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clay1st's reviews
57 reviews
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
5.0
Beautiful language and a great story.
Personally I didn't find the use of present tense disturbing at all - I don't know what all the fuss is about.
I would say that this book is a little challenging to get into (the writing could be described as "dense" - but beautifully so in my opinion). I would also say it's quite hard to get into without a little understand of the historical context.
I got something like 50 pages in, resorted to watching a short documentary about Thomas Cromwell then started reading again and enjoyed it much better this time.
The depiction of Henry VIII is fascinating, I have no idea of its accuracy but it certainly adds a different perspective to a man often characterized as an unscrupulous, megalomaniac psychopath.
I found it slightly lacking in emotional connection and poignance but this is a story of a man on the up - perhaps more will come in the next book.
Personally I didn't find the use of present tense disturbing at all - I don't know what all the fuss is about.
I would say that this book is a little challenging to get into (the writing could be described as "dense" - but beautifully so in my opinion). I would also say it's quite hard to get into without a little understand of the historical context.
I got something like 50 pages in, resorted to watching a short documentary about Thomas Cromwell then started reading again and enjoyed it much better this time.
The depiction of Henry VIII is fascinating, I have no idea of its accuracy but it certainly adds a different perspective to a man often characterized as an unscrupulous, megalomaniac psychopath.
I found it slightly lacking in emotional connection and poignance but this is a story of a man on the up - perhaps more will come in the next book.
The Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail by Ray Dalio
2.0
There is really only one idea in this book and that is that nations go through stages of rise and decline that lead from one to another. He also explains a little about happens during each stage that can either prolong it or lead to the next stage, mostly in terms of long-term debt cycle... stuff... but it doesn't feel very intellectually rigorous, he spends little time looking for exceptions or analysing causal links.
He also uses appeal to the fact he has consulted many "friends" and "experts" as a backing for assertions wayyy too often. It's actual cringe.
Ray's "keep it simple, stupid" style is very approachable and it's also clear that Ray also thinks it's charming to repeat himself in order to 'hammer the point home' but it's really not, this book should have been much much shorter or maybe just a blog post.
Overall I'd just say, read a summary online of which there are many and you will not miss out on anything.
He also uses appeal to the fact he has consulted many "friends" and "experts" as a backing for assertions wayyy too often. It's actual cringe.
Ray's "keep it simple, stupid" style is very approachable and it's also clear that Ray also thinks it's charming to repeat himself in order to 'hammer the point home' but it's really not, this book should have been much much shorter or maybe just a blog post.
Overall I'd just say, read a summary online of which there are many and you will not miss out on anything.
The Blocksize War: The battle for control over Bitcoin's protocol rules by Jonathan Bier
5.0
If you have anything more than a passing interest in bitcoin you must read this book. This is the book I'll recommend first to anyone interested in reading a book on crypto.
It's an account of the dispute "war" within the bitcoin community that ultimately resulted in bitcoin splitting two in in 2017 with the creation of bitcoin cash.
This book does require some background understanding of cryptocurrency - as an enthusiast it's hard for me to guage what it'd be like to read this book without any knowledge of bitcoin. However, it's Safe to say that this book doesn't require any knowledge of coding or other technical or IT-specific skills (since I totally lack these anyway!)
The thing I loved most is that reading this book felt like reading a thriller - yet does not feel over dramatized. It does seem a little biased against the "big-blockers" but only in the sense of supporting the underdog "small-blockers" for the virtue of them being more populist, not because they are nobler or technically superior.
It's an account of the dispute "war" within the bitcoin community that ultimately resulted in bitcoin splitting two in in 2017 with the creation of bitcoin cash.
This book does require some background understanding of cryptocurrency - as an enthusiast it's hard for me to guage what it'd be like to read this book without any knowledge of bitcoin. However, it's Safe to say that this book doesn't require any knowledge of coding or other technical or IT-specific skills (since I totally lack these anyway!)
The thing I loved most is that reading this book felt like reading a thriller - yet does not feel over dramatized. It does seem a little biased against the "big-blockers" but only in the sense of supporting the underdog "small-blockers" for the virtue of them being more populist, not because they are nobler or technically superior.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
5.0
A little vignette into the personalities, struggles and catharses of a loosely tied together gang of expats hanging out in post ww1 Europe. They're tied together by a web of desire that is impossible to resolve harmoniously.
Standing at the center is Brett and Jake's unfulfilled relationship. Little is made explicit here, Jake is impotent (some say even castrated... though there is no evidence of this).
