charlierhys06's reviews
6 reviews

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this short read from cover to cover, Isherwood is wonderfully sensitive and emotional while remaining challenging to the reader - daring us to loosen our chains and live NOW. Love hard and fast and intensely. His comment on prudishness towards the end of the book was particularly striking and made me really reconsider my own thoughts on desire and the body. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

challenging funny 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

4.75

One of the most engaging, thoughtful, funny, ridiculous and contemplative books i’ve ever read. Despite being long and slow paced, I found Hellers writing had me completely absorbed throughout. Where he particularly shined is in his character descriptions, especially the blundering, dim, insecure men in charge - Major Major and Colonel Cathcart were particularly hilarious and painfully realistic. 
As many have pointed out, a large flaw of this book is its problematic portrayal of women. While at times I did feel uncomfortable, as a reader I chose to interpret the grotesque male sexuality and violence towards women as critical and as a symptom of the disease of war time and its lawless brutality and poverty. Personally, I feel this view adds another layer to Hellers critique and satire even if it was not intentional. 

Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

I enjoyed this book however I felt it wasn’t as good as it’s “twin” Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. The first half was well paced and engaging, however, towards the end there was a lack of narrative and it felt she repeated herself a lot in her emotional reflective paragraphs. I also noticed she follows a structure of narrative➡️ commentary➡️ mic drop line. This got repetitive and at some points I felt she was trying too hard to be insightful 
Overall i’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Oranges as it is a good companion to the book, but I don’t particularly think it’s effective as a stand alone novel. 

The Power by Naomi Alderman

challenging reflective tense 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? Yes

4.5

I loved this book entirely, it was so immersive I could almost feel the lightning in my veins when i was reading
My only criticism would be that some parts, especially the email exchanges, were a bit too on the nose and felt somewhat out of place compared to the relative subtlety of the rest of the book

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

One of the best books i’ve ever read, i finished it in a day because i couldn’t put it down!
I was in a reading slump and this was the perfect pick-me-up to get me back into books 
Gorgeously written and engaging from start to finish