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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Finally finished this book š£ life got busy and also the novel wasnāt the most engaging to me so I struggled with getting through it.
Iām not sure how I feel about the structure of the book. On the positive side, it was really cool to see these stories within stories and the common themes that carry through (struggling for freedom and autonomy). However. The structure basically had rising action for one story and then it gets interrupted with the rising action for the next and so on and so on and then the second half is all the like climax and falling action. This meant by the time I got invested in one story, the author ripped me away into the next and the process of shaking off disinterest/confusion started over. I found this super frustrating and discouraging. By the time I got to the second half of each story, it was long enough that I had forgotten the first half. This was really a test of patience and delayed gratification but it turns out if you the delay the gratification too long, you kinda lose some satisfaction.
My other main criticism is that I didnāt love the story written in āvernacular.ā Personally, Iāve never been a fan of it and I think itās difficult for āvernacularā to be written successfully without feeling like racial stereotypes. Percival Everettās āErasureā does a good job of portraying my thoughts on that type of work. I also feel iffy about mega capitalism and uniformity land being South Koreanā¦ Do I think South Korea has rampant consumerism and capitalism? Yes. However I could say the same about the USA (whose imperialism in South Korea is I think a direct cause of these conditions). Itās also an interesting choice to depict these subservient clones as Korean considering stereotypes of Asians. I think it just rubs me the wrong way when white people criticize Korea for things the USA caused. While I get heās maybe going for some like global take, I just didnāt understand why South Korea is dystopia clone land and Europe is cultured music landā¦ (well I do understand and I think it just plays into cheap stereotypes which runs so counter to the themes of the actual book).
I guess there was a lot I disliked about this bookā¦ I think there were good moments and I thought some of the stories were well done. I enjoyed the different forms used throughout (epistolary, journal, interview, etc). The author clearly has a diverse range. I just think the execution of and the reality of the structure falls flat compared to how ambitious and interesting the idea itself is. Anyways really enjoyed the story about Luisa Rey which itself had cool multiple perspectives and the story with Timothy Cavendish which was actually very funny and playful.
Iām not sure how I feel about the structure of the book. On the positive side, it was really cool to see these stories within stories and the common themes that carry through (struggling for freedom and autonomy). However. The structure basically had rising action for one story and then it gets interrupted with the rising action for the next and so on and so on and then the second half is all the like climax and falling action. This meant by the time I got invested in one story, the author ripped me away into the next and the process of shaking off disinterest/confusion started over. I found this super frustrating and discouraging. By the time I got to the second half of each story, it was long enough that I had forgotten the first half. This was really a test of patience and delayed gratification but it turns out if you the delay the gratification too long, you kinda lose some satisfaction.
My other main criticism is that I didnāt love the story written in āvernacular.ā Personally, Iāve never been a fan of it and I think itās difficult for āvernacularā to be written successfully without feeling like racial stereotypes. Percival Everettās āErasureā does a good job of portraying my thoughts on that type of work. I also feel iffy about mega capitalism and uniformity land being South Koreanā¦ Do I think South Korea has rampant consumerism and capitalism? Yes. However I could say the same about the USA (whose imperialism in South Korea is I think a direct cause of these conditions). Itās also an interesting choice to depict these subservient clones as Korean considering stereotypes of Asians. I think it just rubs me the wrong way when white people criticize Korea for things the USA caused. While I get heās maybe going for some like global take, I just didnāt understand why South Korea is dystopia clone land and Europe is cultured music landā¦ (well I do understand and I think it just plays into cheap stereotypes which runs so counter to the themes of the actual book).
I guess there was a lot I disliked about this bookā¦ I think there were good moments and I thought some of the stories were well done. I enjoyed the different forms used throughout (epistolary, journal, interview, etc). The author clearly has a diverse range. I just think the execution of and the reality of the structure falls flat compared to how ambitious and interesting the idea itself is. Anyways really enjoyed the story about Luisa Rey which itself had cool multiple perspectives and the story with Timothy Cavendish which was actually very funny and playful.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to this book and sometimes felt it confusing and difficult to follow along through each section but I did enjoy it and love the lesson.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
i can certainly appreciate the authorās talent for mastering multiple voices. and there were sections i enjoyed (luisa rey & timothy cavendishās stories), at least partly because of the audio narrators. but i didnāt find this to be as brilliant as everyone has always said it is, and iām very glad to be done with it.
The first stort of Ewing is Ć bit strange, nut The later stories are much much better, especially An orison of Sonmi
The good POVs were a 4/5 but the boring ones were a 2/5 and dragged the book a bit. Would have been better to split the weaker ones up between the other passages
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No