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dyingotters's reviews
18 reviews
The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall by Ali Standish
1.75
Did not work as a novel nor as a Sherlock Holmes pastiche/Sherlock Holmes inspired story. A lot of potentials not carried out.
1. Undeveloped characters and unbuilt world. Having personality in your characters and world are arguably the most important things for your reader to like and relate to your story. I understand that this is for kids, and I'm not a kid, but children need engaging and relatable stories.
2. None of the elements in this story feel Sherlockian in its essence. Yes we have a Watson, but what is he except a doctor? Or Jimmie, or Irene, or Sebastian? And there are so many character names in canon Sherlock Holmes, why not name most or all of your characters after them? What if Dr. Grey was Dr. Clay? What if the Clover were the Irregulars? Even outside of names, there are so many effortless, obvious references you can make that would make the reading experience just a little more fun.
1. Undeveloped characters and unbuilt world. Having personality in your characters and world are arguably the most important things for your reader to like and relate to your story. I understand that this is for kids, and I'm not a kid, but children need engaging and relatable stories.
2. None of the elements in this story feel Sherlockian in its essence. Yes we have a Watson, but what is he except a doctor? Or Jimmie, or Irene, or Sebastian? And there are so many character names in canon Sherlock Holmes, why not name most or all of your characters after them? What if Dr. Grey was Dr. Clay? What if the Clover were the Irregulars? Even outside of names, there are so many effortless, obvious references you can make that would make the reading experience just a little more fun.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
emotional
funny
reflective
relaxing
4.5
Though I genuinely could not have cared for the book's premise, I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable story. The subtle humour and the mundane reminds me a lot of Natsume Soseki's style. One of the best things about this book has to be Stevens himself: I found that I was always kept on edge by his unreliable narration, about other characters and his own character. Nothing is as he describes it - his father was never shown to be as competent as he described, Lord Darlington is not a good or honourable man, and Stevens himself, though always on about work and virtue, is a character bound to be more than an emotionless working machine that he so desperately wants to be. "Day Two - Morning" is one of the most engaging and well-written book chapters I have read in a long time, encompassing everything I liked about this book.
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen
3.0
Getting the problems out of the way: I'm not fond of the writing style, I definitely did not find the essay/memoir/interview mixture format effective. The concepts she's presenting as "new information" are not new to me which made the reading experience kind of boring. I've been asexual for quite a few years and I was pretty involved in the community, but if I were to read this book three years ago when things like AVEN, allonormativity, or intersectional queerness were all relatively new ideas to me, I would've enjoyed it more. But since I read it now, I cannot tell you how much I learned, or could relate to from this book, which was unexpected since me and the author are both asexual and chinese.
I really do appreciate how comprehensive this book is to introducing people to asexuality. She presented information in a way that's easily understandable, and I can imagine how it could be accessible to people new to asexuality/queer studies, younger people, ESL people, etc. I finally read this book after years of it being on my to-read list because I saw that the bookstore had it, and I've witnessed other people buying this book too. I can imagine how this book can act as people's introduction to asexuality, eventually opening up deeper discussions.
I really do appreciate how comprehensive this book is to introducing people to asexuality. She presented information in a way that's easily understandable, and I can imagine how it could be accessible to people new to asexuality/queer studies, younger people, ESL people, etc. I finally read this book after years of it being on my to-read list because I saw that the bookstore had it, and I've witnessed other people buying this book too. I can imagine how this book can act as people's introduction to asexuality, eventually opening up deeper discussions.
Palestine: A Socialist Introduction by Sumaya Awad, Brian Bean
4.5
Comprehensive, socialist look on Palestine, relating the occupation to a global scale and creating a flow throughout the book that incites motivation for change instead of defeat.
Chapters I think are important:
1 Roots of the Nakba: Zionist Settler Colonialism - good introduction with nuanced discussions about how Zionism relies on antisemitism as a way to victimize themselves, while the ideology not only perpetuates antisemitism but is built upon it amongst other things
7 What Palestinians Ask of Us: The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement - an interview with Omar Barghouti, founder of the BDS movement
9 Cops Here, Bombs There: Black-Palestinian Solidarity - analysis on the correlation between the injustice black people in the US and Palestinians in Palestine face
Since it's a collection, you could read one or a few selected chapters from this book and still gain knowledge about a certain issue
Chapters I think are important:
1 Roots of the Nakba: Zionist Settler Colonialism - good introduction with nuanced discussions about how Zionism relies on antisemitism as a way to victimize themselves, while the ideology not only perpetuates antisemitism but is built upon it amongst other things
7 What Palestinians Ask of Us: The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement - an interview with Omar Barghouti, founder of the BDS movement
9 Cops Here, Bombs There: Black-Palestinian Solidarity - analysis on the correlation between the injustice black people in the US and Palestinians in Palestine face
Since it's a collection, you could read one or a few selected chapters from this book and still gain knowledge about a certain issue
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
3.75
I always appreciate the attention that Ocean Vuong gives to his depiction of Vietnam, and his mother and father. You understand his love, loss, and everything in between
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
4.75
In the first half of the book, I kept making the joke in my head that this is the kind of random shit that me as an autistic person would think of and get seriously anxious about. In the second half of the book I understood that my "joke" was not just a joke - I understood the story as an able-bodied man suddenly becoming disabled one day, he was no longer productive the way he used to be, he no longer served his employer or his family the same way he used to. He went from a hard-working man to a disgusting creature in other people's eyes and the only thing he could do was to be locked in a room, isolated. The humour from the absurdist plot fades out when you understand that this is not far from the reality that many disabled people (though it could apply to many others - immigrants, people in poverty, etc.) live in. It is not absurd that many people become shut-ins from the sheer pressure that you must always be the standard kind of person for society, or no matter how upstanding you used to be - you will become mere garbage to be disposed of.