Matt Mattson
A survey of the excavations carried out by the institute of antiquities in Cyprus over the late nineteen fifties and sixties. The book is made up of two major parts- the cemeteries and the gymnasium. The highlights were 1- the scenic layout of the gymnasium; 2- the tragic horse/ donkey sacrifices.
Several cemetery sites are discussed with detailed figures and colour plates of some of the more interesting finds. The way the sites are described is too formulaic. It sometimes felt as though the only changing things were the measurements. The finds themselves were very fascinating as were the personal stories about the previous excavation missions and stories about looters.
The gymnasium read very much like a survey, given it was a very passionate one. The site is clearly beautiful, and the author makes an effort to bring this beauty across in his writing.
My main problem with this book is that it lacks narrative. It is a disorganised mess of entries. It is confusing and its contents are rendered forgettable through their similarity to one another and the repetitiveness of their descriptions.
I would not recommend this book at all. I am giving it 2 stars because it has many interesting images (not all of which feel relevant to the text they accompany, nor are they well-explained).
The book discusses central American religious and mythological beliefs. Going into this book with limited understanding of the background of this region, I learned very little about the different cultures about which the book speaks. The Nahua, Mayas and the Aztecs are the most prominent of these cultures, but I still know very little about them. The book goes about their mythologies in a thematic way, introducing the themes mainly through story analysis (the stories themselves are summarily narrated). I understand that some of these cultures are very similar, to the point where the same gods appear with sl,ightly different names. But I have no idea what gods do what, how they were worshipped (except for Quatzicoatl) and what their cults entailed. Usually gods are introduced as ‘X, god of rain', where later several other gods of rain are introduced with no explanation as to why there are so many of them.
Finally, I was very unimpressed at the denigration of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture in comparison to Judeo-Christian religious understandings. In fact, I believe that the author's view of religion and mythology is flawed, and thoroughly unacademic and opinionated.
An amazing story, well told, but feels like propaganda.
The book retells the story of how South Korean actress Choi Eun-Hee and director Shin Sang-Ok were abducted by the North Korean regime. They were tortured, pampered, indoctrinated and forced to work for the totalitarian government.
Throughout the story, the narrative constantly tells of the hardships of the North Koreans and the dangers of life in that country. The reader is constantly reminded that many North Koreans have fled that country, emphasising that this likely resulted in the death and harsh punishment of their close relatives, even their children.
Their eventual escape from DPRK captivity is followed by their testimony and some hard evidence in the form of casette recordings and photographs.
The author of the book has conducted extensive research to provide as trustworthy an account as possibe. He has even travelled to Pyongyang and seen some of the buildings in the book first hand.
What I found hard to read, even distasteful at times, was the constant reference to the destitute nature of DPRK. It just makes the whole story hard to believe. I find myself believing the story of the South Korean couple, but not the details added by the author himself.
This book gives a somewhat basic introduction to pirate history. Many details are glossed over, and a few of the details that make this topic as appealing as it is are missed out on. Being a long-time listener of the Pirate History Podcast, I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I already had those interesting details in my mind as I re-visited the many names that make pirate history what it is. Furthermore, the many pictures in the book really make the experience of reading it much more enjoyable.
There are several major criticisms, however. The book is printed as a revised version of a supplement of particular museum exhibition on pirates. I was surprised to find that few if any of the pictures of the book show museum items. these were mostly artists rendtions of piratical figures and events.
On another note, since narratives of pirate history tend to centre around particlar characters, this book also focused on particular people more than others. Figures such as captain Francis Drake, William Kidd and lady Shih. I think that there was a fine line between condensing the history of a particular period and focusing on individuals, and this book does not manage to strike a balance. In its chapter on the Golden Age of Piracy, the book focuses mainly on captain Kidd, cutting out the stories of Blackbeard, Charles Vain and such others almost entirely. Many of the important players of the era are entirely missed out on unless the reader knows from before to look for them, such as the British Admiralty, or the Dutch and Swedish East India Company.
Overall, this is a very fun read for anyone who is interested in pirates and pirate history. I'd recommend having Wikipedia at hand for any event or figure that would strike thge readers' interest.
