JJ Arsenault
I thought it was unique and interesting to use second-person narration in this book—only to discover there are also stretches written in first and third person. It’s not at all pretentious, even though it might sound like it could be. Simon is a gifted writer and storyteller, with just the right amount of flourish and richness for my taste—enough to elevate the prose without bogging it down. In the end, the story itself is fairly conventional: a straightforward buddy-hero quest told from a gay perspective.
That Book Is Dangerous!: How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing
Quite an eye-opener for a fledgling writer. The sheer hubris and religiosity of cancel culture—this far-left social authoritarianism—is as mind-bending as the number of nouns and adjectives I just used in that sentence.
It’s disheartening to read that people who have historically been marginalized and denied a voice are now subjected to new purity tests to prove they’re “gay enough,” “Black enough,” and so on. What a constellation of misery identitarianism has managed to visit upon everyone.
I was left with the impression that class remains the truly important issue—one that still isn’t being seriously discussed—while leisure-class grifters continue to weaponize race against everyone else.
Currently reading... More to come later.
The footnotes are an odd injection of modern sentiments over a omniscient narrator. And they are many times wildly inaccurate. R.F. Kuang echoed the ridiculous 'European exceptionalism' argument in one of her footnotes that chattel slavery was a unique British/European institution. This is completely untrue. Just like every other abominal form of slavery, the chattel variety, has been practiced by so many numerous empires across every continent and time period that I couldn't list them all here.
Not usually my genre but I really enjoyed this book.
It’s quirky and written in a simple style that repeats words and phrases like a children’s book. But still feels grown up.
It is tender and sweet but without being saccharine or annoying.
There is well structured foreshadowing and mirroring of storylines to appreciate in how she constructed this book.
The book was a bit of a disappointment compared to the television show. It's rather abrupt in the end without a well-developed antagonist. It has none of the depth, clock-like intricacy, and marvelous storytelling of the television version. I recommend skipping the book entirely and going straight to watching Station Eleven. I think the author was involved with the show, and, with a proper writing team and the ability to pressure-test her creativity, the adaptation turned out far superior.
