Good book, but I didn't connect with the characters well. Some parts were great, others dragged for me.
I think anyone who lives in a large or growing city (Nashville/Knoxville!) should read this book. In her criticisms of mid 20th century city planning, Jacobs provides some rigor as to how a city street, park, or people can thrive. This information allows city residents to understand their environment while also creating a foundation of knowledge that ensures they'll be able to discern when their representatives might be making city planning decisions not within their interest. Poor city planning can exasperate crime, inequality, and poverty so it's important to stay informed!
I started this book without looking much into what it's about and got something I didn't expect from a sci-fi novel. This book tends to be very introspective. It brings a lot of direct commentary on social structures (capitalism/socialism) within a sci-fi setting. Overall it was interesting and I became invested in the characters. I recommend it if you're looking for something different to read, but it can feel slow at times if you're expecting a traditional sci-fi story.
This book is set on mars but has very human stories, often dealing with loneliness and loss. The chapters almost read like an anthology and were tied together by the setting and passing of time. Overall I enjoyed the book, but the anthology-like structure had some chapters feeling experimental and often disrupted the momentum of the story.
On another note, I enjoy the artifacts an author leaves behind once their work is aged by a few decades (or more). Whether it's Martian wives serving in their gendered role as household caretakers (on mars!), or the overall theme of war always being an inescapable, close thing. It's obvious to see the influence of 1950s America on Bradbury. I've started looking up authors before I read their books so that I understand where they're coming from, and it's always gratifying to see how the world may have been influencing them from that time.
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