whippycleric's reviews
244 reviews

Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji, Volume 4 by Nobuyuki Fukumoto

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Whilst I still enjoyed this installement I found it a little bit limited. I still realy enjoy the artwork and obviously that's not going to change, however this installment really felt just like the conclusion of the previous volume and should have been put with it. It's a bit tricky grouping volumes of manga's into books but in this case I think the division was just a bit off.

I did enjoy the conclusion though and it sets up the next volumes nicely so am looking forward to reading them soon.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 
Having read a few of Dickens' novels now I thought it about time to tackle Bleak House. It's a big undertaking due to both its size in length, number of characters, and connected plots, but well worth the effort. 

As always with Dickens the writing is superb, always finding unique ways to describe characters. For example, even though the following is not really a description of a character it gives us an impression of them so clearly and humorously that is quintessential Dickens “because she considers that a family of such antiquity and importance has a right to a ghost. She regards a ghost as one of the privileges of the upper classes: a genteel distinction to which common people have no claim.” 

There’re several plots in this book, all linked via the characters and all are well told. A murder mystery as good as any, a romance novel as good as any Georgette Heyer novel, and legal story of despair and comedy that’s spawned many copycats. 

Characters are varied and great, though I have a couple of criticisms for those characters which are at the extremes of the spectrum of morality as they tend to be a bit flat, having no bad or good points respectively. There're also the drops of antisemitism one expects from Dickens but significantly less than in Oliver Twist. Women do tend to play a better role in this than his other works though, with more individuality, and the main character / narrator being a woman is a nice change. 
What Just Happened?!: Dispatches from Turbulent Times by Marina Hyde

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funny informative fast-paced

3.5

 I occasionally read Marina’s articles in the Guardian but not religiously, due to lack of a newspaper subscription rather than any critique of their worth. I do however regularly watch The Rest is Entertainment podcast she hosts alongside Richard Osman and always enjoy it so when I came across this in a charity shop I thought I would give it a go. 

It took me a while to read, generally finding when a book is a collection of articles it helps to have some breaks as they are not designed to be read in a big block. Since there’re not really designed to read in a big block why publish them in a book anyway? This has been a problem with other collections I’ve read as well by journalists, these books don’t tend to add anything. I would have loved to have some commentary on the articles, some hindsight, some reflections on the events they’re covering, and whether given time Marina’s opinion has changed. 

I did really enjoy the articles themselves though, overall I hold similar political views as the author so never found anything particularly objectional, and the writing is top notch. Cultural references that appeal to me as Brit of just one generation later were funny, the sarcasm comes across when used, and just the language itself is well done. I’d recommend this to someone who’s read a few of her articles and enjoys them, but to pick it up and read a few at a time, don’t try to read this cover to cover in just a few sittings. 

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 
Having picked this up in a charity shop I thought it might be nice to read it to my son, and I’d quite like to read it myself having only ever seen the film. I know that some of the stories in the jungle book will not be age appropriate for younger children, but my son is young enough to not understand yet so it will be nice for me to know when this book will be good for him, and whether it needs minor editing…

To start with “The Jungle Book” is a collection of short stories with some repeating characters, and some of these were taken and adapted into a full narrative for the film, so it is quite different. The first 3 stories are those which make up the film, and are overall entertaining. Definitely has more killing than would be classed as appropriate for younger children, but has some good themes and fun plots for children maybe around 9 or so. These first 3 stories were exactly what I expected, reminiscent of the film but darker, the songs are particularly good at the end of each of these, and I’ll give this half a 3.5.

The second set of 4 stories are independent, and seemingly told by an unknown narrator. The White Seal, and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi are particularly good and I really enjoyed reading them to my child. I expect these are also more age appropriate for younger children with only very minor tweaks when reading them. They are lovely short stories, each taking under an hour to read, The White Seal follows a seal's search for a new safer home for everyone, and Rikki-TIkki-Tavi follows the more classic hero vs villains narrative. I’d give both of these a 4 or 4.5 star rating.

