How does one even begin a review for A Little Life?
This, I think, is the first time I have read book that I thought the writing was amazing but I woulHow does one even begin a review for A Little Life?
This, I think, is the first time I have read book that I thought the writing was amazing but I wouldn't recommend to anyone. I think this book grossly means something so different to everyone who decides to read it.
My personal backstory to how I found out about ALL: I watched one of my favourite booktuber's video, Hannah, from aclockworkreads, about sad books she read and when I saw her reaction to this book (which was that it's horrible and no one should read it and she wished she could forget the characters and sobbed uncontrollably) I naturally was curious to research more.
I read up on all the trigger warnings (before I started) and an article a friend sent me (once I started reading ALL) about the criticisms people had against the author's intentions for writing this book.
One thing I like to do is separate the art from the artist (with some exceptions of course.) I think intentions vs. perceptions are completely different and any work of literature is up to the interpretation of the reader no matter what the author intends (definitely influenced by my English degree I'm doing right now.)
So, although I agree with many points people have as to how ALL is torture "porn" ( I don't like that word ) because there are so many graphic scenes that eventually I became desensitized to it. I also agree that the book in some ways portrays Jude as this character who is hopeless and would be "better off dead" because life is too much (even the author herself admits to writing Jude this way.) I completely understand why people would be instantly turned off by this book just because of that point.
But I don't think just because a book is immoral or makes a controversial stance that it's bad or unreadable. Different strokes for different folks.
Which is why I will not be recommending this book to anyone and if anyone asks me, I will preface my conversations with, do your research, make your own choice. It's up to you if you want to listen to the criticisms or not. This is definitely a book you can live happily without (and also with, I believe), having never known what happens to Jude, Willem, JB, or Malcom. I, for one, do not regret reading this book at all even though I had many issues with it ((view spoiler)[ I didn't like how Willem and Jude got into a romantic relationship. I ranted to my friend about it because I was so annoyed how I felt it came out of nowhere and it was obviously going to be a dumpster fire with Jude's past trauma. The sex scenes they had were really fucking cringe, even more than the trauma imo because Willem definitely should have known better. (hide spoiler)])
I believe there is a lot of good to be learnt from this book, despite the fact that the entire book is really just one big dumpster fire that has minuscule moments of light that are totally trenched by darkness. However, the lessons I take from this book are all individual to me based on my own personal life experiences and that's why it's not a book for everyone, or maybe even most people. I don't know. We each come from different walks of life, it's hard for me to gauge.
P.s. I quite literally dog-eared (with dog sticky tabs) about half of this book. To put even a quarter of the quotes I tabbed would take up more room than it's worth. So, I am going to now flip to a random doggy note and put the quote here for your enjoyment (if you got this far).
pps. I will not be giving this book a rating. it feels wrong to rate something this raw and personal.
"'You won't understand what I mean now, but someday you will: the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are-not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving-and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad-or good- it might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well.'"
What an awesome read. Having no pressure to read this for a class definitely made my experience more enjoyable, and potentially explains why this bookWhat an awesome read. Having no pressure to read this for a class definitely made my experience more enjoyable, and potentially explains why this book has been sitting on my shelf for almost 3 years. Although, now having read it, I would love love love to study this book in a class and teach it one day to my future students!! I read Brave New World in high school and remember enjoying it somewhat, but I don't think I was able to fully appreciate it (considering I had a not-so-great teacher back then), but I remember her comparing BNW to 1984. Now I hope to read BNW and compare them myself!
