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brannonkrkhuang's reviews
471 reviews
The Innocents Abroad: Or, the New Pilgrims' Progress by Mark Twain
1.0
Stopped reading when he started talking about how he wished he could kill all the Native Americans. Not a good book. Not a good person writing it.
My Struggle, Book 2: A Man in Love by Karl Ove Knausgård
5.0
This book is brutally honest. There are times I hate Karl Ove. There are other times when I really dislike him. But the writing is so captivating I can't stop. I expect I'll read every single book in the series like this. What I loved most about this book is his stories about his kids, about raising them, and the struggles that come with raising children. I think this book is a good cautionary tale for pre-parents. I respect the book for its excellent writing and the author's honesty, his total willingness to show himself in all his bad glory. We often try to bury the bad things in our lives and sugarcoat who we are. You don't get that here. You get everything. You get all the mess and agony and self-inflicted torture of life.
Native Son by Richard Wright
5.0
One of the best books I've ever read. Richard Wright is one of the all-time greats. Put him up there with Proust and any other big names you feel like thinking of. I will always remember this book. It will stay with me forever.
Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings by Mark Twain
3.0
Twain gets one of the most rare ratings I ever give out on here (I usually either give five stars or one star). Some of his stuff in this book is excellent. His views on god and religion are so ahead of his time the world STILL hasn't caught up to him. On the other hand, some of the stuff included here is very skippable. Any time he brings up Native Americans, you can bet it's to call them all savages and completely despise them, which is beyond infuriating. At other times, he talks about people of color as if he's studied critical race theory. A true rollercoaster of unfinished writings. I'm immensely impressed with parts of this book, and also immensely disappointed with others. There you have it. You've forced me to give it a three. I recommend reading half of this book. Skip the boring and cringe bits, and dig into the fascinating stuff. Also, get it from the library.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
5.0
This book is crazy. I started to really empathize with and relate to the main character just for her to go on the most insane, twisted, unexpected journey of all time. Good stuff.
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke
5.0
I love Susanna Clarke more than practically anything in the universe when it comes to books of fiction. This book is excellent and belongs in a museum where everybody can read it all the time.
Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov by Anton Chekhov
5.0
Anton Chekhov gets me. I love him. He should have lived long enough to hang out with me and talk about death and stuff. Gone too soon. Excellent book right here.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
5.0
The book is beautiful beautiful beautiful. And what a book it is. It's about a woman and her creek and all the things she sees and sees.
Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
5.0
Here is a book that will definitely make it into my top ten books list for the year. Assata is incredible. I love her. The way she talks about and spells out amerika and its kourt system is legendary. Every fiber of her being is opposed to the oppression, racism, and fascism of the united states and I just love it. She is a real revolutionary who faced down the massive deadly beast and slipped right under its pig nose. She should be an inspiration to every single person living in the police states of amerika. Also, of course and always, a massive shout out to Cuba.