Lucas
5.0
“[...] he liked the feeling he had already claimed.”
The book started in a really weird media res but it didn't give me any good reason to justify why we started there; then it used “capsule chapters” to quickly explain the months prior these first few pages of the book. Only after that is that I got interested on what was happening, but the book's lack of interest on building up a decent start had already killed the vibe hard for me. Things after that went fine, though... until the final chapters. The closer the book got to the end, the less it became about Ben and Ronny, and the more it became about (what I can only call) the author's fear of death - I mean, seriously, what's up with all that? It just didn't make any sense at all. The last few pages felt like the author was borrowing the character's voices to express his own thoughts on mortality. I could see that he wanted the final message to be “enjoy good things while they last” but all the final pages' moping on loss and mortality didn't justify themselves as the conclusion to the couple's main arc at all. Loss and mortality should've drawn them INTO a conclusion, it shouldn't have been THE conclusion. Specially when it's clear as day that the main force behind the book is trust or the lack thereof. And to top it off, the author didn't finish some character's arcs, nor recognised their disappearances. If even Otis got a closing arc, why Hoagie didn't?
Talking now about the good aspects, Jim is a damn good writer when it comes to transform abstract feelings into text. I also have got to give it to him in the matter of characters, all of them have a very strong voice. They feel real even with the briefest exchanges of dialogue. Ben and Ronny are as real as a book character can be and they're the ones who holds this book together for me. They're the reason why I rated this a 5.0, and not a 2.0.
Because if I thought I was only going to read one +1000pg book at a time, I was just fooling myselforNotes to myself regarding reading a fanfiction for the first time for when I look for this again in a few yearsWhenever a conversation turns to fanfictions, I've always sided with it; because I think there's no way that a literary form that allows boundless creativity, not measured by any sort of intellectual property, can't be seen as art. I can't do much regarding my defense, though, since I have never read a fanfic. I mean, kind of...When I was a kid I liked fanfictions! I loved crossover stories of Goku and Sonic fighting side-by-side against communist Superman. But, and I think you can already see where I'm getting at, they were usually sloppy narratives written by semiliterate children who shared a lot of love for these characters but lacked the words and the creativity to capture them on text.I've been thinking on tackling a fanfiction it's been a really long while now, but I never felt that pang that made me go after any. Specially since I spent many years without reading anything at all, so when I got back to it around 2019, fanfictions did not cross my mind. I wanted to tackle actual publisher books, though... As with anything, I got bored of those rather quick. So after a while, I started looking for smaller authors and self-published books. Which I'm still at, not gonna lie.That's when, in January, Goodreads recommended a really high rated fanfiction. Now, I don't trust Goodreads' averages at all, but I had to agree that the way people were talking about it in their reviews caught my attention. Add the fact that I was really interested on selfpublished stories, I dived in. Sadly, it wasn't nearly as good as people made it out be - and I'm not even talking about the absurd amount of orthographic errors. The basis was cute but all the rest simply didn't work at all. The final blow was when I finally connected the dots and understood that it was a Dream fanfiction, so I just dropped it.A few months later, I stumbled upon a really nice book cover that I expected it to be anything but what it was: [b:It was the cover 56925511 All The Young Dudes - Volume One Years 1 - 4 (All The Young Dudes #1) MsKingBean89 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612255054l/56925511.SX50.jpg 89027146] for a first volume of this fanfic. I'm going to be truthful that what actually got my attention in the end, was Goodreads' mention of it having 1799 pages. This led me to search on it a bit, out of amusement. Found it interesting but just put it on my waitlist because as much as I liked the idea of trying to read a fanfiction again, I didn't want to waste my time trying to read something that might prove to be not good again. Also, this has like 500.000 words, so it's a big boy.Finally, in September, I put my mind to the task of reading a book that weights enough that it could be used as a bludgeon. I made my mind and started [b:Three Kingdoms 158770 Three Kingdoms (4-Volume Boxed Set) Luo Guanzhong https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519909801l/158770.SY75.jpg 72711304], but I felt like I wouldn't mind tackling another book... and Three Kingdoms' text got me thinking about fanfictions again because it's really just a gigantic mostly-canon fanfic but y'all ain't ready to talk about that yet. Anyway, nobody could stop me now
This is not a review, I just thought it'd be interesting to explain what does the word Revised means in the Revised Edition... and it actually means a lot. Yes, I'm surprised myself.
