dominicwong's reviews
52 reviews

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

dark informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy, Cormac McCarthy

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

"Only now is the child finally divested of all that he has been. His origins are become remote as is his destiny and not again in all the world's turning will there be terrains so wild and barbarous to try whether the stuff of creation may be shaped to man's will or whether his own heart is not another kind of clay."

To no surprise, this is now some of my favourite stuff I've ever read. This book is crafted with such painstaking delicacy that all of its violence and depravity and desolation (and there's a fuck ton of it) reads like scripture. Ageless and fateful. Each word drips with such crucial intention and so so much blood. Like always, Cormac McCarthy proves that his words are to me what oxygen is to my survival.

Lanny by Max Porter

emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Toothwort is alone. He's tiny, the pulse of a robin redbreast, not even that, the empty air where a robin was earlier in the day, the atom-memory of the pulse, smaller than light."

This was a book that I (semi surprisingly) actually really liked. Such an odd read. But so gosh darn charming! A poetic-fairytale-magical realism story written in a refreshingly unique style but at its core is a tale about the indefatigable bond between mother and son? I mean, come on.

Love you mom.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

adventurous inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“I'm glad I've been wrong enough to keep in practice. . . You can't avoid it, you've got to learn to handle it. If you only come face to face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it's bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day--that way they ain't usually much worse than a dry shave.”

Never have I read a book where I fell as in love with the characters as I did with those in Lonesome Dove. Each and every one of them feels so real, which makes each character's breathtaking, vast, and oftentimes heartbreaking journey feel that much more real as well. Lonesome Dove is something like a perfect novel, and maybe THE perfect western novel of all time.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

adventurous inspiring reflective fast-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

“It’s not life I’m tired of, with its astonishing ocean currents and layers of ice and all the delicate feathers that make up a wing. It’s myself.”

Never felt warmer reading a book with so much cold. Absolutely stunning and beautiful. Also I'd bet money they will adapt this book into a movie. You heard it here first.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

adventurous emotional inspiring relaxing slow-paced

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

5.0

“And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.”

Obviously nothing short of a masterpiece. A sweeping, multi-generational story that is woven with truth, and contains a gravity that transcends the novel to something bible-adjacent. An intelligent classic and the sharpest of page turners - this book is worth all the time in the world. Also the best character is Chinese.

Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

“He stared. What, after all, should he do? Take his things and leave? Go to a hotel? Make certain arrangements? How should a man act, given these circumstances”

Carver has a gifted touch on beautiful and authentic writing in a short number of pages. SHORT, short. There is a sharpness to every word and an effortlessness in his prose that feels so goddamn natural. How on earth can I ever read another short story again? I am frustrated.

Neuromancer by William Gibson

3.0

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Before long, he caught a hold of himself and concluded that nothing ever did happen again; to each was given days and chances which wouldn’t come back around. And wasn’t it sweet to be where you were and let it remind you of the past for once, despite the upset, instead of always looking on into the mechanics of the days and the trouble ahead, which might never come.”

What a nice little Christmas novella. Loved the quiet style. Loved the protagonist. Didn't love how short it was. I could read an infinite amount of pages if they all looked like they came from this book. Aye.