I enjoyed this story. Not, perhaps, as much as Rowell's Fangirl, but it was fun and light, nonetheless -- a good story to pack (and unpack) to, to spaI enjoyed this story. Not, perhaps, as much as Rowell's Fangirl, but it was fun and light, nonetheless -- a good story to pack (and unpack) to, to span continents with. A story of how people worm their way into our lives, and inexplicably transform who we are and how we see the world -- how and where we recognize beauty. ...more
To unpack the density of this books meanings would require a lifetime -- or at least a dozen readings. Listening to it as words spoken over an engine'To unpack the density of this books meanings would require a lifetime -- or at least a dozen readings. Listening to it as words spoken over an engine's hum, with attention torn between highway and coming classes -- the words a backdrop to wandering thoughts and a busy mind -- did not, perhaps, encourage the greatest level of analysis or attention to detail. But it was a beginning. The dipping of one's toes in the ocean that is Dillard's intensity and attention. Her wakefulness. Her seeing.
More than anything, her work seems to demand that we bring to living all of our consciousness and intentionality. She reminds me that to write is to wake and to wake is to live.
Prophet, poet, or mystic, she is not quite like any other author I have ever read. ...more
There were many ways in which this book was perfect. Pulling from the world of fanfiction culture, it created a work that was fresh and original and jThere were many ways in which this book was perfect. Pulling from the world of fanfiction culture, it created a work that was fresh and original and just, true. I think I've been waiting for this book for a long time: a book that could explain why we read fanfiction, why we write it, and why, ultimately, we have to let it go.
It was funny, it was entertaining, it was not deep, and yet, it had something to say. There was a section, near the end, that got sappy enough to be worthy of fanfiction itself, but I'll forgive Rowell because the rest of the book was so right.
And beyond all that, it just made me really, REALLY want to write. ...more
While Card is capable of story-telling at its finest (as illustrated by Ender's Game), this is story-telling at its most shoddy.
I am a lover of all thWhile Card is capable of story-telling at its finest (as illustrated by Ender's Game), this is story-telling at its most shoddy.
I am a lover of all things fairy-tale (and most things historical), but the inconsistencies in this book were enough to make me want to chuck it out the window (and I probably would have if I hadn't already read too far to be able to stomach leaving the end unread). Nothing in this book coheres: not the magic, which is utterly arbitrary; not the historical framework, or its accompanying religious worldviews; and not the information the characters know or their means of attaining that knowledge.
This was an appalling affront to my imaginative credulity, and if it had been the first Card book I'd read, it would also have been the last.
This story is beautiful and strange and otherworldly . . . and ultimately reminds one that that is exactly what childhood is.
It's a story about the tThis story is beautiful and strange and otherworldly . . . and ultimately reminds one that that is exactly what childhood is.
It's a story about the things we remember, and the things we forget, and those moments (brief and sporadic though they may be) that allow us to capture it all again.
I would highly, highly recommend the audio version of this book -- Neil Gaiman's narration powerfully highlights the precise and detailed subtly of the writing. This was a piece of mythmaking gone right. ...more
The first time I tried to read this book, I got stuck somewhere in the middle. It wasn't that I didn't like it, exactly, but I certainly didn't find iThe first time I tried to read this book, I got stuck somewhere in the middle. It wasn't that I didn't like it, exactly, but I certainly didn't find it as compelling as everyone seemed to imply I should. And however compelling I did find it, it wasn't enough to justify so very many pages.
Listening to this as an audiobook has, for me at least, made ALL the difference. And listening to it over the course of three months . . . well, the impact was rather indescribable. Somewhere around the end of November I forgot that it was meant to be a novel. Somewhere around the end of December I stopped believing it would ever end.
During the hours I spent in my car, listening to this book, I was immersed into an alternate reality. A reality that was strange and wonderful and utterly unpredictable. Never have I been so utterly uncertain of the direction in which a story was progressing. And that uncertainty was part of the charm. I can't say that I was particularly satisfied with the ending (that it had an ending at all was, to a degree, unsatisfactory), nor did I expect to be. I was being recounted a history, and histories rarely have the neat, tidy, and satisfactory endings of stories.
Was this one of the best books I've ever read? Probably not. But was the experience of "reading" it one of the most enjoyable I've ever had? Absolutely. ...more
I forgot how much I love Anne Lamott's writing, and how deeply it speaks to me. Listening to her read her words as I drove to work and back, through sI forgot how much I love Anne Lamott's writing, and how deeply it speaks to me. Listening to her read her words as I drove to work and back, through streets lined with the orange-red trees of fall, rolling fields of farmland, and the distant (sun-kissed) hills, life seemed bright with remembered sweetness, and the hopeful ache of coming promise. ...more
Karith Amel
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