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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Our Man in Havana: An Introduction by Christopher Hitchens in Books
Sep 8, 2017
A classic noir from Graham Greene but not his best
While I wouldn't say this was the best of Graham Greene, who is renowned for his noir style crime tales, it was an enjoyable read.
There are plenty of twists and turns in this spy novel about a simple vacuum merchant turned spy for the British government in Cuba. His friend, a German doctor is suspected of being more than he is. There are plenty of assassination plots in this novel on top of escaping dangerous situations involving corrupt cops.
My only gripe is the fact how quickly the salesman was able to grasp being a detective without any training, so it seems a little implausible. Fun, but no Brighton Rock.
There are plenty of twists and turns in this spy novel about a simple vacuum merchant turned spy for the British government in Cuba. His friend, a German doctor is suspected of being more than he is. There are plenty of assassination plots in this novel on top of escaping dangerous situations involving corrupt cops.
My only gripe is the fact how quickly the salesman was able to grasp being a detective without any training, so it seems a little implausible. Fun, but no Brighton Rock.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Oblivion in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Rating: -2
I listened to the first three tracks of this book, and can honestly tell you I have no idea what was going on. It was two different stories flashing from one to another, and they didn't seem related at all. One was interesting, the other felt like I was doing math homework. On top of that, the reader sounded like he was reading something very exciting, when he was really just describing the length of someone's tie or the type of knot they used to tie their shoelaces.
Suffice to say, I quit. I sincerely apologize, but I can't recommend this book. I can't even tell you a content or age recommendation because I wanted to die twenty minutes after starting.
I listened to the first three tracks of this book, and can honestly tell you I have no idea what was going on. It was two different stories flashing from one to another, and they didn't seem related at all. One was interesting, the other felt like I was doing math homework. On top of that, the reader sounded like he was reading something very exciting, when he was really just describing the length of someone's tie or the type of knot they used to tie their shoelaces.
Suffice to say, I quit. I sincerely apologize, but I can't recommend this book. I can't even tell you a content or age recommendation because I wanted to die twenty minutes after starting.
The ErDoodles Show (17 KP) created a post
Apr 13, 2018
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Educated in Books
Apr 5, 2018
Harrowing and inspiring
It seems almost impossible that Tara Westover is an academician from both Harvard and Cambridge given that she had never been to school. Her story is important, revealing how women are treated and subjugated in fundamentalist societies.
Brought up in a survivalist, Mormon family, Westover speaks about a poverty-stricken, difficult childhood where education is seen as secondary and violence is rife. Her relationship with her abusive brother is horrifying, And moreso is her family's acceptance of his behaviour. So gaining scholarships to top universities in the world despite having had no clue about the Holocaust, the civil rights movement, and Napoleon, is no mean feat.
While parts are repetitive, it is engaging and harrowing to hear her inspiring story.
Brought up in a survivalist, Mormon family, Westover speaks about a poverty-stricken, difficult childhood where education is seen as secondary and violence is rife. Her relationship with her abusive brother is horrifying, And moreso is her family's acceptance of his behaviour. So gaining scholarships to top universities in the world despite having had no clue about the Holocaust, the civil rights movement, and Napoleon, is no mean feat.
While parts are repetitive, it is engaging and harrowing to hear her inspiring story.
Vader316 (4 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Feb 8, 2019
Action sequences (1 more)
Quality of CGI
Plot (2 more)
Characters are weak
Poor ending
Should have been better
I really wanted to enjoy this film but unfortunately I just couldn't. So I'll start by saying the action scenes are great and the quality of the CGI is top notch but that's about it, the story is fairly weak and the characters are very 2 dimensional I never really felt for the things that were happening to them it didn't pull me in. The ending was poor and you know its lining up for a sequel which is the mistake they make, they should have made it longer and actually finished it as I can't imagine a sequel will help in any way. I would say wait for the Netflix release. ?
