charbck's reviews
128 reviews

A Potrait of the Artist As A Young Man by James Joyce

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

not for me. couldnt grasp onto a character, barely could get ahold of stephen. first 2 chapters were really engaging, especially that dinner scene. lost it by the preaching in the 3rd. some excerpts i loved but not most. i guess i would not feel so confident in my heretic nature without catholics like joyce paving the way before me, so thanks for that. i liked his critiques of nationalism. i can feel so jealous as an american that irishmen have so much pride in their country, but nationalism is just another institution to pour ur hopes and dreams into, mostly in vain. i liked his thoughts about the english vs the irish languages as well. i disagreed with his thoughts about art. no woman has a name, he is so obsessed with his lust but of course does not lend these women any respect. stephen doesnt even love his mother. maybe this is a hint at his naivete but whatever, i know plenty of young men that love their mothers. one day i will read joyce’s better books but not for awhile. gonna listen to a podcast analyzing this work to try to figure it out. 

Anything That Moves by Jamie Stewart

dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

5.0

best memoir ive ever read. impressively vulnerable. my favorite thing about writing is describing things in new ways and jamie stewart does that over and over again. i want to immediately reread it

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

poor gregor :(

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

wowie wow wow. thank u sally rooney for always giving me exactly what i need every time (grief and non-monogamy!) rooney has reimagined her iconic style (no more emails!) while deepening what makes us love her so much (crazy batshit realistic relationships. different perspectives. awesome sex)

LOVE peters style holy hell. the sentence fragments stream of consciousness MMMM. makes her no quotes work even better. ivan is a gem, and the women are fantastic too. i wonder why we get margarets perspective and not sylvia or naomis…. probably to prove to us she is not a malicious predator. love how her anxieties mirrored peters. 

SUCH distinct characters. rooney’s a master of em. less interrogation of capitalism in this one but its still there. instead the characters are existing within the system and trying to make ends meat (love it). my critique is these dynamics are SOOOOOOOO heteronormative. like even cam girl naomi does not pursue her great desires in the bedroom, she just wants peter to “do whatever he wants to her.” same about margaret.  perhaps it is a desire in itself but it is unrealistic. 

frustrating how sylvia always said i want you to be happy peter and i cant give you that. like because of the sex. and peter never said u make me happy enough already!!!! i dont need the sex!! like why couldnt he let that go for her and tell her what she needed to hear. raaaaaa i love you sylvia

2nd favorite rooney for sure. love love love love love. cant wait to see how she evolves even more

Neighborhood Story, Vol. 2 by Ai Yazawa

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

i love yazawa’s heroines so much. all of her characters have so much depth… especially her women. i love ayumi, and i love mariko’s nuance in this story. i want more of risa!! hopefully there will be more in the next volume rn she is just mikako’s calm and cool bff. need to know wtf is going on w her boyfriend. and of course mikako is the best. she is very similar to hachi… shes cute, spunky, annoying, loud, has big dreams and loves HARD! like hachi, she messes up a lot, which i love. she is just like me fr!!!!!!!!!! and ugh TSUTOMUUUU is the sweetest, i love his devotion to mikako. i rlly wanna get an ai yazawa monkey tattoo. and the fashion and the illustration style…. its just unmatched.

-.25 for the dad trying to get back together w the mom like cmon… but it is a romance manga after all. but love the introduction of the father bc we were all wondering it. again gives mikako more depth ugh these characters!!!!!!

need to bring ai yazawa with me when i go thrifting next. 

Nana, Vol. 3 by Ai Yazawa

emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

shoji sucks

Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

beautiful and tragic. fe fe is an amazing narrator and her love for her friends rlly moved me. great glimpse at chicago history and what it was like to grow up on the southside. great perspective for me on the other side of the redline. my first of many chicago books!

Peepee Poopoo #1 by Caroline Cash

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

BEAUTIFUL art style and so irreverent and funny. not rating cuz i dont know enough about comics to compare. i love lesbians!

Sex and Rage by Eve Babitz

lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

definitely the worst babitz ive read. this novel is meditative, i wouldnt say nothing happens, but it chases its tale a lot. but i literally cant shit talk my novel would be the same. the character descriptions are a bit wishy washy and its hard to pinpoint how jacaranda feels about each person (lowkey isnt that just life tho?). i did enjoy jacarandas fall from grace and her recovery in nyc. and i lovedddd max, gonna say You’re Here! to everyone and anyone i want to fall in love with me. 

babitz’s prose saves this book of course. its so refreshing to read her style im addicted to her and i will continue to read and reread all of her work. but without a doubt her essays are better

The Iliac Crest by Cristina Rivera Garza

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

i went into this novel to continue my interrogation of the gender binary. did i get an interrogation of the gender binary…? not really. the david lynch comparison by publisher’s weekly is extremely fitting. like lynch’s films, i admire this novel for its craft, style, symbols, characters, and world, yet i have no idea what happened at all.

i’m confused about the interrogation of the narrator’s gender. the Amparos insistence that the doctor is secretly a woman reads transphobic. and this being published by the feminist press… it’s feeling terfy. our main character was not floating within the gender binary like i assumed he would be… he was a man. and reassured himself he was a man over and over. everyone in his life addresses him as a man except the Amparos. but the narrator’s insistence that he is a man refutes the transphobia. but maybe i am thinking too pessimistically and the Amparos insistence that he is a she is another instance of denying reality. there is a brief interrogation of gender in the middle of the book, where the narrator concludes men and women r the same in labor as in death, in a very women r as ruthless and cruel as men way. i saw some reviews calling this nonbinary realness and while i agree garza crossed many boundaries (state, time, language) the characters fit very neatly into their assigned gender, ESPECIALLY the main character. his description of women and his relationships with them was soooo heterosexual cis man. since he was written by a woman im sure this is commentary on misogyny, but he does not give transmasc theythem anything… at least not to the 2024 reader. garza in the author’s note says “gender—and what is done in the name of gender—can be lethal.” i dont understand how the book addresses that sentiment ??? unless the narrator disappeared themselves and chose to live as a man in the disappearance. or they r all dead. IDK!

this is just ONE motif i dont understand. that being said, i dont think this confusion makes the book bad, but i need to be in a socratic seminar with a professor to get my questions answered. 

this is a RICH text. there is an analysis essay to be written for every chapter. Maybe if i am still logged into JSTOR i will try to find a paper. there is important historical and literary context that i am DEFINITELY missing. glu glu.