Mimi
Clever story, but oddly paced. The hidden ticking clock is meant to portend some imminent evil, and as the story builds, it seems that young Lewis is going to be in the thick of it. But then suddenly it's all over. What? Also, unfortunately, there's a lot of outdated name-calling–too many “fatso” and “fatty, fatty two-by-four” taunts.
I imagine these shortcomings will be corrected in the upcoming movie, and I definitely can see Jack Black as Uncle Jonathan. So, despite the two stars, not a waste of my reading time.
Fairly interesting memoir, with nothing chronological about it. After reading some other reviews, I wish I had listened to the audio version–seems like it was more entertaining. Without sound effects, I kept forgetting we were supposed to be on an airplane. Also, weird to read about Woody Allen and Louis C.K. Just weird.
No surprises: the Swedish author, a woman “between eighty and one hundred years old,” says don't leave a bunch of stuff for your family/friends/loved ones to deal with after you die. But this was fun to read mostly because of the author's blunt style. One example: “It would have been incredibly nice to have had my husband's company to help me get through emptying our home... But it was impossible. He was dead.”
Going to count this one for the Read Harder Challenge category “a book of social science.” The discussion of the “new” science of psychedelics, their relative safety and effectiveness, and their potential to improve well-being is fascinating. For this purpose, though, there is the notion that the world was changed and influenced by these substances in the 1960s and early 70s, not to mention their longstanding use in the rites and rituals of some cultures.
For the 2018 Read Harder Challenge: “An assigned book you hated (or never finished).” I never finished this in college (maybe assigned for a “Core III” English class...?) I do remember reading a biography of Lowry, which must have been how I managed covering the topic for class. At any rate, this is a heavy duty book, and a trick to appreciating it is to read the whole thing and then read the first chapter again.