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Diva (Breathing Underwater, #2) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. Realistic, with a very likeable protagonist. It touched on deep subjects without being over-the-top and melancholy, yet it could be amusing and you really got a sense for the characters and how they would act/react/relate/talk. Other than that I can't really describe why I liked this book so much, except that it was enjoyable and I would definitely love to read more with Caitlin!
I did notice a lot of quotation marks where there shouldn't be and none where there should be. Sometimes I was a little confused about what the author was trying to say because of misspellings or left out words or letters, especially during the "blog speak" where it had internet spelling.
I did notice a lot of quotation marks where there shouldn't be and none where there should be. Sometimes I was a little confused about what the author was trying to say because of misspellings or left out words or letters, especially during the "blog speak" where it had internet spelling.
Ross (3282 KP) rated Preacher - Season 1 in TV
Apr 1, 2019
I LOVED IT
This show is based on the comics of the same name, by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, and retains all the black humour, sick scenes and top notch dialogue of the comics.
The plot sees Preacher Jesse Custer somehow imbued with Genesis, a divine presence that gives him the power to tell people what to do. His conflict with local businessman (meat and electricity, what an empire!), Quincannon sees him try to use Genesis to convince the town that God exists.
This is a gritty, dark comedy with moments of genuine laugh out loud jokes as well as truly disturbing but life-like scenes.
Given how well this was delivered, I cannot wait to see how Amazon's treatment of The Boys plays out!
The plot sees Preacher Jesse Custer somehow imbued with Genesis, a divine presence that gives him the power to tell people what to do. His conflict with local businessman (meat and electricity, what an empire!), Quincannon sees him try to use Genesis to convince the town that God exists.
This is a gritty, dark comedy with moments of genuine laugh out loud jokes as well as truly disturbing but life-like scenes.
Given how well this was delivered, I cannot wait to see how Amazon's treatment of The Boys plays out!
Madbatdan82 (341 KP) rated The Silence (2019) in Movies
Apr 13, 2019
A quiet place part 2
Contains spoilers, click to show
So this film is exactly like A quiet place. So much so its bordering on plagiarism! It follows a family and the teenage daughter is deaf. Cue weird monsters that kill people and the only way to stay safe is to be quiet - sound familiar? The only difference is the inclusion of a weird religious cult. In general its really well put together and the acting is top notch especially Stanley Tucci & the very good Kiernan Shipka. The biggest problem with this is that it builds up ok towards a climax that is over before it starts. Seriously the most rushed ending ever. So an ok film with a crappy ending.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Blue Iguana (2018) in Movies
Apr 27, 2019
A poor version of Snatch
I’m really not sure what the point was in this film. It’s one of those films that’s not great but not bad either, and completely unremarkable and forgettable. I love Sam Rockwell and I think he’s a rather underrated actor in most things, and sadly he’s pretty underused in this. And I know this has probably been done on purpose, but the over the top English accents in this are so irritating! This reminded me very much of a poor version and imitation of Snatch, it played out fairly similarly but without any real laughs or the decent storyline. This film is pretty inoffensive (unless you’re offended by a lot of swear words) but sadly just not very memorable.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Jurassic Park (1993) in Movies
May 20, 2019
The perfect Blockbuster?
To make this clear, Jurassic Park is easily in my top 10 films of all time.
I saw it when I was young - maybe 7 or 8 years old, not too long after it came out, so one might argue that there is an element of nostalgia reflected in my opinion, but honestly, no matter how many times I see it, I never tire of it, and all these years later, the effects still stand up, which is an incredible achievement considering it came out in 1993!
The whole cast are just great, the script is solid, and the score is an all time classic - John Williams smashing it out of the park again.
An all time classic.
I saw it when I was young - maybe 7 or 8 years old, not too long after it came out, so one might argue that there is an element of nostalgia reflected in my opinion, but honestly, no matter how many times I see it, I never tire of it, and all these years later, the effects still stand up, which is an incredible achievement considering it came out in 1993!
The whole cast are just great, the script is solid, and the score is an all time classic - John Williams smashing it out of the park again.
An all time classic.