Loved the first three chapters and also Lockhart. Everything else... yeesh. Rowling already seems trapped by having Harry as protagonist. Bodes well fLoved the first three chapters and also Lockhart. Everything else... yeesh. Rowling already seems trapped by having Harry as protagonist. Bodes well for the next 5....more
The translation is brilliant, some of the notes quite bizarre. At one point it lists uncivilised societies, including unspecified Oriental countries, The translation is brilliant, some of the notes quite bizarre. At one point it lists uncivilised societies, including unspecified Oriental countries, California, and Texas....more
Full of great information, loved the inclusion of ancient and otherwise historical illustration, but the framing and general tone are distractingly weFull of great information, loved the inclusion of ancient and otherwise historical illustration, but the framing and general tone are distractingly weird. The whole thing felt like reading an encyclopedia that inexplicably has a narrator. It just doesn't walk the line between factual historical reporting and retelling well at all - I think the authors were told to make it a retelling in order to cash in on the trend of retellings, when a light reference book would have made more sense for the style.
Too much weight is given to imagined conversations (why on earth does Achilles quote Neil Young?), not enough is given to explaining what's going on. This adds to how commercially safe the whole thing feels - the modern aspect is reserved for the conversations and the attempt to put All Myths into a narrative, but Achilles and Patroclus were just good friends, and the women are just bitches (we get to read info boxes about who the three great tragedians were, and nothing about who wasn't allowed to attend theatre).
On the narrative note, there's both too much detail and not enough. There's an attempt to include absolutely everything about the huge number of stories the book chronicles, and there's just not enough pages to do that justice. The amount of time spent telling us every name of every peripheral character is one thing when actually reading the Iliad - doing the same thing when retelling both Homeric epics, multiple plays, and Ovid's Metamorphoses? Unreadable. Learn to cut things or write an encyclopedia....more
Genuinely terrible, but I couldn't stop laughing at any point. Why on earth - in a series already about a boy named Bone - is the euphemism for havingGenuinely terrible, but I couldn't stop laughing at any point. Why on earth - in a series already about a boy named Bone - is the euphemism for having magic "being endowed"? So many lines about all the endowed children. Dear god....more
2.5 stars, rounding up because the mirror of erised chapter did make me cry. Couple really good chapters, couple really bad chapters, felt like it's s2.5 stars, rounding up because the mirror of erised chapter did make me cry. Couple really good chapters, couple really bad chapters, felt like it's supposed to be read to a child one chapter a night. You can definitely see the weird ethical problems that become A Thing in this series, but the world's cartoonish at this point so they're still landing on whimsical. Extremely rushed ending, plot's a bit contrived but yk, children's mystery, I don't remember caring. Also, was reading the American version for free-online-access reasons, and the localisations were a bit bizarre. Did they need to all be saying mom?...more
This would be a genuinely hilarious satire of condescending business self help books, if it weren't a 100% serious condescendin"It's... MAZE... time!"
This would be a genuinely hilarious satire of condescending business self help books, if it weren't a 100% serious condescending business self help book that many people were forced to read by their actual employers....more
I was always taught that this was a specific production, or a translation, and was very surprised to read such a different adaptation. Loved the nurseI was always taught that this was a specific production, or a translation, and was very surprised to read such a different adaptation. Loved the nurse, loved Antigone, felt the ending was a bit rushed....more
It's well written, it's just sort of nothing. Like if one of the less interesting fairy tales without a point to it was novel length.It's well written, it's just sort of nothing. Like if one of the less interesting fairy tales without a point to it was novel length....more
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