was rated as having one of the worst sex scenes in a book, ever. I can confirm it was pretty nasty tho not the worst I've ever read. However, I did spwas rated as having one of the worst sex scenes in a book, ever. I can confirm it was pretty nasty tho not the worst I've ever read. However, I did spend a large portion of the book after the scene thinking about how bad the MC's yeast infection must be
that aside, I just found this too boring to finish? Or maybe I'm just not smart enough to appreciate it. Who knows?!?
Alice Oswald interviewed and recorded people who lived and worked on the River Dart in England, and turned the stories into this poem.
I loved the useAlice Oswald interviewed and recorded people who lived and worked on the River Dart in England, and turned the stories into this poem.
I loved the use of language in this. It's playful and often beautiful with vivid descriptions.
such deep woods it feels like indoors and then you look down and see it's raining on the River" it sank like a feather falls. not quite in full possession of its weight"
The linking of the environment with the people who needed it for survival and how the river has interacted with people through space, time and literature was also interesting. I think this was such a great concept for a long-form poem and Oswald really brought the river and its inhabitants for life for me.
Poetry isn't really my *thing* but I did enjoy this one a lot and if you like poetry you'd probably love it ...more
an underrated shakespeare play in my opinion. Like, unpopular opinion but it's actually good & more enjoyable then Some Plays (cough. king lear. )an underrated shakespeare play in my opinion. Like, unpopular opinion but it's actually good & more enjoyable then Some Plays (cough. king lear. )...more
this is what victorian people had to explain utilitarianism because they didn't have the good place on netflix this is what victorian people had to explain utilitarianism because they didn't have the good place on netflix ...more
"When we are born, we cry that we are come To this great stage of fools."
Not my favourite Shakespeare to read but the tragedies never are. I'll wat
"When we are born, we cry that we are come To this great stage of fools."
Not my favourite Shakespeare to read but the tragedies never are. I'll watch a recording of this live and might like it more, but was a bit confusing with too many characters for me reading it.
its been 420 years but Benedick and Beatrice are still That Couple actual enemies to lovers excellence
This is probably my favourite Shakespeare play its been 420 years but Benedick and Beatrice are still That Couple actual enemies to lovers excellence
This is probably my favourite Shakespeare play I have seen yet. I read the script while also watching the filmed Globe performance and like .. its genuinely still laugh out loud funny. The Claudio storyline is annoying, but Hero is such a better character than Desdemona who has a similar plot line - Beatrice and Benedick are funny and sweet, and like I love them both.
This deserves a really fun and good modern adaptation honestly ...more
“Those bitter sorrows of childhood!-- when sorrow is all new and strange, when hope has not yet got wings to fly beyond the days and weeks, and the
“Those bitter sorrows of childhood!-- when sorrow is all new and strange, when hope has not yet got wings to fly beyond the days and weeks, and the space from summer to summer seems measureless.”
I wasn't sure about the middle of this book but I loved the ending a lot (though not the ACTUAL ending, what was that?!) Anyways, this isn't what I expected it would be and I am not actually sure if I enjoyed it or not?
One thing I did love was MAGGIE TULLIVER. The main character was such a delight. She's kind of like a wild, raven-haired, wild eyes girl and I just loved her? And wanted her to be happy. She's quick-witted and clever but struggled with a lot in this book - with her family, her brother especially. with wanting to be in love but not as the cost of hurting her friends and family. I enjoyed her growth and change as she got older and changed quite a lot and had to tackle new and harder things. Like, Maggie Tulliver is That Bitch, she's my girl and she deserved better. I understand how Stephen Guest fell in love with her like 0.2 seconds after meeting her I really do.
“Saints and martyrs had never interested Maggie so much as sages and poets.”
This is also beautifully written and I loved the use of an omnoscient narrator. The descriptions of the landscape are lush and vivid, and Eliot has such an ability to get into the minds of the characters and to make such concise, but meaningful comments on them, which are littered throughout. I liked that this isn't AS wordy as some Victorian lit. I think I should definitely read Middlemarch sometime.
