oz617's reviews
463 reviews

The history points seem accurate, and some of the author's anecdotes are good inclusions, but I was expecting a much more progressive book than I got. The only feminists discussed are those best known - all of them white and well educated. I think the quote that best sums up the book's failures is:

"It seems astonishing that such a rational, clever woman could have allowed herself to be used and abused by a man."

Occasionally seems to contradict itself, and is full of tables and diagrams which aren't exactly reader friendly, but overall a properly brilliant work

Oddly hilarious, love showing this off to people. Took me far too long to find Q and R

Somewhat undercut by the number of times the author is wrong about Star Trek, but if you’re not an autistic person with a frightening memory for lore, it doesn’t matter all that much. Really fascinating arguments, relevant both in-universe and to the real world. I’ll be quoting this at fellow fans for some time.

I’ve been dealing with chronic pain recently, and Meditations was recommended to me as an example of someone coping through finding a new way of thinking. At times it was a difficult book to read – you can really tell that Aurelius did not intend for this to be published widely – and some passages are of course far more applicable to statesmen in the ancient world than to the average modern person, but his outlook on life and its pitfalls is incredibly helpful. It’s amazing to think how little people have changed over so much time, and reassuring to relate this much to someone who lived with some of the same problems as me, and who died so many centuries before I was born.

Pratchett always writes about death and the dead in such a comforting way. I had no idea this book was part of a series until logging it here, which really speaks to the author’s known skill for writing contained narratives within longer arcs. Nothing felt missing.

Well, it did feel a little lacking in plot and characterisation. In retrospect, I can see that adding to the atmosphere of unchanging dead and small town life, but while reading I was a little confused. A big part of the issue is that this is a children’s book dealing with rather adult subjects, and in this case it doesn’t quite mesh. The simple language and child protagonist feel out of place in a story about moving on, and corporate greed. I might feel different if Johnny and his friends were better rounded characters, but they all just felt like they Had to be there to push forward a not especially well done plot.

Still, I’m glad I read this. Children’s books about death are very important to me, as someone who lost a parent young, so despite some flaws I did have a good time reading.

Every so often, these adaptations are more sexist than the original episodes. I’m almost impressed that Blish managed that with Spock’s Brain (an episode I happen to enjoy a lot, for all its many, many flaws). Some things are just better off barely stated in dialogue, rather than expanded on in longer form. The descriptions of people generally in this series are quite dated, and it’s strange to see where the TV show holds up while prose versions don’t.

It’s always interesting to see others’ perspectives on grief. They’re difficult things to rate, being so very personal, and I’m sure part of my not finding this Perfect is just that I’m coming from a less relatable set of experiences. How reasonable is it to call someone else’s resolution of a religious crisis unsatisfying? Especially since, had it not been written down and sold, I’d never tell someone to think harder about their faith. Still, this book was deeply moving. You can feel how much the author loved his son.