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Heavenly

Heavenly

has 44 followers and is following 40 people

I'm a graduate student in linguistics and try to fit in as much pleasure reading as I can. My favorite genres are Gothic and Decadent literature. I like period pieces, fairy tales, supernatural elements (especially ghosts and vampires), sad stories, homosexual themes, religious themes, madness, and most of all, beautiful prose. I also like... more »
  • Los Angeles, Ca, USA
  • member since August 3, 2007

Reviews

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  • Sweetheart, Sweetheart
    • Rated 4 stars

    “A pretty good little ghost book. Scary, sexy, and suspenseful, with a good ending... though I kind of saw it coming. It is better than much of its kind and well worth checking out.”

    Heavenly wrote this review Thursday, August 12, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • Consider the Lobster
    • Rated 3 stars

    “I started out being entertained by this book, but the more I read, the more I was just annoyed. Authority and the English language was the worst of those I got through. It features blanket insults against linguists, alongside a clear demonstration of his fundamental misunderstanding of the discipline, and the piece de resistance, a lengthy defense of his racist "advice" to some poor undergraduate trying to better her grade in his class. Ew. Consider the Lobster and Big Red Son are amusing, but essays as long as novellas, of which about a third is masturbatory footnotes that go on for three pages in tiny print, really really get old.”

    Heavenly wrote this review Thursday, March 18, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Lottery and Other Stories
    • Rated 2 stars

    “I was disappointed in this book. I love the title story, but the rest of the book pales beside it. Some of the other stories are alright, but none of them are great or especially memorable. ”

    Heavenly wrote this review Friday, February 19, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • Switch Bitch
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I like Dahl's children's books too, but I like his short stories more. I have bought this book and given it away to people more than any other book. This is my favorite collection of his short stories because it can be read quickly and all the stories are semi-linked in a clever way. These are perfect contes cruelles, twisted and hilarious. (To the negative reviewers complaining that this is not for children... come on, the word bitch is in the title... what were you expecting?)”

    Heavenly wrote this review Thursday, November 4, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • Black Water 2: More Tales of the Fantastic
    • Rated 4 stars

    “My only complaint about this anthology is that it's really long and has some weak pieces in it, so it could have been a tighter book if pared down. However, it has about 20 truly stellar pieces in it and is a really nice combination of essentials of the genre (like Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper) and things you've never heard of, like a short story by Meryn Peake that was one of the standout numbers. It also includes an intro for each piece by the anthologist and an index of all the authors in case you want to find out more about them. Manguel has a passion for literature and it shows, and I really couldn't put this book down even though it's 900 odd pages. Now, hopefully I can get a hold of the first one...”

    Heavenly wrote this review Friday, January 22, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula
    • Rated 3 stars

    “I would have given it 2.5 stars if I could. It's a nice idea but not that well executed. The anachronisms get really irritating (dialogue including "What's up?" and similar things that kill the mood). Also, it drags in the middle. The characters are a bit flat, including the narrator. Some of the murder scenes are nice, and I enjoyed the character Lothar and would have liked to see more of him, but overall this book is pretty forgettable. I don't plan to read any more from this author. ”

    Heavenly wrote this review Friday, January 22, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • Fantastic Tales
    • Rated 2 stars

    “This is not like Poe. This is like someone who read and admired Poe but has no talent of his own. The translator even admits in the introduction that Tarchetti basically plagiarized better writers. Plagiarism does not bother me so much if the author is at least adding something worthwhile of his or her own, but Tarchetti did not succeed even in that. This book gets a second star for being excellently translated and presented, with nice full-page illustrations, big margins, and an interesting non-standard size (however, the bookmark ribbon was too short for the book and that kept annoying me). Also, the two French stories in the back that "inspired" a couple of the Tarchetti stories are enjoyable, but if you want to read that kind of thing you'd be better off getting an anthology of French Decadent or horror stories.”

    Heavenly wrote this review Friday, January 22, 2010. ( reply | permalink )

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