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mint_renegade's reviews
168 reviews
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A time capsule, slow to unravel. Intimacy in outer space. Less about plot, more about the personal and political implications of, well, life.
The author admitted to being haunted by the pronouns; it permeated one or two of my own reveries. The he/him of it all, intended to neutralize, did more to dilute the verasity of the thought experiment.
Credit where credit is due, a novel published in the 1960s disecting the gender binary can't be anything but a net positive.
Compare the climate here with that In Dune?
The author admitted to being haunted by the pronouns; it permeated one or two of my own reveries. The he/him of it all, intended to neutralize, did more to dilute the verasity of the thought experiment.
Credit where credit is due, a novel published in the 1960s disecting the gender binary can't be anything but a net positive.
Compare the climate here with that In Dune?
Jules et Jim by Henri-Pierre Roché
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'll forget having read this book; I'll never get the urge to revisit it; and yet I cherish the hours spent reading it.
Thank you palette cleanser.
Thank you palette cleanser.
The Magus by John Fowles
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
I hated the protagonist for submitting to an obvious con despite all reason indicating that he should leave; I hated myself for continually turning the page. Look at us, 2 stupid sheep, one fictionally immortal, the other decaying with each passing moment.
Half baked dozen lies sold as a mystery with no pay-off. No interesting or endearing characters to cling to.
when to dnf
- when you dread picking up the book
- when you skim whole chapters
- when you fling the book across the room , a la bradley cooper
Half baked dozen lies sold as a mystery with no pay-off. No interesting or endearing characters to cling to.
when to dnf
- when you dread picking up the book
- when you skim whole chapters
- when you fling the book across the room , a la bradley cooper
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
in short summary, angela basset did the thing; viola davis, my woman king.
in longer summary, my opinions on this book are too complicated to articulate. i'd try and say something about the characters and their struggles being so well written that its difficult to accept that the account is fictional, but who has the time? i hated anna so much that she's become a beloved character...no, i will not explain myself. oblonsky, try as the world might to show him the error of his ways, wound up being the same character on page 900 as he was on 1. and that, the development of a character through stagnation is the kind of non-development i can get behind. he truly gave us nothing. levin's search for a step-by-step guide book on how to live, his sticky melancholy, his fucking farm, his pursuit of lofty scholarship, his existential dread and discovery of goodness, did i mention the fucking farm? i don't know where i'm going with this.
part 5, chapter 20 was titled DEATH and i drew green hearts around it, just because.
i read it. i may be glad that i did, it's difficult to say either way. on to better and darker books, that do not involve tolstoy.
in longer summary, my opinions on this book are too complicated to articulate. i'd try and say something about the characters and their struggles being so well written that its difficult to accept that the account is fictional, but who has the time? i hated anna so much that she's become a beloved character...no, i will not explain myself. oblonsky, try as the world might to show him the error of his ways, wound up being the same character on page 900 as he was on 1. and that, the development of a character through stagnation is the kind of non-development i can get behind. he truly gave us nothing. levin's search for a step-by-step guide book on how to live, his sticky melancholy, his fucking farm, his pursuit of lofty scholarship, his existential dread and discovery of goodness, did i mention the fucking farm? i don't know where i'm going with this.
part 5, chapter 20 was titled DEATH and i drew green hearts around it, just because.
i read it. i may be glad that i did, it's difficult to say either way. on to better and darker books, that do not involve tolstoy.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
adventurous
challenging
dark
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Poems to Night by Rainer Maria Rilke
challenging
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
it takes a charming kind of arrogance to write compelling poetry. to heavenly lights, rilke demanded 'have the stars survey me more ardently, for i am fading'. as though they should rejoice, he added 'stars of the night, i have awoken'. of things sacred, he said 'eden is on fire and life devours and joy is madness'
i barely understood it, but the few lines that i did understand, i loved.
i barely understood it, but the few lines that i did understand, i loved.