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imme_van_gorp's Reviews (702)
This collection of poems is parted into a happy / naive side (sectioned under innocence) and a more sad / realistic side (sectioned under experience). This divide and obvious contrast between both sides really adds a lot of weight to the overall message and thoughts portrayed in this collection. It was very interesting.
I can definitely get behind most of the criticisms and observations expressed by William Blake in a lot of these poems. He seems like a pretty cool and moral dude, especially for his time. Good for him.
There are quite a few poems in this collection I really really like, and one of my favourites is probably The Clod and the Pebble:
Love seeketh not Itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hells dispair.
So sang a little Clod of Clay,
Trodden with the cattles feet:
But a Pebble of the brook,
Warbled out these metres meet.
Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind another to Its delight:
Joys in another loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heavens despite.
This poem is kind of simple and actually quite straightforward, but it really resonated with me and thus, felt special. I also like that ‘innocence’ and ‘experience’ meet half way and that each show their different views. It displays the intriguing contrast of both sides and is in this way quite representative of the collection as a whole.
I can definitely get behind most of the criticisms and observations expressed by William Blake in a lot of these poems. He seems like a pretty cool and moral dude, especially for his time. Good for him.
There are quite a few poems in this collection I really really like, and one of my favourites is probably The Clod and the Pebble:
Love seeketh not Itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hells dispair.
So sang a little Clod of Clay,
Trodden with the cattles feet:
But a Pebble of the brook,
Warbled out these metres meet.
Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind another to Its delight:
Joys in another loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heavens despite.
This poem is kind of simple and actually quite straightforward, but it really resonated with me and thus, felt special. I also like that ‘innocence’ and ‘experience’ meet half way and that each show their different views. It displays the intriguing contrast of both sides and is in this way quite representative of the collection as a whole.
This book was fun at first, but at a certain point it really just drags on and on, and I was utterly and completely over it. In the end, I genuinely did not care and wanted to get it done with as soon as possible.
It’s quite a shame though, as the story and characters did have potential to be fun and cute. The author should have just quit while she was ahead and made this novel way shorter. Every little interest and investment I had at first just shattered after being dragged out for so long.
Besides, hardly anything happens that’s noteworthy and nothing gets really fleshed out properly. It’s all so flat and eventually just.. boring.
It’s quite a shame though, as the story and characters did have potential to be fun and cute. The author should have just quit while she was ahead and made this novel way shorter. Every little interest and investment I had at first just shattered after being dragged out for so long.
Besides, hardly anything happens that’s noteworthy and nothing gets really fleshed out properly. It’s all so flat and eventually just.. boring.
This short story is a depiction of ‘the perfect crime’ where a woman kills her husband without any preparations. Everything she does is done in the heat of the moment, and yet she is able to execute it perfectly.
Aside from the details of the crime itself, which I will not discuss due to ‘spoilers’, I also find it interesting to consider the woman’s psyche. She’s quite difficult to read as her behaviour sends out a lot of mixed signals, and I am still not sure if she was a bad person, maybe even a sociopath, or if she had only gone crazy in the moment due to being in shock. The human mind is baffling.
Aside from the details of the crime itself, which I will not discuss due to ‘spoilers’, I also find it interesting to consider the woman’s psyche. She’s quite difficult to read as her behaviour sends out a lot of mixed signals, and I am still not sure if she was a bad person, maybe even a sociopath, or if she had only gone crazy in the moment due to being in shock. The human mind is baffling.
This short story covers the subject of abortion in which the man is trying to convince the girl to get one. To me the story is mostly about emotional manipulation.
The man is smooth talking the girl, saying the “operation” isn’t a big deal and it will make them happy again: basically, he states that such an abortion will erase the worry that is now preventing him from projecting his love for her. This thought is probably the main reason why the girl is even considering an abortion, hence said emotional manipulation.
The man is smooth talking the girl, saying the “operation” isn’t a big deal and it will make them happy again: basically, he states that such an abortion will erase the worry that is now preventing him from projecting his love for her. This thought is probably the main reason why the girl is even considering an abortion, hence said emotional manipulation.
This story shows an obviously deranged man after having just killed someone and who is now trying to convince us (the readers), or perhaps even himself, that he is not crazy. The man claims that he is merely extraordinarily evolved in his senses.
Of course we learn more with each sentence that this guy is anything but sane, no matter how much he likes to believe otherwise, and we see him reach his boiling point to eventually committing his crime and later fessing up to it.
The question that lingers, however, is: was it guilt that made his crazy pop out again in the end or was it just that: crazy? Who knows.
Of course we learn more with each sentence that this guy is anything but sane, no matter how much he likes to believe otherwise, and we see him reach his boiling point to eventually committing his crime and later fessing up to it.
The question that lingers, however, is: was it guilt that made his crazy pop out again in the end or was it just that: crazy? Who knows.
This poem is really pretty. I mean that in the sense that the words and the rhymes that were used all sounded really pretty. The meaning of a lot of them, however, is quite lost on me.
There is a man who has lost his lover, he misses her, and seems to have thought up a raven to deal with his grief. The overall thought of the poem is clear.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of references to myths or other intellectual stuff that I am unable to follow. This took me out of the story/poem too often for me to feel fully emerged into the emotion of it all. And so, no matter how pretty it all sounded, and no matter how awesome this poem must be for someone who did get all of these references, my enjoyment level was rather low and I didn’t like it that much.
Maybe I’ll give this poem another shot some other time. Then again, maybe I won't.
