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amawomps's reviews
22 reviews
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Frank Hurley, Alfred Lansing
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
There’s always something about the now primitive way to which people back in this time period and before encountered near-death experiences that’s so inspiring and insane I don’t think people today can ever repeat such feats. The fact that no men died on this expedition is statistically crazy, and the imagery was so raw I felt as though I was reading a report; but I loved it.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
4.0
I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up from a quirky used bookstore in Amherst, Mass, and honestly, I was only intrigued by the colorful cover on the 1991 edition.
Immediately, the world I was placed in was sickeningly intriguing from the start. With the introduction of Roni Fugate's humorously feminine personality and the contradicting Barney Mayerson, I felt like I was watching a Paul Newman drama by how flawlessly their conversations were described. This futuristic earth set in 2016, (which is funny enough) is captivating especially now with the accuracy of Dick's prediction on the topic of climate change. The characters are charming in the worst kind of ways, especially the men, who seem to embody the money-hungry, apathetic, American businessman. The women, on the other hand, demonstrate the dominance of the female presence in business, however, even in those positions they're heavily sexualized as it seems that sex, money, and air conditioning are the only driving forces for the well-to-do citizens of Terra.
Initially, Dick's style of writing is hard to follow and is sort of chaotic, but once you get used to it, it's hard to follow anything else.
He turned a single idea into a world in which in every society, there are characters who are both victimized and sought after because of it. By the end of this novel, I was left wondering what themes Dick was trying to scatter and I could only think of ethics, anthropology, man vs. technology, and man vs. environment. I believe the victims of Dick's world are simply the human race, and the master role belongs to God (or should I say Palmer Eldritch), drugs, human ambition, and greed.
Dick's imagination is phenomenal, placing you in a world which as the years go on is becoming more and more true to our reality, and maybe, in a few dozens of years this book will almost exactly replicate the future of the human race; and maybe, just maybe, this will prove that just like the characters in his book, Philip K. Dick has been a pre-cog all along.
Immediately, the world I was placed in was sickeningly intriguing from the start. With the introduction of Roni Fugate's humorously feminine personality and the contradicting Barney Mayerson, I felt like I was watching a Paul Newman drama by how flawlessly their conversations were described. This futuristic earth set in 2016, (which is funny enough) is captivating especially now with the accuracy of Dick's prediction on the topic of climate change. The characters are charming in the worst kind of ways, especially the men, who seem to embody the money-hungry, apathetic, American businessman. The women, on the other hand, demonstrate the dominance of the female presence in business, however, even in those positions they're heavily sexualized as it seems that sex, money, and air conditioning are the only driving forces for the well-to-do citizens of Terra.
Initially, Dick's style of writing is hard to follow and is sort of chaotic, but once you get used to it, it's hard to follow anything else.
He turned a single idea into a world in which in every society, there are characters who are both victimized and sought after because of it. By the end of this novel, I was left wondering what themes Dick was trying to scatter and I could only think of ethics, anthropology, man vs. technology, and man vs. environment. I believe the victims of Dick's world are simply the human race, and the master role belongs to God (or should I say Palmer Eldritch), drugs, human ambition, and greed.
Dick's imagination is phenomenal, placing you in a world which as the years go on is becoming more and more true to our reality, and maybe, in a few dozens of years this book will almost exactly replicate the future of the human race; and maybe, just maybe, this will prove that just like the characters in his book, Philip K. Dick has been a pre-cog all along.
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
3.0
I had to read this for my spiritual autobiography class and it's actually a sweet book. It's a bit dreary at times, but it really captures life that way, especially the life of someone with such an unfortunate upbringing as Jeanette. She never necessarily seems to realize how strange her childhood was, and in a way of coping with the oddities and trauma she experienced, her writing at times is childish and humorous to compensate for the dark undertones throughout her story. I don't usually read books like this, and I would never pick this up at the store, but I'm glad I was forced to read it. The only confusing thing is the fact that Winterson states this isn't an autobiography, yet it holds many similarities to her life as well as the main character sharing her name. It makes you wonder what's real and what's fake, still, it doesn't matter because the messages this book conveys transcends the question. I was mostly just sad reading it though, as there were few moments where Jeanette ever felt happy or secure in her bleary British suburb.
Narrow Road to the Interior: And Other Writings by Matsuo Bashō
5.0
I always hated haikus in middle school simply because I was always forced to write them. It wasn't until I was assigned this book for my spiritual autobiography class that I was finally able to appreciate the simplistic beauty of the art form itself. I believe Basho is the only poet that could've made me realize this for myself. His poems are easy to digest with beautiful imagery of early Japan. Some are cruel, and some I had to re-read to make sure they were even there to begin with because they were so uncharacteristic of other Japanese works of the time,
"It is still alive! quivering in a frozen block, little sea-slug!" (Basho, pg. 141)
I couldn't help but laugh when I read this passage. Usually when reading historical documents or writings from the eras before you bring a certain level of seriousness to the table, and I certainly had that at the beginning of this book. However, as I learned more and more about Basho, I felt more and more lighthearted and attached to his character. He simply just observes the smallest intricacies of life and captures them through the language he knows. I find it comforting that people so far back paid attention to these little reoccurrences in nature just as we do. It's an interesting thought imagining that no matter how many generations you skip, as humans, we'll all have the same reaction to a little shivering sea slug.