Though Brett, she claims, loves Jake - she has a sexual appetite which Jake cannot fulfil and so being with him romantically is too painful for her to bear. Perhaps I'm being a little naive but I do wonder why, given the rest of Jake's body works fine, it's little unclear why they could not at least give it a go... I guess Brett's operating on an all-or-nothing principal here. Instead she bounces between loveless marriages and passionate affairs.
Jake, conspicuously, does not seem to think much about his sexual impediment, only referring it to on a couple of occasions with utterly indifferent resignation - an attitude that perfectly matches his persona of 'wise' cynicism. Is he bluffing? if he's not, where is his anger and sadness?
The dangerous diplomatic web formed between our band of ex-pats grows gradually more fragile, but remains sustained by an almost bewildering carefreeness, as if something so huge is still looming in the recent past that any of life's ordinary tragedies seem trivial.
Apparently this book is also semiautobiographical (minus the impotence?).
Standing at the center is Brett and Jake's unfulfilled relationship. Little is made explicit here, Jake is impotent (some say even castrated... though there is no evidence of this).
Though Brett, she claims, loves Jake - she has a sexual appetite which Jake cannot fulfil and so being with him romantically is too painful for her to bear. Perhaps I'm being a little naive but I do wonder why, given the rest of Jake's body works fine, it's little unclear why they could not at least give it a go... I guess Brett's operating on an all-or-nothing principal here. Instead she bounces between loveless marriages and passionate affairs.
Jake, conspicuously, does not seem to think much about his sexual impediment, only referring it to on a couple of occasions with utterly indifferent resignation - an attitude that perfectly matches his persona of 'wise' cynicism. Is he bluffing? if he's not, where is his anger and sadness?
The dangerous diplomatic web formed between our band of ex-pats grows gradually more fragile, but remains sustained by an almost bewildering carefreeness, as if something so huge is still looming in the recent past that any of life's ordinary tragedies seem trivial.
Apparently this book is also semiautobiographical (minus the impotence?).
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
4.0
I loved the first third when Robert is finding his feet among the Spanish guerillas and feeling out each character. The book suddenly took a turn into introspection with long sections dedicated and descriptions of Robert's memories and to stories told by the new characters around him.
It was still enjoyable but it felt slow at this point.
I never understood Pablo's play of throwing the detonator away before subsequently returning to help them... for a man portrayed as deceptively intelligent and cunning, this act seemed to lack much explanation or motive...
the plight of Andres to reach Golz with a message about the fascists' foreknowledge of the attack reminds me of the recent film 1917. I wonder if this is a direct reference or whether the struggle to move important messages around is a pre-telecom war chiche.
unlike others who say they wept, I felt totally numb during Robert's farewell to Maria, but to me this also felt befitting of the story.
It was still enjoyable but it felt slow at this point.
I never understood Pablo's play of throwing the detonator away before subsequently returning to help them... for a man portrayed as deceptively intelligent and cunning, this act seemed to lack much explanation or motive...
the plight of Andres to reach Golz with a message about the fascists' foreknowledge of the attack reminds me of the recent film 1917. I wonder if this is a direct reference or whether the struggle to move important messages around is a pre-telecom war chiche.
unlike others who say they wept, I felt totally numb during Robert's farewell to Maria, but to me this also felt befitting of the story.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
1.0
First I thought this was a book about an autistic boy (Hal).
Then I thought this was a book written by an autistic author.
Then I thought the painstakingly low EQ descriptions of every characters thoughts and intentions was symbolic.
Finally I accepted that this book is just bad.
I don't wanna bash on autistic authors here, but what I found extremely irritating is how unaware and try-hard smug all the writing seemed. I wanted to believe that the arrogant intellectual smugness of the narrator was some sort of symbol for social or political decay, how we're all becoming more like robots, or perhaps all becoming progressively vacuous and competitively pseudo-intellectual... maybe it is - but there's only so much fart sniffing I can take before I tap out, no matter how deeply ironic said flatulance is.
As one example;
Everything he writes about medical and psychiatric issues is uninformed and totally banal...
When the author muses on the nature of schizophrenia or makes judgements on differing validities/severities of depressive presentations, it is not attributed as an inner monologue of one of his book's characters (in which case it could be written off as a character flaw), it's the nameless narrator who comes across as arrogant to the point of insanity.
This was repeated again and again and it made me feel sick, but mainly bored.
I did not finish reading this book and perhaps I have seriously missed the point here but until someone can enlighten me - I'm out.
Then I thought this was a book written by an autistic author.
