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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated A Thousand Years of Good Prayers in Books
Sep 21, 2017
Impressive collection of short stories about pre- and post-revolution China
This collection of short stories by Yiyun Li is both charming and a little disconcerting, showing how Chinese citizens attempt to live in a changed consumer communist society. From a gay man attempting to eke out a space for himself after returning from America to China, to those with mental health issues and parents with more than one child, Li showcases a plethora of characters and voices, many reflective of her own experiences.
The first story about an elderly woman trying to work and survive, and feeling love for a young boy after many years of loneliness is poignant and sombre. While the final story is similar to Li's experience of living in America - she is in reality a dissident and at one point couldn't leave the country to collect an award for this book, hence the book is remarkable in the fact that it feels completely plausible. Even more laudable is the fact that she had only learnt English for six years when she wrote the book. It is a wonderful collection of stories.
The first story about an elderly woman trying to work and survive, and feeling love for a young boy after many years of loneliness is poignant and sombre. While the final story is similar to Li's experience of living in America - she is in reality a dissident and at one point couldn't leave the country to collect an award for this book, hence the book is remarkable in the fact that it feels completely plausible. Even more laudable is the fact that she had only learnt English for six years when she wrote the book. It is a wonderful collection of stories.
ames_morgan (8 KP) rated Love, Hate, and Other Filters in Books
Jun 19, 2018
A compelling coming of age story about a young girl born in America but belonging to a Muslim family. This book is YA but can definitely transcend this genre. Beautifully written this book tells the story of Maya who is a senior in high school. Maya wants to be a good Indian daughter but she also wants to go to NYU and study to be a filmmaker. Maya's parents forget that they themselves defied their beliefs to a point by coming to America and starting a new life with a love marriage. As Maya and her parents start to come to an understanding a horrible act of terrorism happens too close to home for Maya's parents especially when a Muslim man is initially named as the terrorist. All of Maya's hopes and dreams are suddenly crushed as her parents decide that it is too dangerous for Maya to go away from home. And to further add insult to injury Maya has gone and fallen in love with a boy who is not Indian and definitely not a Muslim. Now Maya has to decide what she is willing to lose to follow her heart. Profound, witty and beautiful!
Caitlin Ann Cherniak (85 KP) rated Like Vanessa in Books
Nov 28, 2018
From Goodreads: 13-year-old girl from the '80s sees the first black woman win Miss America, which inspires her middle school to throw a pageant to boost moral. What could possibly go wrong?
Normally, I would say everything.
This book, nothing went wrong. In fact, Tami Charles did everything right.
You get an interesting main character. You have her going through real problems. You have this story take a look at a real problem with young black girls when it comes to what level of black skin is beautiful. You have major plot twists at every turn (And I don't take that sentence lightly.) And I actually don't hate the parental character this time (Because seriously, a lot of them try to make these characters awful for no reason at all). And you have the main character drop their walls to tell their vulnerable story to the audience.
In short, I love this book. One of the best middle grade and young adult novels I have ever read.
Normally, I would say everything.
This book, nothing went wrong. In fact, Tami Charles did everything right.
You get an interesting main character. You have her going through real problems. You have this story take a look at a real problem with young black girls when it comes to what level of black skin is beautiful. You have major plot twists at every turn (And I don't take that sentence lightly.) And I actually don't hate the parental character this time (Because seriously, a lot of them try to make these characters awful for no reason at all). And you have the main character drop their walls to tell their vulnerable story to the audience.
In short, I love this book. One of the best middle grade and young adult novels I have ever read.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Get Out (2017) in Movies
Feb 3, 2020
Psychologcally Disburing
Jordan Peele goes from comedy to horror, as his directorial debut, he does a excellent/fantasic/phenomenal job. Going from one genre to anethor is hard, but Jordan Peele did the impossible, and he successed, all expectations. This film is psycologically twisted, horrorfyng, suspenseful and thrilling till the very end.
So this movie does have a theme, This disturbing film ... is really about how white America has mastered its relationship with black America. Within all of the interracial tension is the white American’s strange envy of the grim determination, melancholy humor, and creative strength of the black race. ... But Peele’s irony is that white America will continue to do what it does despite these truths, and, sadly, so must black America remain hypnotized.
The film also depicts the lack of attention on missing black Americans compared to missing white females. Slate's Damon Young stated the film's premise was "depressingly plausible ... Although black people only comprise 13 percent of America's population, they are 34 percent of America's missing, a reality that exists as the result of a mélange of racial and socioeconomic factors rendering black lives demonstratively less valuable than the lives [of] our white counterparts.
Peele does a excellent of this theme, of the world that we live in today and his views on it.
The Plot: Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
This film is a must watch, if you havent seen it, than go and see it. Its psycologically twisted, horrorfying, thrilling, suspenseful and overall excellent.
So this movie does have a theme, This disturbing film ... is really about how white America has mastered its relationship with black America. Within all of the interracial tension is the white American’s strange envy of the grim determination, melancholy humor, and creative strength of the black race. ... But Peele’s irony is that white America will continue to do what it does despite these truths, and, sadly, so must black America remain hypnotized.
The film also depicts the lack of attention on missing black Americans compared to missing white females. Slate's Damon Young stated the film's premise was "depressingly plausible ... Although black people only comprise 13 percent of America's population, they are 34 percent of America's missing, a reality that exists as the result of a mélange of racial and socioeconomic factors rendering black lives demonstratively less valuable than the lives [of] our white counterparts.
Peele does a excellent of this theme, of the world that we live in today and his views on it.