Reading this book, I could not help but constantly think that its plot is so well suited for a 1 hour long episode in a series.
My favourite part of a Terry Pratchett book is its sense of humour. This was not the case with this particular book. Here, the best part of the story was its amazing plot. The story was very well developed, and the characters were all amazing. There were a few funny moments, of course, but not quite the same as the previous books in Discworld.
Besides the humour, I also missed Luggage. Luggage's predicament is, I am sure, going to be resolved in one of the next books in Discworld, but I feel that its presence in this book left something to be desired for me.
All in all, Sourcery is interesting and captivating. It is worth reading for its great story, but it lacks Pratchett's famous humour as it appears in some of his other works.
I bought this book under the impression that it was a reception of ancient myths, explaining the modern fascination with ancient Greco-Roman mythology. It is not that. Mythomania feels like the thought diary of someone who likes dictionaries, television, and Roland Barthes.
Each chapter of the book takes a subject often borrowed from the news, the mall or from TV and provides a deconstructivist view of it. These topics are all mythological, which here means that they leave an impression on public opinion. Some of these cases are genuinely interesting and are made somewhat easy to read because of how short each chapter is.
A less kind review would call this book ‘Contemporary Capitalist Myths'. The author's tone reads rather condescendingly as he implies what he agrees and disagrees with, especially where ethnic and economic backgrounds are concerned, the author leaves little room for the modern reader to sympathise with. In a chapter about an Emirati art gallery, the authtor implies that it is a wonder that the newly found city (comparative to European hubs) has become such a centre for art, and that the emir there may not fully comprehend the value of all the art in his local gallery. This seems so snubby: not every Londoner, rich or poor, thinks that every exhibition in Tate Modern is even proper art! And that is the beauty of art - that the beholder is given full judgement to appreciate what stands out to them; not everything will.
Such tones and judgements can be found here and there in this book, and they do leave the reader wondering if he should stop reading. I finished the book because the topic of most chapters did stand out to me (though I struggled with the Kardashian chapters). As a final point of criticism, the book contains many quotes, some of which do appear out of or without context. This makes the text rather untrustworthy at points.
I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless they are keenly interested in Roland Barthes.
The strongest suit of this book was its plot progression.
It was hard to keep up with the story at first. As the characters and the plot were being set up, I just didn't care about any of them. I didn't know any of the significant characters, or what the world was all about. Having finished the book, I recall the beginning and feel that it set things up well - if only I'd also been interested when it did!
I liked the characters and their interactions, with a few exceptions. None of the love relationships really made sense to me. I thought they were all really underdeveloped, if not weak. The same goes for Paran and his ‘friends'; why does he think everyone is his best friend after spending a couple of weeks with them?! Strange.
Lastly, I was not a fan of the waves of ‘bosses' at the end. It felt like the author built up to the ‘tyrant' climax, only for it to be rather underwhelming. Then, another boss, a Galayn lord is released (and god knows how Teyschrenn came to enslave it), and its poofed away just like that! Underwhelming boss #2.
I liked the world well enough to attempt another book from this series, and hopefully the next book is better than this one!
3.5/5
This book is very emotional. It was written by a man who cared for a cause, wishing to make a change. Unfortunately, its attempt at attracting royal /political attention somewhat ruins the flow of the story and gives it an angle that makes it hard for the modern reader to trust: the author writes as a staunch royalist (or so it seems), and a supporter of Spanish dominion over the New World. Of course, this makes sense considering the intended audience of the book.
Furthermore, the formulaic nature of the narration, and the repetitive operations it denotes really take away from the captivating context of the book.
Having read this, I am intrigued to read the full account of ‘the Histories' after which this short account is modelled, and I am shocked to find (after much searching) only one published edition of said book, to the cost of a rare book.
I learned much from the first half of this book, upto and including chapter six. Chapters seven and onwards seemed forced and lacking.
A fair amount of information on what archaeology is can be gleaned here, but nothing on whatis expected daily from archaeologists, what the academic field is like (despite the digression about the new archeologists). The author does offer a pragmatic approach to the divisions within the field, and especially the responsibility of the professional archaeologist to the public.
