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replied to Hawksquill's status

Book 17 of 2025

Snake's-Hands: The Fiction of John Crowley edited by Alice K. Turner and Michael Andre-Driussi

4 stars

An eclectic collection of critical essays on one of my favorite authors. As usual with these things, the pieces can be hit or miss depending on the contributor. But overall I thought it was very good and insightful. It was really fascinating to see scholars' different opinions and interpretations of the same books and scenes, sometimes pretty diametrically opposed to each other.

I particularly appreciated the essays on the art of memory and temporality. Reading a little more about Gnosticism has also made me feel more equipped to revisit Crowley's more impenetrable works. I foresee a Crowley deep dive in my future.

@bookstodon

The cover of Snake's-Hands. A portrait of a youngish white man with long brown hair and a brown beard on a deep purple background. The title is in purple text on a white square above the portrait.

replied to Hawksquill's status

Book 18 of 2025

Open Throat by Henry Hoke

5 stars

A prose poem about a queer mountain lion living in Griffith Park in LA based on a true story. It sounded fun and wacky when a friend recommended it. I trust her taste, so I dove right in and read it in one sitting.

It ended up being deeply riveting and surprisingly devastating. I have a soft spot for this type of fiction that dares to imagine an animal protagonist and really commits to fragmented prose and capturing an entirely non-human world view and way of being. It reminded me of Children of Time and The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore in that way.

@bookstodon

The cover of Open Throat. The black and white silhouette of a mountain lion's face with brightly colored eyes.

replied to Hawksquill's status

Book 19 of 2025

Atonement by Ian McEwan (reread)

4 stars

I first read this back in high school and remember really liking it, but I wouldn't have called it an all-time favorite. On a reread, I had the startling realization that this book has been much more influential on my writing style (and relationship with my own creativity) than I ever realized. Several passages had been deeply embedded in my brain, like I realized I thought about them on a semi-regular basis without remembering the source.

I can appreciate the technical skill and mechanics of the structure as a more mature reader, even though the prose was sometimes cloying. I also appreciated the metafictional aspects more on a reread. Above all, reading this made me aware of a few flaws in my own recent prose choices. Genuinely going to be meditating on what I can learn from McEwan; he …

Cover of Atonement. A black and white photograph of a young girl sitting barefoot in an old-fashioned white dress. She looks away to the left, her cheek rested on a fist. She sits on a set of stone steps in a stately garden with large stone ornaments in the background. One gets the impression of a stately but dilapidated English country house.

replied to Hawksquill's status

Book 20 of 2025

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

4 stars

Most of the so-called heretical gnostic writings were widely considered to be lost until a cache was discovered in an Egyptian cave in the 1940s. I was expecting this to be a scholarly translation of the texts with Pagels's commentary, but it was more a narrative history of the early church, with particular attention to the political implications of the struggle between orthodoxy and Gnosticism. Still very engaging, just not what I was expecting.

Some fun facts about Gnostics: women were on the whole much more involved in religious life, including preaching. They were much less hierarchical in structure; some communities drew straws at the beginning of every service to determine who would preach, be deacon, etc. Pagels suggests a potential Buddhist influence (via Alexandria) because of the gnostics' focus on introspection and the inner divinity of all …

Cover of the Gnostic Gospels. The top half contains a close-up portrait of a Biblical-looking figure, perhaps Jesus, Paul, or John. The bottom half has the title and author name.

replied to Hawksquill's status

Book 21 of 2025

The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman

4 stars

A very enjoyable sequel! I particularly appreciated the real historical people and events this time around; they felt a little more integrated into the story (and I love me some ladies of Llangollen no matter the context). Some of the mystery elements got a bit convoluted but I am fully committed to the main and secondary romances and very excited about the setup of the next book. Devastating that I'll probably have to wait a year until I find out what happens next 😭

@bookstodon

Cover of The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman. An illustration of two white women, one with curly brown hair and one curly red hair. They wear colorful pink and purple dresses and sit in an open carriage on two large teal wheels. One of them holds the reins.

Book 22 of 2025

The Translator by John Crowley

4 stars

It's truly impressive how deftly Crowley can move between genres and styles while still retaining his signature eloquence and emotional intelligence. I loved the themes of translation/transformation, coming of age, Cold War paranoia, and the sharply written dialogue. Also, I learned so much from the chapters that featured lost children in the USSR.

There was something missing for me, though, and I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it's just because I've never found poetry as moving as prose. There were quite a few sections about technical poetry stuff like rhyme schemes, plus several full original poems included in the text. It would probably be much more compelling for a poetry lover.

@bookstodon

Cover of the Translator by John Crowley. On the right, a white woman wearing ~1960s clothes and reading an open book. She stands in front of an arch which creates a striking pattern accentuated by her silhouette.

replied to Hawksquill's status

Book 23 of 2025

Isola by Allegra Goodman

3 stars

I went into this totally blind, and when I discovered it was based on real historical events, I had to resist the urge to research the true story to find out what happened. I'm so glad I did, because for me the plotting and suspense was the best part. The prose felt weirdly shallow and not like a good choice for the 16th century, and the characters were also a little two-dimensional, especially the antagonist. I did love the way Goodman created an explanation for why the surviving historical accounts vary pretty drastically. She handled that ambiguity creatively, and it also tied in nicely with some of her themes.

@bookstodon

The cover of Isola. A woman in a long, old-fashioned dress stands alone on a cliff overlooking the see. The tile is printed vertically in large capital aqua letters.