archie
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up - enjoyable but i think i kept comparing it to song of achilles & it just doesn't do it for me like that one did. there was also a handful of dialogue throughout that pulled me out of it, felt very jarringly modern compared to the rest of the writing style & dialogue but overall rly nice read !
although he talks about his family with more fondness than i do mine, it was a bit surreal hearing him lay out those unnecessarily tense conversations about nothing important with relatives & it sound exactly like every conversation i've had & been an audience to with the italian side of my family. i always felt a little insane growing up around them but maybe it's just an italian american kind of neuroses
i listened to the audiobook which is read by anthony bourdain so i think that added to my overall enjoyment of it but there's also a lot of aspects of it that i take issue with, also understanding that this was released in 2007
i don't know if his opinions on this changed over the course of his life but i was a little shocked at how proudly he seemed feel about running a kitchen on stress & shit talking & chaos, but that may be a product of the environment of professional kitchens. it also sat weird with me how he approached women in the kitchen, overall looking down on any genuine emotion & praising women that can “hang with the guys” aka put on a front of being okay with or comfortable with the sexual harassment that can occur, which again, product of the environment, but still feels very weird
as a home chef, i don't have the time, energy, freezer space, or budget to do things like make & freeze my own stock & only use fresh herbs. again, maybe his opinions changed later on but at this point he was not immune to the asshole bro chef ideology
i did really enjoy listening to his experiences though, he clearly knew his way around a kitchen & if you're interested in cooking, this may be worth the read/listen, but if you're not, you could go without
i think my understanding of this book prior to reading is the popular understanding, that it's about the disgusting & dangerous conditions in the chicago meatpacking district. while that's part of it, it is such a small aspect of the whole story. while our situations are vastly different, i found myself relating to jurgis' pain & frustration; the never ending toil under capitalism, perpetually trying to catch up in a race where the finish line continues to move further & further away, putting your head down & doing what you've been told you need to in order to succeed but somehow, never getting there & blaming yourself, as if it is a personal moral failing that you were born into unlucky circumstances into a system tailor-made to keep you where you are, if not push you further down. the last bit of the book took a surprising turn, one of hope & community. frustrations still exist, but there is a future jurgis can envision & hope for (although some of the speeches & ramblings at this part felt like a bit of a chore to get through). a future that while still difficult to get to, is more attainable & sustainable than white-knuckling your way through capitalism. we as people were made to come together & support one another, to be kind & generous, & i believe that people are all of these things, but it is impossible to be when you must be selfish out of necessity in order to survive under the current system. i'm glad i finally read this & that it's so much more than a “gross out” book about slaughterhouses
very helpful in understanding my attachment insecurities with others & myself, i recommend this for anyone regardless of relationship structure & sexual or romantic orientation. there's a lot to be gained in your inter & intrapersonal relationships from the information & questions shared in this book
i liked this! the pacing felt a little off at points, particularly the build up to the end felt rushed & abrupt but other than that i enjoy the writing style. also more than other books i've read, the characters felt like real people with lives that happened before & lives that will continue after the moment in time that's captured in the book
im new to learning chess but in looking for puzzle books to practice with i haven't come across any like this one!! most only deal with checkmate while this one makes you slow down & focuses on mid-game strategy, which has been very helpful for me as i'm too quick to move a lot of the time & don't always think things through
don't think there was a single word out of place or a single sentence that felt clunky. brings up lots of questions about human nature & blame & isolation & what can happen when all your physical needs are met but emotional needs are not. pretty quick read but felt very long (in a good way) as i was immediately invested in the characters & knew exactly the kind of world they were living in, what the town & house looked like, etc
not sure how i feel about this one. i understand the historic importance, but as far as the writing goes it leaves nothing for the audience to read between the lines and interpret, and maybe that adds to the historic importance so i guess i don't know
i saw another review that sums up how (i think) i feel about it in that the characters aren't characters, the plot isn't a plot etc, it was just a more artistic way for orwell to voice his political opinions
a lot going on in this one as far as plot goes but i think it adds to the experience as our narrator is a 10 year old with a lot going on, the story being told through her notebook drawings. the 5 stars from me are absolutely for the art, it's stunning and meticulously cross hatched with love and you can feel the work and time that went in to this project
i started a new anxiety med which is making my adhd worse which is making it nearly impossible to sit down to read but i wanted to stick to my goal of reading a classic a month this year & im very glad i picked up this one. will absolutely have to reread after some time passes
i often get frustrated reading translations because i always feel like i'm missing out on ideas/expressions in the original language that have been lost. without knowing if this is actually true, it felt like this translation retained the authors intent & the heart of the words
i've only made the quinoa chaufa from this book but it was one of the most delicious meals i've made in a long time & will for sure be a staple for me
living in a rural area & not having access to many ingredients along with not being able to eat red meat really narrows down the number of recipes i can make & stay true to but ill be taking lots of inspo from these flavor profiles in my cooking going forward
side note, i saw another reviewer say that the translator made an error & every time a recipe calls for “lemon” it should actually be “lime” so that's something keep in mind if you pick this one up
i've only tried one recipe from this book so far & it was the melomakarona cookies, they took way longer than i anticipated but it was very worth it & the time spent baking them makes them even more enjoyable! i'm excited to try more dessert recipes & want to try some entrees as well :-)
i like how the book is broken up into the different countries/regions of the middle east with subcategories for each region as opposed to clumping all these distinct flavors together into one