Overall, very interesting and philosophical-heavy novel that I am sure to reread for many years to come. ...more
Really enjoyed this one, heard about Jaron in the Netflix film "The Social Dilemma" and that inspired me to read this bnote to self: re-read in future
Really enjoyed this one, heard about Jaron in the Netflix film "The Social Dilemma" and that inspired me to read this book and quit some of my social media. Very enlightening read for sure....more
This is one of those books you have to read it in its entirety to fully appreciate what the novel was trying to accomplish. We all go into stories expThis is one of those books you have to read it in its entirety to fully appreciate what the novel was trying to accomplish. We all go into stories expecting them to be set up a certain way, and once again, I felt like the story took me in a whole new direction I didn't expect. The first good chunk of this book felt like it lagged at times, but the last 100 pages or so really picked up Jimmy and Lisa's storyline that I finished the last 80 pages in one sitting!
Definitely a book I have to reread; I had to read this at a slow pace because it was for a book club, and I think that hindered my engagement with the novel. But I love Robinson's writing and will try out her other books in the future.
I read this for my university's Indigenous book club, and cannot wait to have our final meetings and see what everyone else thought about this book....more
This book did exactly what it says, it told me 21 things I probably did not know about the Indian Act. But you know what else this book did for me?
ItThis book did exactly what it says, it told me 21 things I probably did not know about the Indian Act. But you know what else this book did for me?
It truly made me ashamed that I am a Canadian.
We Canadians pride ourselves with having universal healthcare, good quality education, a high national literacy rate, etc. We tell ourselves, and everyone else quite frankly, that we are SO much better than the U.S.A. because we have social welfare programs that help Canadians in need.
But you know what the truth is? All the great things about Canada, aren't available to the Indigenous communities. And you know what else? Not much has changed since 1867.
Of course, we don't have residential schools anymore, but that does not mean that their effects don't linger with the current generation of Indigenous peoples.
The absolute ridiculousness of what the Indigenous were prohibited from doing blows my mind. There is no better way to describe it to you than, almost literally, Indigenous people could not shit on their own land without permission. It was not this literal, but you get my point.
The entire Indian Act is so hypocritical. For example, Indigenous farmers were not allowed to sell their farm products to non-Indigenous, and were only allowed to sell to Indigenous people with a permit. But get this: a lot of the lands they lived on were not arable!! So, they were encouraged to go from a quote unquote 'nomadic' lifestyle to an agricultural one, but their ability to grow AND sell were limited. So, arguments were made that the Indigenous are not selling enough farm products, and they used this as an EXCUSE to cut the size of their reserves.
WHAT!?!?!!?
Exactly. This book SHOULD make you frustrated. ESPECIALLY if you are a Canadian.
I felt this book to be important in educating myself concerning what is going on now with BLM. I know this is not about black lives, but all communities of colour are targeted, including brown people and Indigenous people. I wanted to first get a sense of our own colonialism roots in Canada, and slowly move on to the current day, where black lives are being killed based on systematic racism, not quite unlike what the Indigenous suffered. This book is crucial to scratching the surface as to the hypocrisy of the Canadian government. I cannot implore you to read it more, Canadian or not....more
This was REALLY REALLY good. This one definitely took me by surprise.
I was obviously aware of the pop culture references that Frankenstein has impresThis was REALLY REALLY good. This one definitely took me by surprise.
I was obviously aware of the pop culture references that Frankenstein has impressed itself on society today, but was wonderfully surprised to find a great novel from which these references come from. I found it delightfully interesting and questioning a lot about human nature, can’t wait to study more about it in my class! ...more
pretty good play. Still studying it in English so perhaps more thoughts to come.
... reread Feb. 2020 for my Shakespeare class!
Changing from a 4 to 5 spretty good play. Still studying it in English so perhaps more thoughts to come.
... reread Feb. 2020 for my Shakespeare class!
Changing from a 4 to 5 star rating. I absolutely love Hamlet. I have never read any other Shakespeare played that was as witty, enjoyable, punny, and addicting like Hamlet!
In many ways I find the plot's method of unraveling quite humorous at times, sort of reading like a soap opera but Shakespeare style.
Shakespeare's rich language does not fall short here, the allegorical and metaphorical language shines in this tragedy and is one I can't wait to one day come back to with my children, grandchildren, and so on! ...more
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