The last 2 I found disappointing, much more focused around the behavior of people, especially the British in India which are romanticized heavily, unsurprisingly given Kiplings background. Toomai of the Elephants did make it a little into the film with dancing Elephants which are fun and probably the highlight of this story which feels very dated in it’s themes and morals. Finally Her Majesty’s Servants is very dated with some attitudes a bit out of place today. The setting of interactions between animals in the army could be a good setting to explore some themes however in this case it comes very colonialist and a touch racist, so best to avoid.

Overall it’s a good read for older children, and since it’s a collection of short stories you can just choose the best ones and avoid some of the more dated content.

 
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I've had it a while and been meaning to read it but wasn't sure I'd really enjoy it too much but I was wrong. The themes are interesting, looking at racism and sexism in America during the depression, but it's not what makes the book great, that I would say are the characters and the telling of the story through the unique perspective of Scout.

I was slightly worried when the court case ended and I was only two thirds of the way through the book, and thought the last third might be weaker but there was so much left of the story beyond the case itself, and the last third was my favourite section. The first few chapters were a little slow for me but once I had time to sit down and actually read for more than a few minutes at a time it was great, so I can't say anything against it. The writing is clean, easy to read, and yet evocative and highly descriptive. The use of phonetic spelling for the accents of characters was used sufficiently to give you the voice in your mind but not overused so much as to make reading difficult.

I’ve been reading a lot of classics the last year and whilst some of them I don’t enjoy, this is one where I can see why it became so popular. I’d recommend this to anyone, and the world would be a better place if people just asked what would Atticus do?

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

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dark informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

4.0

 
I really enjoyed reading this. George Orwell is a phenomenal writer of fiction, so I was excited to try his nonfiction memoirs from before he was a professional writer. 
 
I personally much preferred the Paris section of this book and was happy this made up the majority of the book, but this is very subjective. The flow of the narration of his time in Paris was nicely paced and with clearly defined sections. I loved looking up the different places which were explicitly mentioned as I live nearby and now, I can wander through these places with a new appreciation for their history. Having also worked in kitchens before seeing the way the hospitality system in Paris used to work was a mix of nostalgic and interesting. 
 
The London side of the memoir was very informative for me. Even though I’ve read a few books set during this period none of them covered the down and out side of London in quite as much detail as done here. It was interesting to learn about the “spikes” and the culture of the tramps in early 20th century London. 
 
I don’t know if Orwell has other nonfiction books which I can read, but there’s a wealth of his fiction I’ve yet to tackle this has only enhanced my urge to read them. 
Ideal by Ayn Rand

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 
This is my third book by Ayn Rand and I always enjoy her writing. I might not agree with he philosophy entirely but I do love the writing style and reflective nature of her books. I’ve not tackled The Fountainhead yet which is next on the list before finishing with Atlas Shrugged, and even though reviews are mixed I’m confident in enjoying them based on my experience so far. 
 
This particular book having the story as both a novella and a play is a first for me, and quite rare. I enjoyed both and can see why Rand thought it would work better as a play but also some parts were lost by staging it as a play as each chapter was in a single setting. For example I preferred the ending of the novel, but this would require at least 2 settings for the final scenes which wasn't really doable in the play. Having both was brilliant though and it’s short enough to enjoy twice in quick succession. The introductions by Leonard Peikoff were brilliant and set up both the book and the play perfectly, the insightful comments about the work and Ayn Rand itself gave the whole thing an extra dimension. 
 
The style of Ayn Rand’s characters can be a bit divisive. It could certainly be argued that they are flat, however I find that the characters embody specific concepts or emotions and are representative of that. As a result of this though, they are one dimensional as they aren’t really real people a lot of the time, they are just vessels for a concept, and that’s not for everyone but I enjoy it. It’s not every character either, some are more rounded, depending on their purpose. 
 
There’s no real plot in this, it does have a beginning, middle and end, but the middle is a series of vignettes, and again this will be to some peoples taste and not for others. 
 
