jessepinkman's reviews
76 reviews

The Fellowship of the Ring (the Lord of the Rings, Book 1) by J.R.R. Tolkien

4.5

Mindblowing. For a large portion of this book, not THAT much happens. They're just little guys on a little adventure. Of course, doom lies ahead, but, atleast in Book One, you don't feel it as much. Naturally, once the feeling starts, everything goes to shit. But I actually found the quiet parts as interesting as the battles. Tolkien really created a world that feels so full and realised. And the characters are so much fun!!! I can't wait to dive into the next books and also watch the first film tonight!!!!

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

4.5

Each chapter of this book focuses on another family member and it spans generations. I don't know if this has been done before, but either way I was deeply impressed. The way Gyasi manages to portray so many different aspects of history and also how seamlessly she did it should really be applauded. And every chapter is interesting! Obviously you're probably going to prefer certain characters over others and find certain settings more interesting than others, but still, this book grips you until the end.

The Motorcycle Diaries: Das Tagebuch der Lateinamerika-Reise 1951-1952 by Ernesto Che Guevara

3.5

An incredible look into the mind of a curious, intelligent young mab that would go on to change the world and inspire so many to do the same. It's weird to read the often rudimentary thoughts of such a larger-than-life-person. His observations about latinamerican life and the continents nature are poetic and beautiful.

Violets by Kyung-sook Shin

2.75

An incoherent mess saved by little sparks of genius (that are few and far between). I kind of feel bad saying it, but yeah. The general idea is good but it feels all over the place. I have trouble putting it into words but this book did disappoint me. 

Emma by Jane Austen
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.

Dnf because I don't have the patience for it right now and nothing so far has moved me in any way. I'd rather invest time in other things. 

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

5.0

Shirley Jackson is so good at writing lonely, weird women, which is my favorite kind of character in literature.

Also, I can't believe how queer/sapphic this book was!!! I've seen the Mike Flanagan adaptation, in which Theo is queer, but I wouldn't have though that they took that from the book. And Nell too! There's a scene where they almost confess their love to each other, only to be interrupted by a nightmarish vision of a heteronormative life.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

3.5

“That she had come to me at the end of a long night of misery made me want to cry tears of joy. I wanted to tell her: "How happy I am that you came to me like an apparition in that bluish mist. Now everything around me will be a little better when I wake up."“

The two novellas collected here are really interesting meditations on loss that will probably resonate with everybody who's ever lost someone close to them. Both deal with sudden deaths and they show that isolating yourself and crying it out won't do, you have to surround yourself with people who care about you. Atleast that's what's healthy. 

Das kommunistische Manifest by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels

„Mit der Entwicklung der großen Industrie wird also unter den Füßen der Bourgeoisie die Grundlage selbst hinweggezogen, worauf sie produziert und die Produkte sich aneignet. Sie produziert vor aplem ihren eignen Totengräber. Ihr Untergang und der Sieg des Proletariata sind gleich unvermeidlich.“

„An die Stelle der alten bürgerlichen Gesellschaft mit ihren Klassen und Klassengegensätzen tritt eine Assoziation, worin die freie Entwicklung eines jeden die Bedingung für die freie Entwicklung aller ist.“


„Die sozialistischen Bourgeois wollen die Lebensbedingungen der modernen Gesellschaft ohne die notwendig daraus hervorgehenden Kämpfe und Gefahren. Sie wollen die bestehende Gesellschaft mit Abzug der sie revolutionierenden und die auflösenden Elemente. Sie wollen die Bourgeoisie ohne das Proletariat. Die Bourgeoisie stellt sie die Welt, worin sie herrscht, natürlich als die beste Welt vor.“

„Mögen die herrschenden Klassen vor einer kommunistischen Revolution zittern. Die Proletarier haben nichts in ihr zu verlieren als ihre Ketten. Sie haben eine Welt zu gewinnen. Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch!“

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

4.5

What resonated so much with me here was how she was clinging onto the little, ordinary things. Anything that reminded her of him. Those pens and that clock that John had gifted her some time ago. Grasping at every little thing that serves as a reminder of who you lost. If he hadn't died would she have kept those dried up pens and that broken clock? What's the point of memoribilia if the person you experienced those memories with is still there?

Fleabag: The Scriptures by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

5.0

The easiest five stars I've ever given, I practically gave it a 5 way before I even started reading these scriptures. So sharp, witty with so much beauty and pain and messiness built in. I think I binged this whole show around New Year's 2020 and it changed my perspective on so many things and became something to cling to in the times that followed.