Albert
Very entertaining and hard to put down. I read the entire third act in one sitting, on the eve of Father's Day, which is interesting considering the plot revelations that come out.
In many instances, the characters surprise you by behaving in ways you don't expect. Some characters are set up to be a certain way, but end up making choices that break out of what a cliched version of the character might do. For example, in an early scene, the principal of the school, who is also the father of the school bullies, resolves a bullying incident by favouring justice over nepotism. It took me by surprise, and it was very satisfying.
Overall, a funny and enjoyable read.
(N.B. I'm a student of the author's and have come to know him personally.)
Very crisp read filled with characters that are easy to identify with. The morality of the book divides the characters into haves and have-nots, and invariably it's the have-nots who find freedom from their situation, and find value in things other than... things. Lots of hope. Lots of humour.
Not as much about snooker as I'd hoped. Lots of digressions. Still fun to read.
Highlight: constant bashing of the player Stephen Lee for no apparent reason.
My favourites:
- The Dead (Joyce)
- The Ledge (Hall)
- The Lottery (Jackson)
- Of This Place, Of That Time (Trilling)
- A Clean, Well-Lighted Place (Hemingway)
- The Wall (Sartre)
I spent my time with this book alternately impressed and frustrated at the writing style. The first-person narrator and title character is a chimpanzee named Bruno who has learned how to speak. It's clear that from the process of learning language, he has fallen in love with it, so I guess it makes sense that the narrative is written in such a flowery style. It does read well in some parts, but at the same time, it feels like the author is trying too hard to use big words.
It was nearer to the end when I started to lean more towards frustration. Bruno's friend Leon is introduced. I expected that the dialogue between the two would take a more casual tone than Bruno's elaborate first-person narration. After all, no one talks like that in real life. But, it turns out that Leon is a Shakespearean actor, and he does talk like that.
I realize that in the world of the story, this can be explained by saying that Bruno's speaking style throughout the entire narrative is influenced by his time with Leon. That makes logical sense, but it was still a decision by the author to have them talk that way. It made Leon seem not like a real character, but rather a device to deliver more fancy writing.
The book worked best when it focussed on Bruno's icky but somehow touching relationship with Lydia. Unfortunately, it lost me once it became about his adventures with Leon. I would like to judge the book as a whole, but this is a case where the final impressions took away from my earlier enjoyment.
As a foreign exchange student at Beijing University during the Cultural Revolution, Jan Wong ratted out a classmate who expressed a treasonous desire to leave the country for the West. The classmate disappeared and Wong, driven by guilt, embarked on a mission to find her and make amends.
Full review: https://alchoi.com/blog/2022-01-20-beijing-confidential
Enjoyed the writing style all around.
Will focus on my favourite story of the bunch, “Dogs In Clothes.” The main character reminds me of people I know, egocentric people who like to think of themselves as cultured, and are sensitive to any doubts cast on their sincerity. Yet, the character is not necessarily unlikable. You feel that she is just doing what is expected of her.
Picked this up for the first time in ~20 years. I read this many times at an impressionable age, and I credit it for influencing me to start the career path that I'm still on, and further, influencing me to be the type of computer user that I am (a Morlock, in the book's terms). I've internalized so much of the book that I don't feel like I'm really reading it anymore... it's more like, I'm watching sentences go by that are already in my head.
On the other hand, there are some sections that rub me the wrong way now. There's an attitude of elitism that doesn't feel right for me. I know that I was full of conceit and superiority when I was younger, so it would have appealed to me then, but it's kind of abrasive now.
The biggest strength of this novel is the combination of a coming-of-age story with a subtle magical world. The way that magic works, by indirect manipulation of reality, so that a spell seems to reach back in time to set up a chain of events that lead to the desired result, is fascinating. It also plays well with Mori's teenage insecurity; when she makes friends, she doesn't believe that she earned it. Even though she's a clear, natural fit in her book club, she chalks it up to a spell she cast, and agonizes over the “ethics” of her actions.
Artwork is beautiful. The story seems to be mainly built upon withholding information about the history of the world, so that you want to find out more. I'm not totally invested in the story yet, but the characters are growing on me.
The best parts for me were those that explored the way that people (families, couples) perform happiness or unity for the sake of others. And then those other people respond with envy, until it breaks down, either because the happiness dissolves for real, or because the envious person realizes that it's only an image.
I didn't like it as much when it dove too deeply into what I would call “writer stuff” - philosophical discussions about the value of literature and writing. It's too self-referential for me.
Second time reading the book. Have seen the movie many times. I still find the language and voice entertaining.
I believe this was the first time I've been exposed to the last chapter (older editions have the last chapter cut out, and the movie doesn't adapt the last chapter). I'm not sure how I feel about it. It does provide a nice symmetry to the first chapter, but I thought it was a bit too convenient. It features a character change in Alex that seems like it's just there to make a point and to end it on a positive note.
The Free Willy one was my favourite. It's disturbing to me that hype around a movie can move so many people to act, without regard to whether it's really best for the animal.
I've watched so much Nerdwriter that I heard his voice the whole time I was reading this book.
Stylistically, it can be a bit hard to follow, but the story is strong and propulsive. The characters are haunted by past actions that are so specific to their culture that at first, I didn't think that what they did was a big deal. But the journey to understanding why it was a big deal for them is exactly why I love reading.
Reads like a series of “did you know” factoids. Interesting but I don't feel it has enough depth.
I admired more than enjoyed this book. It's very well-written, but underneath the impressive style are a story and characters that I didn't like very much. I thought that it spent too much time in flashback, which gives it the feeling that the current storyline is constantly stalled; I was always waiting for it to get back to what's happening now.
Reminded me a bit of Flowers for Algernon or The Curious Incident of Dog, due to the narrator's voice. He's a naive mind who doesn't understand the world around him, but cares greatly about being good. Combine that with a cool magical setting, and I was hooked.
Do we romanticize the Mennonite and Amish lifestyles because they live in simpler times? Seems appealing, but this book reveals the downsides. The women essentially have no freedom.
It's simultaneously too long and too short. Too long because it repeats vague descriptions of its ideas multiple times, and too short because it illustrates those ideas with superficial anecdotes. I would have liked to read more about the author's experiences in how he applied these ideas.
It was well-written and interesting, but focussed too much on art history and literary history, and didn't actually spend a lot of time on the concept of the attention economy itself. I was hoping for more social, technological and historic context.
I admire the writing. It's filled with both beautiful and horrific images, sometimes stacked together. (E.g., description of grandmother in beautiful dress, at peaceful Buddhist altar; then, the suggestion that the incense blunts the pain that she feels about her departed son.)
On the other hand, I think the lack of structure put me off. I didn't feel attached to any characters because they come and go so quickly that they leave only impressions.
Excessive worldbuilding... felt like all of the interesting stuff happens “off-screen,” at the expense of the present story.