For me though I like these things and still enjoy Ayn Rand’s style, I’m excited to start The Fountainhead when I have the time to commit to such a long read. 
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I was quite excited to read this book as it had good reviews from friends of mine and in principle sounds good, a police procedural with a fantasy twist, but ultimately it wasn’t for me. I can’t say whether it’s the genre, as it’s not something I’ve really read before, or this specific book but I probably won’t bother picking up any more of the series. 
 
Partly I suspect I don’t really understand the world. It seems that it’s supposed to be the normal world we live in where no one knows magic is real, but then no ones remotely surprised when they find out it is real. No one seems to lose it when they find out magic is real, and it made the characters less real for me. The plot itself seemed sporadic, there is the overall arc of solving the mystery of the possessions, however it feels it’s just used a vessel to explore this world. Each step of solving the case introduces a new part of the world and these scenes feel like they’ve been shoehorned in to introduce part of the world rather than a plot point. The protagonist is deep and nicely written but not someone I particularly identify with, which is not the authors fault but unfortunately made it harder for me to get into the book. 
 
I have no major criticism for this book, and I am sure many people would enjoy it. The writing itself is nicely done and easy to read, and if you can get absorbed into the world I’m sure it could be amazing, I wasn’t able to though for a variety of reasons but I didn’t have a bad time reading it. 
The Captive Mind by Czesław Miłosz

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challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

 
This first person study of how the totalitarian regime of the USSR developed and then controlled the people in the eastern European countries is probably the best possible book to read to understand how plausible 1984 actually is. I would highly recommend this book to anyone but with a few warnings as it’s a bit challenging in places. It’s highly intellectual and as good as the author is at explaining concepts they can still take some time to grasp. It’s also challenging sometimes due to the subject matter being discussed, mainly the Holocaust. His explanations of how some of friends became collaborators, or profited from the war and post war occupation, can be difficult as well. Not just because you know he feels hurt by this, but also as he explains the psychological reasons he believes to be behind this it can sometimes feel like he is trying to justify rather than explain their behaviour, and maybe it is a bit of both, and ultimately that’s fine, to explain these behaviours is necessary to try to prevent similar things in the future.

The first section of discussing terms and the method I found quite a struggle, and basically read it and put the book down for a week or so, thinking I’d need to be in a specific state of mind to read it as it required a lot of concentration. This was somewhat correct as the second section on ketman does require a fair bit of thought but then the book settles into case studies and some broader topics which are a lot easier to understand. As a result I read the whole book in 2 sittings, with the 2nd sitting being about 80% of the book.

I really want to see if I can find some of the poetry and other books referenced in this or by the same author but I expect a lot of it will be harder to find in English. This is an extremely powerful book, and whilst I recommend it to anyone, I think it’s going to be extremely useful for those interested in History or Psychology/Sociology. I would also say if you enjoy Dystopian fiction, like 1984, then this is a great book to read to understand more about the characters motivations in those worlds.

 
Psalms For The End Of The World by Cole Haddon

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 This is a beautifully crafted book, with a wealth of characters interconnected across time and space. I really enjoy books in general which follow this style of chapters from individual characters perspectives, even the same character with different names at different times mixed in as well. The characters themselves are extremely varied and each of them grows over the course of their stories. One result of having such diversity, unfortunately, is that although I liked every character, and they had depth, I never spent enough time with a single one of them to become emotionally invested. So even though the book was amazing to read from an intellectual point, it did miss that emotional hit. 

Plot wise it’s also an engaging read. The way everything is connected is complex but still accessible which is a real achievement, so many times I’ve seen books which try to do something similar but miss the mark by going too far. Everything seems to tie together nicely in the end, and although I’m sure I will have missed some subtilties with just one read I don’t feel like I missed anything major. The writing itself was smooth and easy to read, the characters each had their own voice without the need to resort to phonetic spelling to give someone an accent, a trope I find irritating personally… 

 It's a brilliantly complex story, full of deep characters and requires some attention to read but not so much to be inaccessible to your average reader, would recommend it to many people as a good one to sit with when in a contemplative mood.