Robbie's Updates en-US Fri, 25 Apr 2025 09:07:04 -0700 60 Robbie's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg UserStatus1052029831 Fri, 25 Apr 2025 09:07:04 -0700 <![CDATA[ Robbie is on page 63 of 636 of The Silk Roads ]]> The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan Robbie is on page 63 of 636 of <a href="/book/show/25812847-the-silk-roads">The Silk Roads</a>. ]]> UserStatus1047827324 Fri, 18 Apr 2025 06:14:04 -0700 <![CDATA[ Robbie is on page 44 of 636 of The Silk Roads ]]> The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan Robbie is on page 44 of 636 of <a href="/book/show/25812847-the-silk-roads">The Silk Roads</a>.
Robbie wrote: christians kinda tea ]]> ReadStatus9304920456 Sun, 13 Apr 2025 13:28:13 -0700 <![CDATA[Robbie started reading 'The Silk Roads: A New History of the World']]> /review/show/7162214053 The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan Robbie started reading The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan
]]> Review7404729081 Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:21:22 -0700 <![CDATA[Robbie added 'The Autumn of the Patriarch']]> /review/show/7404729081 The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez Robbie gave 4 stars to The Autumn of the Patriarch (Kindle Edition) by Gabriel García Márquez
NOT poor guy.

This marks my 5th Gabo, and is by far the most ridiculous and grotesque of the lot, and perhaps the most open to interpretation. I thought of all his books that I could read next that Autumn of the Patriarch would be the most topical now that we have various dictators or wannabe dictators on the world stage, and at times I did get flashes of Trump and his keepers from the benevolent General. Fun!

The writing style is the most standout element of the book, yes it was 6 continuous blocks of text from different perspectives and time periods all jumbled together to be as narratively confusing and anachronistic as possible. I was extremely overwhelmed by the wall of text at first but I think after a while you start to feel the abrasive tone shifts as breathers, and the symbolism doesn’t muddle things much more e.g. the lepers.

I took this book, and it’s pacing, to be a last ditch effort to canonise the General, who “survives� life for over a century and only when he is completely dejected and finally dead can sense be made of the last century. What’s left after an illiterate, insecure and brutal tyrant who depends on violence and lies to hold onto power is a smattering of events that appear non-linearly, parsed from bathroom graffiti, prostitutes and the General’s enemies.

The only lynchpin in all the madness is the repeated mention of his death, giving a sort of “hang in there, he will die� to the citizens of his imaginary country. The scandals are revealed in brutal, ridiculous imaginary (the children on the raft, the mules falling off the cliff with the pianos), and characters as impactful but not-very-compelling footnotes in the General’s story e.g. his mother, who he fails to canonise in his lifetime, his wife who is used as collateral.

There were a few times when reading this I thought it was a bit stereotypical of a GGM book, some of the magic realism and symbolism reminded me of A Hundred Years of Solitude but less endearing, and the lyrical style and character development was something he perfected later with Love In The Time of Cholera. However, these are just observations and doesn’t take away from the book itself.
]]> Review7303040839 Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:10:21 -0700 <![CDATA[Robbie added 'Metamorphosis and Other Stories']]> /review/show/7303040839 Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka Robbie gave 2 stars to Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Paperback) by Franz Kafka
Poor guy. ]]> Review7404729081 Mon, 31 Mar 2025 14:05:34 -0700 <![CDATA[Robbie added 'The Autumn of the Patriarch']]> /review/show/7404729081 The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez Robbie gave 4 stars to The Autumn of the Patriarch (Kindle Edition) by Gabriel García Márquez
NOT poor guy.

This marks my 5th Gabo, and is by far the most ridiculous and grotesque of the lot, and perhaps the most open to interpretation. I thought of all his books that I could read next that Autumn of the Patriarch would be the most topical now that we have various dictators or wannabe dictators on the world stage, and at times I did get flashes of Trump and his keepers from the benevolent General. Fun!

The writing style is the most standout element of the book, yes it was 6 continuous blocks of text from different perspectives and time periods all jumbled together to be as narratively confusing and anachronistic as possible. I was extremely overwhelmed by the wall of text at first but I think after a while you start to feel the abrasive tone shifts as breathers, and the symbolism doesn’t muddle things much more e.g. the lepers.

I took this book, and it’s pacing, to be a last ditch effort to canonise the General, who “survives� life for over a century and only when he is completely dejected and finally dead can sense be made of the last century. What’s left after an illiterate, insecure and brutal tyrant who depends on violence and lies to hold onto power is a smattering of events that appear non-linearly, parsed from bathroom graffiti, prostitutes and the General’s enemies.

The only lynchpin in all the madness is the repeated mention of his death, giving a sort of “hang in there, he will die� to the citizens of his imaginary country. The scandals are revealed in brutal, ridiculous imaginary (the children on the raft, the mules falling off the cliff with the pianos), and characters as impactful but not-very-compelling footnotes in the General’s story e.g. his mother, who he fails to canonise in his lifetime, his wife who is used as collateral.

There were a few times when reading this I thought it was a bit stereotypical of a GGM book, some of the magic realism and symbolism reminded me of A Hundred Years of Solitude but less endearing, and the lyrical style and character development was something he perfected later with Love In The Time of Cholera. However, these are just observations and doesn’t take away from the book itself.
]]> ReadStatus9231147998 Tue, 25 Mar 2025 12:48:59 -0700 <![CDATA[Robbie finished reading 'Cures of Ireland: A Treasury of Irish Folk Remedies']]> /review/show/6814281471 Cures of Ireland by Cecily Gilligan Robbie finished reading Cures of Ireland: A Treasury of Irish Folk Remedies by Cecily Gilligan
]]> Rating840040894 Tue, 25 Mar 2025 06:35:54 -0700 <![CDATA[Robbie liked a review]]> /
Robbie liked Paul Devlin's review of Intermezzo:
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
"“Sometimes you need people to be perfect and they can’t be and you hate them forever for not being even though it isn’t their fault and it’s not yours either. You just needed something they didn’t have in them to give you.�

Truly and deeply beautiful from start to finish. A story about two brothers with their own set of problems and the fallout of the passing of their father, this felt really fresh for Sally’s work. A little bit too long in stretches but the world (and relationship) building was so effective here that the ending left me crying and desperate for me. "
]]> Rating839068089 Sat, 22 Mar 2025 16:24:31 -0700 <![CDATA[Robbie liked a readstatus]]> /
Robbie liked Joe’s status update
Joe O'Donnell Joe O'Donnell started reading Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche
]]> ReadStatus9188673808 Sat, 15 Mar 2025 05:09:20 -0700 <![CDATA[Robbie started reading 'The Autumn of the Patriarch']]> /review/show/7404729081 The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez Robbie started reading The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez
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