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daniel_b_martin's reviews
28 reviews
Sifting Through The Sand by Anela Lani
5.0
This breakthrough collection of poems offers a unique and inspiring perspective of being big inside and oft told you are little in the world. The author offers a unique view of a Micronesian girl growing up in a Hawaiian 'paradise' in which she is constantly being marginalized in one way or another by societal ignorance. All in all, it is a collection about knowing your inner strength and inner worth and giving the seed of yourself the time, love and attention that it needs to grow regardless of struggles.
Anela is brilliant and her words highly expressive. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for contemporary poetry and a catalyst for deep self reflection.
Anela is brilliant and her words highly expressive. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for contemporary poetry and a catalyst for deep self reflection.
The Plague by Albert Camus
5.0
One of Camus major fictional epics. Follow the hidden narrator through the lives and attitudes of the townsfolk of Oran as they confront a plague. This book raises the questions about the value of life, the value of selfish vs. community minded attitudes and the ravages of time upon our souls and our hope for a brighter tomorrow. Of course in 2021 this book deserves first reads, re-reads and a lot of attention. Camus fiction generally circles around the questions of meaning in a world that is devoid of intrinsic meaning, how does human life, our experiences and the intersections and shared moments of life with others help to paint the picture of meaning that we use as a guidebook to our lives and day to day actions. Remarkably well written, with a tinge of mysterious intrigue as to who is actually telling the story the whole time, Camus makes us question if its his story, someone else's, or perhaps, even our own being revealed to us in different lights.
Dune by Frank Herbert
5.0
The best work in the Dune series. It takes about 60 pages to warm up, we first must understand the hidden powers and political world that this Sci-Fi masterpiece takes place within. Then, we follow Paul and his journey unto his destiny after he and his families right to rule has been shelved. He learns about his power within himself, and his power within the world. Though, he is as difficult to master as is sliding across the desert dunes, or preparing a spice worm to mount and ride off into the future. Altogether an impressive work of literature that is worth your while, though, after this work, I felt as though the trilogy starts to become more abstract and less enthralling.
The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
5.0
This non-fictional continental banger asks us to question the meaning and value of life, by asking us the hard questions. Is it worth it to continue pushing our boulder up the hill if it is only to roll back down again in endless succession? It poses this inquiry under the guise of the 'only serious philosophical question' : suicide. In which, we must ask ourselves at any given moment if we have the will to live and furthermore, why? Once this has been established we find our own innate capacities to bestow meaning in our lives through our dreams, desires and wishes.
Ultimately, a difficult read for both the non-philosophically trained and philosophically trained reader. Yet, this work is a beautiful exhibition of Camus own unique brand of continental philosophy and his unique tenacity toward inquiry of serious questions which can change our perspective of life and help all of us to find that eternal summer within. Which I believe is Camus greater goal throughout both his fictional and non-fictional works.
Ultimately, a difficult read for both the non-philosophically trained and philosophically trained reader. Yet, this work is a beautiful exhibition of Camus own unique brand of continental philosophy and his unique tenacity toward inquiry of serious questions which can change our perspective of life and help all of us to find that eternal summer within. Which I believe is Camus greater goal throughout both his fictional and non-fictional works.
The Schooldays of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee
5.0
Wonderful second work of this trilogy by J.M Coetzee. We continue to follow our little David as he gets older and goes to the school of dance to learn how to pull down the numbers from the stars and dance them out. Simon continues to be plagued by his own odd situation in life. Things with Innes deteriorate and he finds himself all the more distant from David. He has trouble understanding his place in life and how he can still be a good influence on David's development. It is clear that once David attends boarding school he is no longer under Simon or Innes's influence and begins to take on new shapes as he grows up to be the bright young man that we remember from Childhood of Jesus. Though, events take a turn, we have a lot to learn from Coetzee about social morality and the divisions between private and political life that run as parallel arguments to the main storyline.