The book fails to shake off the taint of patriarchal influence, despite its many attempts to show the authors egalitarian views regarding gender in the context of archaeology. In chapter 8, the author is glad that women are finding their place in what was traditionally a male dominated field. He then follows this with a passionate plea that the male dominated form of sexism should not swing to the other extreme, which is fair. But then he criticises attempts to attribute finds from a site to feminine contexts, calling this pointless, claiming this to be too large a leap. Reading this section was frustrating. Why this sudden turn against speculation, especially considering how the author had before been highlighting the role of doubt and guesses in archaeological reconstruction of past society.
Overall, as a historian who'd largely avoided learning about archaeology, this felt like a good introduction. I'd have told anyone else that they'd learn much about the field, but not about how the job is done.
Peter Grant meets James Bond?
This story of vampires and lust only works because Aaronovitch is a very good author. The story itself was a let down, unfortunately. The narration is amazing, of course, and the music makes the listen a nice experience. I'm quite glad to have listened to this, rather than reading it, because of exactly this.
I had mixed feelings about this book of the series. I like the first book most, and the second book was carried by its excellent narration; this book has a great story and great narration, and would have been much stronger if it had better antagonists. The whole ‘the bad guys weren't all that bad after all' thing didn't really work for me.
I was also a little let down that my favourite character, Nightingale, had such a small roll to play.
The book had a great ending, with Abigail and the fox, which I thought was very chilling. The scene in the sewers was also very captivating, despite Kobna's charm not translating so well into American English...
A delightful read. Light, humorous and witty, this is a great story for people who want to relax their minds from the world at large to another, more light-hearted world - which happens to not be so large anyway.
Here the author showcases a form of glass ceiling and patriarchal sexism; where the protagonist overcomes through her own genius. I enjoyed this aspect.
The only criticism I have of this book is that the tempo of the story accelerates too hard into a climax, and an underwhelming one at that. However this does not take away from the interesting world and characters of the story.
از خواندن این کتاب لذت بردم. هیچ جنبه منطقیای نداشت داستان ولی با این حال خواندنش جالب بود. در پایین برداشت خودم از استعارهها و منظور نویسنده از داستان رو نوشتم. اگر هنوز کتاب را نخواندهاید، من اینجا راجع به آخر داستان هم حرف زدهام!
به نظرم نویسنده به شکل بارزی زیرزمین خانهاش را به سرزمین ایران تشبیه کرده بود:
پیرمردی باسواد (پیشینیان ایرانیان) خانهای را برای بستگانش به ارث میگذارد و در آن امتحانی برای این بستگان قرار میدهد. خانه و زیرزمینش استعارهای از ایران هستند. مبلهای سیاه، که خود کتاب به عنوان نماد آز، تنبلی معرفی کرده، استعارهای از نفت هستند، چندین بار قبل از اینکه ورثه به طبقات زیرزمین بروند خودشان حدس میزنند که طبقات پایین باید محل نگهداری نفت باشند.
شخصیت هر کدام از وراث هم نشانگر انواع مردم جامعه از نگاه نویسنده است. باز اینجا نویسنده با گذاشتن نام خانوادگی «ایرانیان» برای همهشان دارد به همین استعاره اشاره میکند.
فقط این که در آخر داستان، همه شخصیتها تلف می شوند و فقط یکی فرار میکند. این یعنی ایرانیان دارند خود را قربانی میکنند که قشر خیلی کوچکی از جامعه از ایران (به خارج) فرار کنند؟ اگر برداشت من به منظور نویسنده نزدیک باشد، نگاه نویسنده خیلی مأیوسکننده است!
جالب بود که نطر دوستان رو هم میشنیدم در مورد این برداشت.
A very easy to read book about a tablet with mystery writing. The book clearly reflects the author's love of mysteries and mystery writing. There were a good number of hidden references to ancient Mesopotamia but I found it too short to be able to enjoy as much as I would have done otherwise. I liked more than anything the setting.
The ever-intriguing world where every prominent person is a genius member of secret societies, and leaves plethora of arcane knowledge for prosperity in secret code that only the marvellous mind of Robert Langdon (sometimes with help) can decode.
