I keep seeing this book listed as one of the greatest books of the decade. I'm not really buying it. It wasn't a travesty and I've had some good conveI keep seeing this book listed as one of the greatest books of the decade. I'm not really buying it. It wasn't a travesty and I've had some good conversations with people about it, but it ends with what I take to be an argument against novel writing. Sort of makes you feel like you wasted your time....more
I've felt like more or less an exile from Middle Earth, since those horrific movie adaptations temporarily ruined the books for me. It was nice to comI've felt like more or less an exile from Middle Earth, since those horrific movie adaptations temporarily ruined the books for me. It was nice to come back and find that this reading brought to mind more happy memories from childhood than anything else....more
I'm not sure I'm sold on the interview format that the academics who made this book were so excited about, but it was a fairly entertaining summary ofI'm not sure I'm sold on the interview format that the academics who made this book were so excited about, but it was a fairly entertaining summary of Jung's career in his own words....more
I can't believe this is real. Freud says that we all have a deep rooted instinct driving us to turn back into inanimate objects. He calls it the deathI can't believe this is real. Freud says that we all have a deep rooted instinct driving us to turn back into inanimate objects. He calls it the death drive. This all evolved from the first moment of life, in which he admits something "incomprehensible" must have happened, in which some inanimate piece of matter became animate and then immediately had an instinct to reverse this new development by dying. Freud admits he's out on a limb here, but he suggests that future generations will study the death instinct and uncover all the ways our desire to die influences every aspect of our psychology.
Freud really loses me when his books get into more speculative social criticism, but this one was especially thin. Before I got to it, the editions ofFreud really loses me when his books get into more speculative social criticism, but this one was especially thin. Before I got to it, the editions of Freud's earlier works assured me that "The Future of an Illusion" would contain Freud's devastating arguments against religion, but where are the arguments? He writes in this book as if the arguments have already been made, and here he is only elaborating on some of the secondary questions that arise now that religion has been intellectually debunked. So he has his own Idiot Questioner raise stupid objections on behalf of the religious and Freud, not surprisingly, has all the answers. I don't buy it....more
Huxley takes mescalin and then wanders around his house and experiences the inherent "is-ness" of things. Apparently "is-ness" is demonstrated by viviHuxley takes mescalin and then wanders around his house and experiences the inherent "is-ness" of things. Apparently "is-ness" is demonstrated by vivid glowing colors. Deep....more
**spoiler alert** What I liked: The idea of the narration being littered with references to comic books and fanboy culture, and the fact that the prot**spoiler alert** What I liked: The idea of the narration being littered with references to comic books and fanboy culture, and the fact that the protagonist is a Dominican kid living in NJ who inhabited the nerd world I grew up in.
What I didn't like: The ending. Spoiler alert, the fact that he loses his virginity does not make me feel better about the fact that he is then brutally beaten to death. I mean, are you serious?...more
I've got problems with Tolstoy. The man hated Shakespeare and the first sentence of Anna Karenina is the complete antithesis of my worldview. I don't I've got problems with Tolstoy. The man hated Shakespeare and the first sentence of Anna Karenina is the complete antithesis of my worldview. I don't like his characters and I don't like him as a person. With that said, this book was really good. I'm always wondering how some people seem to go through life without ever really thinking about death, and here's a case study....more
Wikipedia insists that Vonnegut is a humanist, but I've only ever detected contempt for humanity in his books. I found this book to be characteristic Wikipedia insists that Vonnegut is a humanist, but I've only ever detected contempt for humanity in his books. I found this book to be characteristic in that it describes a materialistic world view, which includes no room for sympathetic characters (almost as if people aren't worth bothering about) and seeks solace in a celebration of the absurdity of trying to apply meaning to meaningless material processes (thanks, but no thanks). Like all of his books, the narrative techniques are far too clever for their own good, and have the result of my not being able to retain any memory of the book whatsoever after only a few days. (I read "Breakfast of Champions" in college and today I literally couldn't describe to you a single moment of that book. I've read "Slaughterhouse Five" more than once, and I couldn't tell you three things about it. I'm guessing that "Galapagos" is going to end up going down the same mental garbage shoot, and sitting here with a few lingering images from the book still left in my mind, I can't say I care.)...more
I guess this is considered minor Graham Greene, but I enjoyed it anyway. It almost goes a little too fast. I find that sometimes I look at the covers I guess this is considered minor Graham Greene, but I enjoyed it anyway. It almost goes a little too fast. I find that sometimes I look at the covers of these pot boilers years after I've read them and I can't remember a thing....more
I read this from cover to cover on a beach in Aruba, which was just weird, because somebody dies every ten pages or so. It wasn't really in keeping wiI read this from cover to cover on a beach in Aruba, which was just weird, because somebody dies every ten pages or so. It wasn't really in keeping with the carefree beach vibe we were going for. But you really can't deny Hemingway. I realize the man was a terrible husband and father, that his writing suffered in the end and that he didn't have the most highly evolved views of gender. But despite all that, in his prime, he wrote dozens of truly great stories.