This book is not quite as philosophically diverse as Childhood was, however, Childhood of Jesus was quite thorough and Coetzee use's the fictional endroit that he develops to search deeper into themes about education, the nature of knowledge, political and social rights, privacy, guilt/ innocence and furthers his exploratory commentary on the nature of the family unit that he began in the first book. I highly recommend reading this trilogy and am looking forward to reading The Death of Jesus, though also sad that the story is about to come to an end. Luckily there are many other Coetzee works out there to keep my interest in philosophical literature alive.
This book is not quite as philosophically diverse as Childhood was, however, Childhood of Jesus was quite thorough and Coetzee use's the fictional endroit that he develops to search deeper into themes about education, the nature of knowledge, political and social rights, privacy, guilt/ innocence and furthers his exploratory commentary on the nature of the family unit that he began in the first book. I highly recommend reading this trilogy and am looking forward to reading The Death of Jesus, though also sad that the story is about to come to an end. Luckily there are many other Coetzee works out there to keep my interest in philosophical literature alive.
The Death of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee
5.0
Fantastic ending to a thought provoking trilogy. This third work wraps together some of the bits and pieces left open in the first two books, it goes beyond being a simple fictional narrative and instead makes a sophisticated utilization of the narrative to make philosophical statements about values, institutions and the ever waging war between real and ideal worlds. It does not lack mystery, heartache and all the themes of being human. I believe that part of Coetzee's mission with this trilogy is to evoke the passions, and or, at least to make us aware of what potentials both living a passionate or a stoic existence has to offer, or leaves empty within, our lives.
The explicit entrails of the project of re-philosophicalization of fiction and re-fictionalization of philosophy are finally made evident in this work in which Coetzee explicitly announces that he was not trying to argue that any approach is more useful or correct than any other, that the message that is most important isn't the one administered but the one that is received. I found this aspect which occurs near the end of the book to be very eloquent and an ode to both the genre and goals of this project. I find this series to be inspiring as my own works struggle to contribute to this same project of philosophical fiction as well.
Overall, throughout the series I also find the plights of Simon, David, Innes, Arroyo, etc. and even Dimitri, dance together to create a realistic context of life through which the many subjective perspectives and vantage points of the characters perform an exceptional existential survey and do well to mirror the subjective variance of real life human beings in community. One could even perchance say that when they dance together they bring the numbers 'down from the stars', rehumanizing the ideal and showing how both ideal and institutional arrangements can hardly encompass or determine all aspects and forms of being human- particularly within a real context. Without this variance, diversity and inescapability of the vastness of humanity we cannot properly reflect the vastness of the cosmos which we inhabit and contain within the courageous and bright lights of our very own souls.
Lastly, regardless of David's lack of assignation of a number, I think that David was right when he stated to Simon that he is "number 100", because he did give 100% bravery and never gave up on being himself no matter who had what opinions and why. His spirit throughout the three books proves that David gave himself to the world until the world, complicated, complex and unmistakably mysterious in the origins and future of life, came at last to sweep over him in a fit of its own failures.
The explicit entrails of the project of re-philosophicalization of fiction and re-fictionalization of philosophy are finally made evident in this work in which Coetzee explicitly announces that he was not trying to argue that any approach is more useful or correct than any other, that the message that is most important isn't the one administered but the one that is received. I found this aspect which occurs near the end of the book to be very eloquent and an ode to both the genre and goals of this project. I find this series to be inspiring as my own works struggle to contribute to this same project of philosophical fiction as well.
Overall, throughout the series I also find the plights of Simon, David, Innes, Arroyo, etc. and even Dimitri, dance together to create a realistic context of life through which the many subjective perspectives and vantage points of the characters perform an exceptional existential survey and do well to mirror the subjective variance of real life human beings in community. One could even perchance say that when they dance together they bring the numbers 'down from the stars', rehumanizing the ideal and showing how both ideal and institutional arrangements can hardly encompass or determine all aspects and forms of being human- particularly within a real context. Without this variance, diversity and inescapability of the vastness of humanity we cannot properly reflect the vastness of the cosmos which we inhabit and contain within the courageous and bright lights of our very own souls.
