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iris_lu's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
saintakim's review
2.0
Des éclairs de quelque chose d'intéressant mais tout cela reste trop éparpillé. Complaisant.
neasaaa's review
4.0
Diary meets notes app, not versed in Greek lit myself so somethings went over my head but I really enjoyed this! Very funny!
trixabelle's review
5.0
What a delight. Bought for me as a present following a recommendation at the bookstore - excellent! Firstly this is about a fellow notebook lover. It’s like a story within a story that’s not even a story. Random thoughts but beautifully written. Just yes.
sarihelikopter's review against another edition
2.0
son zamanlarda çokça övgüyle bahsediliyor diye tatildeyken başlamıştım, dördüncü sayfa civarı vazgeçmiştim okumaktan. ama bozkır kitaplığı'nda seçilince tekrar şans vermek istedim.
yazarın ne yapmaya çalıştığını anladığımı düşünüyorum ama bunun iyi bir fikir olduğuna katılmıyorum. birbirinden kopuk, çoğu bağlamsız, "bakın ne kadar çok fikrim var" havası saçan paragrafların her ne kadar bazıları hoşuma gitse de herhangi bir aforizma kitabından ne kadar farkı var düşündürtüyor. bekleme temasını anlıyorum, sürekli penelope'ye referans veriyor yazar ve kitabın benim için ilgi çekici olan nadir anları bunlardı. günlük okumayı sevmiyor değilim, aksine son zamanların en sevdiğim yazarı e.batuman tam bunu yapıyor ama bir yapısal ve tematik bütünlük vaat ederek. burada ise üzerimize fırlatılmış, belli ki yazarın düşündüğü için kendiyle gurur duyduğu fikir parçaları. yazarın fikir parçalarıyla gurur duymasıyla ilgili bir problemim yok, ben de yapıyorum bunu, ama tutup da kitap yazmıyorum. twitter, anonim blog'lar gibi mecralar var mesela bunlar için.
bir de gerçekten "hype"a kapılıp normal bir zamanda okumayacağımız kitapları zaman zaman çok yücelttiğimizi düşünüyorum. bu kitap da onlardan biri gibime geliyor. bayılınacak bir şey göremiyorum.
yazarın ne yapmaya çalıştığını anladığımı düşünüyorum ama bunun iyi bir fikir olduğuna katılmıyorum. birbirinden kopuk, çoğu bağlamsız, "bakın ne kadar çok fikrim var" havası saçan paragrafların her ne kadar bazıları hoşuma gitse de herhangi bir aforizma kitabından ne kadar farkı var düşündürtüyor. bekleme temasını anlıyorum, sürekli penelope'ye referans veriyor yazar ve kitabın benim için ilgi çekici olan nadir anları bunlardı. günlük okumayı sevmiyor değilim, aksine son zamanların en sevdiğim yazarı e.batuman tam bunu yapıyor ama bir yapısal ve tematik bütünlük vaat ederek. burada ise üzerimize fırlatılmış, belli ki yazarın düşündüğü için kendiyle gurur duyduğu fikir parçaları. yazarın fikir parçalarıyla gurur duymasıyla ilgili bir problemim yok, ben de yapıyorum bunu, ama tutup da kitap yazmıyorum. twitter, anonim blog'lar gibi mecralar var mesela bunlar için.
bir de gerçekten "hype"a kapılıp normal bir zamanda okumayacağımız kitapları zaman zaman çok yücelttiğimizi düşünüyorum. bu kitap da onlardan biri gibime geliyor. bayılınacak bir şey göremiyorum.
booksnpunks's review
5.0
Obsessed. Weeping. Destroyed. This is like if the inside of my head was a book. The fucking writing!!! It was hilarious and beautiful and so poetic and inspiring. I loved how it was full of quotations and paraphrases. The book was like one big love letter to Hispanic literature like the girly imagining she was seeing Pessoa buying oranges down the supermarket and her obsession with Proust!!! Cannot cope. It was just everything good and beautiful about Latin American literary history and truly a celebration of their poetic language but it was also like a homage to the Hispanic surrealist movement and just oh my god lost for words, bury me with this book.
