2003seigfried's reviews
12 reviews

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

The matter-of-factness of this really dehumanised it for me. It tells a necessary story but felt detached from the woman it focused on by describing her life with vogue umbrella terms and generalisations, but the last chapter really stung.

"The world had changed a great deal, but the little rules, contracts and customs had not, which meant the world hadn’t actually changed at all."

Everything You Ever Wanted by Luiza Sauma

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The square is empty and silent.

There was a slight disconnect between this book and I at first. It felt very millennial, but I ended up finding myself in the existential anxiety and everyday angst of an incredibly well written woman through her early teens, late twenties and mid thirties. It’s all so very lonely. From the boardroom meetings, to the critiques of social media (that felt jarring to me more than once), and finally to a planet that may or may not exist. I just can’t help but love it.

"I came here because I wanted to be reborn, but I just carried on living."

Circe and the Cyclops by Homer

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

To me, this is the definitive modern tragedy. I don’t think I’ve ever read a better retelling of Greek mythology. I love how Shakespearean it felt, and I’m only disappointed it took this long to finish.

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

politics & science! i was ten pages into this when i realised i was reading a political sci fi story like no other. ken liu is a master at bridging the gap between real history and speculative future, and the respective questions they raise. the political aspect, which encompassed every other aspect of this story, is the question of who controls history. the phrase that victors write history is a famous one, but things change when it becomes possible to peek into the past and see it. all in all, this is a very bleak story, not on its own, but with the fact that the real existence of Unit 731 is something that certain people still refuse to believe, or charge it to empty platitudes such as "terrible suffering" during wartime. 

“Culture is not merely a product of reason but also of real, visceral empathy. And I am afraid that it is primarily empathy that has been missing from the postwar Japanese responses to history.”

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

a great collection that goes as far into the future as it does into the past while also bridging the gap between real researched events, science and fiction. i think everyone, fans of science fiction or not, should read this at least once in their lives.

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

a story in line with a concept i like to call The Other. stories about social rejects have often leaned more into violence, senseless or not, i loved how the protagonist here was just passive. and that made things all the more tragic. the story is tragic, the nouns life and death are comic