Margaret

Dreadful

Revisado: 01-25-25

Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life was fascinating. She deserves better than a reductionist bodice-ripped filled with affected language (“tresses”). Pulp nonsense.

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Mystery for writing nerds - witty and entertaining

Revisado: 11-01-24

A highly entertaining read - especially for writers and academics. Korelitz is savagely funny as she takes apart the intense competition over low stakes some writers inflict on each other. And there's real wit ringing true about some of the seismic shifts to mediocrity in academia. Korelitz has a sharp eye for character detail and the mundane absurd.

It was this sharp eye that for me gave away a key plot twist about halfway through the book - the protagonist is drawn flatter and blanker than a lot of the other characters, which made me wonder why. I won't say more about that because of spoilers, and because this wasn't the only plot twist in the book, and because seeing it coming didn't make it less satisfying.

The book-within-a-book, combined with the nerdy detective work and the ennui of "success" all come together to make this a very enjoyable read. I recommend this book and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

I am glad to see that The Sequel is read by Julia Whelan. I originally thought that The Plot was being read by AI, but it turns out it was a narrator with some serious narration cred. His mispronunciation of a few words and place names was jarring, and his voice does sound like AI in spots. It wasn't enough to turn me off the book, but I'm looking forward to the one and only Whelen on the next one.

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Characters' motivations left unresolved

Revisado: 05-13-24

Enjoyed this book because it was set in Istanbul and gave a little glimpse into the late stages Ottoman Empire life. But I found the plot difficult to follow and frankly not terribly believable. Some characters' motivations were left unresolved.

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Larson does it again - cracking good yarn

Revisado: 05-13-24

Larson does it again with a cracking good yarn that happens to be TRUE. Historical detail, diary and letter entries, and some flawed and fascinating people are all arranged here like a novel.

Not just for civil war buffs, every American will appreciate the rhetorical carelessness and myth-making that led South Carolina to succeed and fire up a narrative that led to the deaths of over 700,000 Americans. A cautionary tale for our own times that are crammed full of myth, jingoism, and hubris.

Will Patton, whose distinctive voice James Lee Burke fans will recognize anywhere, was a perfect choice to narrate this story.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Creepy masterpiece

Revisado: 05-13-24

A creepy, fabulous masterpiece. The narrator's vividly imaginative inner life, the family co-habitating comfortably with all of their ancestors, a house that's almost alive, and the terrible believable citizens of the village. Whatever made Shirley Jackson's brain work the way it does, I'm grateful.

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But where was the "vengeance?"

Revisado: 05-13-24

Exceptionally well-written with a translation that doesn't seem to lose any of the disorienting, stream of consciousness narrative.

However, I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on in this story. It was more like an assemblage of feelings and reactions to real and imagined past treatment and a lot less like a novel for me.

A real "what the hap is f*ckening" situation throughout.

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Magnificent world-building

Revisado: 05-13-24

Extraordinary world-building in this tale of what could be a near future, if sea-level rise leads to war. The writing is spare and muscular. Lancaster focuses on only a few details, but the details he selects create a vivid picture of human adaptability. We carry our biases and conflicts into every world, but we also carry forward a fundamental human need for connection and community. Lancaster paints two monotonous worlds where living is rigorously simple- on a wall overlooking the sea, and on the open sea. Yet neither of these monotonous worlds bore the reader; there's always a new discovery around each corner of this narrative, and a quiet tension that pulls the reader forward. Highly recommend.

Narrator Will Poulter is a perfect fit for this narrative.

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Great writing about an unlikable character - DNF

Revisado: 04-07-24

Great writing - expressive, with fantastic humor and great metaphors by a nimble mind. Moayed's mind puts things together in truly creative ways. I just didn't want to spend another minute of my life with the protagonist, a slacker writer-bro. The backstory for the protagonist is really interesting, but he is not. Maybe it gets better, but I gave it three hours of listening time, and that is ENOUGH. Returning this one.

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Hard to leave a modern perspective behind

Revisado: 02-04-24

Another classic finally moves off the TBR list. The approach to description of everyday village life reminded me of Anna Karenina, and of course so did the woman paying the ultimate price for choosing romanticism over the mind-numbing duty that was demanded of her at the time. It's difficult not to read this book through a modern lens and deplore a world where a financial predator can destroy two generations of an entire family, and where medical practice was so reckless. Flaubert's great genius in showing us all of the details that would drive Emma to try to escape stands the test of time, but leaves a modern reader relieved that life is a little safer now.

Narrator does a good job with the material and makes it accessible to a modern ear.

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Weird and Compelling

Revisado: 01-28-24

What a weird, entertaining, hella well-written book. The protagonist, whose name we never learn, is a beautiful mid-20's gallery girl who has decided to spend a year sleeping. She lacks purpose, she hasn't processed her parents' death, she's sleeping with a corporate d-bag. As a reader, you're quickly pulled into her cycle of waking up from a trazedone and ambien sleep, sleepwalking with her down the street to the bodega that sells her coffee and ancient packaged food, and back home to doze through hours of movies on the couch until it's time to take more trazedone, or visit your Dr. Feelgood to get a heavier narcotic. There's a faint sense of tension and menace in the background when the doctor gives her off-market numbing agents that cause three-day blackouts. Moshfegh is a master of mood creation - the prose is so effective that the reader starts to feel a bit half-awake and fuzzy around the edges, yet at the same time raises the stakes around the action (er - non-action.) Really a clever and entertaining read with some profound elements.

The wonderful Julia Whelen is the perfect narrator for this story.

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