whippycleric's reviews
245 reviews

 

I picked this up in a used book store purely based on having read another book by the author before and having no interest in the Panama Canal whatsoever to be honest. What I can say now is that I have a great interest in the Panama Canal and if I come across another book on the topic I'll pick it up without hesitation and undoubtedly be disappointed by it as I can't imagine it measuring up to the one written by David McCullough.

Split into 3 vast sections the author manages to weave a clear narrative throughout the whole book and in the sections themselves. Like in the best novels one becomes invested in the characters involved and empathizes with their struggles, all of the characters are vivid and varied never feeling like full heroes or villains, the difference here being that I can go visit plenty of them in local cemeteries.

Beyond the brilliant prose it is clearly well researched. The amount of detail and sources is truly immense and I can’t imagine the amount of work that went into this book. Whenever I see anything by David McCullough I’ll pick it up even if, especially if in fact, I have no interest in the topic, and if at any time I have the chance to take a ship through Panama you bet I will and this book will be coming with me.

 

This is possibly the best book I've read this year, or at least very close to. I would say there're 5 main characters in this book, with one being more central than the others, but each had a full plotline and felt very real by themselves. 

Nothing ever felt rushed, nor did it ever feel boring, the pacing was just brilliant. It's an 800 page epic with no obvious loose ends and a diverse set of characters all of which it's possible to empathise with in some way and hate in another, making the whole world feel real.  The whole story arc of Roos was my personal favourite, even though I'm sure it's not meant to be, it's part of the beauty of a book like this, there's so much going on and so many brilliant characters that there's going to be someone for everyone. Even outside of the main 5 characters, what I would class as the side characters are well developed and could be another readers favourite.

This could have easily been split into several books but I'm so happy it wasn't because reading it in one go was so much fun and I imagine it would be harder to remember all the links between people if you spread it out. I can't wait to read more in the series and more of the authors work.

 This was the first LJ Ross book I’ve read and it wasn’t bad. I’ve read a bunch of crime/mystery novels, even though it’s not my main genre, and this was not the best example of the genre. The writing itself was pleasant enough and very easy to read, the characters were all quite fun but also very flat. The overall plot itself I liked, and I enjoyed the first half quite a lot, which was actually before there was any mystery. The mystery itself was quite dull, there was no way to figure it out yourself, and when it was revealed it felt like none of the characters were shocked, which didn’t seem to make much sense to me.

If you want something easy to read with some entertaining characters then it’s a perfectly fine option, that being said they're many better options out there as well. I have another of hers on the shelf which is from a different series which I’ll still read because it was enjoyable and quick and definitely a good option when tired.

 

 After the introduction I was a bit worried, and I imagine if I had read the intro before purchasing the book I actually wouldn't have got it. Generally I just didn't like the author and he seemed a bit arrogant, however I am happy I didn't read this in advance because the book that followed the introduction was quite enjoyable.
 
 It starts with a section on the history of Indonesia, an overview, which actually takes up about a third of the book. This is strange in an autobiography but greatly appreciated, I suspect Soegih anticipated that a lot of the readers would know little of Indonesia, and in my case he was right. After this the book covered his life, how he influenced, and was influenced by these major events outlined in the first section.
 
 At times I disagreed with his views and actions but respected his principles and for the most part his humility and self-reflection. I'd love to read some more different viewpoints about this interesting country and have a couple of books on the to-read list now inspired by this. 

As part of my ongoing discovery of poetry I decided to get this book having come accross it in a shop on one of the rare occasions I was actually buying new (rather than used) books.

I've read a variety of poetry so far but not really any contemporary poets that was a classical style, or not comedy based. I thoroughly enojyed lots of them and found many very emotive. I'm not in a position to critique poetry really but if they make you feel something than it's a definite positive.