Lastly, regardless of David's lack of assignation of a number, I think that David was right when he stated to Simon that he is "number 100", because he did give 100% bravery and never gave up on being himself no matter who had what opinions and why. His spirit throughout the three books proves that David gave himself to the world until the world, complicated, complex and unmistakably mysterious in the origins and future of life, came at last to sweep over him in a fit of its own failures.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
3.0
Once again Erin Morgenstern gives the world a unique and highly imaginative novel. I am not sure that anything like this has been done before; which is what I admire most about Erin's writing style. She goes beyond the traditional means of storytelling and creates something new, realistic with hints of magic dust sprinkled on every page.
Though many parts of this book were confusing there were also many moments of wonder, surprise, mystery, suspense and interesting coinciding story lines (that most often worked). It did pain me, (hence 4 instead of 5 stars) that upon finishing it I felt as though some things were lacking. Some of the plot jumps were awkward though I know that she did them intentionally, some aspects of the book felt rushed and the parts of me that wants to somehow grade her would expect more from my metaphorical student given that I know what wonders she is truly capable of. I don't want to say what too explicitly but things to do with Kat's notebook and Zachary's mom I would have liked to have seen attended to one more time at the end.
Though I do find the ultra modern romance nuances and the magical realms within realms, doors behind doors, puppet master with conscious puppet aspects of this book to be interesting. Some of the symbolism worked well in concert with the other symbols, but I felt that perhaps this book was not so much a book to tell us about life but a book to tell us about imagination. I think that Erin personally doesn't think that things NEED to make sense, that they simply need to be experienced in a fictional context. I would not recommend this book as highly as Night Circus, which was truly masterfully orchestrated, but I still think that this is a good book for true book lovers because of the odes to literature that are scattered throughout its pages. That is something I think true book and story lovers will appreciate no matter how confusing and thick and shifting beneath your feet the storyline seems at times.
Looking forward to her next book, if there is one, and I hope there is!
Though many parts of this book were confusing there were also many moments of wonder, surprise, mystery, suspense and interesting coinciding story lines (that most often worked). It did pain me, (hence 4 instead of 5 stars) that upon finishing it I felt as though some things were lacking. Some of the plot jumps were awkward though I know that she did them intentionally, some aspects of the book felt rushed and the parts of me that wants to somehow grade her would expect more from my metaphorical student given that I know what wonders she is truly capable of. I don't want to say what too explicitly but things to do with Kat's notebook and Zachary's mom I would have liked to have seen attended to one more time at the end.
Though I do find the ultra modern romance nuances and the magical realms within realms, doors behind doors, puppet master with conscious puppet aspects of this book to be interesting. Some of the symbolism worked well in concert with the other symbols, but I felt that perhaps this book was not so much a book to tell us about life but a book to tell us about imagination. I think that Erin personally doesn't think that things NEED to make sense, that they simply need to be experienced in a fictional context. I would not recommend this book as highly as Night Circus, which was truly masterfully orchestrated, but I still think that this is a good book for true book lovers because of the odes to literature that are scattered throughout its pages. That is something I think true book and story lovers will appreciate no matter how confusing and thick and shifting beneath your feet the storyline seems at times.
Looking forward to her next book, if there is one, and I hope there is!
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
3.0
This book is an interesting exploration into the mechanisms of shame and vulnerability.
Most of the praise I would give to Brown it is in its ability as a pep talk to step into vulnerable situations and find more fulfillment in life from doing so. Personally it has helped to make my romantic relationship much better by engaging in vulnerability with my partner and engaging in conversations about things instead of sweeping problems and issues under a rug in hopes that they will disappear from being out of sight out of mind. Before you find my review too scathing know that I recommend it and would recommend it to others as a series of thought exercises and perspective approaches toward conflict alleviation and dealing with life traumas in a progressive manner.
However, my three star rating is mainly due to some philosophical problems which arise, and which I think Brown tries to resolve without actually resolving them. She pulls a great deal from her research participants and her own life, however, throughout the work that becomes a distraction from some of the aspects of paradoxes of shame which I am not sure she is aware exist within the textual development of the book. In that, there is an innate shame invoked for those who do not dare greatly, or those who inflict shame and participate in a shame culture. While she does make an effort to attend to this in the later segments of the book, ultimately she has not convinced me that guilt and shame are all that far apart and that in certain sections she seems to absolve herself from essentially shaming people for feeling or inflicting shame. This paradox is not invented by Brown, but unfortunately this text does not fully resolve these issues either.