My thoughts on the story itself is that it's an easy read, but there are so many places where I thought what the hell did I just read... Let me elaborate:
From a classicist's point of view, this book is the devil's own work. Many of the ‘facts' preached in this book are in fact not facts at all. Above all, even though the story is blatantly fictional, the incorporation of the Opus Dei as an evil/misguided sect is unfair to the real-world members of this church. Besides misrepresentations of classics, medieval and renaissance symbology and arts, and various religious pervertations (even besides the Opus Dei, references to Judaism were for example, unfairly made). From a simple historical point of view as well, there are errors: the Temple in the Temple area of London was made as originally as a Mithraic temple, for one.
Another fictional element of the book that struck me (me being a student of the arts and humanities), was the availability of funds, enthusiasm, media coverage, and access for such people in this story. The story starts with Langdon giving a very big speech in Paris for his book. Usually intros for books of this nature are small events hosted by academic institutions, with very little media coverage if any. Funds are also very rarely so ample. University funding for the arts and humanities in London doesn't even cover offices for postgraduates, let alone fund a specialised state-of-the-art digital archival database. Even though the utopian image is a nice one to daydream about, I think publishing such a fallacy in a best-selling book in this kind of matter-of-fact manner is quite destructive for these fields: it sets the wrong image in people's minds and makes it difficult for those who are affected by the lack of budgets to campaign for more.
But will I ever see a Harvard scholar of art history who does not understand Italian/French?!
I really enjoyed this story. It's best part is the part before Monkey is imprisoned. Until then, the character development and the plot are both very strong and I was glued to the book. Afterwards, as soon as Tripitaka's story starts, I am suddenly not as interested as before. The story's pace slows considerably, and from this surreal, heavenly court of the Jade Emperor, we descend to the real city of Chang An, and the T'ang emperor, neither of whom are as good as the former. We move from threat on a cosmic scale, threatening Heaven itself, to minor crimes in China.
This was my main annoyance with the story. I did not like the transition from epic into fantastic fairytale. Of course, Journey to the West is still a strong book despite this shortcoming. the short stories from which the bulk of the book consists of are quite nice and enjoyable. It is just such a shame that seeing all the famous names in the first part of the book, the epic ends too soon, and I do not see all the cosmic forces I would have liked to see in action, take action.
خواندن این کتاب بخاطر داستانهای قشنگش لذتبخش بود. همانقدر هم که داستانها قشنگ بودند، نامهای خاص سخت بودند! چیزی که این کتاب بشدت نیاز دارد و در حال حاضر ندارد، راهنمای تلفظ اسامی آمریکایی است.
به عنوان یک مبتدی در زمینه اساطیر آمریکایی احساس میکنم این کتاب راهنمای شروع خیلی خوبی بود، هرچند هیچکدام از اسمها یادم نمیماند، ولی داستانها را تا حد خوبی یاد گرفتم. فکر میکنم معرفی منابع و ارائه یک تاریخ کوتاه از منطقه، به علاوه راهنمایی جغرافیایی خیلی به فهم مطالب کتاب کمک میکند. ولی با این حال من فکر میکنم که راهنمایی جغرافیایی کم بود و میتوانست خیلی بهتر باشد.
طبقهبندی این کتاب به این صورت است که اول خواننده را برای فهم موضوع آماده میکند و سپس اول اساطیر آزتکی و بعد اساطیر مایایی را به خلاصه شرح میدهد. برای من همانطور که قبلتر هم گفتم، سمت آمادهسازی خوب و مفید بود، اما قسمت شرح اساطیر، با وجود این که به خوبی اساطیر در کنار بازخوانی تشریح هم میشوند، خیلی زیادی خلاصه شده و به همین دلیل خاصیت و حتی هویت خود را تا حد زیادی از دست میدهند. طبیعتاً ترجیح این است که به دلیل غریب بودن فرهنگی که این اساطیر از آن میآیند، داستانها کمی کاملتر باشند تا خواننده از متن احساس دوری نکند.
I read this after watching the American God series. I was not expecting the family friendliness!
And didn't like it either. As the introduction to this book claims, Gaiman tells the stories as if he was a bard and us his attentive audience. He speaks to us. His style is both powerful and effective, and he uses the techniques of oral poetry sparingly, yet enough for them to retain their effect over the medium. Another way by which he achieves this enjoyable sort of storytelling is by making his stories very short and to the point.
