kaadie's reviews
173 reviews

Ghosh wrote an interesting and insightful narrative. He artfully wove together history, fiction, love and conflict. All of the characters - I felt - were nuanced and autonomous. I liked how the characters' lives were used to show the history of their respective countries. It was interesting because while we were following the historical events occurring in India, Burma and Malaya through the characters the characters themselves were microcosms for the cultural, spiritual and emotional state of the countries they were living in. Both the countries and the characters reflected the toll of decisions made and unmade. 

I did enjoy the novel but towards the end of the book

The characters were suddenly under attack. Everything was going wrong and sadly most of the second generation died. That was quite prevalent, parents outlasting their children. This does fit with the narrative considering the fact that the Great War was occurring at that time. However it was shocking and quite the sad end for a relatively measured book thus far. I suppose though it should not have been a surprise considering how we all know how modern day India, Myanmar and Malaya have fared after colonization and subsequent independence. The lost grandeur and prosperity of Burma is mirrored in Rajkumar's life. It is sad but true I suppose. It just sucks to "experience", even voyeuristically through a fictional novel.

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Contemplations on colonization, particularly by the British Empire, was a prevalent theme in this novel. Which was expected and welcome. I think Ghosh deftly articulated the nature of colonization. Its function, mode of operation and the subsequent trauma and horror it unleashes. He discussed the internal conflict is suppresses and induces and how it fractures both people and countries. 

Ghosh really did have some beautiful prose and a lot of his remarks and commentary within the book I found to be insightful and interesting. However this is one of the few books that I have read on India by an Indian author so I would have to read more to have a more informed opinion.

It was an exciting read. McCammon certainly knows how to write an action sequence. I enjoyed his take on the werewolf and Michael's past was fascinating. The pacing of the story was a little wonky for me but the story was engaging and exciting.

Meh, is really all I can say. The narrative was a bit confusing to follow, but that is to be expected considering that it is a mystery and thus the author needs to keep you on your toes. The author did provide a satisfactory answer for what actually happened but the book itself was rather underwhelming for me. I did not like any of the characters.
Ultimately it was an underwhelming read with a disjointed and clunky narrative. The author did succeed at keeping the reader on their toes and constantly questioning who Gabriel's real killer was and whether Alicia was a reliable narrator or not. However this book was just not my thing. I found some of the psychological assertions to be a bit dubious and the overall message of the book is definitely depressing: if you're fucked up as a child you will be fucked up as an adult.

I love the Asterix & Obelix comics. I've read them since I was a very small child and so nostalgia definitely plays a large part in my enjoyment of these books. Besides that though they are light-hearted and funny and very quick reads. Love all of the staple characters and the Gauls' pun-filled names are just: chef's kiss!

I really loved this book. All of the characters were interesting and well rounded. I really loved the insight into the history of Korea and more specifically what it means to be a Korean living in Japan. It was really eloquently told and even though the story was heartbreaking and tragic in some instances it really was a story about hope and perseverance. It was a bit of a challenge to decide how many stars to give this book because of the melancholic undertone. Even though I appreciate the perceptive and nuanced manner in which the story was written it is shining light on the harsh reality of life for many Koreans and that makes it hard to read. Therefore even though I thoroughly enjoyed reading it I don't know if I would ever pick it up again. 

Noa's death was shocking and heart wrenching and it felt completely out of the blue, but what made it sadder is that it completely made sense. The way he had been treated and the fact that he felt tainted by his heritage, Korean and yakuza, made him terribly depressed and I think the strain of living in hiding for so many years was definitely his undoing.

I hate how much the characters suffer but it definitely makes you admire them even more so for their resilience of character and spirit. Prejudice is frustrating because of its inherent irrationality and I think the book described nicely the ridiculousness of discriminating on the basis of race/ethnicity. It also provided insight into the turmoil and persecution that Japanese born Koreans suffer due to the fact that they are too Korean for the Japanese but to Japanese for the Koreans. A ridiculous paradox that many individuals suffer through; who exist in those liminal spaces between cultures and races. The book highlights another age old bastion of suffering, poverty. The story communicates the accompanying feelings of desperation and suffocation effectively without belaboring the point or reducing the humanity of the characters. Overall, the novel actually touched on a lot of different topics concerning classism, racism, colonization, poverty, discrimination, sexism, etc. It really was a well-rounded narrative that focused on the many different aspects of being a Korean and the struggles they endure. 

I found the novel informative and interesting as a result of the knowledge you acquire about Korean culture and history, but I also found it incredibly moving. Sunja was such a simple character in many ways and yet I found her story so completely captivating. She was a stalwart presence throughout the story, without having any of the flashiness or grandeur of other main characters. 

