Definitely some ups and downs enthusiasm-wise with this one, especially early on ... but the thing is ... the book is absolutely hilarious - like laugh out loud funny, and that counts for a lot. Stronger opinions forthcoming when I get to the end.
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swannodette finished reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
swannodette wants to read Double entry by Jane Gleeson-White
Double entry by Jane Gleeson-White
A fascinating exploration of how a simple system used to measure and record wealth spawned a cultural revolution. Prepare to …
swannodette wants to read Human Acts by Han Kang
Human Acts by Han Kang, Han Kang
From the internationally bestselling author of “The Vegetarian,” a rare and astonishing (The Observer) portrait of political unrest and the …
swannodette commented on The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt
swannodette finished reading Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
Challenging every preconception about storytelling and prose style, mixing wry humor and riveting emotional depth, Kawakami is today one of …
swannodette reviewed Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
Challenging every preconception about storytelling and prose style, mixing wry humor and riveting emotional depth, …
10 out of 5 stars
5 stars
Easily one of the best books I have ever read. No previous description, or review could have prepared me for it. A lot of folks go on and on about the meta / societal aspects of the text. They are there, but they are not the point, and that certainly isn't what floored me. Come without preconceptions, let yourself bask in the language, the stories within stories.
swannodette commented on Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
Challenging every preconception about storytelling and prose style, mixing wry humor and riveting emotional depth, …
I simply cannot believe how good this is. Kawakami is operating on a completely different level.
swannodette reviewed The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata
Go is a game of strategy in which two players attempt to surround each other's …
A Masterpiece
5 stars
I'm avid Go player with a strong interest in the history of the game so there are many elements to the text that would likely be opaque to other readers. I've tried to get other friends into this one, with little success. But I think the insularity is intentional, I think Kawabata wanted to make something intensely Japanese - yet the reason I return this short book every few years is for its universality (I've read it three times). In the end, the book is about death, at the level of an individual but also at the level of society itself. I do think an adventurous reader can get something out of the text, but doing some research will definitely pay many rewards. For one, the book fictionalizes a real event that would have been well known to many Japanese readers - these deviations from reality are intentional and give …
I'm avid Go player with a strong interest in the history of the game so there are many elements to the text that would likely be opaque to other readers. I've tried to get other friends into this one, with little success. But I think the insularity is intentional, I think Kawabata wanted to make something intensely Japanese - yet the reason I return this short book every few years is for its universality (I've read it three times). In the end, the book is about death, at the level of an individual but also at the level of society itself. I do think an adventurous reader can get something out of the text, but doing some research will definitely pay many rewards. For one, the book fictionalizes a real event that would have been well known to many Japanese readers - these deviations from reality are intentional and give the whole affair a profundity akin to the game itself.
swannodette reviewed The MANIAC by Benjamín Labatut
A prodigy whose gifts terrified the people around him, John von Neumann transformed every field …
Pretty Riveting
5 stars
A quick, riveting read. Wasn't very familiar with personal details of von Neumann's life. Some personalities like Nils Aall Barricelli (one of the first A-life researchers) I had completely missed before. There is an interesting break and leap into the AlphaGo bits, which are very well done. I think time will tell how coherent this connection is. A good one to revisit ten years from now.
swannodette rated The Complete Book of the New Sun: 4 stars
The Complete Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe (The Book of the New Sun)
The Shadow of the Torturer introduces young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, …