I did not like how short each story was. With its large font, the book spanned a little over 260 pages. I would not have minded if there were at least more stories! I would have gladly read more. Most notably missing (probably to make the book age appropriate) was the story of Freya and the Brisings. Also missing was heroic mythology, nothing from Sigurd, or Siegfried or their ilk.
I'd say I enjoyed the book, but for the hefty price I payed for it, I would have very much liked to see more stories. Perhaps even if there were a grown-up version with more stories/less censorship I would have liked that too.
I will not be talking about the actual content of this book, but rather my impression of the author and his book. The reason for this, is that although this book sets of in a somewhat essayish manner, it ends in a completely personal and even confessory tone. This book is essentially advice all throughout.
This book was a small advice leaflet on how to feel about others (and one's self, and one's god(s)). I learned much from reading this book; despite the author's interesting views on the christio-central reality, feminism and ‘the woman's class', and his obviously proud and irritable attitude towards others, apparent even through this small work. I would say that the section on friendship is the one he himself highlights most and the one I enjoyed most. The bit on Eros was interesting, not because of the unexpected progressive views of the author (which were refreshing after his dreadful views on gendered society), but because I think he was giving some good advice at times.
God forbid the bit on Charity. That was as personal as things get, and he was too far down his comfort zone in quoting scriptural passages and references. I did not enjoy learning the ups and downs of his Christianity. I did, however, enjoy his disassociation of the Christian thought from the various forms of feeling for others; I dare not use the term ‘love' as freely as the author.
This play was very emotionally driven. And very musically audible. I could hear music in the words. It held so many meaningful conversations, so many strong ideas, perhaps too many! I feel the characters were a bit too strong of character, being depressed, energetic, or very neutral (I supposed this was an intentional highlight, but I didn't like it nevertheless).
I think there were too many relationships in the play too. But I absolutely loved the juxtaposition of the scientists and the social scientists. Great visualisation of what each feels towards the other. Contempt, disrespect, distrust, condescension.
Overall, I enjoyed the play as far as the ideas were concerned, but the actual characters were not for me to like.
A most beautifully written poem; though short, the tragedy beautifully captured me by the senses and dragged me into Brittany, where the Korrigan was waiting in Broceliande. The commentary provides a good deal of context without seeming overwhelming or difficult to read. The narrative is easy to follow and the editor has managed to capture Tolkien's process in writing this poem quite well.
A truly marvellous study of ancient script-deciphering. Andrew Robinson's energy seeps through his words, every page is a portrait of enthusiasm and excitement. The book covers a number of decipherments and attempts, with thorough yet fun explanation, beautiful and helpful pictures, and a small summary of scholarship, the quality of which, in my opinion, deteriorates towards the end of the book.
I heavily recommend this book to all lovers of mystery.
I started reading this book after watching several documentaries about paedophilia, prison rape, and prisons, and started watching Prison Break. This gave me an appreciation for some of the contents of the book. The book covers a story from several view points in the third person, with the exception of a mentally unstable prison-mate being in the first person. I liked him. He had a liking for books I could relate to and an enchantment complex (pun coincidental with the theme and name of the book), where he made magic and living beings out of everything he could think of. I loved this. There were several death-row inmates, a priest, a detective lady, teenage albino inmate, and of course the warden. For a 230-page book, I found that there were too many point of view characters, I didn't want to know as much as I did about them, I wanted to go back to the more interesting people, like the crazy inmate.
The writing style was... perhaps a bit too much. It was like a Ferrari made out of gold. Sometimes the similes and metaphors seemed unnecessary. I also did not fall in love with the way everyone had a kind of sad, rape-y past (or present, in the warden's case).
What I liked most about this book, was the unique perspective. The author seems to be a death row detective herself, and I can't help but think that the lady in her book is a self portrait. For some reason, I also thought that Arden, the unstable inmate, was also an alternative her; what she thinks she would have been if she was behind the bars.
Overall the book was a nice read, but only if you know a bit about prisons and how things are inside. Since the author knows, she just omits many necessary explanations that I was lucky to already know, otherwise I would not have been able to easily enjoy the book.