“No anguish I have had to bear on your account has been too heavy a price to pay for the new life into which I have entered in loving you.”
Kim Scott's Taboo is set in the south-west of Western Australia in Kokanarup, a fictionalised version of Cocanarup - which sits right near the tiny ruKim Scott's Taboo is set in the south-west of Western Australia in Kokanarup, a fictionalised version of Cocanarup - which sits right near the tiny rural towns of Ravensthorpe and Hopetown. This is an area I've visited often, and the thrill of seeing an area that I've never read in a book before get represented was something I immediately enjoyed about this.
Taboo follows Tilly, a young Indigenous girl who returns to Kokanarup with other members of her 'mob' at the wish of her dying father. Kokanarup is believed to be 'Taboo' for Indigenous people, due to the massacre that occured is the 19th century. Scott takes this true story as the core of his narrative - which explores the importance of place, family, and the experience of modern Indigenous people who have become divorced from their ancestral homes.
The returning of Tilly and her family starts their own path to healing, both in terms of their family and personal trauma, but also in terms of the wider context of colonial dislocation and the loss of place experienced by Indigenous people's.
Kim Scott is a Noongar man from the area and I really liked the authenticity came through. Not only in his descriptions of place, which made it clear he lived in the area, but also in the research and character development.
One theme I found interesting in this was the preoccupation with language. Scott is interested in blending languages and writing styles, but also in exploring how language connects us to people and place. This text was haunting and beautiful, primarily because of Scott's ability to blend language and write descriptive, heavy and emotional moments. The focus on the Noongar language and it's revival within the text was also something interesting, especially since Scott is heavily involved in this in real life. In this authors note, he mentioned only 300 people still speak the language at home. Scott is obviously interested in exploring how language, and the names we call things, plays a large role in forming identity and creating connectio to place.
I also enjoyed the way gothic tropes were embedded into the story. The twins, Gerald and Gerrard, one of whom could be seen as the others dark doppleganger. Or in the presense of hauntings and and supernatural occurences. Scott uses these gothic tropes into the post-colonial text to explore the ramifications and ongoing consequences colonialism in Australia has had. I loved the blending of features of western literature with this text which felt uniquely Australian.
The characters were also a highlight. Tilly, the main character, is easy to sympathise with, and I also enormously loved her lost uncle Gerald. The ending of both their stories were moving, and I thought Scott did a good job at concluding their stories and tying all the ends together.
I read this book in two sittings and really enjoyed it. I thought this had a lot to offer and would probably do so even more upon reread. I'm so far gunning for Taboo in this years Miles Franklin award. And this has been a good reminder to read Scott's earlier works....more
“It came with the wind through the silence of the night, a long, deep mutter, then a rising howl, and then the sad moan in which it died away. Agai
“It came with the wind through the silence of the night, a long, deep mutter, then a rising howl, and then the sad moan in which it died away. Again and again it sounded, the whole air throbbing with it, strident, wild and menacing.”
I enjoyed this so much! I've seen so many adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories - The BBC adaptation, Elementary, the movies featuring Robert Downey Jr, various book retellings - but I've never actually read any of the original stories. So it was nice to get into this and see what they're actually like compared to the adaptations.
I thought this story was a lot of fun. While it starts a little slow, you soon get drawn into the mystery and the spooky setting of the English moors. This was SO gothic! There was the misty moors, a mysterious pit where things go missing, a potentially supernatural hound that glows, murder, and strange noises being heard throughout the night. I loved how gothic elements played into this story - the atmosphere and aesthetic of the gothic was captured so well and you could just picture our heroes standing on the hills, looking down into the moors and hearing the echoes of animals echoing all around.
This was also surprisingly funny! and easy to read! I did listen to the audiobook, which may have helped. Stephen Fry is such an excellent narrator and I think he did an amazing job on this.
