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brendamn's reviews
364 reviews
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
1.0
The great reveal in the last 30 pages that provides the book's most compelling moment is not nearly enough to make it worth getting through the preceding 250 pages.
The narrative feels like a stream of consciousness diary, and has all the problems and events you'd expect in a middle school and teenage diary. I suppose it does provide readers' an insight into familiar and universal experiences many people have in those young years, but in the end I am just not interested in reading that kind of diary.
In many places it just takes so long for the narrator to tell the reader a simple story. It walks you through the preceding weeks and days of an event to explain why it is significant, though in the end all those events feels so insignificant. It would have been better if it just didn't have to jump back and forth in time. Not that there is anything wrong with that in itself, but it didn't do many favors for this book.
The characters themselves just felt stupid. I get that they are sheltered and cut off from the world for most their lives, but even so it does not feel like they should be as stupid as they are. Like really? You think they will see your drawings of imaginary animals as proof you are capable of true love?
The concept itself is interesting, clones that are raised only in order for their organs to be harvested. though in my opinion the concept was poorly developed. There are plenty of other books that dive into this moral dilemma more effectively.
Maybe I should have know what I was getting into and known this was not the book for me. But in the end I read the book anyway, and here we are. I am glad plenty of others read this and found it a valuable experience, but for me it just was not worth the time.
The narrative feels like a stream of consciousness diary, and has all the problems and events you'd expect in a middle school and teenage diary. I suppose it does provide readers' an insight into familiar and universal experiences many people have in those young years, but in the end I am just not interested in reading that kind of diary.
In many places it just takes so long for the narrator to tell the reader a simple story. It walks you through the preceding weeks and days of an event to explain why it is significant, though in the end all those events feels so insignificant. It would have been better if it just didn't have to jump back and forth in time. Not that there is anything wrong with that in itself, but it didn't do many favors for this book.
The characters themselves just felt stupid. I get that they are sheltered and cut off from the world for most their lives, but even so it does not feel like they should be as stupid as they are. Like really? You think they will see your drawings of imaginary animals as proof you are capable of true love?
The concept itself is interesting, clones that are raised only in order for their organs to be harvested. though in my opinion the concept was poorly developed. There are plenty of other books that dive into this moral dilemma more effectively.
Maybe I should have know what I was getting into and known this was not the book for me. But in the end I read the book anyway, and here we are. I am glad plenty of others read this and found it a valuable experience, but for me it just was not worth the time.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
3.0
What Weir does well in Project Hail Mary is how he makes science exciting. The books momentum in large part is driven by successive scientific discoveries which rescue the narrator from one crisis to the next. It also does great job of explaining aspects of the biological and physical world in both a thoughtful and accessible way.
I do have appreciation for scientific discovery and the scientific method, I didn't seem enough for me to really get as into the book as I could have. I found myself wanting, but for what I don't really know. There were a number of places as well that I was not able to fully suspend my disbelief. The science itself was sound, but the odds of everything that came to pass in the book ever happening felt like an impossibility. Though that most likely is asking too much of a novel with "hail mary" in the title.
Definitely would recommend though for anyone that enjoys science fiction. There is another element to the plot that was a lot of fun that I am not mentioning just to keep this spoiler free. I have not read The Martian myself, but after reading this it is clear that Wier is a quality science fiction author.
I do have appreciation for scientific discovery and the scientific method, I didn't seem enough for me to really get as into the book as I could have. I found myself wanting, but for what I don't really know. There were a number of places as well that I was not able to fully suspend my disbelief. The science itself was sound, but the odds of everything that came to pass in the book ever happening felt like an impossibility. Though that most likely is asking too much of a novel with "hail mary" in the title.
Definitely would recommend though for anyone that enjoys science fiction. There is another element to the plot that was a lot of fun that I am not mentioning just to keep this spoiler free. I have not read The Martian myself, but after reading this it is clear that Wier is a quality science fiction author.
Bedlam: An Intimate Journey Into America's Mental Health Crisis by Kenneth Paul Rosenberg
5.0
The primary content of the book comes in at under 200 pages, but it covers an incredible amount. The issues surrounding the crisis of mental health is something everyone has their own opinion on, usually terrible and asinine, but Rosenberg's take is definitely worthwhile. He covers the history of it, what is working today and what isn't working, provides plenty of firsthand examples, all from an experienced perspective.
Myself being a party to who the topic of this book is about I would say this is one of the better books you could pick up about this. If you are looking for a place to start when it comes to the topic of mental health, this is it.
Myself being a party to who the topic of this book is about I would say this is one of the better books you could pick up about this. If you are looking for a place to start when it comes to the topic of mental health, this is it.