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allison

aparrish@bookwyrm.social

Joined 3 years, 6 months ago

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2024 Reading Goal

50% complete! allison has read 6 of 12 books.

good damn book imo

5 stars

One of the most productive, generative, quotable, thought-provoking books I've read in a long time. Even if you're not interested in Christian theology, you'll find this to be a cogent and useful synthesis of queer theory, design, epistemology and ethics—a field guide on how to avoid the "hubris" of taking laws and abstractions to be above all, and also the "sloth" of radical relativism.

John Crowley: Engine Summer (2013, Orion Publishing Group, Limited) 4 stars

When I read something Crowley wrote, I'm always measuring it against Little, Big, and this doesn't measure up to that, though in some respects it seems like Little, Big's rough draft (down to the Daily love interest with a unibrow). The prose is lovely and dense just how I like it and the ending is poignant enough to make up for what feels like a disconnected and incomplete narrative. The book is also deeply steeped in my least favorite sci-fi trope, namely: white people in the post-apocalypse taking on indigenous mannerisms. A deeply strange, beautiful book that I admired but didn't love.

Gorgeous collection of surrealist prose poems that comes to resemble a kind of grand Gertrude Stein-like fugue of variation and repetition of setting, narration, themes and lexical choices. At times the book lulls you into thinking it's just pleasant pastoral nostalgia, but then suddenly you're faced with a turn of phrase, a jarring image that unsettles everything. I loved the English translation, but I'm glad that the original Spanish is presented verso, so that everyone has a chance to pick up on di Giorgio's phonetic play. This one is going to stick with me for a while.

David K. Seitz: Different Trek (2023, University of Nebraska Press) 5 stars

DS9 has always been my favorite Star Trek series, and this book really helped me understand why. This is a deep and attentive reading of the series that highlights its progressive politics, and the stakes in play when the series falls flat. I took a ton of notes while reading the book, and the book's bibliography is a treasure trove of interesting directions to explore in Black studies, queer studies, and cultural geography. The book's tone is somewhat academic, but I think it's nevertheless very readable for general audiences, especially fans of the series. <3 this book!!

Harry Josephine Giles: Deep Wheel Orcadia (Paperback, 2021, Pan Macmillan) 4 stars

Astrid is returning home from art school on Mars, looking for inspiration. Darling is fleeing …

Review of 'Deep Wheel Orcadia' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a beautiful book, and as near to perfect as I can imagine a poem or a science fiction story could be. The English translation is a shimmering lens that draws you into the Orkney text but never overwrites it—a tremendous achievement—and the text of the poem itself is a sonic latticework that rolls and ravishes without demanding a close semantic reading. The story is told through many voices, and the focus on everyday interpersonal moments is a welcome change from the bombastic norm in science fiction. This is a work that feels whole, but not closed, and one that I anticipate returning to again and again.