Maira's Updates

Maira is on page 107 of 784 of Solenoide

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 08:26:24 -0700

Maira is on page 107 of 784 of Solenoide.

Maira is on page 52 of 784 of Solenoide

Sat, 08 Mar 2025 14:38:32 -0800

Maira is on page 52 of 784 of Solenoide.

Maira is currently reading 'Solenoide'

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 18:42:28 -0800

Maira is currently reading Solenoide by Mircea Cărtărescu

Maira is now following Haniel Barbosa

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 06:16:35 -0800

Maira is now following Haniel Barbosa

Maira is currently reading 'The Shaping of Middle-Earth'

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 18:38:56 -0800

Maira is currently reading The Shaping of Middle-Earth by J.R.R. Tolkien

Maira added 'How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen: Whining, Fighting, Meltdowns, Defiance, and Other Challenges of Childhood'

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 18:38:52 -0800

Maira gave 5 stars to How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen: Whining, Fighting, Meltdowns, Defiance, and Other Challenges of Childhood (Kindle Edition) by Joanna Faber

Maira is currently reading 'How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen: Whining, Fighting, Meltdowns, Defiance, and Other Challenges of Childhood'

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 18:36:54 -0800

Maira is currently reading How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen: Whining, Fighting, Meltdowns, Defiance, and Other Challenges of Childhood by Joanna Faber

Maira added 'Uma Guerra Sem Igual: Como Atenienses e Espartanos Lutaram na Guerra do Peloponeso'

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 13:17:57 -0800

Maira gave 2 stars to Uma Guerra Sem Igual: Como Atenienses e Espartanos Lutaram na Guerra do Peloponeso (Paperback) by Victor Davis Hanson
This book is nearly unbearable up until page 300 - so much so I abandoned it for three years before I had the nerve to pick it up again. The amount of repeated information astounded me when we're talking about a historian like Victor Davis Hanson. One would have thought he could be more concise in his arguments. Well, here he's not.

Besides what's with those nonsensical comparisons between Athens c. V b. C. and the modern US? He could have left his political opinions a little less obvious and be a little less annoying. Another thing that really pissed me off: calling names and making judgmental values about democracy vs oligarchy, saying Athens was Good because it was democratic and Sparta was Bad because it was not - something a true historian should never do, and I know him to be a true historian, so what the heck?

There are some good things about it, but they get lost in the midst of this awfully-assembled book, but I think the most important is: if you want to know about the Peloponnesian War, go read Thucydides, Herodotus, Plutarch, and other primary sources. There's no need to waste your time (and get annoyed in the process) with this book.

Maira added 'Voragem'

Sat, 04 Jan 2025 16:15:35 -0800

Maira gave 4 stars to Voragem (Hardcover) by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

Maira added 'The Lays of Beleriand'

Sun, 15 Dec 2024 13:28:21 -0800

Maira gave 4 stars to The Lays of Beleriand (The History of Middle-earth, #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien
This volume's manuscripts were written and revised by Tolkien throughout long decades, and compiled here by Christopher in a nothing to less Herculean task, analysing loose pieces of paper that were not dated (when they were not altogether illegible).

All the poems in this book have gone through extensive revision and although all of them are incomplete in their poetic form, they have also given base to the prose version that would later become The Silmarillion. There are very interesting commentaries about the author's process of creation - some of them given by C. S. Lewis, who Tolkien took into great consideration.

This volume might be a little more tiring for those who are not as familiar with the stories and characters - or to those who simply don't like poetry. But Tolkien's work was monumental in re-writing his own stuff, and to me it was fascinating to watch how his mythology (and storytelling) evolved. I found it very instructive, and can't wait to get to volume 4!