George D
A fascinating time capsule of the hopes and thoughts of a time and place.
Reading this at this point in time, July 2020, it's impossible not to see the parallels between the capitalist response to the rise of Nazism and the capitalist response to the current pandemic.
Also, the book makes an interesting case for patriotism and socialism being completely intertwined. Much moreso than conservatism and patriotism.
I felt the stress, the isolation, the tension and the relief. One of those books when you get close to the end there is absolutely no chance of you putting it down.
Loved the level of science geekery, the characters all felt real and the story was engaging all the way through.
Listened to the audiobook, don't know if that impacted things but I doubt it.
This book annoyed the hell out of me. Ray's personal story is really interesting, would've enjoyed more of that, but once he gets to his principles it starts feeling like a snake oil salesman who genuinely believes his elixir works.
It's interesting as a character study. Here's a guy who can't accept he's just another genius investor with the right level of tenacity and timing to make it big. He has to imagine he has invented some brilliant new philosophy to teach as well. The fact is, he's not saying anything wrong, its great and simple sounding fluff you can enjoy at that level and not dig into at all. Think of it as the Ayn Rand school of philosophy.
Couldn't make it through the Principles section before giving up.
I'm surprised to say this is the strongest so far in the Ender's series. It's a little more philosophical than the others but in a way that suits what's happening on the page plus it also includes a fantastically realistic anti-heroes journey I didn't expect.
I'm really not sure about the whole young Peter and Val surprise, it felt like it came out of nowhere purely for the purpose of sequels
Considering who wrote this, it's fascinating to see the issues of religious fundamentalism discussed in such detail.
Sometimes a book could be written better but what it's saying is so good you'll forgive the structure.
I'll be slowly digesting the points made in this book for a while, and there's a good chance it will impact how I view any Conservatives in the future.
I think it could've been more cohesively structured throughout - highlighting the connections between each article and the primary thesis - but it's still so fresh I gotta give it five stars.
The most entertaining book written in the 19th Century. I haven't read all of them but they would struggle to top this.
It's elegant, moody and beautifully written, the epistolary style suits it perfectly, and somehow whenever things get bloody they also get a little titillating. I can only imagine how salacious this book must've been in 1897.
A Masterpiece.
Some books I enjoy tearing apart, this isn't one of those. Mainly because I imagine anyone who likes this book is probably quite sweet and I don't want to take it away from them.
But there were quite a few issues: paper thin characters who are far too similar, random name dropping (and unbelievably smug) philosophical rants which no one will remember a few pages later because of how disconnected it all is, a rather old-school Japanese culture fetish and, probably the most understated but egregious in my books, a concerning portrayal of the uncultured poor as unfeeling unthinking mules who are as much animal as human.
This book basically says “any farmers who don't want to move to the city and become cultured are mindless, soulless nonhumans.”
Great book overall even if there's some niggling issues with it. I think I like the book the more I think about it.
As a sequel to Ender's Game, it thoroughly escalated the entire universe while going in a direction which thematically makes perfect sense even if it's all set so wildly different to the first book. That's always a refreshing thing to see in a sequel.
Still not sure about Ender's negotiating style with alien races, he treats xeno-negotiations like it's an 80's boardroom in New York City.
Other thoughts:
Speakers for the Dead are a cool idea
The mystery felt a little contrived
Love some Portuguese influence in my books
How goods Jane?
Look, I'll be honest, there is no way I can give this book an objective review since I am extremely, unbelievably biased. Hardcore History is the greatest podcast in the world bar none.
This book is a quick look at a few major apocalyptic scenarios throughout history, while it lacks depth (which is not the case in his podcasts) the fact that things are kept so tight means it's easy to learn about the general scenario and then, if interested, you can do a deep dive on the areas you want to learn more about. Is my bias making me look at things in a positive light? Possibly, doesn't mean it's not true.
Worth buying for the prescience of the pandemic chapter alone, you will definitely be mentioning it to people in conversation during these times. Which is always a good sign for a book.
Relatively light but interesting reading.
This book is odd. It starts off with an army of girls taking over emerald city with knitting needles so they could have nice jewellery but ends with the most casual, no-big-deal gender transition in literary history. (not sure if a spoiler warning is needed on a 100 year old book but I didn't know it was coming so it was a big surprise to me)
Don't think it quite captures the magic of the first book (which might be my movie bias) but still a fun time. It's definitely kept me interested to read the rest.
A great and quite young kids book, original character ideas written in a simple easy to follow style with short chapters. Impossible to separate this book from the movie so I'll never really know what it was like to read this for the first time. If I ever had kids it would be a delight reading this to them.
But I think the yellowbrick road is still too tempting for that.
I didn't finish this book, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a review without reading the full book but I also don't think it's worth reading the whole book just so I can write a review.
This book might be good for some people, didn't do it for me at all. Laymon does well creating a sweaty, steamy LA to tell the story out of, but the characters are paper thin and what little story there is doesn't amount to much.
I'm sure theres some bloody vengeance with additional death before the end, but I'm not engaged enough to find out.
Written before the long slow fall of Hitchens.
This is him at his best, thorough and convincing. You can't walk away from reading this and think Kissinger was anything but selfish and criminal, someone who didn't care about the deaths of other races if it benefited him personally.
It's so strange that Hitchens could write this and then end up where he did.
3.5
This book makes me really want to discuss it with other people. The writing is beautiful and the detail the author finds in so many walks of life is fantastic. Everyone said it was sad and they weren't wrong, there are some sad parts, but overall I'd classify it as depressing more than sad.
How much trauma is enough to justify being a bad person? To not even want to be better even though you have the tools available to try and you're hurting all those around you by not doing it? I don't know, but this book made me think about it a lot.
The characters are interesting, the ‘privilege porn' is fun if a little on the nose. Seriously, all the main characters are ultra high functioning success stories, live in beautiful places and travel to stunning exotic locations as well as being super gifted both artistically and professionally with a deep knowledge of any high culture they can reel off at any time. This ain't a book about having to come to grips with not being good/rich/famous/smart enough.
Glad I read it, look forward to a spirited discussion about it with someone in the future.
The funniest writing you will ever read. At the same time, fair warning, it's a book written in the 1930's when attitudes were a little different to today.
Lets just say there are a few situations and phrases in here that would sit very comfortably alongside Huckleberry Finn, Tintin goes to Africa and Little Black Sambo.