See, the book is still the same, thankfully, but I have noticed at least one change per chapter. Though I ask you to bear in mind I'm still on the 7th chapter of this edition, I want to stress that Hayes makes a strong case on expanding details or deepening the world building. The changes so far have varied from small wording choices to pages worth of additional content; I also haven't noticed any cutting when comparing it to the first print. So to summarize the experience so far: It feels like an Extended Cut. Here are some examples.
First edition:
He couldn't have been more wonder-whacked if the Pope had come to visit.
He couldn't have been more wonder-whacked if Mother Mary had come to visit with Abe Lincoln and a few aliens in tow.
Our mothers were upstairs in Mrs. Harding???s kitchen, trying to find things to say to each other.
Twelve almost thirteen and our mothers were upstairs in Mrs. Harding???s kitchen, trying to find things to say to each other.
that
8.0
Gostei muito de como a Asano decidiu ser fiel ?? natureza de seus personagens e preferiu aprofund??-los. Como sempre reclamo, Light Novel ?? uma das vertentes liter??rias que menos gosto, parece o roteiro de um mang??: os textos n??o possuem muita personalidade, descrevem o m??nimo necess??rio para que voc?? consiga ver o que est?? acontecendo e possui todos os aspectos que se encontram dispon??veis na folha de um mang?? - como os textos internos que geralmente aparecem em bal??es quadrados ou explica????es repetidas desnecess??ria para relembrar o leitor de eventos discutidos em edi????es anteriores.
S??o ossos do of??cio, aspectos que raramente ser??o quebrados: s??o as marcas que definem o formato - mais chagas que marcas, mas enfim. E tais marcas n??o se podem muito serem consideradas como “falhas”, e nem reconhecidas como se fosse um aspecto exclusivo ?? Light Novel que est?? sendo lida.
Com isto em mente, ?? divertido ver o formato sendo utilizado em prol de algo diferente. Asano consegue conduzir com firmeza uma LN de 200 p??ginas repleta somente de n??o-eventos. ?? um livro em que nada acontece e ao mesmo tempo se mostra ser um ponto primordial para todos os eventos futuros da trama. Isto n??o ?? uma novidade para quem est?? acostumado com livros, mas para quem est?? acostumado com Light Novels a “lentid??o” ser?? percept??vel.
Animado para o resto, a partir deste ponto j?? n??o lembro mais praticamente nada da hist??ria.
7.0
Notas sobre a tradu????o da NewPop: Um lixo. Um completo lixo. N??o compre, n??o leia. Leia a tradu????o de f?? em ingl??s mas n??o leia isso. Eu poderia gastar linhas e linhas me explicando, mas essa review da Amazon diz tudo que eu poderia dizer e um pouquinho mais.
—
Nostalgia n??o ?? uma palavra suficiente para descrever o tamanho efeito que NO.6 provoca em meus circuitos. O fato de que consumi todas as formas de m??dia relacionadas a esse produto entre 11 e 12 anos de idade diz mais sobre mim do que eu mesmo poderia informar. Se eu pudesse rastrear quantas vezes ouvi todas as m??sicas que ouvi em minha vida, Lama - Spell certamente hoje ainda estaria no Top 100.
Poderia at?? dizer que ?? uma das narrativas que me fez criar paix??o em hist??rias sobre casais que se isolam, que constroem algo para si em um ambiente onde ningu??m os conhece, onde ningu??m ir?? os encontrar com o intuito sendo justamente esse. Foi uma das primordiais em me ensinar a beleza que pode ser encontrada na fuga, no poder que h?? em construir um espa??o meu com a minha voz e os meus olhos.
