Ana

Esquiress reviewed a book.

“Unfortunately, I was not as thrillled with The Heroin Chronicles as I thought I would be. Some of the stories really grabbed my attention, but others didn't. Some of the writing was excellent, and some of it wasn't. The subject matter didn't hold my attention like I thought it would...”

“Unfortunately, I was not as thrillled with The Heroin Chronicles as I thought I would be. Some of the stories really grabbed my attention, but others didn't. Some of the writing was excellent, and some of it wasn't. The subject matter didn't hold my attention like I thought it would when I requested this book.

A few of the stories had a good premise, such as "Dos Mac + The Jones," which was post-apocalyptic in nature. Others were just normal stories of torment at the hands of a drug. "Godhead" was interesting too, because it was written in a very fragmented manner. However, I do not think I could pick a story that will be indelibly implanted on my memory. The stories were just ok, for the most part.

I'm certainly not knocking the authors; their efforts to write about a difficult subject should really be applauded. Jerry Stahl's introduction was also good and had some memorable moments.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the book *overall* had some of those memorable moments, but nothing that really drove me to keep reading other than having to read it to review.”

Esquiress is now reading a book. (see 2 more books added to shelf)

Esquiress reviewed a book.

“I really enjoyed reading The Complete Persepolis. Not only was the subject matter fascinating, but also the graphics were beautifully drawn.

In a way, it reminded me of Marbles: Mania, Michelangelo, and Me. That is to say, both books deal with a very serious matter -...”

“I really enjoyed reading The Complete Persepolis. Not only was the subject matter fascinating, but also the graphics were beautifully drawn.

In a way, it reminded me of Marbles: Mania, Michelangelo, and Me. That is to say, both books deal with a very serious matter - Persepolis war, restrictions, fundamentalism and Marbles bi-polar disorder. I felt that the graphics helped to make these difficult subjects both more realistic and more digestible. No, the books do not make light of their subjects, just because they are graphic, but they shed a different sort of light on what is being said, especially since you see the story through the eyes of one character who grows and changes throughout the reading.

I felt Marjane's pain very poignantly, especially when she was trying so hard to fit in with her classmates. I always struggled with how to fit in, and her circumstances were just that much more severe as to invoke great compassion for her. Somehow I never found her whiny, though she definitely did not like her own situation.

I was a little bit surprised at some of the casual drug use in the graphic novel, I will say. That is not to say that it isn't realistic, because it is, especially when someone is going through painful situations. I was just taken aback a bit.

Overall, I felt this was a therapeutic read that took me through a lot of struggles in a not-as-traumatic-as-it-could've-been manner. Though I'm sure it was also therapeutic to write, I found it therapeutic to read, because I must constantly remind myself that things could be much worse. I highly recommend this book and found no fault with it.”

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Esquiress reviewed a book.

“I like reading Tony award-winning plays, and The History Boys won a Tony for best play. I was very excited to read it as a result.

There was a lot of really good stuff to chew on throughout the play. The dialogue was fast-moving, and there were few, if any stage directions. The...”

“I like reading Tony award-winning plays, and The History Boys won a Tony for best play. I was very excited to read it as a result.

There was a lot of really good stuff to chew on throughout the play. The dialogue was fast-moving, and there were few, if any stage directions. The teacher characters were pretty well-developed, I think, but some of the boys remained very shallow, I felt.

One thing I will say about this play is that it is one that really suffered from just reading rather than being seen. Many times, I can read plays and get a lot out of them without seeing them. Throughout The History Boys I felt like I was missing something important because I was only reading the play. That was disappointing for me, because I felt like it was untold depths that I was missing.

Don't get me wrong; I did enjoy reading it, and it was a very quick read as well. But I definitely want to see a production of it. Oh, and I need to learn French to appreciate the first few pages as well!

The introduction by the author is very thorough and brings out some moments that might otherwise be glazed over in the reading. These moments are ones that came directly from the author's life. At first, I just skimmed the intro, but then after I was a few pages in, I actually read it in depth. It helped frame the play for me.

Like I said, I will definitely be looking for some kind of visual medium to see this play in action, because just the page wasn't enough for me. That's not the author's fault, though - plays were meant to be seen!”

Esquiress reviewed a book.

“Life Before Man, another of Atwood's older books, is told from three different perspectives and jumps around in time a bit. These are perfect ingredients for me to love the book, and I really did like it very much.

Each chapter kept me wanting to read more, and I felt especially...”

“Life Before Man, another of Atwood's older books, is told from three different perspectives and jumps around in time a bit. These are perfect ingredients for me to love the book, and I really did like it very much.

Each chapter kept me wanting to read more, and I felt especially drawn to main character Lesje. Elizabeth was infuriating, though I did have a small amount of sympathy for her. Nate was a bit annoying, but again, I had some sympathy for him. All three were sympathetic characters.

The prose was divine as it always is in an Atwood novel. I loved just reading the words she had written.

