I’m not lying when I say this might possibly be the most boring book I have ever read. There’s a reason it took me a whole month to get || 1.0 star ||
I’m not lying when I say this might possibly be the most boring book I have ever read. There’s a reason it took me a whole month to get through: I genuinely could not get myself to ever pick it up, because I dreaded it so much. I truly felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again; it was that uneventful and repetitive.
This was genuinely nothing but a diary of a lonely, unlikable man sitting on an island where he talks in excruciating detail about the home he builds there, the seeds he has planted, the baskets he weaves, the animals he kills and tames, etc. Actually, I should correct myself: The book didn’t even really feel like a diary, but more like an administrative log where he kept precise count of all of his provisions and harvests. It’s not an exaggeration to say this man aimlessly walks on an island for almost thirty whole years and does nothing but exist. The only thing he ever thinks about is survival and God, which were both handled in the most repetitive and uninteresting ways possible. Literally nothing happens until the last 100 pages and even then I still couldn’t care any less.
All in all, I hated this book. I genuinely did. It was impossibly boring and therefore beyond frustrating....more
The grotesque and unethical nature of this essay's proposal is meant to shock people into altering the|| 2.0 stars ||
This did not really do it for me.
The grotesque and unethical nature of this essay's proposal is meant to shock people into altering their perspective or igniting change, but it kind of left me cold. I understand the thought behind the essay and I respect it for trying to accomplish change, especially when putting the text in its original time period, but I don't think it really accomplishes anything. It can too easily be shoved under the rug as ridiculous, weird and unnecessary. It did not set me to think, even though that was obviously its intent.
I was also not the biggest fan of the writing style. The whole thing is obviously meant to be satire content wise, and I think the writing style could have played with that a bit more. It felt a bit stiff and could have been more humorous. And if it was not going to follow the humour route, it could have at least tried to convey more emotion or spark any type of feelings in me. Now, it did neither.
All in all, I appreciate the thought, but this severely lacks in its execution. It's a no from me....more
This collection of poems is parted into a happy / naive side (sectioned under innocence) and a more sad / realistic side (sectioned und|| 4.0 stars ||
This collection of poems is parted into a happy / naive side (sectioned under innocence) and a more sad / realistic side (sectioned under experience). This divide and obvious contrast between both sides really adds a lot of weight to the overall message and thoughts portrayed in this collection. It was very interesting. I can definitely get behind most of the criticisms and observations expressed by William Blake in a lot of these poems. He seems like a pretty cool and moral dude, especially for his time. Good for him.
There are quite a few poems in this collection I really really like, and one of my favourites is probably The Clod and the Pebble:
Love seeketh not Itself to please, Nor for itself hath any care; But for another gives its ease, And builds a Heaven in Hells dispair.
So sang a little Clod of Clay, Trodden with the cattles feet: But a Pebble of the brook, Warbled out these metres meet.
Love seeketh only Self to please, To bind another to Its delight: Joys in another loss of ease, And builds a Hell in Heavens despite.
This poem is kind of simple and actually quite straightforward, but it really resonated with me and thus, felt special. I also like that ‘innocence� and ‘experience� meet half way and that each show their different views. It displays the intriguing contrast of both sides and is in this way quite representative of the collection as a whole....more
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