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nhborg's reviews
378 reviews
Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey Into the Dark Antarctic Night by Julian Sancton
5.0
One of the easiest 5 star ratings I’ve ever given - this was nothing short of amazing!!
I applaud Julian Sancton for this literary achievement; it is a prime example of exquisite research and retelling of a real-life epic, producing a psychological thriller and harrowing adventure story which will have you on board from the get-go. The intertwining narratives and building of suspense is incredibly done, and all this time it blew my mind because it once took place IRL goddammit! I have never been more grateful to be able to walk around in my neighborhood and see the sun, natural life and other people on a daily basis. Belgica’s crew went through many degrees of hell during this mad expedition, and it was horribly fascinating to be an indirect witness to it.
In addition to the suspense and overall literary quality, the book covered all the aspects I was hoping for: the adventurous spirit, the historical context and even the literary context, motivations and COIs underlying the expedition, excerpts from the travel journals/logs of crew members, scientific exploration and discovery, the physical and psychological toll induced by the extreme conditions,
individual backstories of central crew members, the fluctuating group dynamics among the crew, problem solving rationales, enlightening anectodes, etc. As all of these angles are woven seamlessly together in a brilliant and gripping narrative, it truly felt like I was somehow there on the Belgica throughout her sensational journey (but thankfully safely settled in my own couch).
You can bet your hat that I’ll enjoy a reread of this in the future and recommend it to everyone I come across!
Side note: I never knew that Roald Amundsen was such a character…! Reading about the guy made me laugh at many occasions, one time for 5 minutes straight - simultaneously outrageous, ridiculous and legendary. I’ll definitely prioritize another visit to the Fram Polar Exploration Museum in the near future to familiarize myself further with my Norwegian heritage.
I applaud Julian Sancton for this literary achievement; it is a prime example of exquisite research and retelling of a real-life epic, producing a psychological thriller and harrowing adventure story which will have you on board from the get-go. The intertwining narratives and building of suspense is incredibly done, and all this time it blew my mind because it once took place IRL goddammit! I have never been more grateful to be able to walk around in my neighborhood and see the sun, natural life and other people on a daily basis. Belgica’s crew went through many degrees of hell during this mad expedition, and it was horribly fascinating to be an indirect witness to it.
In addition to the suspense and overall literary quality, the book covered all the aspects I was hoping for: the adventurous spirit, the historical context and even the literary context, motivations and COIs underlying the expedition, excerpts from the travel journals/logs of crew members, scientific exploration and discovery, the physical and psychological toll induced by the extreme conditions,
individual backstories of central crew members, the fluctuating group dynamics among the crew, problem solving rationales, enlightening anectodes, etc. As all of these angles are woven seamlessly together in a brilliant and gripping narrative, it truly felt like I was somehow there on the Belgica throughout her sensational journey (but thankfully safely settled in my own couch).
You can bet your hat that I’ll enjoy a reread of this in the future and recommend it to everyone I come across!
Side note: I never knew that Roald Amundsen was such a character…! Reading about the guy made me laugh at many occasions, one time for 5 minutes straight - simultaneously outrageous, ridiculous and legendary. I’ll definitely prioritize another visit to the Fram Polar Exploration Museum in the near future to familiarize myself further with my Norwegian heritage.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
4.0
Second read (11.10.2024):
3.75
«Fear (…) is the relinquishment of logic, the willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns. We yield to it or we fight it, but we cannot meet it halfway.»
I have a hard time reviewing this book. On one hand, I can see how great it is. I think Shirley Jackson’s project is fascinating and revolutionary for its time, and I love how the horror is simultaneously rooted in something as substantial as a building’s architecture and something as intangible as the human psyche. I have a book club discussion about Hill House coming up, and I imagine it to be a brilliant starting point for analytical discussions. The descent into madness in the book is chilling because it feels almost contagious to the reader.