I have had the entire Sherlock Holmes collection on my TBR for some time and reading this has REALLY bumped up my desire to get to those soon!...more
I read this for university and I ... really, really liked it. It's nice when your school texts suck you in so much it's like you're not even doing schI read this for university and I ... really, really liked it. It's nice when your school texts suck you in so much it's like you're not even doing schoolwork. This was incredibly thought-provoking and such easy reading compared to some other modernist texts. The amount of ground Larsen was able to cover in such a short book was truly a feat. I really enjoyed the themes Larsen chose to explore and following her characters as they struggled with their identities and situations. While at times the subject matter was hard to read, it was also extremely compelling and thought-provoking. Part two was definitely my favourite but parts one and three were great also.
Written during the Harlem-Renaissance, Passing follows Irene Radfield and Clare Kendry, childhood friends who have a chance encounter as adults in a Chiacago tea shop. Although these two black women grew up together they're now living completely different lives - Irene lives with her dark-skinned husband and two sons in Harlem where she is enmeshed in the Harlem cultural scene. Clare has been passing as white for 12 years, has become estranged from black culture and now lives with her white supremacist husband and their daughter. This chance encounter forces the two women to examine their lives, and how they could have been living had they not made the choices they did.
This was a truly interesting introspection of life in Harlem, New York during the 1920's and the issues - whether they be race, gender or sexuality, that were facing communities. I was also living for the queer subtext. The ending, while abrupt, left me with lots to ponder, which I kind of like. This really was such a great read, I enjoyed it so much and it left me with so many interesting thoughts. I'm really glad it got assigned!
“April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.”
I had to read th
“April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.”
I had to read this for a Modernism unit I'm taking, which made sense because I knew nothing about this poem going in except that it's supposed to be THE modernism poem (and also that Ezra Pound edited the shit out of it?) I read T.S Eliot's other famous poem The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock in highschool, which I liked because of it's beautiful writing and clever use of allusions.
The wasteland is also beautiful and clever. Maybe too clever because I barely understood anything that was happening. Just when I was getting a good grip on the scene some allusion of other language would crop up and I'd be thrown off my game. We get it, Eliot. You've read all the books, you know all the languages, you've seen all the shakespeare. Just chill.
T.S Eliot has such beautiful, rich poetic writing. He really does form so interestingly and created vivid, rich poems. I went back after each section to look up what every line meant - and this was super interesting. It's amazing how much meaning is in one line. But I think the highlight of the poem really is the writing really. It's beautiful at times, creepy in places, ominous and then hopeful. I really enjoyed the flow of it.
“What is the meaning of life? That was all- a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come.
“What is the meaning of life? That was all- a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one.”
I had the most unusual experience reading this where I enjoyed every page but simultaneously was wishing and hoping something would happen. There's very few actual lighthouses in this book, most of it follows various characters over an afternoon and evening as they ponder their relationships with eachother and their various anxieties about life and love and family are slowly explored.
Woolf is a phenomenal writer and that can't be argued. Her prose is stunning, and this book feels like something only one person could write. Woolf manages to capture the transient nature of time and the flow and ebb of time between one moment to the next and that is no easy feat. Part two, "Time Passes", especially, stood out to me in this book. The death of the characters so unceremoniously announced in bracketed footnotes was a unique choice, and a uniquely modernist choice, and I found that I kind of liked it.
I think I'd like to read more Woolf for sure, Orlando might be up next. This is not what I expected, and I can't explain it to you because it's not about what its ABOUT but I enjoyed reading in nonetheless and could even see myself rereading it in the future.
“And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves.”
A specter is haunting Europe, the specter of Communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter; Po
A specter is haunting Europe, the specter of Communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter; Pope and Czar, Metternich and Guizot, French radicals and German police spies.
Read for uni.
