andrewspink's reviews
464 reviews

De zon is ook een ster by Nicola Yoon

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the most evocative descriptions of how it feels for a couple to be in love that I have ever read. I was instantly transported back 30 years to walking around Chicago with the person who is now my wife (also because of the American setting). We travelled between continents to make it happen, so it is possible! I enjoyed the way that the author switched between the perspective of the two main characters, and even to that of the supporting cast from time to time. The sort-of double ending was effective. The racism of the family and some bystanders was also portrayed by nuance and understanding, and the experience of both being a migrant and first generation immigrant was effectively portrayed. Unfortunately, I read this is translation, but it was a good one. I read this book in the VPRO Club Lees app.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this novel a lot. It has a cunning plot, interesting characters and is thought-provoking. At first, it seems quite normal, but gradually the reader is introduced to what is going on ('oh right, it's only January') so that by the end of the book you've worked out what's what. Amusing tit-bits are thrown in, like a time-travelling cat. Also comments like that if we were living in a simulation, they would have made it better, like all the street lights would work. I liked that the argument is not based on major issues like war or injustice, but on the tattiness of everyday life. 

Doe zelf normaal by Maxim Februari

challenging informative slow-paced

3.0

A couple of years ago, I read Klont by the same author. I was disappointed (see https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/89112db4-9a42-4929-9416-de911a392149), in part because it was supposed to be about AI, but it did not really provide any insights into or have much understanding of the subject. This essay was an improvement on that.  There were no passages that I read with raised eyebrows because they were technically incorrect (other than the odd remark about his book being a sort of open-source text).
Maxim Februari has clearly read up on the subject since he wrote Klont. He also explained that he doesn't have a technical background, so we should expect insights more on the legal/philosophical/ethical aspects. He delivers on that promise. " In wezen is democratie een manier van omgaan met het conflict over waarden [in essence, democracy is a way to deal with value conflicts]". That thought, which he also develops further, was certainly food for thought.
He does fall into the trap of regarding the current system as perfect and therefore making false comparisons. For example, he questions how representative the data is, but of course, there are also plenty of elections in which specific segments of the population don't vote and so are not very representative either. Incidentally, the entire argument that the current democratic system might be replaced with data is a bit of an Aunt Sally, I don't think anyone is seriously proposing that?
He also repeatedly presents climate policy as being something imposed from above, rather something that a significant section of the population wants. Apparently, all the activities of Extinction Rebellion and the huge climate march passed him by.
I also think that in some places he exaggerates the moral implications of technology. For example, he tells an anecdote about how someone was upset because they could not take a shopping trolley away from a car park next to the shop, not only because it was forbidden but became the trolley had a mechanism to prevent it. According to Februari that was not good because it removed the possibility of moral choice from that person. Really? So I should not put a lock on my door because that removes the possibility of moral choice from a burglar? 
Nevertheless, despite those quibbles, this was a thought-provoking book that I enjoyed reading. 

Het water bewaart ons by Haro Kraak

adventurous challenging emotional sad fast-paced

4.0

There is a lot to like about this book. For a start, it is beautifully written, with many strking sentances. The landscape of the mainland is described as "flat boxes of the industrial farms, greenhouses, data centres and distribution centres that break the horizon like Morse codes" (platte dozen van de megastallen, kassen, datacenters end distributiehallen... die als morecodes de horizon onderbreken). Another one "the island lived from the answers, questions were superfluous". 
It is also very gripping, with all sorts of twists in the plot, most of which were unexpected. It is something of a Dutch Handmaids Tale, with a rather dystopian view of what would happen if the SGP were to take power in a small isolated community.
The book is set in the near future, when things and not quite like they are now. The author introduces that with more and more clues. First they are sailing across the Zuiderzee, then we hear that Gruttos (Godwits) are almost extinct, and so on until the reader builds up a picture of what has happened. 
The book manages to combine a page-turning plot with throught-provoking ideas about society; an unusual combination. Definitely recommended. 

Making It So by Patrick Stewart

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

The book has an interesting beginning and end, but in-between it is rather boring.
I found the beginning interesting because I also grew up in Yorkshire, albeit 25 years later and not in poverty. His recollection of the dialect brought back memories and I thought that some words he mentioned were just normal English (RP as he calls it), so I learnt something there. The Star Trek anecdotes were fun with all sorts of nuggets of information. I do wonder how much he held back. For instance, Wil Wheaton is on record as saying that he was forced into playing the role of Wesley Crusher by his abusive parents, but Patrick Stewart is either unaware of that or chose not to mention it. 
But between that, hundreds of pages of detail about his theatre acting work, full of small incidents, which I think were only of interest to the author. After a while, yet another old play with actors who I've mostly never even heard of, was getting quite tedious. His passion for Shakespeare made up for that in places; I just wish that he had focussed on that and some other highlights. Perhaps celebrities find it harder to take advice from their editors than lesser beings.
In general, I am not so keen on the memoir or autobiography genre. You know that they are biassed in presenting events to the author's advantage, but mostly don't know which bits they are missing out or distorting.  This book reminded me why I'm not so keen on that genre.

Sonny Boy by Annejet van der Zijl

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad fast-paced

4.0

Een treurig en aangrijpend verhaal, erg mooi verteld. 
Citaat: "Met dezelfde pragmatische koopmansgeest waarmee Nederland in de zeventiende eeuw in de slavenhandel was beland, schikte het land zich onder het nazi-regime."

Eus by Özcan Akyol

adventurous informative lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I was a bit disappointed.  Eus is a great interviewer and raconteur,  but parts of this book were rather boring and repetitive. Other parts though were amusing and entertaining.  Perhaps even informative about an unfamiliar world for me. I know that the work is partly autobiographical and the whole time was wondering what was true and what not. That was both a distraction and another dimension. 

Space Viking by H. Beam Piper

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This is an old science fiction book that has not aged well. Some things like characters smoking cigarettes and pipes on a space ship are just archaic.  Use of verier scales is quaint (I bet 90% of under 25s don't even know what that old technology is). All the aristocratic titles are just bizarre.  But what is really bad is all the stuff about how democracy is weak and can only be protected by the occasional massacre of undesirable elements. But then this was written at the time that the CIA was overthrowing democracies and installing dictators in various countries.  Apparently some writers at that time thought that was a good idea as well.

Auxiety by Dieuwertje Heuvelings

sad medium-paced

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

2.0

Normally a book which introduces me to a world different from my own is a bonus. This book was indeed about a sub culture that I know nothing about, but I did not feel enriched by reading it. The characters were unpleasant,  the plot mostly uninteresting and the dialect irritating.  
I can understand why the VPRO chose it for their bookclub, but it is not for me.

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

Despite the book being so very long, I wassrry that it came to an end. An enjoyable read.