On the other hand, even upon the second read, I struggle to enjoy myself while reading. I can observe the inherent value in the story, but my lack of emotional connection prevents me from appreciating it fully. I might’ve blamed it on the writing style if I didn’t already love Jackson’s other novel «We have always lived in the castle». It unfortunately seems like the recipe for Hill House doesn’t work for me, and I can’t do much about it. I love the story in theory, but I feel much more inclined to reading reviews/articles about it than to go back to the book itself.
Lastly, I want to include the most iconic quote because how could I not. I love that it’s giving Lovecraftian horror:
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality.”
First read (10.11.2022):
3.5
3.75
«Fear (…) is the relinquishment of logic, the willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns. We yield to it or we fight it, but we cannot meet it halfway.»
I have a hard time reviewing this book. On one hand, I can see how great it is. I think Shirley Jackson’s project is fascinating and revolutionary for its time, and I love how the horror is simultaneously rooted in something as substantial as a building’s architecture and something as intangible as the human psyche. I have a book club discussion about Hill House coming up, and I imagine it to be a brilliant starting point for analytical discussions. The descent into madness in the book is chilling because it feels almost contagious to the reader.
On the other hand, even upon the second read, I struggle to enjoy myself while reading. I can observe the inherent value in the story, but my lack of emotional connection prevents me from appreciating it fully. I might’ve blamed it on the writing style if I didn’t already love Jackson’s other novel «We have always lived in the castle». It unfortunately seems like the recipe for Hill House doesn’t work for me, and I can’t do much about it. I love the story in theory, but I feel much more inclined to reading reviews/articles about it than to go back to the book itself.
Lastly, I want to include the most iconic quote because how could I not. I love that it’s giving Lovecraftian horror:
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality.”
First read (10.11.2022):
3.5
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
5.0
«I pondered the great risk of our questions, the risk of any question that is truthfully asked; for the answer must carry an incalculable price, a tragic danger. Who knew that better than I, who had presided over the death of my own body, seeing all I called human wither and die only to form an unbreakable chain which held me fast to this world yet made me forever its exile, a specter with a beating heart?»
So incredibly breathtaking and heartbreaking.
I’ve never watched the movie, so I knew nothing about this story on beforehand. My (wrongful) impression was that it was campy and eerie, a sort of B-grade take on the whole vampire genre. Instead I’m met with a grave and emotionally heavy story of guilt, existential anxiety, and insurmountable loneliness. It feels like Frankenstein «expectations vs. reality» all over again. This beautiful tragedy is definitely a new favorite of mine. Consider my heart broken and my mind fed:’)
So incredibly breathtaking and heartbreaking.
I’ve never watched the movie, so I knew nothing about this story on beforehand. My (wrongful) impression was that it was campy and eerie, a sort of B-grade take on the whole vampire genre. Instead I’m met with a grave and emotionally heavy story of guilt, existential anxiety, and insurmountable loneliness. It feels like Frankenstein «expectations vs. reality» all over again. This beautiful tragedy is definitely a new favorite of mine. Consider my heart broken and my mind fed:’)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
5.0
Wow. I had medium expectations going into this, feeling intrigued about the premise but worried that it might end up feeling too dry. Therefore I was so glad when I, from the very first page, found myself completely immersed in the book, actively annotating and writing out thoughts and theories, and ending every reading session with a «This is fantastic» feeling. Much of the novel felt like a fever dream, and there are several scenes that are now stuck like uncanny and symbolic paintings in my inner mind. I found it so fascinating to join K. on his descent into a bureaucratic hellscape, served in an equally bland and deranged manner.
Something else that adds to the reading experience is of course the context for its publication. Kafka never finished writing «The Trial», and like with most of his works, he wanted it burnt and eliminated after his death. It therefore feels strangely illegal to be reading the novel today, puzzled together from scribbled fragments and shown to the world against Kafka’s will, peering into his existential anxiety and feeling of isolation within life’s absurdities.
I couldn’t have wished for a better reading experience and had a lot of fun discussing it with my book club! I was also lucky enough to watch a theatre play of «The Trial» soon after finishing the book, which really hammered in my admiration.
