Incredibly inventive and fun. I like it a tiny, tiny bit more than his Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. The extravagance here is more coherent � Incredibly inventive and fun. I like it a tiny, tiny bit more than his Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. The extravagance here is more coherent � at least as magical, but it doesn’t scribble outside the lines quite as� er, non-linearly, if that’s a word. I guess I mean that Penumbra could more easily be described as scifi-fantasy. Sloan sticks to scifi-fantastical here, which pleases perhaps-too-rational brain....more
I was somewhat surprised that this wasn't an espionage novel, but a detective novel. A very good one, though — we don't have a magically instinctive sI was somewhat surprised that this wasn't an espionage novel, but a detective novel. A very good one, though — we don't have a magically instinctive savant who instantly recognizes the significance of every unexplained detail. Refreshing after gritting my teeth through a Hercule Poirot story....more
Five stars for quality; but it loses one because it progresses soooo slowly. Of course, that’s a good deal of the story: it takes a staggering amount of quiet pondering for Smiley to do his thing, and our author demands that we be patient while he elliptically dabs in those details....more
This was amusing� at first. But it eventually palled, and when I become distracted by something (it really didn’t take much) it wasn’t worth returDNF.
This was amusing� at first. But it eventually palled, and when I become distracted by something (it really didn’t take much) it wasn’t worth returning to.
The most annoying part were the poems various characters provided. They were pretty much all the same, going on far too long. It apparently didn’t occur to the author that different people would probably compose in quite different styles. I mean, this was more than a century after Shakespeare; I think he should have been a bit more innovative.
I may have never got to the naughty parts, so I’m afraid I’ll never know how naughty they became....more
Fun, and the characters were pleasant to spend time with.
But not really a mystery novel, because too many facts the reader would need to attempt deducFun, and the characters were pleasant to spend time with.
But not really a mystery novel, because too many facts the reader would need to attempt deductions weren't revealed until just before the author gave them, and then provided the reveal.
A nice way to waste a few hours, if that’s what you need....more
Grabbed this to read the short story My Death after something in the NY Times (click through for my review of that). Then I read the Gaiman story, theGrabbed this to read the short story My Death after something in the NY Times (click through for my review of that). Then I read the Gaiman story, then the other Gaiman story, and now I think I take a look at them all. I don’t really like horror, but none are actually horrific or scary so far�...more
A little too goofy for my taste, and without a lot more knowledge about the that Bulgakov was lampooning, quite a bit inevitably went oA little too goofy for my taste, and without a lot more knowledge about the that Bulgakov was lampooning, quite a bit inevitably went over my head.
I felt some of the same cultural bewilderment while reading The Master and Margarita but that was still so stunningly inventive and awesome that I more easily overlooked the occasional confusion.
Still, this was an amusing broad satire of humankind.
Listening inside the mind of a clever, suspicious, but desperate stray dog was a lot of fun, though.
A bit of magical realism, disguised as vanilla fiction.
This is a collection of slightly intertwined stories about individuals trying to find a better A bit of magical realism, disguised as vanilla fiction.
This is a collection of slightly intertwined stories about individuals trying to find a better path in their life, and being nudged in a good direction by a .
Each found their way to a small library attached to a local community center, and met a mysterious librarian. The librarian is initially forbidding in appearance, but the seeker soon trusts her and is given a list of book recommendations, as well as a needle-felted animal. But critically, one of those book recommendations is a complete surprise, and turns out to be an oracular sign to reexamine their assumptions and their life.
Sadly, most libraries don't come with beneficent oracles.
Hard to recruit, I imagine, and difficult to budget for.
But the stories are sweet and pleasant, and overall we get a portrayal of a simple village life, with normal people finding a better life. Using a library as a bridge to a nicer future is welcome, if a bit overly optimistic.
A Perfect Day for Bananafish � enjoyed, but peculiar. Peculiar in a strange deja vu way, though. Did I read this decades ago, or is the style one thatA Perfect Day for Bananafish � enjoyed, but peculiar. Peculiar in a strange deja vu way, though. Did I read this decades ago, or is the style one that has been echoed so often that it felt familiar. The ending was both a surprise, but simultaneously predictable?
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut � ick, ack. Depressing people! Are folks really so unreflective and superficial? Poor girl, lost and clueless. ...more
Elyse Flayme and the Final Flood is a story about writer's block, but with something of a twist.
Imagine you've written a series of books which portrayElyse Flayme and the Final Flood is a story about writer's block, but with something of a twist.
Imagine you've written a series of books which portray how a fictional world is being confronted by an existential threat, but which is also a metaphor for a real-world threat. It isn't clear yet how the world is going to overcome that threat (or even whether), so to write the final book in that fictional series would be presumptuous, right? But that might also put a strange symbolic limit on what real-world solutions might be considered?
Our author cleverly cuts that Gordian knot.
This is a pretty good short story. Not great, but pretty good. And short! Read it in just a few minutes....more
A GR friend rated it four stars, but what really got my attention was a profile of the author over at the New York Times: A GR friend rated it four stars, but what really got my attention was a profile of the author over at the New York Times: . That article linked by to a review, of sorts, back in March, of this book and another, Lucky Breaks, both of which illuminate .
This was a slow, thoughtful story. The protagonist, Sergey, is almost childlike in his simplicity; his needs are very basic, and his only real goal is to take care of his bees. It would be too much to call it a passion; it is merely a responsibility he feels compelled to fulfill, and takes a low-grade pleasure in fulfilling.
Day by day, he plods through his life in the abandoned 'grey zone' between the warring parties — Ukrainians on one side, Russians (or separatist Ukrainians) on the other. He and one other man are all that is left of their village, and the two are in a little of a "frenemy" relationship.
That kind of relationship, I think, was probably much more common in past eras. Today we can abandon mildly annoying people, knowing that the world (or, at least, social media) can quickly provide replacements who might be less annoying. That we can do this so easily is probably to our detriment, don't you think? But those two were in a comparatively pre-modern world even before the conflict emptied their lives. So they need each other, and know each other, even while they aren't besties. Just fellow travelers, occasionally doing favors back and forth because of their social reality.
But the bees take precedence, and Sergey is worried the battlefield will be toxic, so he decides to drive to someplace he hopes their foraging will be healthier. What happens on that road trip further illustrates the banal terrors of war and its underlying ethic enmities.
In the end, he returns home, a bit worse for wear, maybe a little wiser?
But the reader will have seen his world � and the war through his eyes.
And that's a good reason to read this book....more
[Note: not really ‘chick-lit�, but undeniably ‘romance�. I don't really have a specifically proper shelf for this, since it isn’t similar to much of w[Note: not really ‘chick-lit�, but undeniably ‘romance�. I don't really have a specifically proper shelf for this, since it isn’t similar to much of what I've read, or expect to read. What word or phrase best captures the sense of “this story acknowledges non-cis identies and a wide variety of sexual orientations as a central aspect of the narrative�?]...more
Loading...