tonyzale's review
3.0
Loop goes around and around, its narrator trapped in a waiting game. She fills her days filling the pages of her “Ideal” notebook (the Mexican equivalent of a Moleskine), waiting for her boyfriend, Jonas, to return from an open-ended trip. Can silence and distance bring them closer together? She wants to believe it, but her words can’t hide her doubts. No idea is explored once in this book, she circles over topics, drawing connections between everyday topics inspired by her surroundings: what the meaning of art is in a Mexico ravaged by violence, why a mysterious dwarf keeps popping up in her neighborhood, how brand names can take on a life of their own, the way an electric pencil sharpener represented adulthood to her as a child. Jonas’ journey is by airplane, hers by armchair, and it’s unclear which covers more ground.
adam613's review
4.0
"Change. Unlearning yourself is more important than knowing yourself."
While recovering from an accident, the narrator of Loop awaits her boyfriend's return from Spain after the death of his mother. Written as a personal notebook or journal, Loop brings us on the narrator's ruminations both heavy and on the lighter side. With reference to Proust, Shakira, and Jorge de la Cosa and many others, she shares her innermost thoughts in a truly unique read.
"All stories are a deep ocean and a puddle at the same time."
Brenda Lozana has written a wonderfully insightful and quirky novel about life inside the mind of a 30-year-old female in present-day Mexico City. Filled with all the modern-day trappings and life, the book follows an almost stream of consciousness writing which I found to be incredibly close to how the human mind actually works. Finding patterns and impermanence in the world around her, the narrator is a relatable character. Her mindis trying to make sense of the universe in a whimsical and magical way that brings the reader not only closer to her but to themselves.
"Jonas and I are about the same height. Our notebooks are the same size. This makes it easier for the notebooks to have sex."
"Am I getting closer or am I getting further away?"
The narrator wonders the same things that I wonder and her reflections on themes such as family, loss, love and friendship are insightful and relatable. With Loop, Brenda Lozano has written a fragmented yet succinct piece of literature about what it is like to feel stuck in this loop called life. There is impermanence and acceptance that we all are searching for like the narrator. I did not know what I was getting into reading this, however, being a Charco Press publication I had a strong inkling and can now properly confirm that this is a more than worthwhile read.
"Maybe all this could be put another way, but if there's now ideal person there are no ideal words. So there can be no ideal story."
While recovering from an accident, the narrator of Loop awaits her boyfriend's return from Spain after the death of his mother. Written as a personal notebook or journal, Loop brings us on the narrator's ruminations both heavy and on the lighter side. With reference to Proust, Shakira, and Jorge de la Cosa and many others, she shares her innermost thoughts in a truly unique read.
"All stories are a deep ocean and a puddle at the same time."
Brenda Lozana has written a wonderfully insightful and quirky novel about life inside the mind of a 30-year-old female in present-day Mexico City. Filled with all the modern-day trappings and life, the book follows an almost stream of consciousness writing which I found to be incredibly close to how the human mind actually works. Finding patterns and impermanence in the world around her, the narrator is a relatable character. Her mindis trying to make sense of the universe in a whimsical and magical way that brings the reader not only closer to her but to themselves.
"Jonas and I are about the same height. Our notebooks are the same size. This makes it easier for the notebooks to have sex."
"Am I getting closer or am I getting further away?"
The narrator wonders the same things that I wonder and her reflections on themes such as family, loss, love and friendship are insightful and relatable. With Loop, Brenda Lozano has written a fragmented yet succinct piece of literature about what it is like to feel stuck in this loop called life. There is impermanence and acceptance that we all are searching for like the narrator. I did not know what I was getting into reading this, however, being a Charco Press publication I had a strong inkling and can now properly confirm that this is a more than worthwhile read.
"Maybe all this could be put another way, but if there's now ideal person there are no ideal words. So there can be no ideal story."
pearloz's review
3.0
3.5 rounded down, I think. The writing was fine, swift, often charming...but inconsequential? I really enjoyed the last 10 percent of the book where she started getting serious. I mean, I enjoyed the hanging out, the ruminations, the interactions with her friends. But it read like...basically what it is, a series of diary entries while her boyfriend was out of town. That can get kind of tedious at times. Still, I'm looking forward to her next one.