"It is still alive! quivering in a frozen block, little sea-slug!" (Basho, pg. 141)
I couldn't help but laugh when I read this passage. Usually when reading historical documents or writings from the eras before you bring a certain level of seriousness to the table, and I certainly had that at the beginning of this book. However, as I learned more and more about Basho, I felt more and more lighthearted and attached to his character. He simply just observes the smallest intricacies of life and captures them through the language he knows. I find it comforting that people so far back paid attention to these little reoccurrences in nature just as we do. It's an interesting thought imagining that no matter how many generations you skip, as humans, we'll all have the same reaction to a little shivering sea slug.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
3.0
An easy read and one that unpredictably educates you about the struggles between Iran and it's government. It adds a personal touch to issues I had only previously seen in black and white through textbooks and news articles. I really recommend this little graphic novel along with its simplistic and digestible art-style.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name: A Biomythography by Audre Lorde
4.0
I've never read about the life of a gay, black woman in the turbulent times of the 40's throughout the 80's in America. I'm somewhat disappointed that I never read about this way of life sooner, as I guess it never drew me in enough for whatever reason. This book reminds me of "She's come undone" by Wally Lamb, which I had previously thought was my favorite autobiography even though it was fiction; this book however was completely true, and so vivid were the details that after reading I feel as though I've lived an entire life, one so completely different from my own. Reading about other perspectives is the point of autobiographies, or in this case, biomythographies, and I certainly feel a bit more aware than I was before. Lorde wrote so beautifully it's hard to imagine that the girls she wrote about were real at all, and that she even took part in the sex which she so fruitfully described.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself by Olaudah Equiano
4.0
I believe this is the best true autobiographical literature we've salvaged from a first-person account into the horrors of the slave trade.
Sentence: Siberia: A Story of Survival by Ann Lehtmets
4.0
My dad recommended this book to me as it turns out that my great grandparents experienced similar things that the author had as Estonian deportees sentenced to Siberia. This book was real. Ann's 17 years spent in Siberia were written as if she was talking across the table from me, I could almost hear the accent. Her personality was perfect for the tragic situations she was thrust in, always persevering and still looking at the beauty around her. She was sent to a Russian land where her freedoms and family were stolen from her, yet every few chapters she would admire still how beautiful her surroundings were underneath her starving friends. A beautiful quote from the book says her ideals best, "The people are Russian but not the land, we're in God's hands." I've learned a lot from this book, not just about what I could gather from my family's history which will never truly be known, but about the forgotten souls who perhaps faced feelings worse than death in their hard and stolen lives. It's extremely rare that stories like these are told, and so I strongly encourage anybody interested in World War II to read about this special culture that is so close to being forgotten about. She left nothing unsaid regardless of its entertainment factor; and that's how I believe all memoirs should be written, as that's exactly how we live our lives.
Everything Will Be Okay: Life Lessons for Young Women by Dana Perino
3.0
This is almost like a female-oriented version of "Beyond Harvard". Dana has been on my family's TV for nearly my whole life, and yet I never questioned how she came to be where she was, as if the women I see on TV are just NPC's or something. Like they're just talking heads who look pretty. I was never sure if I could see them as role models or not, but now, after reading this, I realize what it took for Dana to talk in a panel with men. All of the advice she gave was very digestible and easy to read, and I found myself relating heavily to the thoughts that I didn't think she ever had. This book is aimed at women a bit further in their career paths than me, however, it's still valuable for any young woman to read especially if they don't have positive female role models in their lives already. For me, I found it funny that I heard my mom's voice in some of the advice Dana laid out, and I felt incredibly fortunate that I have someone like that in my life, however, it's useful to hear this kind of stuff from people currently in the professional field. It feels intimidating to read self-help books because it just lays out how someone has already lived their lives successfully and although they say "don't compare yourself", the entire book is kind of just you comparing yourself to this already successful woman. Overall, however, she listed a lot of helpful exercises that I'll actually do to feel more secure in my life as a freshman in college. The advice didn't feel repetitive or something you can find off some Buzzfeed article except for some of the really basic sentences. However, maybe I'm just annoyed because I'm reluctant to actually follow such "basic" advice even though there's a reason they're so well known. Overall, I'll definitely re-read this when I graduate.