———
// Lowkey SPOILER WARNING for paragraph quoted below (I just had to add it to my review) //
«The law had appointed [the doorkeeper] to its service; to doubt his worthiness is to doubt the law.»
«I don’t agree with that opinion,» said K., shaking his head, «for if you accept it you must believe everything the door-keeper says is true.»
«No,» said the priest, «one does not have to believe everything is true, one only has to believe it is necessary.»
«Depressing thought,» K. said. «It makes the lie fundamental to world order.»
Something else that adds to the reading experience is of course the context for its publication. Kafka never finished writing «The Trial», and like with most of his works, he wanted it burnt and eliminated after his death. It therefore feels strangely illegal to be reading the novel today, puzzled together from scribbled fragments and shown to the world against Kafka’s will, peering into his existential anxiety and feeling of isolation within life’s absurdities.
I couldn’t have wished for a better reading experience and had a lot of fun discussing it with my book club! I was also lucky enough to watch a theatre play of «The Trial» soon after finishing the book, which really hammered in my admiration.
———
// Lowkey SPOILER WARNING for paragraph quoted below (I just had to add it to my review) //
«The law had appointed [the doorkeeper] to its service; to doubt his worthiness is to doubt the law.»
«I don’t agree with that opinion,» said K., shaking his head, «for if you accept it you must believe everything the door-keeper says is true.»
«No,» said the priest, «one does not have to believe everything is true, one only has to believe it is necessary.»
«Depressing thought,» K. said. «It makes the lie fundamental to world order.»
Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag
4.0
Got this recommended by my dad after we’d been to see an exhibition of Goya’s «The Disasters of War» a couple of months ago. Sharply presented analysis, thought-provoking and confronting claims, and interestingly a topic which has only escalated in relevance since the release of this essay 20 years ago.
Hvite niggere by Ingvar Ambjørnsen
4.0
3.75
Leste denne etter en anbefaling og må si at jeg ble positivt overrasket. Jeg sliter fremdeles med tittelen, men selve boka er sår, tragikomisk og veldig bra skrevet. Trond Brænne skal også ha masse ære for innlesningen av lydboka- for en innlevelse! Det var spesielt å bli stilt ovenfor en levemåte så annerledes enn det man er vant til, og ikke minst å se hva som var kilder til glede og sorg for karakterene i boka. Ambjørnsen skriver skarpt og originalt, og som leser kan man alltid undre seg over hva som befinner seg rundt neste sving.
Leste denne etter en anbefaling og må si at jeg ble positivt overrasket. Jeg sliter fremdeles med tittelen, men selve boka er sår, tragikomisk og veldig bra skrevet. Trond Brænne skal også ha masse ære for innlesningen av lydboka- for en innlevelse! Det var spesielt å bli stilt ovenfor en levemåte så annerledes enn det man er vant til, og ikke minst å se hva som var kilder til glede og sorg for karakterene i boka. Ambjørnsen skriver skarpt og originalt, og som leser kan man alltid undre seg over hva som befinner seg rundt neste sving.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
4.0
This was a lot of fun! If you like Frankenstein and the Veronica Speedwell series, I can promise that you’ll like this one. It was dark and gory, but also lovable and engaging thanks to the characters. I had a really cool experience with this as my first 2-person buddy read, which worked particularly well in regards to discussing the murder mystery. I think I would’ve enjoyed it a bit more I hadn’t had such strong suspicions about who the killer was from quite early on, but the story is still laid out nicely; the explanations and motivations were believable and exciting.
Reading this also made me want to research the real-life Jack the Ripper. From before I’ve only had a vague idea and some basic facts down, but the details included in this story made me intrigued to learn more. It should already be bad enough with repeated murders of prostitutes, but the reality of the case was honestly a lot more grotesque and sick that I realized
Reading this also made me want to research the real-life Jack the Ripper. From before I’ve only had a vague idea and some basic facts down, but the details included in this story made me intrigued to learn more. It should already be bad enough with repeated murders of prostitutes, but the reality of the case was honestly a lot more grotesque and sick that I realized