If it were written by a layman I would perhaps be more forgiving. There are also some instances in this book in which I appreciate her admissions that she is not perfect, but that isn't exactly an excuse for not following the research or the argument to its due end, or even admitting that some things are simply unresolvable and we can only do out best. There is a partial remedy in the final anecdote about her daughter swimming the 100m breast stroke and how you need just show up, but she doesn't really fully wrap that back into some of the overall themes of this journey as sufficiently as I, a rather picky reader, would have liked to have seen and instead falls back on it being 'personal experiences' while at the same time attempting to pretend that there is some form of blanket universal subjectivity which can easily all be solved if we just take off our armor, engage in vulnerability and chose to focus on strengths rather than weaknesses while not inflicting shame on ourselves or others for shortcomings.
One last point is something that is not a unique criticism to this author, and I might take some heat from it, which is okay if you want to disagree with me but its a matter of personal preference. Though the history of literature has assumed a male audience, flipping the dichotomy of oppression is hardly an actual lasting remedy. I think that speaking of humans in the general sense as 'they' is more engaging than is writing in the 'traditional' "he" or passive aggressively replacing it with "she". If we want to live in a fair world then we should drop these kinds of practices and just write for all humans. Unless the point isn't to make progress but to pretend to while taking little jabs, though this has been the result of some liberal endeavors with good intentions but which, like this book are not thought out fully to the end of their own road.
Most of the praise I would give to Brown it is in its ability as a pep talk to step into vulnerable situations and find more fulfillment in life from doing so. Personally it has helped to make my romantic relationship much better by engaging in vulnerability with my partner and engaging in conversations about things instead of sweeping problems and issues under a rug in hopes that they will disappear from being out of sight out of mind. Before you find my review too scathing know that I recommend it and would recommend it to others as a series of thought exercises and perspective approaches toward conflict alleviation and dealing with life traumas in a progressive manner.
However, my three star rating is mainly due to some philosophical problems which arise, and which I think Brown tries to resolve without actually resolving them. She pulls a great deal from her research participants and her own life, however, throughout the work that becomes a distraction from some of the aspects of paradoxes of shame which I am not sure she is aware exist within the textual development of the book. In that, there is an innate shame invoked for those who do not dare greatly, or those who inflict shame and participate in a shame culture. While she does make an effort to attend to this in the later segments of the book, ultimately she has not convinced me that guilt and shame are all that far apart and that in certain sections she seems to absolve herself from essentially shaming people for feeling or inflicting shame. This paradox is not invented by Brown, but unfortunately this text does not fully resolve these issues either.
If it were written by a layman I would perhaps be more forgiving. There are also some instances in this book in which I appreciate her admissions that she is not perfect, but that isn't exactly an excuse for not following the research or the argument to its due end, or even admitting that some things are simply unresolvable and we can only do out best. There is a partial remedy in the final anecdote about her daughter swimming the 100m breast stroke and how you need just show up, but she doesn't really fully wrap that back into some of the overall themes of this journey as sufficiently as I, a rather picky reader, would have liked to have seen and instead falls back on it being 'personal experiences' while at the same time attempting to pretend that there is some form of blanket universal subjectivity which can easily all be solved if we just take off our armor, engage in vulnerability and chose to focus on strengths rather than weaknesses while not inflicting shame on ourselves or others for shortcomings.
One last point is something that is not a unique criticism to this author, and I might take some heat from it, which is okay if you want to disagree with me but its a matter of personal preference. Though the history of literature has assumed a male audience, flipping the dichotomy of oppression is hardly an actual lasting remedy. I think that speaking of humans in the general sense as 'they' is more engaging than is writing in the 'traditional' "he" or passive aggressively replacing it with "she". If we want to live in a fair world then we should drop these kinds of practices and just write for all humans. Unless the point isn't to make progress but to pretend to while taking little jabs, though this has been the result of some liberal endeavors with good intentions but which, like this book are not thought out fully to the end of their own road.