Scan barcode
laurenreadsoccasionally's reviews
53 reviews
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I almost gave up on my first attempt at reading Moby Dick - I'm not sure why but the chapter about the whiteness of the whale felt impossible to me - after which the book sat on my shelf for a few months before, in a decision driven by stubbornness more than anything else, I decided to pick it back up, refusing to be bested by it (appropriately enough).
I didn't get everything out of this book that there is to get; many of the references eluded me as I am neither a scholar of classic literature nor particularly familiar with biblical stories, the language is difficult to follow at times requiring a careful read or re-read of phrases (and perhaps once or twice giving up on any hope of understanding the offending sentence), and I frequently had to look up various terms specific to ships or the whaling industry.
All that said: I was surprised to realize that I really enjoyed this book. Yes it was a challenging read, but there was incredibly vivid imagery and artistic prose. Yes the format is a little strange with the inclusion of explanatory chapters about cetology and the whaling industry, but through those I learned interesting things about 19th century whaling that I never would have sought out. And interspersed between all that are scenes which are genuinely funny, heartfelt, exciting, and contemplative. I'm happy to have finally finished this book but I'm also happy to have read it.
I didn't get everything out of this book that there is to get; many of the references eluded me as I am neither a scholar of classic literature nor particularly familiar with biblical stories, the language is difficult to follow at times requiring a careful read or re-read of phrases (and perhaps once or twice giving up on any hope of understanding the offending sentence), and I frequently had to look up various terms specific to ships or the whaling industry.
All that said: I was surprised to realize that I really enjoyed this book. Yes it was a challenging read, but there was incredibly vivid imagery and artistic prose. Yes the format is a little strange with the inclusion of explanatory chapters about cetology and the whaling industry, but through those I learned interesting things about 19th century whaling that I never would have sought out. And interspersed between all that are scenes which are genuinely funny, heartfelt, exciting, and contemplative. I'm happy to have finally finished this book but I'm also happy to have read it.
The Sandman by Lars Kepler
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Perfectly good story, just read almost more like a screenplay than a novel to me - though some of that may be due to the translation. I liked it but I've read better thrillers.
Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really liked the writing - I found the story engaging and the author did a great job of making you feel unsettled throughout. After finishing it, do I have any sense of what was going on? A little, but nothing is clearly laid out and none of the explanations perfectly explain everything for me. I'm also not clear on why the tense changed after part 1 (it does coincide with Jean seeing Ingrid for the first time so I'm sure it's significant and I'm just missing it) . It's definitely weird and I'm not one hundred percent sure how to feel about it, but I will be buying the following books in the triptych.
If more is explained in the subsequent books could be upgraded to 4 stars.
If more is explained in the subsequent books could be upgraded to 4 stars.
Hyde by Daniel Levine
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The inclusion of the original Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in this book makes it worth keeping for me, but otherwise, though I found it an engaging enough read it there were a few things that really didn't work for me.
First, to echo some other reviews, I don't like the way the dialogue is formatted, I got used to it and had no issue following the conversations but I would have preferred more conventional formatting.
Second, I don't think the framing of telling the story as Hyde remembering what happened over the course of four days in the cabinet added anything and the setup for Hyde remembering the story felt clunky to me, it would have worked a tiny bit better if he had been writing it out instead of just thinking about it but it still would feel contrived.
Less significant but I also found some of the changes didn't feel necessary - I'm sure the optics of injecting instead of drinking the drug is symbolic but it made it necessary to justify the change in the text so it just felt shoehorned in.
First, to echo some other reviews, I don't like the way the dialogue is formatted, I got used to it and had no issue following the conversations but I would have preferred more conventional formatting.
Second, I don't think the framing of telling the story as Hyde remembering what happened over the course of four days in the cabinet added anything and the setup for Hyde remembering the story felt clunky to me, it would have worked a tiny bit better if he had been writing it out instead of just thinking about it but it still would feel contrived.
Less significant but I also found some of the changes didn't feel necessary - I'm sure the optics of injecting instead of drinking the drug is symbolic but it made it necessary to justify the change in the text so it just felt shoehorned in.
Nutshell by Ian McEwan
2.0
I generally love Ian McEwan, but I just could not get on board with the concept.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
5.0
While driving me home from a co-op term in Boston my step-dad decided to stop at Walden pond (he's a Thoreau fan). We went to the cemetery (where a number of famous authors are buried) and ran into a man with a ton of literature themed pins on his shoulder bag who worked in some capacity in academia who told me I should read this book. I did read it and ended up loving it - it actually got me back into reading classics. Years later it still holds a place in my heart.