Karl Marx, just prior to writing this [image]...more
"And although the song that I heard was about war, about the heroic deeds of a whole generation of Latin Americans led to sacrifice, I knew that ab
"And although the song that I heard was about war, about the heroic deeds of a whole generation of Latin Americans led to sacrifice, I knew that above and beyond all, it was about courage and mirrors, desire and pleasure. And that song is our amulet."
The writing for this book is absolutely beautiful, that is honestly the top thing that sticks with me. The whole book is so beautifully written I wish I spoke Spanish to read it in its original form.
I'm so glad I read this twice because it was much easier to understand the second time once I had more of a picture of the overall story.
Amulet follows a Uruguayan woman named Auxilio who refers to herself as the mother of mexican poetry and living a bohemian lifestyle in Mexico among young poets she has befriended.
The story centres around Auxilio, who she becomes trapped inside a toilet in the Mexico City university after the riot police come to remove the students and professors. This is based on a true incident. Alone in the toilet for 13 days, she begins reading a book of Mexican poetry she had with her and thinking about the state of modern literature and latinx literature, as well as how this connects to the history and present state of Mexico and the rest of Latin America. The author is Chilean but spent a lot of time living throughout Latin America and I really thought it was interesting how he also wrote himself into the story.
This is such an interesting and unique read, and honestly I am really loving reading more literary fiction thanks to University. I'm going to have to try and keep it up even when it's not required reading.
“Still I kept walking. I walked and walked. And from time to time I stopped and said to myself: Wake up, Auxilio. Nobody can endure this. And yet I knew I could endure it. So I baptized my right leg Willpower and my left leg Necessity. And I endured.”
I've been to the tutorial for this book and now I'm an intellectual. time to write a proper review
“If a man couldn’t control his beast, it could tu
I've been to the tutorial for this book and now I'm an intellectual. time to write a proper review
“If a man couldn’t control his beast, it could turn so violent that nothing could restrain it once enraged.”
I read this for my English major world literatures unit, and it's the first piece of Indonesian literature I've ever read. I was incredibly excited to read it, because it was a first and also because I've heard good things about this book out and about. It's was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2015.
I find literary books hard to rate often times, because there's a weird dichotomy between value and enjoyment. I didn't fly through this book, I didn't find it entertaining like I would find the usual books I read but I'm not sure if that's an excuse me to take away it's value or rate it low. It's a well written book and cultural examination.
Man Tiger is set in coastal Indonesia, following a boy called Margio who's got a white tiger inside of him. On the first page we found out he - or his inner white tiger - killed a man, and on the last page we find out why. We know he's done it, and the book follows the series of events and people that led him to that moment. It is an ownvoices book that heavily incorporates Indonesian - specifically Javan, culture, beliefs and a mixture of Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist religious beliefs.
A note and warning - there is graphic and explicit rape, domestic violence, infant death due to violence, parental violence toward a child and also general graphic violence. I found a lot of this book really hard to stomach and found lots of it very uncomfortable. Violence is a core theme, symbolised through the white tiger and while the violence often comes as an exploration of toxic masculinity and Indonesia's often violent past, as well as Indonesian cultural expectations, it was still really hard to read
I genuinely disliked the representation of women in Man Tiger. The preface of this book argues that Man Tiger contains Kurniawan's most detailed female characters, so I really don't like to think what is in his other books. The women were objects to be exploited, tropey and objectified and I really didn't think they were well written.
The timeline is non-linear, and jumps around quite a bit which can be confusing, but which also lends to some great scenes and allows the story to unfold in a really unique way. I loved to get a glimpse of Javan life and Indonesian literatures through Man Tiger - the way that the religions coexisted and manifested in the society was fascinating and I also liked Kurniawan's attempt to depict the "true" Java and not "post card" Java. The postcard Indonesia is very prominent in Australia and it was nice to see an Indonesian writer tackling this perception of Indonesia.
Man Tiger is one of those books I'd recommend, and I think has good literary value and it very well written but I wouldn't reread. However, I've heard he's just released an Indonesian retelling of Animal Farm which I think I might check out!...more
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