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Incredible insight into how much the modern world has taken from Greek and Roman culture
A lot of pretty complex names to remember (1 more)
Constant footnotes (usually at least one per page) to explain certain aspects, or highlight an interesting fact.
Mythos - The Greek legends retold
Ah, what a great read. Stephen Fry writes exactly how you would expect him to, if you've ever heard him speak. He understands the subject matter, and more importantly, realises how easily a reader will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of players in these myths and answers that problem without condescension.
The book reads as a quasi-novel, from the birth of the universe to the third and fourth generations of immortals (this includes the creators, the titans, the gods, and mythical creatures/characters, spawns of titans and gods, gods and creatures, gods and men and all sorts.) and their adventures, each following on from the other.
I have always had an interest in the Greek myths and gods, and as I suggested above the really interesting part of these stories, beyond the very human nature of the immortals (jealousy, unreasonableness, duplicity, rage, deceit and pride) which makes for so much more of a believable creation theory, is the myriad ways they have influenced English language (any many others I'm sure). To give an example (I'm showing my own ignorance flagrantly here) a simple thing, the alphabet. It never occurred to me, in my own self centered existence, this simply come from the first and second letters of the Greek alphabet. Alpha and Beta. So simple, so obvious, yet I never made this connection.
The stories themselves are wonderful, and the best thing about them is they all tie in with a creation theory. Something, whatever it is, is learned, or created. Some paradigm is set, some moral conundrum is answered, or something in the world is explained by the end of every story told (the tides, the moon, wine, love, soul, war, sex, the seasons, humanity itself just to name a few). It's such an entertaining read, and I find myself telling anyone who will listen some of the revelations I find in this book page on page on page.
As an end note, don't be overwhelmed by the prospect of reading about these stories, this installment ONLY covers from creation, to the establishment of the twelve Greek gods, and their children. It stops before the even greater amount of legends stemming from human demigods (Hercules, Perseus etc) and these are picked up in Fry's most recent offering, Heroes (which I am yet to read).
If you have any interest in the Greek mythology, or etymology, or even history as a whole, this is absolutely one for you.
- Rob
The book reads as a quasi-novel, from the birth of the universe to the third and fourth generations of immortals (this includes the creators, the titans, the gods, and mythical creatures/characters, spawns of titans and gods, gods and creatures, gods and men and all sorts.) and their adventures, each following on from the other.
I have always had an interest in the Greek myths and gods, and as I suggested above the really interesting part of these stories, beyond the very human nature of the immortals (jealousy, unreasonableness, duplicity, rage, deceit and pride) which makes for so much more of a believable creation theory, is the myriad ways they have influenced English language (any many others I'm sure). To give an example (I'm showing my own ignorance flagrantly here) a simple thing, the alphabet. It never occurred to me, in my own self centered existence, this simply come from the first and second letters of the Greek alphabet. Alpha and Beta. So simple, so obvious, yet I never made this connection.
The stories themselves are wonderful, and the best thing about them is they all tie in with a creation theory. Something, whatever it is, is learned, or created. Some paradigm is set, some moral conundrum is answered, or something in the world is explained by the end of every story told (the tides, the moon, wine, love, soul, war, sex, the seasons, humanity itself just to name a few). It's such an entertaining read, and I find myself telling anyone who will listen some of the revelations I find in this book page on page on page.
As an end note, don't be overwhelmed by the prospect of reading about these stories, this installment ONLY covers from creation, to the establishment of the twelve Greek gods, and their children. It stops before the even greater amount of legends stemming from human demigods (Hercules, Perseus etc) and these are picked up in Fry's most recent offering, Heroes (which I am yet to read).
If you have any interest in the Greek mythology, or etymology, or even history as a whole, this is absolutely one for you.
- Rob
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
9.0
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Introduction by Gillian Flynn Afterword by Patton Oswalt "This is a one sit-down read. That's how...
The Alex Crow
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From the critically acclaimed author of cult teen novel Grasshopper Jungle, Andrew Smith, comes a...