I did not enjoy this book, although I will admit that it was not due to to the book being bad but that the story was just not to my taste.

This story follows a small group of intelligent and relatively wealthy college kids who study Ancient Greek. It's an elite group that is hand-picked by the overseeing lecturer, Julian. Who refuses entry to almost everybody except our six main characters. They are academic snobs and the exclusivity of their course definitely leaves them with a pretty well ingrained sense of superiority. The stratification of their education from the mass of supposed lesser scholars, in addition to the wealth of most of the characters, provides an apt microcosm for the stratification of the classes in general society. The book definitely provides a criticism of class and elitism and ultimately reveals how fickle those distinctions truly are. 

The nature of their course work, studying a dead language, leaves them pretty disconnected from the "real" world and constantly pining for a long dead Era. This mentality is really the crux of the book. These characters have mainly chosen to live by the rules and practices of the Ancient Greeks. Preferring the grandeur and supposed superiority of culture of the lost civilization, however that world no longer exists. 

Donna Tart wrote in an interesting manner. Even though she started with one of the main climactic points,

Bunny's murder

, there was still a sense of mystery and tension throughout the book. She created tension by leaving the reader constantly wondering how the characters progressed from point A to point B. You known what is coming but are unsure of how all of these events line up to culminate into that eventual happening. This wasn't necessarily unpleasant, I'm just not a fan of the whole 'Two Months Earlier' plot device. Besides

Henry's death

there were no real plot twists or surprises for me, and even that event was expected due to the lead up to the end of the book. I suppose this could be chalked up to good foreshadowing on the author's part. It didn't necessarily ruin the book for me, the lack of surprises, but it did make it a little less engaging. 

Also, I wasn't really that fond of the characters. Bunny is a bigot, and thus it's hard to feel any kind of sympathy

when he does meet his eventual and violent end

. All of the characters were self-involved and rather impressed with themselves. I know that this accurately reflects the attitude of an individual in their environment, but it left me feeling disinclined towards the characters and story due to their lack of relatability or even their ability to induce sympathy. I think the lack of connection to the other characters was due to the narrator and his position in the story. Richard, was very much an outsider and admittedly, his perception of the other main characters was very much informed by his admiration for them and his own feelings of inadequacy. The other characters, besides maybe Bunny, really did come across as caricatures; hollow and extreme versions of themselves. 

I know that the value of this book lies in the analysis and study of the effect guilt and desperation has on the human psyche and it is very reminiscent of 'Crime and Punishment'. It also extends that analysis into the herd mentality of a group dynamic and the desire to be accepted into and maintain a certain status quo within a given social demographic. I would say the analysis is spot on but it makes for a rather depressing and unpleasant read.

The characters are lost in their own heads and the closed environment of their small and exclusive university, degree and friend group, leaves everything rather distilled and warped. The incredibly restricted circumstances of their social environment are reflected in the supposed restriction of their choices, which is why they escalate quickly to murder. 

An additional problem with the characters all venerating Ancient Greece is that it not only leaves them disengaged from the reality of their time and place but it also leaves them with a predisposition to be disdainful towards other cultures and histories that don't mirror or are similar to that of Ancient Greece. This is really one of the only aspects of the narrative that frustrated and offended me

besides the incest, copious drug use and Bunny's disgusting and near constant slurs of course

. Their mentality largely excluded African, East Asian, Southern American and indigenous cultures, basically everything that wasn't European and that irritated me. I know it's simply a product of their studies and the general snobbery that is associated with studying the Classics (which are only European languages, thanks colonization), but it was never addressed in the book as being offensive and at its core, discriminatory and this is quite an important issue race wise. People often attribute elegance and sophistication to anything European and barbarism and simplicity to anything that is not. Which is quite ironic considering all of the ridiculous shit that the characters get up to. The book was written a while ago, but it's still an issue and thus must be addressed. 

Overall the characters were slightly unlikable, with Bunny being downright nasty. Charles and Henry were also questionable characters, with particularly Charles needing ridiculous amounts of therapy. The main character, Richard, was slightly irritating due to his desperation to be accepted into a group of people that he had attributed fineness and grandeur to based on nothing but the fact that they studied an exclusive degree in a dead language. Camilla was the only woman in the friend group and a rather absent character, despite being the center of some of the conflict within the group. Things seemed to happen to her and not because of her. She kind of just went along with whatever Henry or Charles had initiated and her most valuable qualities seemed to be her beauty and patience. The same can be said about Richard, he was at his essence, an observer to the antics and lives of the other characters but because he was the narrator his presence in the story was more obvious. Francis was more active than Camilla but not as dominating a presence as Bunny or Henry. 