At the small Midwestern evangelical liberal arts college that I attended, there was a lit professor who made the statement that Hemingway couldn't write emotion. We were reading "A Farewell to Arms," and the majority of students in the class (mostly young women who were aspiring elementary school teachers) agreed with her. I spent class after class defending Hemingway to these heartless women, who read "A Farewell to Arms" as some sort of failed romance novel. After reading through his short stories, I haven't changed my opinion. Hemingway writes emotion beautifully. His restraint makes it possible for him to convey the emotions of characters who for one reason or another don't demonstrate their emotions in obvious ways, much like huge segments of the human population. Not everybody breaks down and cries like a girl as soon as something goes wrong. I do, but not everybody....more
The first six issues of Spawn are probably the worst written comic books I've ever read. The writing is so singularly bad that no matter how many millThe first six issues of Spawn are probably the worst written comic books I've ever read. The writing is so singularly bad that no matter how many millions of dollars Todd McFarlane has made in his career, I couldn't help wincing in embarrassment for him as I turned the pages. There's just something about this specific blend of adolescent and pretentious impulses combined with the knowledge that this was McFarlane's big gamble for creative freedom that puts the whole project into its own private sewer. I mean, at one point, Spawn actually tells the DEVIL to go to HELL. Did I say that happened once? It actually happens every few pages!
When I was a kid, my local comic shop had a deal where they'd give you a regular discount, if you signed up and gave them your contact information. I did this, they ordered a huge box of Spawn #1's and then they called me every night for weeks, telling me that the Spawn #1's were selling fast and I needed to get my copies right away. I'm happy to say that I didn't buy any, under the theory that anything they were trying so hard to sell me was unlikely to appreciate. I just checked eBay and plenty of copies of Spawn #1 are going for a few dollars right now. I think I made the right choice....more
I can't believe I wasted my time reading Harry Potter books, when Jonathan Strange was there all along.I can't believe I wasted my time reading Harry Potter books, when Jonathan Strange was there all along....more
Would it really do any good to review The Odyssey? I like it a lot better now than I did when I was younger. I'm not sure if it's my age or how many tWould it really do any good to review The Odyssey? I like it a lot better now than I did when I was younger. I'm not sure if it's my age or how many times I've read it.
I have no problem with Fitzgerald's translation, but I will say this, the skills that make for a good translator are not the same skills that make for a good literary critic. Fitzgerald's Afterward in this addition had me rolling my eyes quite a bit. He's so literal that he frames all the questions in a really reductive way. It works if you're trying to figure out which island off the coast of Ithaca the suitors hid their ship behind, but it's garbage for psychological questions. So according to Fitzgerald, either Penelope knew exactly who Odysseus was the moment she saw him or else she didn't know who he was until the moment she acknowledges him. I think most recognition scenes play out with a bit more nuance than that. The worst written scene in "Return of the Jedi" demonstrates more psychological nuance than Fitzgerald allows for the characters in this masterpiece. ("I known. Somehow I've always known.")...more
I'm interested in the lives of writers, and I'm especially interested in the lives of writers who made themselves conspicuous public figures like ArthI'm interested in the lives of writers, and I'm especially interested in the lives of writers who made themselves conspicuous public figures like Arthur Conan Doyle did. Add to that the fact that he was a spiritualist and that he really attempted to solve mysteries like Sherlock Holmes. So I liked this book a lot. The characters were believable and it's just a good story....more
I didn't get it. I have no idea what happened or why. Is the protagonist crazy? Is it the world that's crazy? Was it all a dream? Someday in the not tI didn't get it. I have no idea what happened or why. Is the protagonist crazy? Is it the world that's crazy? Was it all a dream? Someday in the not too distant future, I will pick this book up off my shelf and realize I have absolutely no memory of it whatsoever. ...more
This is a fairly interesting dystopic novel. In the future, people have realized that society moves in a cycle between totalitarian fascism and more oThis is a fairly interesting dystopic novel. In the future, people have realized that society moves in a cycle between totalitarian fascism and more open liberalism. During the fascist part of the cycle, life is cheap, procreation is encouraged and there are wars, even if the government has to manufacture reasons to fight. During the liberal part of the cycle, life becomes expensive, people are encouraged to be homosexual and penalized for procreating. There are obvious drawbacks to both extremes.
Can't say I cared about any of the characters....more
This book takes place in the same universe as Decline and Fall, except the average income of the characters is much higher. There are also more sad moThis book takes place in the same universe as Decline and Fall, except the average income of the characters is much higher. There are also more sad moments mixed in with the hijinks. I can see that Waugh's on a trajectory towards writing A Handful of Dust....more
Reading Graham Greene after Evelyn Waugh is like stepping out of a movie and into real life. I'm not sure I like it. The impending doom that hangs oveReading Graham Greene after Evelyn Waugh is like stepping out of a movie and into real life. I'm not sure I like it. The impending doom that hangs over the protagonist from virtually the first page is exhausting....more
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