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ameliajang's reviews
78 reviews
Death in Holy Orders by P.D. James
adventurous
mysterious
tense
4.5
my guilty pleasure genre has done it again; it got me out of a reading slump <3
the issue with mystery novels is there is so much shit you have to wade through to get to the oyster—and im not inclined to do much wading. thankfully, p.d. james was mentioned in the description of a literature class i’m thinking of taking next semester, so i did not have to do much wading myself. i picked it up at a used book store for $0.75 so this was a bargain for sure. it’s not perfect and the reveal was not my favourite but i had fun.
i am rejoicing in having found someone who can fill the void that not having many Agatha Christies left to read has created.
summer detective novel season is so back BABY!!
the issue with mystery novels is there is so much shit you have to wade through to get to the oyster—and im not inclined to do much wading. thankfully, p.d. james was mentioned in the description of a literature class i’m thinking of taking next semester, so i did not have to do much wading myself. i picked it up at a used book store for $0.75 so this was a bargain for sure. it’s not perfect and the reveal was not my favourite but i had fun.
i am rejoicing in having found someone who can fill the void that not having many Agatha Christies left to read has created.
summer detective novel season is so back BABY!!
The Babysitter by Robert Coover
4.5
my heart is racing and i feel like throwing up. i only remembered my professor’s warning when it was too late
Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast by Oscar Wilde
4.0
A book of quotes, indeed, turns out to be quotable.
Some great ('It often happens that the real tragedies of life occur in such an inarticulate manner that they hurt one by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd want of meaning, their entire lack of style;), some funny ('Murder is always a mistake. One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner.'), and some questionable ('It’s most dangerous nowadays for a husband to pay attention to his wife in public. It always makes people think he beats her when they are alone.').
There are some real gold nuggets here if you are willing to look past the odd views on women (it seems there is very little written by men that misogyny has not touched:(... 'The only way a woman can ever reform a man is by boring him so completely that he loses all possible interest in life.' like???) and marriage.
Some great ('It often happens that the real tragedies of life occur in such an inarticulate manner that they hurt one by their crude violence, their absolute incoherence, their absurd want of meaning, their entire lack of style;), some funny ('Murder is always a mistake. One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner.'), and some questionable ('It’s most dangerous nowadays for a husband to pay attention to his wife in public. It always makes people think he beats her when they are alone.').
There are some real gold nuggets here if you are willing to look past the odd views on women (it seems there is very little written by men that misogyny has not touched:(... 'The only way a woman can ever reform a man is by boring him so completely that he loses all possible interest in life.' like???) and marriage.
Modernist Painting by Clement Greenberg
3.5
Perhaps not the best or most comprehensive piece to start with when reading Greenberg. I must admit that the very short page count and my general interest in the topic are what attracted me to this essay. His long section on medium specificity seemed quite old-fashioned but then again this was written in the 30s and also what the hell do I know? Maybe 'Avant-garde and Kitsch' is more famous for a reason and I'll go read that sometime. Also, this has nothing to do with Greenberg's writing but when it comes to modernism, I think I prefer it in literature than in visual art. All in all, reading this made me want to go read Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word instead.
Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? by Linda Nochlin
4.5
Charged, poignant, and at times quite funny. To the reader of 2024, the ideas presented in Nochlin's article may not come across as revolutionary but it certainly must have ruffled some feathers in 1971 when it was first published.
The article pas particularly interesting when it questions the notion of an innate 'genius' thought to be present in the Great Artist that was (and in all honesty, still is) prevalent
- whether consciously or subconsciously - in many scholars and casual art enjoyers alike.
Written in a highly accessible language with great wit and character. this was a quick and interesting read that served as a good introduction to feminist art history.
The article pas particularly interesting when it questions the notion of an innate 'genius' thought to be present in the Great Artist that was (and in all honesty, still is) prevalent
- whether consciously or subconsciously - in many scholars and casual art enjoyers alike.
Written in a highly accessible language with great wit and character. this was a quick and interesting read that served as a good introduction to feminist art history.