Reviews and Comments

Honestly a perfect book. There's nothing I could say about it that hasn't already been said. Just a masterpiece of twentieth century fiction from one of the greatest to do it. I'm so glad I was never assigned this book in school because I'm sure I would not have been able to relate to it. As an adult with real life experiences, I can say this is one of the most heartbreaking books I've ever read.

I wanted to fall in love with this book after reading Tawada's 'Scattered All Over the Earth,' but it just never hooked me. There isn't much of a plot to speak of, just a series of recollections about people and places outside of time. There are some unique ideas and fun wordplay as in Tawada's other work, just not enough of a story to keep me interested. I shelved it before finishing it. Life's too short for books that don't excite you.

Children of Dune is a very weird and cool book. I greatly enjoyed the story and felt that it was a fitting conclusion to the trilogy. By the end, I felt as though Herbert was trying to communicate some deep and heavy themes, but it wasn't entirely clear to me what they are. Maybe I'm just not reading deep enough! I don't know. Dune is cool and weird and I'm excited to read the next one.

Far from the doomed cross-country voyage of 'Grapes of Wrath' lies 'Cannery Row,' one of the sweetest books I've ever read. The characters are so human in their needs, desires, thoughts, and actions, and Steinbeck clearly loves them for all of their flaws. You'll fall in love with every character just like they all love each other in this romantic little seaside community. The magic of the storytelling lies in the perfect balance of playful humor and profound melancholy. It's the work of a master at the height of his craft.

Couldn't put this one down once I picked it up. Saw the movie first, which shares some key details in common but otherwise feels like a different story being told in a similar alternate universe. It strikes a perfect balance between narrative, prose, and philosophy. You know the mission is doomed from page one but you can't look away. I can't wait to finish the trilogy.

Messiah is less of a sequel, and more like the fourth installment following the three-part series of its predecessor. It really doesn't—couldn't—stand on its own, just like any of the three parts in the first novel would feel unsatisfying as standalones.

The universe of Messiah feels smaller, tighter, more claustrophobic than the first. Characters that could have been much more compelling are given little development. Its world feels small, which is unfortunate, because the first book felt so massive and complex by comparison.

Still it's a fun ride, and a worthwhile companion to the first book. The story feels fall from over, though the tale of Muad'Dib may have concluded here. Other reviews mention that it's a necessary if somewhat underwhelming "bridge" to the third book, so I'm still looking forward to the next installment.

What could I say about this book that hasn't already been said? It took awhile to hook me, but by about halfway through the first of three parts I was fully engrossed. It's like if Tolkien wrote Star Wars, and I mean that in the best way possible. Honestly, after reading Dune, I now see Star Wars as a watered-down facsimile at best. It doesn't even come close.

Dune has aged remarkably well for sci-fi from the '60s. The vast majority of characters (aside from the caricatured evil of the bad guys) are exceptionally complex and nuanced, and Herbert doesn't spare us from the dark and sometimes disturbing things that the "good" guys must do for the sake of their cause. The worst thing about this book is that it ends! I'm looking forward to picking up the next one in the series soon.

Tawada is a writer unlike any other I've encountered. I really enjoyed the narrative shifts throughout the book, and how each character brings a new perspective to the events that unfold among the group. As a lover of language, I particularly enjoyed the author's linguistic wordplay and musings on the relationship between language and identity. In the end, friendship trumps dystopia. It's oddly sweet and wholesome, despite it all.

I don't think any book has ever made me laugh more than the first half of this one did. Lockwood has mastered the one-two punch of comedy + tragedy that makes the tonal shift of the latter half hit all that much harder (see also: Catch-22, that one episode of Futurama about Fry's dog). So many choice quotes. A masterful depiction of the inner life of someone who's way too online, and what it feels like when the IRL world forces us to log off.

I thought I was signing up for, well, you know, a book "on writing" by Stephen King. Turns out that's only a small part of it. I've never actually read any of King's novels but I did enjoy reading about his career and how he got to where he is. If you're a writer looking for advice who's less interested in King's career, you're better off just googling quotes from the book. There honestly aren't a whole lot.

Probably one of the greatest books ever written in the English language. Easily among the best of the 21st century as of 2023. Gorgeous, horrifying, haunting, utterly captivating. And the prose, goddamn the prose! One of America's greatest authors at the apex of his career. This was my second time reading it and I appreciated it even more this time around.

I mostly knew what I was getting myself into since I've seen Blade Runner before, but I have to say I enjoyed the book more. I picked it up in light of the latest AI hype cycle currently strangling Silicon Valley to see what Dick was thinking about this topic all those years ago. I found it to be a fun page-turner with some interesting ideas scattered throughout. In the end, though, I had a hard time making sense of some of the main character's motivations.

Slow to start but worth sticking around to the end. They say you read DeLillo for the prose, not the plot, and I can see why now. What he writes is secondary to how he writes it. The tone lands somewhere between reverential awe and sardonic skepticism, peppered with gorgeous descriptions of both the mundane and the grotesque. The last few chapters in particular are quite brilliant and moving.