NO.6 por alguns anos foi o meu cantinho e eu n??o falava dele para ningu??m pois sabia que, l?? no fundo, tinha algo n??o muito ortodoxo n'eu ver gosto em habit??-lo. Me faltava a palavra “ta ?? bu” no dicion??rio mas a defini????o eu j?? a havia descoberto atrav??s de olhares amb??guos e perguntas daninhas.
Homossexualidade sempre foi um t??pico, para mim, terr??vel e indisvencilh??vel. Uma realidade da qual nenhuma das portas se fechavam n??o importava o quanto tentasse - e das quais nunca se fecharam, at?? hoje. Ver a quieta constru????o de Nezumi e Shion foi a minha primeira quietude, mar?? mansa nas intemp??ries de medos e d??vidas - trov??es de auto-desprezo. Eu lembro que era como estar vendo algo ilegal, algo imposs??vel. Contudo, era uma ilegalidade t??o bela, t??o pura que me era inadmiss??vel ser vista com olhos de censura. Eu n??o poderia nunca discutir isso com ningu??m, n??o n??o. Nunca. Socos seriam os menores dos problemas. Mas que este amor era poss??vel, era real!, de fato era.
Entre 2012-2013 eu me dediquei ?? longevidade de NO.6, chega me esforcei em traduzir o m??ximo do mang?? para o Portugu??s (traduzi do Volume 1 ao 5), pela certeza de que ele nunca veria as cores dos c??us de terras tupiniquins. Era uma ??poca em que o mercado de mang??s no Brasil ainda era majoritariamente focado em publicar somente os shonens hits da esta????o do ano. - ?? claro, foi tamb??m o in??cio do virar da mar?? mas n??o era algo que se conseguia enxergar, pelo menos eu n??o enxergava. Hoje em dia a editora NewPOP j?? publicou at?? Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!! o que, pra mim, ?? excepcional e completamente fora da curva... se bem que talvez quem esteja mesmo fora da curva seja eu. Mas em 2012, um mang?? ou light novel p??s-apocal??ptico gay no Brasil? Impens??vel.
Animes e mang??s deixaram de ser minha al??ada por volta de 2013 e at?? pelo menos 2016 eu n??o tive mais contato com este lado do mundo art??stico. Eu chega havia come??ado uma tradu????o da Light Novel de NO.6 e iniciado um processo de tradu????o para Rin-ne da Rumiko Takahashi que acabei abandonando. Para resumir em uma ??nica frase, eu tive uma desilus??o com tudo relacionado ao meio, acho. A quantidade de pessoas de m?? ??ndole que iam nas conven????es, as fujoshis fetichizando tudo que passavam pela sua frente, o esc??rnio cartunesco e descarado de pessoas que viam interesse por cultura asi??tica como algo que deveria ser passado por cima. At?? chegar Gangnam Style e simplesmente virar essa mentalidade de cabe??a para baixo de uma maneira t??o irrevers??vel que hoje gostar de cultura asi??tica ?? praticamente norma.
Minha desilus??o e desinteresse fez com que NO.6 sumisse de minha cabe??a assim como muitas outras mem??rias de meus dias de salada. O abandono s??bito de todo um fervor fez com que as mem??rias coletivas que habitavam esta mesma estante sucumbissem em conjunto. N??o foi at?? 2021, em um de meus ataques nost??lgicos da quarentena, que esbarrei com o encarte da trilha sonora do anime - tal residia em meu falecido Picasa, quem lembra? - e me lembrei em um baque todo a experi??ncia que foi ter sobrevivido esses dias. Me fez perceber o qu??o Em processo somos, constru????es infind??veis, e me fez perceber que n??o mudei muito, tamb??m.
E hoje, a minha m??quina inacab??vel e raramente mut??vel quer revisitar aquela casinha. Quer ver aquela porta que s?? eu vejo e abri-la com o jeitinho que ela precisa que s?? eu sei como fazer. ?? um processo exaustivo, reconhecer que h?? algo de valor detr??s uma porta que voc?? mesmo um dia trancou, com o intuito de nunca mais abrir. Mas n??o ?? como se algu??m, al??m de mim, algum dia ir?? desbrav??-la. E, vamos l??, mesmo que isto fosse poss??vel, n??o ?? como se o que guardei l?? dentro tenha valor para qualquer outra pessoa al??m de mim.
