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Jelmer commented on Kafka op het strand by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami: Kafka op het strand (Paperback, Dutch language, 2006, Atlas)

A boy trying to escape a gruesome oedipedal prophecy, a simple man who can talk …

I'm reading the Dutch translation, and honestly it's almost just worth doing that for the translator's comments. Particularly in this footnote, the translator corrects Murakami in a not so subtile manner.

Jelmer finished reading Under the Skin by Michel Faber

Michel Faber, David Mitchell: Under the Skin (2017, Canongate Books)

Short-listed for the Whitbread Award, this remarkable book defies categorisation. Under the Skin introduces Isserley, …

I love seeing Scotland through alien eyes. I didn't like that its description of its inhabitants as "vodsels" was also relatable. (Not a Scotland thing, more a me thing.)

Jelmer quoted Under the Skin by Michel Faber

Short-listed for the Whitbread Award, this remarkable book defies categorisation. Under the Skin introduces Isserley, …

Even if she could bring herself to start a conversation, the thought of how much work it would be to keep it going made her heart sink. He was obviously a typical male of the species; stupid, uncommunicative, yet with a rodent cunning for evasion. She would talk to him, and in return he would grunt, surrender one-word answers to her cleverest questions, lapse into silence at every opportunity. She would play her game, he would play his, on and on, perhaps for hours. Isserley realized, suddenly, that she just didn't have the energy to play anymore.

— Under the Skin by Michel Faber, David Mitchell (Page 208)

Tell me this isn't about dating apps.

Jelmer started reading Under the Skin by Michel Faber

Under the Skin by Michel Faber, David Mitchell

Short-listed for the Whitbread Award, this remarkable book defies categorisation. Under the Skin introduces Isserley, a woman obsessed with picking …

Jelmer started reading Kafka op het strand by Haruki Murakami

Kafka op het strand by Haruki Murakami

A boy trying to escape a gruesome oedipedal prophecy, a simple man who can talk to cats, a mysterious librarian, …

Jelmer wants to read Ways of Being by James Bridle

James Bridle: Ways of Being (2022, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Ways of Being by James Bridle

What does it mean to be intelligent? Is it something unique to humans, or shared with other beings--beings of flesh, …

Jelmer wants to read The Purified by C. F. Peterson

C. F. Peterson: The Purified (Paperback, 2021, Scotland Street Press)

No rating

Eamon’s newfound happiness is shattered by the kind of murder that the government doesn’t want …

The first one was a pleasant surprise I found at Typewronger Books. I'm hoping they'll have this one in stock as well.

Jelmer finished reading Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Kim Stanley Robinson, Kim Stanley Robinson: Ministry for the Future (Hardcover, 2020, Orbit)

Established in 2025, the purpose of the new organization was simple: To advocate for the …

Less science fiction that I'm used to, more social and economic fiction. And pleasantly optimistic once you get through the carnage of the first half (read: keep going it will get better).