I just finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera a couple days ago. I think it'll take me a bit before I have a fully formed opinion of it. I can say that the writing is excellent. Most of the characters are unlikeable, but all have redeeming qualities. Right now I don't feel like it was a satisfying read, but I can already tell it's going to stick with me for a while.
this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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Oof, I just read a few reviews for that one. It seems that many people agree with that sentiment. Thanks for sharing!
Currently halfway through How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. After Midnight Library I wanted to give his earlier books a try and they have not disappointed. I'd recommend it to anyone that enjoyed Midnight Library. Still reads like his style but different enough that it doesn't feel like all his books are just a copy paste of each other.
I just added both of those to my reading list. They look interesting. Which would you recommend I start with?
If you're going through depression or a hard time in life, I recommend reading Midnight Library first. Otherwise, How to Stop Time is an enjoyable read.
I'm currently reading "Die Festung" by Lothar-Günther Buchheim. He's also the author who wrote "Das Boot", the book that has been bastardised by Sky.
It's an autobiography starting mid 1944 until the end of the war telling his experiences as a war correspondent of the navy for example how he got trapped in Brest after D-Day and escaped on an overcrowded submarine.
Although he doesn't seem like the most pleasant person to be around his writing style is really captivating and I really enjoy reading his stuff.
I highly recommend it although I think it's only available in German.
Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act
Re-reading On the Road by Kerouac (Beats) as I just introduced it to my son, while bouncing between it and The Exploits and Opinions of Doctor Faustrol by Alfred Jarry, which is surrealism from the 19th century and is the origin of the concept of pataphysics.
Links included as there are free .pdf copies on them over at the @13thFloor.
I've been out of town for the last 4 days, so I didn't get much reading in. I did finish reading All These Worlds by Dennis Taylor however. I've also read about 50% through the 4th and final book in the series Heaven's River. This one is quite a bit different as it focuses more on the personality of the main character and forces some self-reflection on 'him' and his clones.
I was also able to finish listening to:
[Audio] The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams, narrated by Martin Freeman. It ended so abruptly, and didn't really seem to have an overall plot, it just sort of meandered until the auther was like 'Alright, I'mma head out'... I'm not sure I liked this one, honestly. There was a lot of abruptly stopping the story progression to examine some random topic in detail.
Queen of Summer's Twilight by Charles Vess.
I'm more familiar with his work as an artist, especially with Charles De Lint:
https://agreenmanreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/circle_viking.jpg
Queen of Summer's Twilight is his first crack as an author:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61369669-the-queen-of-summer-s-twilight
Interesting, artist turned author?! How is his writing?
Pretty flowery, like his artwork. :)
Story is similar to other works he's illustrated for people like Neil Gaiman.
Young woman, growing up in England, isolated by her strict father, looking for information about her mysterious, missing mother.
Looks like she may actually be playing host for the spirit of the Faerie Queen.