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callum_mclaughlin's reviews
819 reviews
A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees by Yoshida Kenkō
2.0
Lovely prose and a couple of nice passages, but a few too many weird opinions (like how husbands and wives shouldn't live together) and contradictions (like how drinking is a disgraceful sin but forcing someone else to get drunk is hilarious) for this to really be my cup of tea - or sake, for that matter.
Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy
5.0
Carol Ann Duffy weaves words together that ooze like honey. I don't know how she manages to compose poetry that is at times both gut-punchingly beautiful and yet entirely apporoachable, but I'm so glad that she does.
Antarctica by Claire Keegan
4.0
The actual writing style is somewhat understated, with simple language and description based prose, but I think this belies the strong melancholic and often dark vibes in these stories, which in themselves feel almost like cautionary, modern fairy tales at times.
The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg
4.0
Stories within stories inspired by mythology from around the world, woven together by Greenberg's charming artwork. Cute and quirky.
Lips Too Chilled by Matsuo Bashō
2.0
If I'd the knack
I'd sing like
cherry flakes falling.
I love the above haiku, but there were only a couple of others that really did anything for me, sadly. Given their intricate imagery and delicate word play, it's a case of lost in translation I expect.
I'd sing like
cherry flakes falling.
I love the above haiku, but there were only a couple of others that really did anything for me, sadly. Given their intricate imagery and delicate word play, it's a case of lost in translation I expect.