Constantin
It definitely lacked something, although I can't put my finger on it. For what seemed like quite an easy read, I found it very difficult to keep at it.
It's like Leaving Las Vegas meets Groundhog Day. A damaged, self-loathing old prick who drinks and fucks until it's so pathetic he cannot do it anymore. Worst outcome possible. Truly sad book, left me with a bitter taste.
This book felt like an oversized editorial on Los Angeles Times. The story itself is very interesting, it's a good thriller and definitely a page-turner, but instead of focusing on the tons of people Theranos hired and fired, I think the author should have focused on Elizabeth and Sunny, building their characters more and also a few key employees at Theranos. I would also split the book into 2 story lines: one of Theranos and Elizabeth (her biography, deals and trials and investigations at Theranos) and the second about people working at Theranos and how it all happened from the inside.
I'm giving 3 stars for the writing, 5 for the story and 5 for John Carreyrou's professionalism and the courage of his sources and the first Theranos whistleblowers.
I've been reading his blog for a long while now, so reading this book felt quite familiar. It's not a 5-star book, by all standards, but in my case, the timing for reading this book couldn't be any better.
One of those books I'm glad I didn't discard and kept on reading. It started as a remake (one I deemed to be very lousy) of Love's Executioner by Yrvin Yalom, as in “let me put in a book the interesting cases of my career”. Needles to say, Yalom's experience is not comparable Lori Gottlieb's and I realised only later in the book that it wasn't her intention by far to copy him in any way. There are actually plenty of references to Yalom's work in the book.
After the first few chapters I decided to keep on reading just because I like psychology and I'm curious to see how the cases she's describing evolve, similar to the way I watched season 3 of In Treatment, I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I was curious and kept on going.
But then.. the magic happened. It wasn't her personal story or her own revelations, it had to do with those patients, their story, the doctor-patient relationship and the conclusions each drew. Some of these stories, albeit very remote from mine, managed to strike a chord with me and the ending of the book was simply splendid. I've enjoyed it thoroughly, but I'm not sure I would recommend that to anyone. At this point in my life I have someone very dear to me in exactly the predicament of the patients in the book was in and I find it very hard to decide whether to recommend the book or not.
Good one, found some nice similarities between her values and mine and also where all of this was coming from. The one thing I noticed is that her solution to her rather addictive personality is an all-or-nothing type of resolution. I wish the emphasis was more on mindful buying, drinking, eating, watching. But then again, whatever makes her sleep at night.
Grey's Anatomy without the romantic drama and with the bonus of having high quality British humour
I'm not a big fan of forensic pathology and unlike the author I'd rather experiment on rats in a lab than dissect bodies in various stages of putrefaction. All this considered, I enjoyed her tone and her attitude towards death, despite her encounters with some of the worst forms of it. I found the book pretty informative and east to read. 4.5* rounded to 5* for the Scottishness
Pop psychology addressed to Russians mostly (emphasizing situations with alcoholic aggressive husbands, addictions from an early age, housewives who have to do it all). Some advice is actually really good, mostly around relationships, like why you're ending up with the same type of people and what can you do to change that, but some advice comes as condescending and is very debatable. 3.5 stars
Am r??s la glumele cu gust, uneori pline de umor negru ??i amintiri din epoca de “aur”. Am suspinat la fiecare pas pe ultima sut?? de metri, fiecare jaf parc?? desprins din filmele lui Tarantino ??i fiecare demon care-l urm??rea ??n iadul alb (celula de ??nchisoare sau polul nord). E impresionant cine a ajuns ??n ciuda trecutului. O autobiografie de nota 10.
one of those don't-want-to-finish books. very glad the ending didn't disappoint me in the slightest.
To summarise: cheating is bad, by all means. Discuss openly with your partner where you stand when it comes to monogamy, what is considered cheating and what would you like to bring into your relationship, as it's not all black and white.
M-a surprins pl??cut, at??t firul narativ, c??t ??i stilul Tatianei. Frumoase compara??ii, frumos (dar trist) sf??r??it.
A very well documented biography and didn't feel like the author was taking any sides, although he was clearly assuming many things about how Ross might have felt. All in all, I think it's quite a sad book and the Escobar of the dark web wasn't by far as smart as he thought he was, neither were the agents who pinned him down with a simple google search. As much as I can see the damage Silk Road brought to the world, I'm still convinced that an Amazon on the dark web (at least for drugs) is way better alternative than buying unknown quality drugs from thugs on the street.
Full of gems for anyone, a bit boring at times though. I liked that it summarised nicely many books I have read long ago, so it was good refresher. One of the books that definitely leaves you with some food for thought. In my case, it was the thought experiment, where if a god would make me live this life again and again endlessly, without the ability of changing a thing, would I think of it as a blessing or a curse?
I would rate this book at 4.5, but since some of his memories triggered some of my long-forgotten memories, both pleasant and unpleasant, and for that I'll give it 5 stars.
The book is actually quite poorly written in my opinion. I'd say it's like an extended Daily Show where he talks about growing up in South Africa. It's quite funny to notice how many things we had in common, though we grew up at different times and in opposite parts of the world.
His view on apartheid I would describe as a sequel to Nelson Mandela's “Long Walk to Freedom”. Mandela's book concludes with the first major victory against apartheid and Trevor Noah describes what followed, not from a politician's perspective, but that of a coloured boy, teenager, and later adult.
This is a difficult one to rate. On the one hand the writing is quite good and the plot is intriguing enough, however none of the characters are likeable for all sorts of reasons. The book reminds the reader why does a person seek an affair first of all (at the core of it) and also gives some food for thought for anyone considering whether to start one.
It was touch and go with this book. I was halfway into it and ready to put it aside, funny curiosities about what people search on Google or what Facebook data says about us simply doesn't cut if for me anymore. I think Yuval Noah Harari set the bar too high in Homo Deus, by covering most interesting findings big data has to offer in an elegant and concise manner.
However, the second half of the book covers a bit more of human behaviour, data misrepresentations and the extent to which big data can be applied. I found that to be unique and informative enough to do some research on my own.
Although Big Data is no longer considered to be the new kid on the block, it is still very important (Google and Facebook are definitely making a hefty profit out of it), but the sooner fields like psychology, sociology, anthropology are going to embrace it, the better for us as human beings.
Much better than what's depicted in movies. A genuine and down-to-earth incursion in what pathology is really about and an interesting career that unfortunately culminated with not the end it deserved.
Reminded me a lot of Tara Westover's Educated. Both good, except she is a better writer in my opinion.
A strong 4.5
It has everything it needs, still something is missing. Can't put my finger on it.
I finished this book and couldn't let go of it for what seemed like ages. A story that I would typically devour in a few hours turned out to be a very overwhelming and difficult book to read. It struck a chord from the very beginning and I often found myself unable to continue reading without a break. Both Paul and Lucy did an amazing job, concerning this book and their life together. As horrible as this experience must have been, mortality and the awareness of its immediate presence turned the last chapter of his life into something many of us can only dream of.