At first, the novel's pace was a little bit slow, and it took a bit longer to read the whole novel than I thought it would. I kept finding places where I was in a bit of a rut as I read, but then I would find the get-up-and-go by the next chapter or even paragraph. That is part of the reason for the slightly lower-than-five rating.

Additionally, I wasn't wholly satisfied by the end of the novel. I felt it dropped off a little bit. While I don't mind being left with questions, I felt that there were just too many of them left unanswered at the end of the novel.

Overall, the novel was thought-provoking and engaging. I would definitely recommend it.”

Esquiress reviewed a book.

“I had previously read The Penelopiad, knowing next-to-nothing about The Odyssey or Penelope as a legend. After having taught large chunks of The Odyssey to students, however, I felt it time to revisit Atwood's version of the story. Not surprisingly, I got a great deal more...”

“I had previously read The Penelopiad, knowing next-to-nothing about The Odyssey or Penelope as a legend. After having taught large chunks of The Odyssey to students, however, I felt it time to revisit Atwood's version of the story. Not surprisingly, I got a great deal more out of the novel this second time through. I don't know how I read it the first time with so little prior knowledge of the myth on which it was based.

The novel flips back and forth between two narrations: Penelope, down in Hades, telling the story of how she married Odysseus and how her side of The Odyssey went down; and a Greek chorus of the twelve maids who were hanged by Odysseus when he came home. The two of course intertwine, but the chorus is done in verse, song, and other different narrative styles, whereas Penelope's is all done in past tense narration.

It was really fascinating to "hear" what the ladies of the story had to say to and about Odysseus, Telemachus, and the Suitors. I felt the content was very original and lyrically stated. Both Penelope and the Maids told excellent stories in a compelling manner.

The novel was a really quick read, too; I read it in less than one day, and I was engaged throughout. Overall, I'd highly recommend The Penelopiad to anyone familiar with The Odyssey. Even a minor working knowledge is sufficient to ensure that you gain all of the nuances available to you in Atwood's storytelling.”

Esquiress rated a book.

• Rated 5 stars

Esquiress reviewed a book.

“In Other Worlds was my first true foray into Atwood's non-fiction. I've browsed some of her essays that I've come across, but not an entire book. I was very impressed at the level of academic knowledge Atwood has, and how uniquely she views the terms "science fiction," "speculative...”

“In Other Worlds was my first true foray into Atwood's non-fiction. I've browsed some of her essays that I've come across, but not an entire book. I was very impressed at the level of academic knowledge Atwood has, and how uniquely she views the terms "science fiction," "speculative fiction," "fantasy," etc.

Ursula K. le Guin once said that Atwood didn't want any of her work labeled "science fiction," but that isn't entirely true. The two women later had a discussion and realized their working definitions of "science fiction" and "speculative fiction" were sort of overlapping. I think that's why Atwood uses "SF" in the title rather than something written out. She talks extensively about the use of the terminology in one section of the book.

Another term that Atwood uses when talking about utopias/dystopias is "ustopia." Each utopia or dystopia contains the seeds of its opposite, therefore necessitating a combined term, in Atwood's opinion. She talked a lot about the terms and what they mean and evoke, and how they've been viewed in various novels, including hers.

A portion of the book is book reviews or essays about various books that seem to fall into the SF category in one way or the other. She discusses these books at length and their ramifications.

I this book to be fascinating and intellectually rewarding. Some of the essays I did not find relevant to me, however, hence not having five stars.”

Esquiress is now following RamSam.

Esquiress reviewed a book.

“I found Bodily Harm to be really interesting, though at some points slow-moving. It was the first Atwood that I had read that blatantly had local politics at his core and really emphasized it. That is not to say that any of her other works don't have politics in them; it's just that this...”

“I found Bodily Harm to be really interesting, though at some points slow-moving. It was the first Atwood that I had read that blatantly had local politics at his core and really emphasized it. That is not to say that any of her other works don't have politics in them; it's just that this one had small-island politics and revolution at its core.

At first I thought it was another identity-crisis novel, but this had so much more to it. Yes, Renni was having a bit of a crisis, but then she found herself intertwined in the local politics of a small set of islands she was supposed to be writing a travel piece on. It was really interesting to see how it unfolded, especially as the novel drew to a close.

I was very interested in the changes of verb tense throughout the different portions of the novel. Also, the novel was broken into parts rather than chapters. I'm not quite sure why the distant past of Renni's life was in present tense, the closer past was in past tense, the current story was in present, and the ending was in future tense. It definitely helped me differentiate among the different threads of the story that was being woven.

Stylistically, the novel used a lot of dialogue, and the sentences were easy to follow and relatively short. The locals' version of English was very distinct, and I thought it came across well.

I would rank this early novel between Lady Oracle and Surfacing, with Lady Oracle above. I'd definitely recommend it.”

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Ciobanu Elena rated a book.

• Rated 3 stars

Ciobanu Elena added a book.

Ciobanu Elena rated a book.

• Rated 3 stars

Ciobanu Elena now owns a book. (see 2 more books added to shelf)

Ciobanu Elena rated a book.

• Rated 4 stars

Ciobanu Elena now owns a book.