In conclusion, the book was fine, the characters unlikable and the story kind of just plodded along to it's somewhat expected conclusion. I think that it is a great book to dissect and evaluate how the characters and story highlight and mimic real life issues. It provides many great discussion points on guilt, regret, classism, academic politics, crime, justice, reconciliation and perception. That being said I generally read for escapism and that was not what this book offered.

This book was really charming. It had all the heartfelt emotion expected from a tale concerning time-travel to visit lost loved ones. It was a lovely read and the interwoven stories made for an engaging narrative. The last story was definitely my favorite. 

The reason the novel didn't get a full five starts is because the plot was a shade too predictable and the prose weren't as layered and nuanced as I would have liked but these are really small details that do not retract at all from the overall enjoyment of the book. 

It's definitely impressive that despite the sad subject matter the book does not make you sad but instead leaves you feeling quite fulfilled. Wholesome, really, is the word I would use to describe the novel and I would definitely liken it to the literary version of a warm, comforting hug. It doesn't mask the pain but it certainly makes it more bearable. 

Meh, is really all I can say. It was really slow in the beginning. You get halfway through the book before Merrick and Arabella start actually being love interests. Which is a bit frustrating considering that they kiss within the first chapter. So yeah, real slow. 

Yes, it was nice that Merrick was respectful and developed a friendship with Arabella first but that took up half of the book, then suddenly in the space of two chapters they're having sex. The pacing was just a bit awkward and clunky and I definitely would have appreciated a slow-burn approach with a little more concentration on their supposed chemistry. 

I am really not a fan of the whole paragon-of-virtue female character. Particularly because in this instance it was paired with a Beauty and the Beast set-up where Merrick is the untamed rogue and Arabella the picture of feminine perfection, gag. It was just a bit much. 

Another issue of the picture perfect female lead is that it makes it rather unbelievable when she herself thinks she is unassuming and unappealing. So everybody around her responds to her positively but somehow she thinks herself an utter failure? Arabella's timidness was also really not my thing. Granted it is simply an aspect of her character but I just thought that a widow who had lived a less than ideal life would have been a little more jaded and thus added a bit of edge to her character. The fresh doe-eyed debutante role would have suited her character better than a tryst-seeking widow, virgin or not. In fact Cecily's character and Arabella's character are both better suited for each other's role in the book. Hmmm, maybe that was a bit of ironic humor on the side of the author. 

In defense of Arabella I was quite impressed when she risked

destitution and danger to flee her brother-in-law and avoid marriage. We stan a feminist queen

. It was also surprising considering her rather passive approach since then, refreshing to say the least. 

The best part of the book was definitely the interactions between Merrick and his half-brothers, particularly Holland, gotta love Holland. Although it is a tad unbelievable that they all hold Merrick in such high regard and none of them are spiteful or envious of the mere chance that separates their circumstances, but yeah, classism, she has us in a chokehold I suppose. 

I didn't hate the characters (except Parker and Farnsworth obviously) but I didn't love them either. The story was okay I suppose. Overall just a really underwhelming read.

Piranesi is a fantastical read. The description of the House is beautiful and vivid. It is surprising how inviting the House sounds when it is constructed purely of marble. It feels as if it should be cold and foreboding but the addition of the Tides and the birds breathe life into an otherwise still environment. 

I enjoyed the fact that even though Piranesi (the character) was unaware of the significance of his journal entries we, the audience, had the necessary context to appreciate the exposition. It otherwise would have been frustrating to be continually wondering how he came to be in the House and why. This also meant that the pace of the story was sufficient, with the reader slowly gaining more insight into the how's and why's of the story. I actually really enjoyed the pace of the book. Information was revealed slowly but at a gratifying pace.

It is also really pleasing that

Piranesi actually gains mastery of traveling between the House and the Real World. He obviously loves the House and considers it his home but the sad truth is that initially the House was a prison, an awful life sentence thrust upon him and I am glad that he regained his agency at the end of the novel

.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and eagerly read on to discover along with Piranesi the mysteries behind the House and the reasons for his presence there. The reason this book didn't get a full five starts is because while it was an engaging read I don't feel like it challenged any views I previously held. It was entertaining and gripping but not necessarily thought provoking, hence the lacking last star. 

I enjoyed the magical elements in the story and the manner in which it was told. I am also particularly appreciative of the fact that

we actually obtain an explanation of the House and the author did not simply leave us in the dark

. Overall a well written book with interesting characters and a unique premise that had a satisfying conclusion.