War Horse
Michael Morpurgo and Francois Place
9.1
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Before the Steven Spielberg film, before the National Theatre production, there was the classic...
Aziz Bey Incident: And Other Stories
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The writing of Ayfer Tunc is in essence urban, and yet she manages to imbue her characters with a...
Melanie Caldicott (6 KP) rated 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World in Books
Apr 29, 2021
You can also read my review at my blog - https://roamingthroughbooks.wordpress.com
I saw this book reviewed on The Sky Arts Book Club and Shafak was interviewed and I think I fell a little in love. Shafak is a beautiful human being who is currently self-exiled from Turkey to the content of her novels being subject to investigation as part of a legal movement in which writers are frequently prosecuted. A passionate storyteller, who writes openly about human rights, her protagonists are often the fallen, forgotten and marginalised. Needless to say I have been looking forward to reading this ever since.
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World is a novel about a murdered street walker, Tequila Leila and the last moments of brain activity that is said to occur after the heart has stopped beating. The memories of her life flood back, often related to taste and smell and we start to learn about the story of her life.
Central to her memories and providing a backbone to her life were The Five, – five people with which she formed close, integral friendships and in the absence of her blood relatives, are Leila’s “family”.
The book is structured around three parts – the first, The Mind telling the stories of her post-mortem memories, the second, The Body about how she was murdered and the impact it has on The Five, and finally, The Soul which is a touching finale in which The Five determine to give Leila the send-off she deserves.
Shafak is such a clever storyteller and is able to illuminate aspects of humanity which is often avoided or ignored, which make us feel uncomfortable, and yet her tenderness and compassion shine through the portrayal of all her characters enabling the reader to walk a mile in the shoes of those who are often forgotten.
For a book centred around death, an issue that rarely sits comfortably with human beings, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World confronts it without fear. She skilfully takes a sex worker’s body which is disregarded in its anonymity by those that are responsible for sweeping up the detritus of the Istanbul streets, and reveals a story of a life, full of tragedy, joy and love.
I love how Elif Shafak takes the stories of all of The Five and transforms the insignificant to the significant through the love they have for Leila and each other. In a society which elevates the rich and famous and makes their voices the loudest and most significant in the world, I loved the truth which was affirmed in this book about what a life of substance really means.
I saw this book reviewed on The Sky Arts Book Club and Shafak was interviewed and I think I fell a little in love. Shafak is a beautiful human being who is currently self-exiled from Turkey to the content of her novels being subject to investigation as part of a legal movement in which writers are frequently prosecuted. A passionate storyteller, who writes openly about human rights, her protagonists are often the fallen, forgotten and marginalised. Needless to say I have been looking forward to reading this ever since.
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World is a novel about a murdered street walker, Tequila Leila and the last moments of brain activity that is said to occur after the heart has stopped beating. The memories of her life flood back, often related to taste and smell and we start to learn about the story of her life.
Central to her memories and providing a backbone to her life were The Five, – five people with which she formed close, integral friendships and in the absence of her blood relatives, are Leila’s “family”.
The book is structured around three parts – the first, The Mind telling the stories of her post-mortem memories, the second, The Body about how she was murdered and the impact it has on The Five, and finally, The Soul which is a touching finale in which The Five determine to give Leila the send-off she deserves.
Shafak is such a clever storyteller and is able to illuminate aspects of humanity which is often avoided or ignored, which make us feel uncomfortable, and yet her tenderness and compassion shine through the portrayal of all her characters enabling the reader to walk a mile in the shoes of those who are often forgotten.
For a book centred around death, an issue that rarely sits comfortably with human beings, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World confronts it without fear. She skilfully takes a sex worker’s body which is disregarded in its anonymity by those that are responsible for sweeping up the detritus of the Istanbul streets, and reveals a story of a life, full of tragedy, joy and love.
I love how Elif Shafak takes the stories of all of The Five and transforms the insignificant to the significant through the love they have for Leila and each other. In a society which elevates the rich and famous and makes their voices the loudest and most significant in the world, I loved the truth which was affirmed in this book about what a life of substance really means.
Plague Inc.
Games
5.0
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Can you infect the world? Plague Inc. is a unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic...
Furthermore (Furthermore, #1)
7.3
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This captivating and colorful adventure that reads like a modern day fairy tale, from the...
Jamie (131 KP) rated 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four in Books
Jun 4, 2017
Overwhelmingly bleak (1 more)
Stars slow and a little bit didactic
A true nightmare world, a dystopian classic
Winston is our everyman, a middle aged average male living under the heel of a totalitarian regime. His work is bland, his food is bland, his every day routine is bland. Winston is losing it, he wonders about the world that was before the party and resists in small ways. He ponders about the subtle ways that the party exerts it’s control, by perpetual war, by rewriting history, by lying so blatantly that the members of the party have to accept the lies as truth. Winston dreams of revolution and finds himself seeking out others likes him.
Nineteen Eighty-Four was not an easy ready by any means, it’s startlingly brutal. The beginning starts off rather slow as the readers gets to know Winston, the way he thinks and learns about his every day routine and are introduced to key characters. The middle of the book picks up, but it breaks up the pacing of the novel due to the fact that it essentially turns into an essay that outlines the structure of the party and the moral implications of it’s actions. While info dumps can be a bit disjointing to read, I could bear with it for this novel. The third half of the novel caught me off guard and it spun wildly out of control. I loved it, even when I found it difficult to digest. This is what made the book so brilliant, it doesn’t just tell you about right and wrong and then wrap things up nicely, the horrible reality of the book comes crashing down on both Winston and the reader’s head in full force.
The power structure of the party is just downright diabolical. I could think of any other way to describe it; the method of control, the reasons for maintaining such a strict social order, the sheer scale of the party’s reach – all of it was terrifying when taken as a whole. There were points in the second half of the novel where I had to put the book down because it was stressing me out too much, and this was a first for me. I now understand fully what folks mean when they label something as “Orwellian,” and why this novel is hailed as one of the very best of the dystopia genre. Hell, there are others that I read that I thought were bleak, but none quite to this degree. Nineteen Eighty-Four makes other books in the dystopia genre seem like lighthearted adventures novels.
The novel is extremely effective in the delivery of it’s core message about government control and humanity by creating a potential future that is harrowing, particularly because of it’s plausibility, as a warning to all. This is the type of book that will stick with me for a long time and I’m glad I finally sat down to read it.
Nineteen Eighty-Four was not an easy ready by any means, it’s startlingly brutal. The beginning starts off rather slow as the readers gets to know Winston, the way he thinks and learns about his every day routine and are introduced to key characters. The middle of the book picks up, but it breaks up the pacing of the novel due to the fact that it essentially turns into an essay that outlines the structure of the party and the moral implications of it’s actions. While info dumps can be a bit disjointing to read, I could bear with it for this novel. The third half of the novel caught me off guard and it spun wildly out of control. I loved it, even when I found it difficult to digest. This is what made the book so brilliant, it doesn’t just tell you about right and wrong and then wrap things up nicely, the horrible reality of the book comes crashing down on both Winston and the reader’s head in full force.
The power structure of the party is just downright diabolical. I could think of any other way to describe it; the method of control, the reasons for maintaining such a strict social order, the sheer scale of the party’s reach – all of it was terrifying when taken as a whole. There were points in the second half of the novel where I had to put the book down because it was stressing me out too much, and this was a first for me. I now understand fully what folks mean when they label something as “Orwellian,” and why this novel is hailed as one of the very best of the dystopia genre. Hell, there are others that I read that I thought were bleak, but none quite to this degree. Nineteen Eighty-Four makes other books in the dystopia genre seem like lighthearted adventures novels.
The novel is extremely effective in the delivery of it’s core message about government control and humanity by creating a potential future that is harrowing, particularly because of it’s plausibility, as a warning to all. This is the type of book that will stick with me for a long time and I’m glad I finally sat down to read it.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Wrong Stars in Books
Aug 26, 2018 (Updated Aug 26, 2018)
Diversity (2 more)
World-building
Amazing alien species
I've watched my fair share of Space Opera (Firefly, Dark Matter, Farscape, Star Trek, Star Wars - don't try to tell me those last two aren't Space Opera, THEY TOTALLY ARE) - but I haven't read much of it. I picked up The Wrong Stars mostly because reviews said it had a demisexual main character, rather than because it's a Space Opera. Regardless, I am SO GLAD I DID. The book is excellent.
First off, the diversity! Over the course of the story, we meet people who are, in no particular order, gay, bisexual, demisexual, asexual, transgender, and non-binary. The story is set 500 years after Earth sends out its first colony ships, and in that time, culture has evolved. Marriage is not common, but contractually-bound relationships exist. Promiscuity and non-monogamy aren't viewed any different than monogamy, and in the same way, the distinctions between gay, straight, and bi don't carry any negative connotations. It's not a complete utopia - it's still a capitalist society, and there is still scarcity - but socially, at least, it has definitely evolved a lot from the present!
Elena, one of our main characters, was a biologist sent out on one of the first colony ships. Stocked with seeds, crude replicators, and cryo-sleep pods, a small crew was sent out, in stasis, on a five-hundred year journey to a system with probable life-supporting planets. They were called Goldilocks ships, in the hope they'd find a planet that was "just right." What humanity didn't expect was that in the intervening five hundred years, they would make contact with an alien species and be given the means for true space travel via wormholes. Some of the ships arrived at their destinations to find human colonies already thriving on their target planets! Elena, however, found something quite different, and it's a very disconcerting difference. She is rescued by the motley crew of the White Raven, and they quickly get drawn into the mystery.
I really enjoyed the world-building and characterization in The Wrong Stars. The science of it made sense to me, but I'm not very versed in science, so I can't really say how realistic it is. It was at least pretty internally consistent. I'd like to learn more about how the AIs are created, though. Luckily, there is a sequel coming! The Dreaming Stars should be coming out this September, and I'm DEFINITELY going to read it.
If you like Dark Matter, Firefly, or Farscape, you should definitely read The Wrong Stars. There's a little bit of light romance threaded into the larger plot, and one fade-to-black sex scene. It's definitely not the focus of the book. There is some violence, but nothing incredibly graphic. I would put it at about the same maturity level as Star Trek.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
First off, the diversity! Over the course of the story, we meet people who are, in no particular order, gay, bisexual, demisexual, asexual, transgender, and non-binary. The story is set 500 years after Earth sends out its first colony ships, and in that time, culture has evolved. Marriage is not common, but contractually-bound relationships exist. Promiscuity and non-monogamy aren't viewed any different than monogamy, and in the same way, the distinctions between gay, straight, and bi don't carry any negative connotations. It's not a complete utopia - it's still a capitalist society, and there is still scarcity - but socially, at least, it has definitely evolved a lot from the present!
Elena, one of our main characters, was a biologist sent out on one of the first colony ships. Stocked with seeds, crude replicators, and cryo-sleep pods, a small crew was sent out, in stasis, on a five-hundred year journey to a system with probable life-supporting planets. They were called Goldilocks ships, in the hope they'd find a planet that was "just right." What humanity didn't expect was that in the intervening five hundred years, they would make contact with an alien species and be given the means for true space travel via wormholes. Some of the ships arrived at their destinations to find human colonies already thriving on their target planets! Elena, however, found something quite different, and it's a very disconcerting difference. She is rescued by the motley crew of the White Raven, and they quickly get drawn into the mystery.
I really enjoyed the world-building and characterization in The Wrong Stars. The science of it made sense to me, but I'm not very versed in science, so I can't really say how realistic it is. It was at least pretty internally consistent. I'd like to learn more about how the AIs are created, though. Luckily, there is a sequel coming! The Dreaming Stars should be coming out this September, and I'm DEFINITELY going to read it.
If you like Dark Matter, Firefly, or Farscape, you should definitely read The Wrong Stars. There's a little bit of light romance threaded into the larger plot, and one fade-to-black sex scene. It's definitely not the focus of the book. There is some violence, but nothing incredibly graphic. I would put it at about the same maturity level as Star Trek.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com