I thought it was just me that didn’t like The Goldfinch! I thought from a wordsmith standpoint, it was beautifully written, but took me months to read it - I just didn’t care about the plot at all. I’m really trying to read through all the books I’ve bought before I buy new ones so once I’ve finished The Secret History, I’ll probably go with What a Carve Up by Jonathan Coe or Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman.
I didn’t hate The Goldfinch. The Vegas section was great. But it was just such a dumb premise with dumb, hateful characters that I didn’t believe it in the slightest.
It was far too long, Tartt was really feeling her Dickensian fantasy but I barely cared for the main character, which was a struggle over 700+ pages. At least the book was better than the film I guess?
Finished To Paradise!! Some very quick thoughts (not *really* spoilers but hiding them regardless) - Spoiler: Part I A slow start but builds to something memorable. Spoiler: Part II Honestly? This entire section could have been excised and the book would be stronger for it. It’s not all bad but her use of the AIDS crisis as a backdrop feels superficial and the Hawai’i section is almost a book-killer - muddled and aimless writing that adds little to the overall arc of the book. Spoiler: Part III A triumph. Moving, intense, sprawling but intimate. A rotted dystopia is the perfect setting for Yanagihara to flex her muscles and make us suffer.
Has anyone ever read Ursula K. Le Guin? I finished both The Disposessed and The Left Hand of Darkness this month and can't wait to read more from her. I never thought I would love a sci-fi book! Last month I also read The Exorcist and October by China Miéville.
LOVE her! Only wish I’d discovered her as a teenager - I know her books would have had a large impact on me. The Earthsea Quartet is great - personally I enjoyed each of the 4 stories.
Ursula is probably the closest thing we ever got to god walking this earth. Whenever I remember Earthsea, I just
So I just finished book 6 of the year, The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson. I low-key loved it. Sex/pleasure robot gaining true AI and an exploration of what actually is it that makes us human? I kinda have to stan.
The Earthsea saga is a gift that keeps giving. I recently got the full illustrated collection. Just started Nine Perfect Strangers. Not seen the series yet, just trailers and clips, so I am going into this unspoiled. Other than picturing the characters as the actors.
Save yourself the torture, don't watch the series! Speaking of which (hope it's OK to put in here) has anyone watched the new HBO series of Station Eleven? I believe its coming to StarzPlay which is part of Amazon Prime at the end of the month (in the UK).
Okay but Luke Evans related torture is a kink of mine. Not to mention the filming of this gave the world an abundance of him in a speedo on Insta so I feel obligated.
Yep, Starzplay from this Sunday. I'm watching loads of other stuff just now but might need to prioritise this because I loved the book. Also read The Glass Hotel, the author's most recent novel, last year which was excellent.
I've finally read my first Murakami novel, South of the Border West of the Sun and I loved it. Perfect amount of melancholia. I tried some of his short stories first - the ones who inspired the movies Burning and Drive My Car and a couple others - and they didn't do anything for me. But then again I'm not biggest fan of short stories but there are exceptions! I also tried Norwegian Wood last year but that was a bit too boring for me so I quit about 30% in. I'm thinking about going with "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki..." or perhaps "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" next before jumping into his most bonkers stuff.
It's not realistic. (Sorry, totally missed the thread!) The Glass Hotel is great, I agree! Her next novel 'Sea of Tranquility' is out in April, I believe.
I'm reading her right now! Some of her earliest sci-fi works, Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile and City of Illusions, which are all set in the Hainish Cycle (just as The Disposessed and The Left Hand of Darkness are). They are leaner and don't offer the overarching, advanced critiques of socioeconomics and gender that those two do, but are very pleasing and often poignant in terms of character work. In that sense, they're quite similar to her fantasy books, too. She is one of those rare writers with not just an overwhelming imagination but the precise skill to explore that imagination in ways that make you rethink our own world. A legend an icon never bettered