Quando encosto o ouvido na madeira da porta, sentindo as vibra????es que atravessam dem??os e dem??os de tinta creme sobrepostas, eu ou??o uma m??sica. Uma m??sica maravilhosa que n??o ouvia fazia muito tempo.
8.5Favorites: Lughead, The Golden Apples of the SunWhen something's really good I usually, hardly, can say anything about it. This book is one of those cases.Now Batting for Boston feels like an extension of Hayes' first book, [b:This Thing Called Courage 1052929 This Thing Called Courage J.G. Hayes https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347797133l/1052929.SX50.jpg 1039415], in every way. By reading the preface, you find out that the stories from both books were written during the same time and it shows. The thematic interests feels synced and so are the character's inner voices: vibrant, filled with ethos and lethal longings.“Lughead” and “The Golden Apples of the Sun” were my favorites from the book, though I should mention that from Lughead onwards the book didn't let me breathe at all. And speaking of breathlessness, I would not complain if Hayes wrote a whole novel for The West Broadway Academy of Martial Arts nor The Golden Apples of the Sun, just saying.Sadly, Now Batting for Boston is the final entry on my Hayes “readathon” for he's yet to publish another work as of writing. Sad to say it's over, happy to say I did it. – Also happy to say I managed to buy [b:A Map of the Harbor Islands 55248331 A Map of the Harbor Islands J.G. Hayes https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599410018l/55248331.SX50.jpg 1147246]'s second, revised?, edition. Can't wait to re-read it and maybe even spot this said “revision”?Love you Hayes, hope you're having a great day wherever you are. Hope is not enough a word to describe what your body of work made me feel.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
When the Bells Tolled at Midnight is a teen mystery novel written by the incredibly talented J.G. Hayes. Its atmosphere is drawn from books like Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and follows our main character, Sean, trying to solve a mystery involving the Liberty Bell and his family's history.
Starting with the good news: Hayes' has always shown himself as a writer capable of meshing real historical events and real locations in his book but I really liked how far he took things in Bells. The gigantic amount of apparently non-converging mysteries and what they mean at the end is very good and Sean's voice as a character is nice to follow.
Now the bad news: Sadly, none of these things were enough to tighten the narrative, for it was how it was presented that turned me off in the first place.
I liked how Hayes wrote in a more accessible and informal way, keeping in mind we're following a fairly normal, big hearted teenager. But Sean's voice is really erratic: sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it feels like you're reading Sean thinking and speaking, sometimes it feels like you're reading Hayes thinking and speaking.
Then, you have the rest of the town which I can't help but feel they were wasted. Yes, you have Miss Sawyer at the end and her sister-in-law (Which, from what I recall, never showed up in the book until these last few chapters) but you also have all these set-up characters, filled with personalities and tics and all else that simply doesn't go anywhere: from Professor Singleton to Mrs. Hutchinson, from The Men in the Thicket to Kevin, Mister Hallsley, and others. The book ends with something missing for all of them. Kevin helped from the outside and simply disappeared at the end. Mrs. Hutchinson shows up at the start, leads Sean into the point of no return and totally dips out of the book. The Men in the Thicket only makes sense at the last chapter, from a second hand account - Regina's and Timmy's disappearence is solved the same way.
You see, I think these are the book's biggest flaws (which aren't exactly flaws but I can't find a better wording): How the story is 100% stuck on Sean and how Hayes' too detailed writing detains the story's rhythm:
1. Sean, is a well written character and his voice has a lot of weight to the story, but in focusing on his side and his side only, the story's scope diminishes a lot. We're left wanting a closure for the town's people characters and, maybe most importantly, we're left wanting a story for the burglars.
2. Did Hayes' contain his intense writing in this one? Yes, and it makes sense for this type of book, so that's a good thing. Was it enough? No, specially on the first half.