I particularly enjoyed the following:

No Continuing City
In Memorium
Carrigskeewaun
The Lodger
The Civil Servant
Ash Keys
Peace
Bacuis and Philemon
A Poppy
The Weather in Japan
Lizard Orchid
Age
Orpen
Telemachos
Totem

Additionally, Quatrains, Ravine, and Lullaby were very moving but extemely depressing so not sure enjoyed is the correct term but they deserve a mention as well.

I'll be honest about the fact that I bought this book to tick off Q in my A to Z challenge and wasn't really expecting much from it. A chapters in I was feeling a bit sad that I was indeed not enjoying it very much, and irritated having to tell people it's not about chess.... though the second issue was not the books fault. A few chapters later though it turned a corner, and by the end of the book I was surprised by how much I enojyed it.

The multiple perspectives were refreshing and having the views of the aristocracy and the low born made it quite interesting. I think the relationship with Thomas Seymour could have been gone into a little more though, as it was hard to understand Katherines motivations and actions with regards to him.

I really didn't know much of anything about Katerine Parr before reading this, and would be interested to know how historically acurate it is. Obviously specific dialogue and what characters are thinking and feeling is conjecture, but it's a really nice dramatisation and assuming nothing was glaringly innaccurate it's well worth reading.

This was my first Robert Louis Stevenson book and I really enjoyed it. Given it was written over a 100 years ago it's surprisingly easy to read, even young adults today would be able to easily enjoy this. I think I'll get more of his books in the future when my son is old enough to enojy them, either reading them himself of having them read to him.

It's well paced and full of action and adventure, you don't feel talked down to, and despite it's targeting of young adults it takles adult themes well but in a suitable way. The characters feel vivid without going Dickensian with descriptions which would be too much for a lot of young readers.

Obviously some of the ideas and prejudices are a bit dated as will always be the case with older novels, but read in context it doesn't detract from the joy of this book.

This was a fun read and more or less what one might expect from a Jules Verne novel. I read it aloud to my son who is 2 months old, so really just so he could listen to my voice and odd words rather than plot obviously. It is however quite a good book for an adolescent though. Like other Verne novels it does extol the master subject relationship a bit more than I like, but never in a mean way and always praising the servant at least.

Each chapter is nice and short, self contained, and each has some action at least, though each is headed by a chapter title that will immediately be a giant spoiler. This was seemingly the style at the time but 140 years later it's still annoying. I'll carry on reading Jules Verne but for this one it feels more aimed towards young adult readers in which case I think books by Robert Louis Stevenson from a similar time are a little more fun. 

I picked this up of a shelf at my in laws for something to read for a couple of days while staying there and found it a very pleasant read. I've started reading more poetry recently and trying some from the east was a nice change. Translations make poetry interesting sometimes as you rely on the interpretation from the translator. In this case there are many very useful notes throughout where it explains decisions taken and alternate translations which can change the meaning, quite dramatically in some cases. One note for improvement though would be to have different symbols for notes regarding translation vs historical context vs place names as some I wanted to read and others less so but always had to check to see.

I've added this to story graph myself but not added all the authors yet as there were many and didn't have time, I will add them later.

Some favourites:

On saying farwell to my daughter yang: Wei Ying-Wu
A portrait of Chiu King: Wei Chaung
The spring palace lament: Tu Hsun-He
At Ch'iang Chou saying farewell once more to Hsieh Liu and Liu Pa supernumerary officials
On meeting an old friend from mu home at Ch'iang Nan by chance at an inn: Tat Shu Lin
On the 15th evening of the 8th month presented to Chang Kung the keeper of records: Han Yu
I point out to the officials even thieves have mercy: Yuan Chieh
The song of never-ending grief: Po Chu

This book is clearly way too short to do justice to any of the Empires covered in it, given each one deserves and most certainly has books significantly longer than this written about them, but as an overview of each it's quite a pleasant read.

The section on the Mongol empire was my personal favourite as it focused more on explaining the nature of the empire and how it worked rather than being heavy on names and dates as some of the other entries were.

It leads me to want to read more about these empires which I imagine was the aim so for that achievement a solid 3.5 rating is fair to me.