The Plot: Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
This film is a must watch, if you havent seen it, than go and see it. Its psycologically twisted, horrorfying, thrilling, suspenseful and overall excellent.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Dakota and the American Dream in Books
Apr 24, 2020
"Dakota was tired of playing catch with his mother at the park," so he rested on a bench but was soon distracted by a peculiar talking squirrel. Chasing after the strange creature, Dakota finds himself in a fantasy world full of anthropomorphic animals. Before he knows what is happening, Dakota finds himself working for Corporate America with its odd rules and unhappy employees.
The fantasy world of Sameer Garach's Dakota and the American Dream is a satire of modern-day America. From a ten year old's perspective, the short story covers the corporate ladder, hierarchy, racism, discrimination, career success and an extreme love of coffee. Whilst all this is humorous to the adult mind, there is an alarming amount of truth that paints the "American Dream" as a corrupt society.
From the very start, Dakota's experience feels remarkably like Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and could almost be said to be a 21st-century version of the classic children's book. Most of Dakota's story will go over the heads of young readers, however, adults will enjoy the humour and childhood innocence as well as appreciate the connection with their favourite books as a child.
As a parody of both real life and fiction, Dakota and the American Dream is a clever story that entertains and makes you think. Although sometimes extreme, it is amusing to read about everyday life being acted out by squirrels, mice, rats, a cowardly lion, an 800-pound Gorilla and many more bizarre creatures. If the humour and satire was stripped away, we would be left with a child's confusion about the way America works with many things appearing stupid or unfair.
The fantasy world of Sameer Garach's Dakota and the American Dream is a satire of modern-day America. From a ten year old's perspective, the short story covers the corporate ladder, hierarchy, racism, discrimination, career success and an extreme love of coffee. Whilst all this is humorous to the adult mind, there is an alarming amount of truth that paints the "American Dream" as a corrupt society.
From the very start, Dakota's experience feels remarkably like Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and could almost be said to be a 21st-century version of the classic children's book. Most of Dakota's story will go over the heads of young readers, however, adults will enjoy the humour and childhood innocence as well as appreciate the connection with their favourite books as a child.
As a parody of both real life and fiction, Dakota and the American Dream is a clever story that entertains and makes you think. Although sometimes extreme, it is amusing to read about everyday life being acted out by squirrels, mice, rats, a cowardly lion, an 800-pound Gorilla and many more bizarre creatures. If the humour and satire was stripped away, we would be left with a child's confusion about the way America works with many things appearing stupid or unfair.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated The Handmaid's Tale - Season 1 in TV
Jul 26, 2017
Brilliant Cast (2 more)
Fantastic Writing
Gripping and Intriguing
A Tale Worth Telling
Before this show came out I didn't know much about it, but after the first few episodes dropped and the buzz around the show began, I looked into it and decided to give it a go. I can certainly say that I'm glad I did.
This is a dark twisted tale, taking place in a near future dystopia. We follow a young woman called June, who's life is turned around when new laws are brought in that essentially brings America back to the dark ages. She is resilient though and she won't give up and won't stop fighting back, which is gripping to see play out.
If you are looking for an exciting thriller to make you think, check this out.
This is a dark twisted tale, taking place in a near future dystopia. We follow a young woman called June, who's life is turned around when new laws are brought in that essentially brings America back to the dark ages. She is resilient though and she won't give up and won't stop fighting back, which is gripping to see play out.
If you are looking for an exciting thriller to make you think, check this out.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Little Miss Sunshine (2006) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020
A stunning film of disfunction and family values, where every character has a different quirk contributing to failure and unhappiness, brought together by young Olive, who just wants her moment in the spotlight. A pithy commentary on America in the early 21st Century, that relies on pathos and and a very modern sense of individuality to mine its comedy. A sequence of powerful monologues and a road trip that always looks like failing; the pay-off in Little Miss Sunshine is seeing the value of hope against all odds. Even when that hope is hinged on something ultimately so trivial. It makes me laugh and yearn for them to “win” so much! And the coup de grace is the way they win and come back together. Forgiveness x innocence = Joy.
Rick Nielsen recommended The Godfather (1972) in Movies (curated)
Christina Tsitlakidou (43 KP) rated Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) in Movies
Jul 7, 2017
Happy (2 more)
Captain America - after credits
Jacob Batalon as Ned (absolutely hilarious!!)
Had high expectations and I wasn't disappointed. Homecoming was surprisingly funny and definitely worth the watch !
Loved the video diary at the beginning!! Tom Holland was a great choice to play young spider-man!
There's no origin story, so for anyone who isn't familiar then watch the earlier movies (which I highly doubt) There are a view plot twist thrown in which you wouldn't expect (but I won't spoil anything) The way the movie was shot felt like it wasn't trying too hard which definitely worked to it's benefit, I feel like movie nowadays try to shove so much CGI that it takes away from the story and actors, but this was really refreshing, hence why I love the video diary at the beginning so much
There's no origin story, so for anyone who isn't familiar then watch the earlier movies (which I highly doubt) There are a view plot twist thrown in which you wouldn't expect (but I won't spoil anything) The way the movie was shot felt like it wasn't trying too hard which definitely worked to it's benefit, I feel like movie nowadays try to shove so much CGI that it takes away from the story and actors, but this was really refreshing, hence why I love the video diary at the beginning so much
Kate (355 KP) rated New Amsterdam in TV
Feb 19, 2019
Not sure whether this is very good or just good, the story line has been played out many times before such as Greys Anatomy and ER. The plot is basically a new young medical director taking charge of a public hospital in America and dealing with all the various patients and departments, as I said it has been repeated many many times before and even some of the story lines are the same but you can only so much mileage out of hospital stories. The main character Dr Max Goodwin - some of you may recognise, I must admit I had to look him up, he played the husband on Blacklist. The other characters do develop over the episodes and you do tend to like them but it would be interesting to see how far they run with this.