Sebastian Rodriguez
3.5ish/4. Captivating, fast read. Def. A good set of short dystopian stories that are packed with complex dynamics of relationships, immigration and so much more.
This book is genius. I'll miss opening the book to Sam, Sadie and Marx. To be a fly in the wall of their process to create worlds - and to live their game life's as they have their own personal earthly adventures. I'll miss overlooking the sliver of the ocean from that rooftop view from a small office in Abott Kinney.
“There was the life you lived, which consisted of the choices you made. And then, there was the other life, the one that was the things you hadn't chosen. And sometimes, this other life felt as palpable as the one you were living.”
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“They say the earth spins and that's why we fall but everyone knows it's the music”
I would need multitudes to deconstruct this whole book, but all I needed were a few words to feel.
Loved the format and the “story within a story” - a rich investment in characters and the story being told in layers, was the hook. Hernan Diaz made it hard for you to have a reliable narrator, which is part of the hook of the book - however by the time you get to the “third book”, you're already in cruising mode, and if it did not have that third book - this would be a 5.
“To me, that is beauty. Not the gleam of prefabricated perfection, but the road-worn beauty of individuality, time, and wisdom.”
I came into this doubtful, expectant and afraid of being let down by my idol. Let me tell you that it couldn't be farther from the truth. Dave is a storyteller, and one who has the innate ability to bring you behind the curtain. It's the careful selection of which stories and how they're woven,interconnected and dependent on each other. It feels to me, like hanging out with a friend having a cold one while talking of old times and the endless wisdom that comes from aging - and appreciating the good in life. This is a feel-good, and it came at a perfect time where this light was needed. Thanks Dave.
It reads as a bingeable show - you don't want to stop at the end of each episode and you let it play on. The themes and motifs feel familiar and yet at the same time explored in an all new narrative.
Witty, insightful and extremely enlightening - more than anything hilarious. Kal Penn delivers . Highly recommend the audiobook.
This one hit close to home - as someone with a family member with an advanced Parkinson's diagnosis - this is the most intimate I had to live with being inside someone who is afflicted by it. Couldn't put this one down.
The words, the prose - the way that Michelle Zauner is able to dive into her own feelings and echo the collective meaning of our relationships to our own mothers. This is a book I am glad I read prior to being a parent - I found here lessons, that felt so relatable on what the relationship to your kids is going to be - and what they'll take away from being a part of you and you a part of them.
The writing is beautiful, easy to read and follow. The first half was slow it then picked up speed but as I hit the last quarter or so of the book - I kept expecting/hoping for an unexpected turn - and in that lies my rating, more than a story, its the observation of Klara into Josie's life that is the protagonist of the story.
The sci-fi components are just backdrops, as faith and the supernatural is what it end up delivering. Technologies admiring natural entities such as the sun as gods and as a result, faith in the Sun.
This book is beautiful, just poetry weaving its way through two souls and time. I had the inherent need of reading out loud sentences to strangers on the plane, subway and in small cafes - to remind them the beauty in the mundane observation of Caleb's prose. There's so much of this I can relate to, and so much that now lives with me.
“Every time you remember something, the memory weakens, as you're remembering the last recollection, rather than the memory itself. Nothing can remain intact. Still, it does not stop you wanting, does not stop you longing.”
“Mama used to tell me that blood is everything, but I think we're all out here unlearning that sentiment, scraping our knees and asking strangers to patch us back up.”
Every sentence reads as it's part of a poem - where words pierce you and stay with you for longer than air stays in your lungs. This is a beautiful story, and I say beautiful with caution and more in regards to how much feelings it can produce.
The first half of the book is slow - but right at the middle - it just picks up and does not slow down. It builds and delivers. I'll miss Piranesi - and the halls and the tides.
It started with the preview, and 2 days later I found myself completely engulfed in all these feelings. Time is harsh, cruel and yet so wise. A relationship as strong as the ones we share with our parents could be just as fragile as those memories. And the author shared it all - smells, taste, small acts of kindness - at times without the need to process but just to get out into the world.
La narración de Zambra tiene su única voz y ritmo. Pero aún en “Poeta Chileno” es capaz de superarse - y generar para mí una narrativa que a tiempos no se si autobiográfico o ficción.
Me quedo con esta cita, que para mí es el hilo central que conecta todo:
“Eran como dos desconocidos buscando desesperadamente un tema en común; parecía que hablaban de algo y estaban juntos, pero sabían que en realidad no hablaban de nada y estaban solos.”
Kurt Vonnegut's capacity of constantly breaking the fourth wall, bending time and space, observational comedy - reminds me why I wanted to pick this up.
However, it's that same back and forward that just feels like the story moves too slowly and takes too long. To the point where I just wanted to get to the end.
The story, the character build and the humor are all here. But - let's say this could've been one third less and still gotten to the same ending. Doesn't subtract from a beautiful story.
Worth the read - although at times helpless - it is an insightful analysis into humanity. “Inside us there is something that has no name, that something is what we are “
I could see why this book is a must-read, and Jennette does take us for laughs, emotions and walk us through a complicated relationship with her mom. The only reason I'm not stretching for that whole 5 stars is just given that some portions seem way too long or more detailed than needed, and that's subjective at best.
(closer to 3.5 but - give that 0.5 to storytelling and narrative)
Seth does a great job at telling a hilarious, non stop narrative which at times feels like the best stand up he's ever done. The end to me didn't seem to have landed - either because I wanted him to keep going or perhaps he is already thinking of follow-up. None the less - it was hilarious, catching myself laughing out loud, non-stop.
What could have been an extremely linear and pessimistic read, ended up shining a lot of insights and behind-the-scenes, of potentially one of the biggest start-ups in the latest decade. Loads of learning around leadership and execution.
“Don't look at the stranger and jump to conclusions. Look at the stranger's world.”
Don't get me wrong - I can never put down a Malcolm Gladwell book or article. However, this one was a harder one to keep me engaged. The premise and the theory are there. So are the intertwining examples. I just feel this could have less examples to connect the dots - at times it felt a bit repetitive. Never felt there was a conclusion, a statement of facts or a final summary. Something to bring it all together.
This sits somewhere between a 3.5 to 4 for me.
“art is about ideas. And ideas are wilder than memories. They're like weeds, always finding their way up.”
Not a genre I would gravitate towards but a story that I couldn't put down. With sharp corners and plot twists you wouldn't expect. Thankful for getting lost in these pages, and for Addie.
“He has wondered lately if that's all living really is—one long goodbye to those we love”
I came into this skeptical. But by the first few pages was convinced otherwise. By the first third of the book I couldn't put this book down - amazing characters and complex topic explorations. Here I am - just hours after finishing the book and still saying to myself, “What the f***?”
This book throws you right into the action. Keeps you on the edge, waiting to find out what happens.
The letters, the duality and the format of this book itself is immensely dynamic and worth the read. Exploring timelines past, present and future - made it really enjoyable - not to mention limitless.
“And everyone is alive, somewhere in time”