Uncle Justin's and Professor Singleton's conversations during the first few chapters were boring at best, pace destroyer at worst. Sean also had his pace breaking moments, like the chapter where he reminisces on how to use Sawyer's nerves to get a gory story out of her - though, I am the first to admit: Sean's moments were also rather sweet and the whole Matt panic was great - sadly, it was solved too fast and at a really weird timing? It could've been discussed at the hospital, Matt sneaks in, but anyway...
Finally, the story leaving it all up for ESP didn't sit well with me. Aunt Sadie's voice was an interesting magical realistic touch but most of Sean's intuitions felt like an easy way to not stop the narrative, even if it weren't the author's intention. If only we had Kyle's point of view and saw his unwanted dreams and intuitions as well, then we would at least be able to understand that there was a whole “family connection” going on.
It's a book in which most of its problems could've been solved in the editing. I feel like it could've been 50 pages shorter or more. I didn't even talk about other smaller details, such as: Sean denying his OCD at the start of the book and then acceptingly mentioning it at the end, when there was no journey for this change at all. Or Sean's attention span, which never proved to become an issue, or at least a recurring motif, for him during the investigation. The heating grate which didn't exist until Kyle mentioned it or Jimmy Earl who didn't exist until Timmy mentioned him - These two being payoffs with no setups.
As someone who loves Hayes writing, this review might seem harsh but that's probably because I already saw what he's capable of in his other books. Since he's a Goodreads Author, there's a small possibility that he sees this review, and I really hope he doesn't take it to heart, specially since anxious is not enough a word to describe my feelings regarding the wait for his next book.
9,0What an enormous disservice the cover art makes. It makes it look like a porn! Don???t be put off by it, really.[b:A Map of the Harbor Islands 1159641 A Map of the Harbor Islands J.G. Hayes https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1181503467l/1159641.SX50.jpg 1147246] shook me good. I felt like I needed to read Hayes??? other works... so I decided to try his first novel: “This Thing Called Courage”, a short story collection. And for a first timer, Hayes comes in ready showcasing his incredible ability as a character creator and his mastery on letting them lead their own stories with their own words.“Regular Flattop” - 8/10Regular Flattop is a great way to start the conversation. It introduces Hayes??? thematic interests, prose and intensity in a way that it isn???t too upfront but doesn???t shy away, either. The story is great and it???s the only one with an actual good ending
9.5Observation: Impossible not mention At Swim, Two Boys, not as a comparison but as a mere fact that both books were made to sit side by side on a bookshelf. Though they differ as narratives, At Swim dealing specially with the banality of war and the burden of loss while A Map deals with the struggles of accepting that life is and such should be celebrated, both walk side by side on their thematic sidewalks.A Map of the Harbor Islands is a rather hard to find 2006 book about the comes and goes of two friendships throughout the years, [b:best 33253215 The Heart's Invisible Furies John Boyne https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490803456l/33253215.SY75.jpg 51438471] [b:genre 31569684 O amor dos homens avulsos Victor Heringer https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1471793540l/31569684.SY75.jpg 50935806] [b:always 96200 At Swim, Two Boys Jamie O'Neill https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439613291l/96200.SX50.jpg 956105]. Danny's “fear leading into impulsivity” is a constant throughout the book and it's what draws most of the narrative's conflicts while Petey is an omnipresent figure: when he is not right there in front of you, he's hidden behind every word. Birdy.The writing style is the one where a bug crawling up a thigh can last half a page. If you're not fond of such, be at least aware of that. Petey's long long rants are a blessing, and just when I started thinking they were maybe becoming a bit too much, the book smartly does something with it that starts introducing new sides to the main cast - as if Petey were some sort of God, or Jesus, and his behaviour dictated the people's behaviour around him, directly or not.The book focus directly on meandPetey, skimming through the starts and endings of “outer happenings” but lingering endlessly on the tinniest details of every now. This decision led to one user here mention that Danny and Noreen have a “sudden maturation”, but to me it felt more like the lines didn't merge until they did. Meaning, Noreen's presence didn't matter to meandPetey's adventures until it did - and the book's trust and consistency on this method pays off, fitting its pieces in the end. Except for, maybe, "Petey's frogs" who are never mentioned again. Danny kept us hanging on that one.
