jessepinkman's reviews
80 reviews

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.

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

4.0

Super engaging and interesting. The short chapters are nice even if I wished he would've spent more time in certain years/eras of his music. I'm fairly new to E-Street so this was actually great to familiarise myself with him and the band members and also to understand why the themes in his songs resonate so deeply with him. Some of his views/personal politics are frustrating, especially what he said about cops but oh well. It wasn't surprising or anything. I didn't go into this thinking he was gonna be some revolutionary. 

Woman Running in the Mountains by Yūko Tsushima

4.5

"Now and then, a ray of light slanted in like a sunbeam through trees, bringing memories of herself in the outside world, and with them pain. Whenever this happened she went over to the window and gazed wide-eyed at the sky, the greenness of the woods that frothed at the foot of the building, and the rows of roots that glared in the midsummer heat. She was drawn there by a haunting sense that these things were her body. She would gaze at its expance, its brilliance. The sound of voices crying pulsated out there like a rainbow. Heartbeats reverberated, and desire. She wondered at the rainbow's resonance. Then she would turn back to the roomful of sick children and let out the breath she'd been holding. Her fear of the voice that told her to give up seemed to have melted away."

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

5.0

Finished in 2 days, that's how good this book is! I could not stop reading it was so good. And very different from the film, which is always nice. What I liked about this book was the simple writing style and also Deckards moral dilemma. The passage with the fake Hall of Justice was personally my favorite, and everything to do with Rachael.  But I only felt like the conclusion was fine, not good, not great which was disappointing.

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

3.5

The start took me so long to get past, I was stuck at page 30-50 for over a month, but in the past 3 days I read 250+ pages so it definitely was able to grip me at that point. But having seen the show first, and I can't believe that I'm saying this right now, I prefer it. Anyway what really deeply disturbed me about this was everything to do with Claudia. Like that was downright pedophilia. Louis says at some point that they are WED. And the way her body is described? Other than that, I think it's interesting how so not revelant Daniel is in this. Also I love Armand!!!

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field

This was so insightful that I highlighted many parts and even took notes for most of the chapters. Definitely a great guide even for people who don't go to film school like me.

Superman for All Seasons by Jeph Loeb

4.5

A great coming of age tale, and a story that I just needed to read right now.