Then I thought the painstakingly low EQ descriptions of every characters thoughts and intentions was symbolic.
Finally I accepted that this book is just bad.
I don't wanna bash on autistic authors here, but what I found extremely irritating is how unaware and try-hard smug all the writing seemed. I wanted to believe that the arrogant intellectual smugness of the narrator was some sort of symbol for social or political decay, how we're all becoming more like robots, or perhaps all becoming progressively vacuous and competitively pseudo-intellectual... maybe it is - but there's only so much fart sniffing I can take before I tap out, no matter how deeply ironic said flatulance is.
As one example;
Everything he writes about medical and psychiatric issues is uninformed and totally banal...
When the author muses on the nature of schizophrenia or makes judgements on differing validities/severities of depressive presentations, it is not attributed as an inner monologue of one of his book's characters (in which case it could be written off as a character flaw), it's the nameless narrator who comes across as arrogant to the point of insanity.
This was repeated again and again and it made me feel sick, but mainly bored.
I did not finish reading this book and perhaps I have seriously missed the point here but until someone can enlighten me - I'm out.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
3.0
I fell in love with this book in the first few chapters. The flowing conversational style of writing, the gossip, folly and humanity on display. Sadly the excitement of this love didn't last long. The middle sections of the book were enjoyable but not enthralling as it settled into a somewhat predictable rhythm of 'unconventional' courtship and Russian society. By the end of the book I was bored and the moralistic aspect of the narrative I found utterly tiresome... perhaps this progression into tedium is itself allegorical?
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
3.0
This book starts off by carefully establishing a premise that credit is the oldest and morst natural monetary system, contrary to traditional assertions of the primacy of barter and commodity money.
Then transition from 'human' to market economies is discussed, interestingly but a little less carefully, asserting the driving force behind it being state funded military activity.
After that, the book seems to lose purpose, it gets bogged down with long sections on largely irrelevant topics like the origins of tales of noble adventurer knights. This borderline rambling carried on for a very long time.
The emergence of corporate financing and maritime expansion in Europe is barely mentioned before suddenly we're doomsdaying 21st century modern monetary theory without much analysis.
This would have been a much better book if it had been titled 'the origins of debt' and finished after the first third.
Then transition from 'human' to market economies is discussed, interestingly but a little less carefully, asserting the driving force behind it being state funded military activity.
After that, the book seems to lose purpose, it gets bogged down with long sections on largely irrelevant topics like the origins of tales of noble adventurer knights. This borderline rambling carried on for a very long time.
The emergence of corporate financing and maritime expansion in Europe is barely mentioned before suddenly we're doomsdaying 21st century modern monetary theory without much analysis.
This would have been a much better book if it had been titled 'the origins of debt' and finished after the first third.
The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow
2.0
- Disclaimer I only read the first half -
I found this book rather slow and bland. Perhaps there is limited information, or perhaps the story is simply quite dull. It felt like more time is spent discussing the personality and views of the men (in a very one-dimensional manner) than the details of what they actually did.
My favourite moment was the quote from JP Morgan "A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason"
Which is genuinely insightful coming from a man who was outwardly highly moralistic but objectively spent his life monopolising industries and concentrating power.
I found this book rather slow and bland. Perhaps there is limited information, or perhaps the story is simply quite dull. It felt like more time is spent discussing the personality and views of the men (in a very one-dimensional manner) than the details of what they actually did.
My favourite moment was the quote from JP Morgan "A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason"
Which is genuinely insightful coming from a man who was outwardly highly moralistic but objectively spent his life monopolising industries and concentrating power.
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
1.0
For a shame and vulnerability researcher this book comes across as painfully defensive and narcissistic.... Which is not really so surprising when you think about it.
I honestly don't know how this book is rated so highly. It's a repetition of her two most viewed TED talks (sometimes word for word) which I actually really enjoyed, but with a whole lot more fluff and pointless humble bragging thrown in.
I had to stop around half way after Brené shamed women who talk on their phone at the nail salon instead of talking to the nail lady like she does. She knows her nail lady's /real/ (Brené's language not mine) Vietnamese name fyi
I honestly don't know how this book is rated so highly. It's a repetition of her two most viewed TED talks (sometimes word for word) which I actually really enjoyed, but with a whole lot more fluff and pointless humble bragging thrown in.
I had to stop around half way after Brené shamed women who talk on their phone at the nail salon instead of talking to the nail lady like she does. She knows her nail lady's /real/ (Brené's language not mine) Vietnamese name fyi