2.5
Messy. I can't even call this “over described” because it doesn't really describe much, it just dumps street names at you hoping it sticks. The whole “June 1990, France” chapter feels like the epithome of the “Going to France? Learn everything in hindsight (they hate tourists)” talk, because one thing is giving me spatial context, the other is just giving me meaningless french words for 40 pages expecting that I'm aware of every single corner in France.
The plot itself is loose, it's divided into two parts that felt that should develop together. That doesn't happen and we just get two points of view that sometimes converge through repetition (“Remember when X did that?”, “Remember when I, X, did that?”).
And of course, all of that could've worked really well either way, a lot of books do these things!, so what went wrong? Too many themes, not enough time to deal with any of them, I think. I know exactly what Sarah was trying to do but that's nothing if the narrative itself doesn't convince me of such: a lot of things happened and I didn't feel a single thing.
Molly Ringwald, please, review your translations before publishing.
The rating is not regarding the translation, though it might as well be. Some sentences got me wondering how much of Besson and how much of Molly they were. The second half was well written but the first half's “playgrounds” and all the other eye catching bad wording choices got me
UPDATE SEP 24TH, 2022: Yeah, they fucked up.
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Accessible reading but deep and intricate character writing. After finishing, I distanced myself from the book and saw a beautiful patchwork. Quite re-readable, has a lot of passages that would benefit greatly of a second read. Loved how the writer was able to perfectly display a person filled with regret attempting to make ends meet with their past without villanizing the person while also not running away from the facts that led all of them into such condition. That's one hell of a feat, really. I've seen some opinions around here on how Marion is basically the main character but she's not a marginalized character and that's bad but I strongly disagree with this.
If this gets a good adaptation, I can already see a “3 Academy Awards Nominee” including Best Actress for Marion??. Not sure how the hell they would adapt this, though? Even if they do a literal adaptation, including character's voice overs and all of that, they'll probably have to remove a lot of stuff. It's a book that would benefit greatly of a miniseries format, with a slow and drawn out atmosphere - and with that I can already think of names like Luca Guadagnino, Claire Denis or Jean-Marc Vall??e (RIP) -, movie seems quite risky. Also the director is a big “who?”, just because he's a good theatre director doesn't mean he might be a good film director and his movie Genius (2016) is a proof of that.
So yeah, dangerous. Still curious for it though.
?? Actually, I think they'll probably tone down a lot of Marion's fantasies to avoid generalized hate from the public
i'm still unable to write a review for this book. i think i love it so much that i'm not sure how to express my thoughts on it without sounding like a lovefool. a couple of months ago i instigated a friend into reading it - and a couple of weeks later i decided to read it again. this review will be our stupid thoughts (not necessarily on the book itself) compiled. IT CONTAINS SPOILERS.
ramiel ??? 21/06/2023 13:52
GONNA GET AROUND AT SWIM TWO BOYS FIRST LET'S GO
spepp ??? 21/06/2023 15:47
7.5
Eu n??o sei como, mas o ritmo desse livro ?? ainda mais bem decupado do que o primeiro. Eu gosto como cada a????o gera uma cadeia de rea????es quase que imediatas e como todos os elementos se conectam de alguma forma at?? a ??ltima p??gina.
Eu gostaria que o desenvolvimento dos protagonistas tivesse sido menos passivo, principalmente pelas in??meras linhas narrativas que ficaram suspensa no primeiro livro. Por??m, conforme fui me aproximando das ??ltimas p??ginas, vim a perceber que Mar de monstros ?? um livro transitivo, uma prepara????o de terreno para os assuntos que anseio serem conversados.
Excelente cliffhanger, infelizmente n??o fa??o ideia de como eu devo ter reagido ao ler na ??poca.