J. Maarten Troost disguises as a travel writer, but underneath that thin veneer of well-composed sentence structures and impressively large vocabulary hides a pessimist, racist, and otherwise deplorable person. It doesn’t take long before Troost remarks about smog, noise, phlegm, and pee — observations that are repeated every chapter. And then the SARS and eating-dog […]
If I ever have children, I hope they’ll read Albertalli’s books. There’s the story of the not-so-openly gay Simon, the overweight Molly, and her lesbian parents, and her sister who’s dating a pan-sexual girl. And these books show everyone’s struggles and thoughts and considerations. “The Upside of Unrequited”, like “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda“, […]
“Here, the curve of the earth did not hide it, it revealed it.” Rendezvous with Rama describes the weird world of inside Rama, and it’s a real trip through the eyes and minds of its explorers. In this sense it reminds me of the video game Myst; a world that comes without explanation, without purpose […]
Ann Patchett writes impossibly smooth sentences with precisely found words. And together they describe a story so full of detail— it’s almost as if it must have happened, as if Patchett must have been there herself. How else could she possibly write this? The house is a character as much as the people are. And […]
One of the fantastic things about reading is that it lets you live many stories. And here’s the story of Simon, which can be lived, felt, seen from the inside. It’s almost as living — first-hand — through the considerations and problems carried by gay teenagers — many of which I was unaware of. For […]
Jack Reacher books are great fun (although this one isn’t one of the best in the series). Yet I do feel a bit empty afterward each time. Its up a notch from watching TV, but still I feel I’m wasting time with something that’s too close to pure entertainment. Is this the male version of […]
(This is a review of HSK Standard Coursebooks, HSK1 to HSK4上, both the workbooks and textbooks. I’m now making my way through the HSK4下 ones.) The structure is extremely clever, and full of composite words that are useful for later when combined (the Mandarin language is full of composite words). The difficulty doesn’t really increase […]
I can separate the work of an artist and her/his art, so I don’t let Orson Scott Card’s homophobic comments bother me too much. Yet reading this book for a second time reveals the conversation uncle that he is; writing passages about chastity, marriage, passing on genes. And all his female characters are overly emotional: […]
‘The Gardener and the Carpenter’ should have been a long blogpost. I’m reminded why I dislike most non-fiction so much: every essay is being dragged out to 250 pages because then it can be sold as a full book. I’d be happy to buy these books for the same price if they’re shorter — but […]
Detective and mystery thrillers are often captivating to read, but the stories themselves are never memorable: who did what to who and how did it end? A few months later I’ve forgotten it all — and in this respect ‘Into the Woods’ by Tana French is no different — yet beside the story itself, there’s […]