apokalypsis

• Rated 4 stars

“How can one be both rational and spiritual? Why do so many believers treat their intellectual life as entirely distinct from their faith? Is there a way to integrate the two?

Dunne tackles this issue in his summary of Fr. Bernard Lonergan's approach to how we experience reality and live in the world. This is one of the better reasoned approaches to religion I have ever seen.”

apokalypsis wrote this review 6 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“If you've seen the movie, there isn't much in the book you aren't already familiar with (besides a couple salacious moments). Going through it word by word, I was kind of shocked at the blatant sexism of the genre and era it was written in. Sam Spade is quite the strong character, but I would bet money that he would come in for more criticism if this novel had been written in (and set in) the 1990s or 2000s.”

apokalypsis wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Absolutely smashing romp through Victoriana, WWII bombings of England, and the near future of Oxford. Must read more Connie Willis!”

apokalypsis wrote this review Monday, September 7 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Nice summarization of a number of findings in cognitive science and behavioral economics. I found the second half of the book much more interesting than the first.”

apokalypsis wrote this review Tuesday, June 9 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Edelman's craft leaves a lot to be desired, but he keeps you turning pages and has some interesting ideas about a post-singularity future.”

apokalypsis wrote this review Monday, June 8 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Mieville conjures up the freakiest monstrosities I've ever read. But the behavior of humans in his stories is always more "monstrous" than that of xenians. Charles Dickens, meet H.P. Lovecraft.”

apokalypsis wrote this review Saturday, February 28 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“Death's a great character, but this story disappointed on all levels. I am used to expecting better from Gaiman. Can't believe they're talking about making a movie based on this.”

apokalypsis wrote this review Saturday, February 21 2009. ( reply | permalink )

0 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“This book has no named characters and is punctuated almost entirely by commas. The premise is brilliant, but authorial intrusion becomes tiresome, saramago has to say the same thing three ways, i mean, he can't just get to the point already, sentences run on and on, filling nearly an entire page, and there are no quotation marks or clear indications of who is speaking when.

Had to return to library and probably won't check it out again.”

apokalypsis wrote this review Saturday, February 21 2009. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“This is a well-written book that defies review. The conflicted protagonist (an African-American writer of literary novels) writes a novel (included in the book) that exemplifies the most negative stereotypes of African-American men that he can think of. He does it to expose the flagrant nature of said stereotypes. But the publishing industry loves it, readers love it, and he has the opportunity to become exceedingly wealthy (and solve some real financial challenges) if he will publish it.

After reading this novel, I don't think I will ever be able to refer to a book as "an important work of African-American fiction".

Everett does an exquisite job of illustrating what it feels like to be a misunderstood intellectual.

Some of the fun he has at the expense of the publishing industry or literary critics is hilarious.
[/br]"Wilde: I'm afraid for the voice.
[/br]Joyce: What do you mean?
[/br]Wilde: The way writing is moving. All voice will soon be lost and what will we be left with?
[/br]Joyce: Pages.
[/br]Wilde: And story?
[/br]Joyce: What is story anyway? Just a way to announce the last page.
[/br]Wilde: Have you ever walked through a thunderstorm carrying a long metal pipe?
[/br]Joyce: No, I haven't.
[/br]Wilde: You should try it.
[/br]Joyce: Are you upset?
[/br]Wilde: No, just announcing the last page."
[/br]"The jacket copy made each [book] sound great, blurbs from established literary icons told me why I should like it. . . . I would have found refreshing 'Jo Blow's new novel takes on the mundane and leaves it right where it is. The prose is clear and pedestrian. The moves are tried and true. Yet the book is not so alarmingly dishonest. The characters are as wooden as the ones we meet in real life. This is a torturous journey through the banal. The novel is ordinary but not insipid, pointless but not meaningless, savorless but not stale. Jo Blow is a middle aged writer with a family and no discernible special features. He lives in a house and is about as smart as his last novel.'"”

apokalypsis wrote this review Monday, February 23 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“Wow! A cross-cultural family saga mixed with Middle Eastern legends and fairy tales. Stories within stories within stories; a true homage to the literary genius of The Thousand and One Nights. In the fairy tale plotlines, I was thoroughly absorbed; in the modern plotlines, I was there. Alameddine succeeds where many literary novelists have flailed -- The Hakawati is as much about the nature of stories and storytelling as it is about family, love, war, poetry, pigeons, music, or the Middle East.

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This work is as rife with literary and cultural allusions as an Eco or Rushdie. Also a generous dollop of humor (like the evil Portuguese manipulator "Arbusto" who oppresses the Islamic lands and sets them to war against each other -- if you don't know Portuguese, look up the name), bawd, and blasphemy; as if Alameddine showed up to Eid al-Fitr with a tray of prosciutto.

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This book reminded me of many things I love about the Levant, and also of what a fantastically diverse region it is. Osama (the narrator) and Uncle Jihad will become your close friends if you are fond of a good story.

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Some have questioned the "violence" of the fairy tales in this book. To them I would suggest getting an uncensored version of The Thousand and One Nights or reading up on the origins of some of our favorite fairy tales (such as "Sleeping Beauty", where the original story did not have a kiss as the act that woke up the dormant princess) -- or one the other hand, if you didn't like it in The Hakawati maybe you shouldn't read the original versions of your favorite fairy tales. I might also mention that readers who are squeamish about gay sex might be put off by some things in this book.

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There are a number of good reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, but one thing I have not noticed anyone else comment on is the fact that you can read the book in a circle: The very last page is a direct lead-in to the first page.

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"Listen. Allow me to be your god. Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let me tell you a story."”

apokalypsis wrote this review Friday, February 13 2009. ( reply | permalink )