i read a lot of science fiction but also a lot of other random stuff. libraries are good. i also like the little free variety of library, used bookstores, & the high seas. he/him
my fake and arbitrary rating system: - 5 stars: good. i recommend it - 4 stars: fine, but not entirely my cup of tea - 3 stars: not good, but with some redeeming qualities that might make it worth reading - 2 stars: bad, with a few redeeming qualities - 1 star: horrible
mastodon: @agafnd@www.librepunk.club
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"A memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces the paths of the author's …
So far, there's largely been really good writing, but there have also been a few parts with a particular style of journalistic/web article writing which I've come to really dislike.
"A memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces the paths of the author's ancestors (black and white) through …
The decision to break it up into 4 volumes makes sense, but it feels like it could have been broken at less cliffhangery points, haha
In the boiling heat of summer, a broken remote control for an air conditioner threatens …
The timeline of events seems to have been this:
The film "Summer Time Machine Blues" is pointless drivel; that's what makes it good. I think I liked it better than this book. Morimi's protagonist has too much bitterness in him to replicate the fun environment of the film. On the other hand, I do have a certain fondness for "The Tatami Galaxy", so it was nice seeing further adventures of these dubious characters.
Thinking about it, …
The timeline of events seems to have been this:
The film "Summer Time Machine Blues" is pointless drivel; that's what makes it good. I think I liked it better than this book. Morimi's protagonist has too much bitterness in him to replicate the fun environment of the film. On the other hand, I do have a certain fondness for "The Tatami Galaxy", so it was nice seeing further adventures of these dubious characters.
Thinking about it, without the context of its source material, it would probably stand okay on its own merits.
Alas, how pitiful! I don't know which incarnation it was that I had offended Heaven and Earth, so that I have to meet unkind people so frequently in this life.
— The Journey to the West by 吴承恩 (Page 152)
i'm always saying this
If you can penetrate the thick layer of irony that the protagonist's self-aggrandizing narration is coated with, it's an amusing book. I often like familiar things more, so the repetitive structure worked to its advantage – I grew fond of these characters, as dubious as most of them were.
Actually, I can't give a general recommendation for this book. It's the sort of work that makes me wonder what kind of person the author is. It's perhaps a book for someone who wants to examine a particular Type of Guy under a microscope.
King Rat is an urban fantasy novel by British writer China Miéville, published in 1998. …
early miéville babey let's go break out the jungle mixtapes
Anthony C. Yu's translation of The Journey to the West, initially published in 1983, introduced English-speaking audiences to the …
this is the kind of book that takes itself and puts itself back together again. it's full of john darnielle's typical preoccupation with small towns, houses, people, & the small details of people's lives. the kind of writing you can smell the asphalt from. i listened to the audiobook, so i got to hear john darnielle read his work out loud, which of course suits the text perfectly.
Anthony C. Yu's translation of The Journey to the West, initially published in 1983, …
In a small boat o’er ten thousand miles of misty waves I lean to the silent, single sail, Circled by sounds of the mermaid-fish. My mind cleansed, my care purged, here lacks wealth or fame; Leisurely I pick stems of bulrushes and reeds.
Counting the seagulls is pleasure to be told! At willowed banks and reeded bays My wife and son join my joyous laugh. I sleep most soundly as wind and wave recede; No shame, no glory, nor any misery.
— The Journey to the West Volume I by Anthony C. Yu, 吴承恩 (The Journey to the West (revised edition), #1) (Page 231)
For his contribution, Derrick meditated a moment on the things that make people afraid to enter a place. In his literature class, when they did Edgar Allan Poe, they spent almost the whole time talking about fear of the unknown; to him this was a sort of training-wheels fear. The unknown is too vast and shapeless to be a threat. To Derrick, harm, the prospect of it, was the deciding quantity: the possibility that something inside will hurt you. That’s the stuff that makes you cross the street to avoid a house. It’s the chance that there’s something inside that might leave a mark on you. You’d be even more scared if you knew what it was.
— Devil House by John Darnielle (Page 221 - 222)
Carpe Jugulum (; Latatian for "seize the throat", cf. Carpe diem) is a comic fantasy …
it's not very different from most other discworld books, but that's not really a bad thing. it's about witches and vampires and a hapless priest.
