Book reviews written by Gregory

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Displaying 1-10 of 11 reviews

A Suitable Boy

by Vikram Seth
- Rated 2 stars
“I didn't finish it. Flicking forwards, I failed to detect any hints of character development. It seemed to be 1300+ pages of description of people and events. Character A is mean. Character B is timid. Character C did something. No motivations, no passions, no reader engagement. It'd get 3 stars if it was shorter because it's a rich and interesting environment that is depicted. Just... lacked a soul, for me.”

Gregory wrote this review Saturday, September 13, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
Fences and Windows

by Naomi Klein
- Rated 5 stars
“No Logo was a wall of facts to bash people over the head with. Thank God for No Logo. This, however, is opinionated and human. It's nice to read. I like the way Naomi's books are at the same time depressing and also hopeful.”

Gregory wrote this review Tuesday, September 9, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
Profit Over People

by Noam Chomsky
- Rated 3 stars
“If you already like Communism then you'll like this book. If you don't like neoliberalism then you'll like... most of this book.

I appreciate Chomsky's negative arguments more than his positive ones. He rips apart neoliberalism and touts Communism but I read this after Fences and Windows by Naomi Klein, and I was positioned by that to doubt Communism as the alternative to neoliberalism. Both are centralised power that are susceptible to corruption.

Decentralisation of power!”

Gregory wrote this review Tuesday, September 9, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley
- Rated 5 stars
“I found the characters sometimes a bit weak or unappealing but it's such a unique and vivid representation of a futuristic dystopia that I will never forget it.”

Gregory wrote this review Tuesday, September 9, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
How to Win Friends and Influence People

by Dale Carnegie
- Rated 5 stars
“A practical guide on how to get along with other human beings. Everybody should read this.”

Gregory wrote this review Tuesday, September 9, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
Rebecca

by Daphne du Maurier
- Rated 5 stars
“Wonderful descriptive passages and strong (maybe stereotypical?) characters make this book very memorable. A good read.”

Gregory wrote this review Tuesday, September 9, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak
- Rated 2 stars
“Pretentious.”

Gregory wrote this review Tuesday, September 9, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Rated 3 stars
“Two things irritated me about this book: 1) I am not American and the patriotic waffling and name dropping is pretty annoying. 2) This is a book about obscenely rich people screwing about with their pointless lives. I don't mind hearing about them, but but they get a lot more than their share of screen time on movies, TV, etc, and I'd like to read about other people, other topics, other lives.

It's pretty well written though. The descriptive passages are great and the characters are idiots made memorable.”

Gregory wrote this review Tuesday, September 9, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
Atlas Shrugged

by Ayn Rand
- Rated 1 stars
“The socialists in this book are universally absurd corrupt nepotists without explanation. I only got a quarter of the way through before it irritated me enough to make me quit reading it. Any system fails if its members are corrupt. The extreme and absolute nature of their odious corruption set the book firmly in a realm of fiction for me and destroyed my inclination to compare it to real world politics or economics.

I agree with the book in that in a system rife with nepotism and other forms of corruption, breaking out of it or overthrowing it to replace it with a less corrupt system is beneficial. But I don't think that's saying much.”

Gregory wrote this review Tuesday, June 3, 2008. ( reply | permalink )
Eon

by Greg Bear
- Rated 1 stars
“"For the good of the mission, you'll have to make love to me!"”

Gregory wrote this review Monday, June 2, 2008. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink )