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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Tenth of December in Books

Nov 21, 2017  
Tenth of December
Tenth of December
George Saunders | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dark, disturbing and satirical
This collection of short stories cannot be pigeon-holed. In this oddly disjointed, surreal collection, the underlying issues in modern American culture are loudly explored. George Saunders' breathless writing style floods over terrible realities and hard truths, leaving the reader gasping in its wake.

Tenth of December handles its running themes in a poignant, individual and certainly irreverent way. Narcissistic ideas of charity stems from trivial competition, while sheer denial is shown in the face of true poverty. Generations breed generations, passing on corrupted ideals and traumatic examples. Paedophilia, racism, poverty: nothing is safe from these chastising, powerful stories.

Saunders leaves an expunged, brutally telling view of the American dream. In his futuristic imaginings, he exaggerates the failings of Western consumerism, yet ultimately his message is clear: When one tries to have it all, they're left with nothing.
  
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Things Fall Apart in Books

Sep 10, 2017  
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe, Biyi Bandele | 2001 | Essays
8
7.5 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
How cultures are misconstrued and misunderstood
This book is intriguing for the fact that there is massive emphasis on pre-colonial times rather than post-colonisation in Nigeria. In this way you're able to gauge how much of a culture clash and cultural misinterpretation there is on the part of the white settlers. It is also written by someone who is of Nigerian descent which makes it all the more interesting as many of the books were written from a western perspective during this time.

It is a book about change and tradition in which protagonist Okonkwo befalls many trials and tribulations in order to appease both his heritage and live side by side with the new ideals of Christianity. Alone, he was unable to withstand the forces of transformation. An important book for people to understand pre-missionary Nigeria.
  
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Dracoria Malfoy (690 KP) rated An Absolutely Remarkable Thing in Books

Mar 17, 2019  
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Hank Green | 2018 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.3 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
remarkable
did i expect hank green to be a great writer?
no.
was he?
i suppose so.
and did he live up to the expectations i set on this book?
yes.

this book was genuinely an amazing observation on fame and culture. it accurately depicted how change in terms of popularity can affect a person regarding both their relationships and how they percieve themselves. starring a queer lead, this book was quite frankly incredibly well done. i've gotta say, i didn't expect this level from a debut novel. I feel like the only reason i took off some points was because the story dragged a bit or sped up too much at points. there was never a constant, perfect pace to this story, though maybe that just added to the peculiarity of this novel.

also, gotta say;
certainly not YA
  
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Jake (52 KP) rated A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1) in Books

Jul 25, 2019  
A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1)
A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1)
Arkady Martine | 2019
6
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great premise but poor execution, and poor ending.

Some of the concepts and the worldbuilding were fantastic. Some of the names and places were a little too crazy (using old Mayan language as a basis? Teixalaan is the easiest of the weird words you'll find). Some of the world systems and culture didn't seem to make sense but I went with it anyways.

I was debating on rating it 4 stars but the ending was so poor. See spoiler below for some high-level spoils.

<spoiler>No huge climax, no really interesting turn of events, no facing the alien threat, no facing your darkest fear or something. Just... blah.</spoiler>

Anyway I won't be reading any sequels and I almost wish I would have stopped 3/4 of the way through when I understood the politics fully. Good luck.