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writesdave's Reviews (364)
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What an odyssey. What a tale.
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Listening to two geniuses discuss the craft of one of them brings a certain pleasure, especially when one of the greatest musicians of all time insists he has never discussed or thought about his craft in this way, while the other just asks questions and lets the recorder run.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What a brutal, amazing, beautiful, awful read. Add this to the canon of war novels that serve as cautionary tales, to put it mildly.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A nearly definitive manual for creativity, ?uestlove has the wide-ranging chops and rolodex to give even boring MFs like me a road map for the creative life. Mandatory for artists of all kinds.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Kent Haruf's spare and simple prose, his ear for the clipped Midwestern dialect of Colorado's eastern plains, and his keen eye for the setting that reflects the dialect and prose carry this second installment of the Plainsong series. This book brings forward a couple of the main characters from the first book and adds a couple interesting folks. But everything I mentioned at the outset carries the book, because the plot just... lacked... something. It's still a compelling study of rural America facing problems you think only affect the inner city, and people just living their day-to-day. Beautiful writing, as I said.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
3 by Flannery O'Connor: The Violent Bear It Away / Everything That Rises Must Converge / Wise Blood
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“You’re a reader, you live in the South, you need to read Flannery O’Connor.” Okay, box checked. She introduced me to some of the most fucked up characters in the history of American literature. On the other hand, a fucked-up reaction to a fucked-up situation doesn’t necessarily make someone fucked-up. Nonetheless, O’Connor’s beautiful prose requires a strong mind and soul.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Fun, insane chronicle of the best attempt at football outside the NFL. Proves beyond a doubt that just because someone has money doesn’t make them good or smart. Also, I wonder if Pearlman’s anti-Trump fervor colored his writing, but then Trump torpedoed the league without a doubt. Anyway, well worth a read for anyone who wants to own a whole sports league.