This collection is like a series of beautiful dioramas about women in liminal states—between boyfriends, busy with jobs that aren’t careers, living inThis collection is like a series of beautiful dioramas about women in liminal states—between boyfriends, busy with jobs that aren’t careers, living in trailers next to holes in the ground where a home was supposed to be. Death, disease, betrayal, and rejection appear as elements in the diorama, perfectly juxtaposed with plants, kittens, a student’s acne, and sexual encounters. The characters don’t know what it all means, but they observe everything with the care of someone who hopes that meaning will become apparent shortly.
The finely controlled tenor of this took some getting used to—it’s muted even compared to Munro—and I think Sestanovich could have afforded to take an extra risk or two. Still, I consistently would get engrossed in each story and turned the pages hungrily. I would pay to see actual diorama versions of these stories....more
Vanishingly few books merit anniversary printings, but Sapiens, professor Yuval Noah Harari's surprise 2014 best-seller—printed in over 60 languages aVanishingly few books merit anniversary printings, but Sapiens, professor Yuval Noah Harari's surprise 2014 best-seller—printed in over 60 languages and praised by well-known Homo sapiens Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg—now belongs to this elite club.
Although borderline prophetic about accelerating advances in artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, reading Sapiens in 2024 is a mixed bag. Thinly-sourced historical narratives, undergraduate-grade philosophy, and an extremely anti-wheat reading of evolutionary biology underpin Harari's intermittently entertaining account of how a species of skinny, eccentric apes took over the planet, slowly and then quickly.
He’s most convincing when tracing humanity’s success back to our unique ability to coordinate among strangers via archetypal “stories” like religion and money.
However, a tone of inexplicably bemused nihilism coexists awkwardly with the author’s clear passion for animal rights, and the final chapter bizarrely reframes remarkable scientific breakthroughs in gratuitously off-putting ways....more
An intimate coming of age novel set in 1968-1970s Japan that is secretly a novel about middle age. Starts off with a savage sense of humor that gets lAn intimate coming of age novel set in 1968-1970s Japan that is secretly a novel about middle age. Starts off with a savage sense of humor that gets lost in all of the earnest longing and grief....more
The Second Sex is not quite like any other book out there - reading it is something you really have to do yourself to get the full experience. The fulThe Second Sex is not quite like any other book out there - reading it is something you really have to do yourself to get the full experience. The full accumulation of anecdotes, sociological research, psychological case study, history, biology, literary references, criticism, wild riffing, and sober reasoning will change you through the sheer force of its maximalist approach. I read it on three different continents off and on over eight months.
Though some of the book is quite dated (it's not difficult to find passages that feel anthropologically exotic to a modern reader), de Beauvoir all too frequently made statements that were bone-chilling in their accuracy about my own hang-ups and delusions and those of women that I know.
Particularly when we are at an inflection point in this country about gender roles, especially in regards to sex, this is still fascinating reading that is more than worth the extreme investment of time and attention that it demands....more
The prose is really, really, really great. I think most of the stories could have been shorter, as they seemed to turn on a single idea or be more aboThe prose is really, really, really great. I think most of the stories could have been shorter, as they seemed to turn on a single idea or be more about what wasn't said. At thirty-plus pages, the intended impact felt cheapened.
I had read Los Angeles in Granta before picking this up, and that one is structurally very strong and an exemplary short story by any measure. It's the best story of the collection, hence my high expectations, and slight disappointment....more
Loading...
