaponize it. Oh you had a dream where you punched your terrible boss in the face? Well, now we’re legally able to place a premeditated assault charge on you and imprison you. What’s that, you had a dream you went on a date with your celebrity crush and things went well let’s say? Well, with a good lawyer, the government might be able to smack you with a sexual assault charge just because you thought of it. I know a lot of people would be sent to Dream Hotel’s Risk Assessment Administration system just for day dreaming of a certain orange individual disappearing…
Suffice it to say, I’m curious what Lalami follows this up with, as I do think she has a strong voice that could work well within a realistic near future sci-fi realm.
While I did not love the narrative nor the characters much, there is no denying the prescient impact of how well this parallels what is occurring in the United States. I like the concept and framework of Dream Hotel, just didn’t thoroughly enjoy the characters and their development. Not to make qualitative comparisons, what Lalami accomplishes is in the same vein of Philip K. Dick’s pre-crime parables in Minority Report—PKD himself of course being directly influenced by Huxley, Orwell, Wells, and Bradbury. All the terrible things occurring in Dream Hotel are not only real, but occurring as we write and read this (to a slightly lower degree of dream reading tech so far).
The likes of Palantir are undeniably actively pursuing and researching how to make this mind and dream reading tech a reality, which when paired with their already existing invasive facial recognition tech, will essentially erase any sense of privacy. Think the pre-crime AI pool girls from Minority Report blended with the dream marketing tech of Nic Cage’s Dream Scenario, backed by big money secretive corporations like in Inception, now multiply it all by 5 and weaponize it. Oh you had a dream where you punched your terrible boss in the face? Well, now we’re legally able to place a premeditated assault charge on you and imprison you. What’s that, you had a dream you went on a date with your celebrity crush and things went well let’s say? Well, with a good lawyer, the government might be able to smack you with a sexual assault charge just because you thought of it. I know a lot of people would be sent to Dream Hotel’s Risk Assessment Administration system just for day dreaming of a certain orange individual disappearing…
Suffice it to say, I’m curious what Lalami follows this up with, as I do think she has a strong voice that could work well within a realistic near future sci-fi realm.
Added to listShould Be Adapted To Film/TVwith 67 books.
Added to listBooks Of Interest By Osmosiswith 64 books.
An interesting take on a whodunit with a potentially unreliable narrator framework. My second least fave Moshfegh, but still a captivating character study for yet another weird girl, amplified by the isolated setting. I could see this being made into an A24 psychological thriller with the likes of Isabelle Huppert.
An interesting take on a whodunit with a potentially unreliable narrator framework. My second least fave Moshfegh, but still a captivating character study for yet another weird girl, amplified by the isolated setting. I could see this being made into an A24 psychological thriller with the likes of Isabelle Huppert.
Added to listOwnedwith 282 books.
Added to listAction Descriptorswith 0 books.
The world building isn’t as fleshed out and grandiose as Between Two Fires, but I find Lüthi’s action and descriptors to be way more detailed and gruesome. This is heavy metal hell yeah type of demonic action (mainly in the titular first short). I mean, read these excerpts for a taste of where it goes:
- “With a sound like a stillborn corpse being birthed.”
- “Her sword sang through the air, its fire trailing like the tail of a comet.”
- “A soft glow appeared just below the hellspawn’s ribcage; the light was enough to illuminate the thousand veins that lined the creature’s stomach, knotting together like a city map.”
- “Its entrails hung from it like a fetus to an umbilical cord.”
I shockingly did not love the middle Viking short, but the closing Arthurian short was fun albeit not to the same heights and brutality of the opening short. Suffice it to say, if you’re looking for gothic/folk/medieval horror, give this a swift swing.
The world building isn’t as fleshed out and grandiose as Between Two Fires, but I find Lüthi’s action and descriptors to be way more detailed and gruesome. This is heavy metal hell yeah type of demonic action (mainly in the titular first short). I mean, read these excerpts for a taste of where it goes:
- “With a sound like a stillborn corpse being birthed.”
- “Her sword sang through the air, its fire trailing like the tail of a comet.”
- “A soft glow appeared just below the hellspawn’s ribcage; the light was enough to illuminate the thousand veins that lined the creature’s stomach, knotting together like a city map.”
- “Its entrails hung from it like a fetus to an umbilical cord.”
I shockingly did not love the middle Viking short, but the closing Arthurian short was fun albeit not to the same heights and brutality of the opening short. Suffice it to say, if you’re looking for gothic/folk/medieval horror, give this a swift swing.
Added to listBooks Read Before Watching The Film/Showwith 102 books.
Not sure how to feel about this one. On one hand it's somewhat of a different take on vampires, using a fun narrative conceit to keep you intrigued, but on the other, I didn't really care about any of the characters. One thing is for certain though, as a debut, the Anna Kovatchava has a strong and promising grasp on world-building and atmosphere. The pacing is probably what will give most some hurdles
Not sure how to feel about this one. On one hand it's somewhat of a different take on vampires, using a fun narrative conceit to keep you intrigued, but on the other, I didn't really care about any of the characters. One thing is for certain though, as a debut, the Anna Kovatchava has a strong and promising grasp on world-building and atmosphere. The pacing is probably what will give most some hurdles
Added to listCover Appealwith 172 books.
Added to listBookstore Findwith 26 books.
Peter Swanson is always challenging himself with some sort of writing mechanic. Whether it be telling you who the murderer is right away, giving you the climax early on, or in this case, writing his narrative backwards, he never bores. I was surprised to see he pulls it off here, keeping my intrigue and attention to the central dynamic as we walk through their lives backwards from middle-aged to literal children. If you're into crime thrillers, Swanson is your guy.
Peter Swanson is always challenging himself with some sort of writing mechanic. Whether it be telling you who the murderer is right away, giving you the climax early on, or in this case, writing his narrative backwards, he never bores. I was surprised to see he pulls it off here, keeping my intrigue and attention to the central dynamic as we walk through their lives backwards from middle-aged to literal children. If you're into crime thrillers, Swanson is your guy.
Not that's tonally similar at all to Hokum, but the thought did cross my mind with Adam Scott’s troubled author and this book’s cursed sentient dead author’s desk. I do like a cursed object movie! This is my first Fracassi, and I am inclined to check out some more (the retirement home slasher next), as he does well with building a dark atmosphere and integrating gory kills with flowing modern prose. I was expecting to like this more, but I do think it's well worth your time—albeit overlong—if you like the Stephen King influenced cursed author (s/o Alan Wake) narrative. Fracassi even takes a couple of fun jabs at King, like he tends to use the n-word more than necessary.
Content warning: rape
Not that's tonally similar at all to Hokum, but the thought did cross my mind with Adam Scott’s troubled author and this book’s cursed sentient dead author’s desk. I do like a cursed object movie! This is my first Fracassi, and I am inclined to check out some more (the retirement home slasher next), as he does well with building a dark atmosphere and integrating gory kills with flowing modern prose. I was expecting to like this more, but I do think it's well worth your time—albeit overlong—if you like the Stephen King influenced cursed author (s/o Alan Wake) narrative. Fracassi even takes a couple of fun jabs at King, like he tends to use the n-word more than necessary.
Content warning: rape