Ryan's Updates en-US Thu, 01 Aug 2024 03:01:48 -0700 60 Ryan's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg ReadStatus8228510943 Thu, 01 Aug 2024 03:01:48 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan finished reading 'The Body in the Library']]> /review/show/6719627503 The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie Ryan finished reading The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
]]> Rating743484019 Sat, 29 Jun 2024 20:10:25 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan Politis liked a review]]> /
Ryan liked Lyndon's review of The Black Island (Tintin #7):
The Black Island by Hergé
]]> Review6624722210 Fri, 28 Jun 2024 19:17:00 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan added 'Ripley Under Ground']]> /review/show/6624722210 Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith Ryan gave 3 stars to Ripley Under Ground (Ripley, #2) by Patricia Highsmith
3.5

The hydra of suspicion. You'll never be safe. ]]> Rating740587818 Fri, 21 Jun 2024 05:02:22 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan Politis liked a readstatus]]> /
Ryan liked Georgie’s status update
Georgie Georgie is currently reading Slaughterhouse-Five
]]> Review6590119031 Sun, 16 Jun 2024 00:29:47 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan added 'The Lincoln Highway']]> /review/show/6590119031 The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles Ryan gave 3 stars to The Lincoln Highway (Hardcover) by Amor Towles
2.5

Looks like the baggiest of monsters, actually the shaggiest of dogs. ]]> Review6406287194 Sat, 25 May 2024 23:18:15 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan added 'I, Claudius']]> /review/show/6406287194 I, Claudius by Robert Graves Ryan gave 4 stars to I, Claudius (Claudius, #1) by Robert Graves
]]> Review6534421024 Sat, 25 May 2024 23:16:37 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan added 'Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina']]> /review/show/6534421024 Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina by Robert Graves Ryan gave 3 stars to Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina (Claudius, #2) by Robert Graves
Brings it home in the final stretch but oh man was this a slog at times.

Justice for Calpurnia. ]]> Review6529471464 Fri, 24 May 2024 01:14:50 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan added 'The Night Circus']]> /review/show/6529471464 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Ryan gave 1 star to The Night Circus (Hardcover) by Erin Morgenstern
If you're a fan of this book, do me a favour. Pick it up and find a scene, almost any will do, but preferably a Celia/Marco or a Marco/Isobel, and read just the dialogue. You should be able to see pretty clearly just how vapid and hackneyed this twaddle is.

This book has some fantastic conceptual imagemaking, I grant it that. The living statue by the grave, the slicing of the fingertips, the story jars, lovely stuff, but my God, you cannot live on vibes alone. What a total misfire on every other level. A central character's complaints at the end essentially decrying how storytelling has become just too darn SOPHISTICATED I find personally offensive, not all of us are as baffled by nuance as you are, Erin. Plus, complaining that modern storytelling lacks "clarity of path" is a bit fucking rich when you've not only structured your novel around a central conflict you refuse to explain, but also shuffled your chapters like a tarot deck to disguise how thin your plot is. Let's not even discuss the structure of Starless Sea.

I compared this to Stephen King's It, but I think now The Stand is more appropriate. Both lean into a nebulous, looming battle of supposedly epic magnitude that fizzles out like a damp berocca after it becomes clear the author had no plan whatsoever. At least The Stand had the Trashcan Man.

Nothing to say, zero sense of humour, no real stakes, not even salvaged by good prose. Filled with bullshit like characters doing ultimately pivotal things without being "entirely certain why". I'm pleased that I enjoyed Starless Sea more, as growth is always encouraging, but I'm still left with the same thought I had after completing that one: Empty calories. ]]> Comment276078766 Fri, 24 May 2024 00:57:27 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan commented on Liz's review of Robert E. Lee and Me]]> /review/show/4805680830 Liz's review of Robert E. Lee and Me
by Ty Seidule

Thanks for this, spotted it at work the other day and was curious. Sounds great ]]> Rating731189060 Fri, 24 May 2024 00:56:47 -0700 <![CDATA[Ryan Politis liked a review]]> /
Ryan liked Liz's review of Robert E. Lee and Me:
Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule
"The subtitle of this book is A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause. Ty Seidule is a retired Brigadier General in the US Army and Emeritus Professor of history at the US Military Academy at West Point who grew up revering General Robert E. Lee.

This book blends memoir/self-reflection with the historical record to demonstrate how the lost cause myth has persevered and why it needs to be addressed. As this book notes, “we find it hard to confront our past because it’s so ugly, but the alternative to ignoring our racist history is creating a racist future.�

A readable and fascinating history of racial politics in the US. "
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