There is a man who has lost his lover, he misses her, and seems to have thought up a raven to deal with his grief. The overall thought of the poem is clear.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of references to myths or other intellectual stuff that I am unable to follow. This took me out of the story/poem too often for me to feel fully emerged into the emotion of it all. And so, no matter how pretty it all sounded, and no matter how awesome this poem must be for someone who did get all of these references, my enjoyment level was rather low and I didn’t like it that much.
Maybe I’ll give this poem another shot some other time. Then again, maybe I won't.
This book was not at all what I expected it to be. I was expecting a sweet and romantic chick-lit, but, although the characters were all sweet as can be and there was definitely love involved, the story somehow felt like it wasn't really about that. There seemed to be something else going on, a deeper meaning of some sorts. I found this to be quite beautiful and I think this is an interesting novel for sure.
A driving force of this story is Christianity, and, as an outspoken atheist like myself, you'd think this wouldn't really appeal. And normally it wouldn't, but for some reason, it didn't necessarily seem to matter what belief system was being followed; it was more about the morals and hope in life that was being portrayed. I could get behind that, and so I wasn't bothered or annoyed by it.
Jamie and Landon's story is without a doubt a sad one. I felt for them, I really did. The actual end should have been done a bit better though, as it didn't quite hit me as hard as it could have. There was something missing, maybe some depth, which actually could be said for some other parts of the story as well.
[[SPOILERS]]
I really have to wonder at the very last line of this novel:
"I now believe, by the way, that miracles can happen."
It made me question everything as I am now not sure if Jamie survived or not. The rest of the novel had me convinced that she would die, but this last line makes me think that she might not have. What else would Landon have been talking about with this? Her survival is after all the only miracle we have heard him repeatedly wish for. Perhaps he just meant that Jamie, as the angel he sees her as, was a miracle in itself. This could be it. I don't know, and I guess I never will for sure.
A driving force of this story is Christianity, and, as an outspoken atheist like myself, you'd think this wouldn't really appeal. And normally it wouldn't, but for some reason, it didn't necessarily seem to matter what belief system was being followed; it was more about the morals and hope in life that was being portrayed. I could get behind that, and so I wasn't bothered or annoyed by it.
Jamie and Landon's story is without a doubt a sad one. I felt for them, I really did. The actual end should have been done a bit better though, as it didn't quite hit me as hard as it could have. There was something missing, maybe some depth, which actually could be said for some other parts of the story as well.
[[SPOILERS]]
I really have to wonder at the very last line of this novel:
"I now believe, by the way, that miracles can happen."
It made me question everything as I am now not sure if Jamie survived or not. The rest of the novel had me convinced that she would die, but this last line makes me think that she might not have. What else would Landon have been talking about with this? Her survival is after all the only miracle we have heard him repeatedly wish for. Perhaps he just meant that Jamie, as the angel he sees her as, was a miracle in itself. This could be it. I don't know, and I guess I never will for sure.
This book started off really promising. The set-up is very intriguing with a lot of potential. I most of all loved the email exchanges between Landon and Jacqueline: they were cute and well executed.
Unfortunately, the story never really picked up and became rather boring. At a certain point I was convinced nothing else would happen other than Lucas and Jacqueline constantly staring at each other from across the room. Like come onnn, can something interesting between these two happen already? I mean, they never seem to be in an actual relationship with each other, and neither is there ever any real conflict or drama between the two of them. None of the revelations made between them (like for example Lucas being the same person as Landon) ever had any true impact. Their whole thing is just them… staring.
However, there is of course drama going on outside of their relationship (i.e. rape), but it definitely needed some more depth, in my opinion.
I honestly think this novel could have been so much better if Jacqueline and Lucas would have switched POV each chapter or so, rather than the entire novel being narrated by Jacqueline. Their whole relationship felt a bit empty without knowing what was going on inside his mind (the chance of finally figuring this out might be the sole reason for me possibly picking up Breakable. Added, Jacqueline’s narration and emotions weren’t that profound or outspoken anyway. Therefore, I couldn’t seem to connect with and care much for anything in this novel. It fell flat and was dragged out.
Unfortunately, the story never really picked up and became rather boring. At a certain point I was convinced nothing else would happen other than Lucas and Jacqueline constantly staring at each other from across the room. Like come onnn, can something interesting between these two happen already? I mean, they never seem to be in an actual relationship with each other, and neither is there ever any real conflict or drama between the two of them. None of the revelations made between them (like for example Lucas being the same person as Landon) ever had any true impact. Their whole thing is just them… staring.
However, there is of course drama going on outside of their relationship (i.e. rape), but it definitely needed some more depth, in my opinion.
I honestly think this novel could have been so much better if Jacqueline and Lucas would have switched POV each chapter or so, rather than the entire novel being narrated by Jacqueline. Their whole relationship felt a bit empty without knowing what was going on inside his mind (the chance of finally figuring this out might be the sole reason for me possibly picking up Breakable. Added, Jacqueline’s narration and emotions weren’t that profound or outspoken anyway. Therefore, I couldn’t seem to connect with and care much for anything in this novel. It fell flat and was dragged out.
This had all the right ingredients to make a gripping and swoon-worthy romance novel.
Kiara and Carlos start out not being all too fond of each other, but eventually go from this good-natured banter to a slow-burn romance. Carlos is a bad boy, who grows to have a soft spot for this one girl. Who doesn't love that?
Unfortunately, there was never really a moment where they truly seemed to connect. I guess, at some point, they sort of just decided that they were perfect together, but it's never really shown as to how, when and why they got to that conclusion. This kind of threw me off, and I found it difficult to take their feelings all that seriously. If we had just gotten those moments in which their compatibility shines, then I would have felt very differently about their love. Maybe I would have even swooned. I think there would have been a high possibility of that, actually.
Regardless, this was a fun and cute novel, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. If I could have just maybe felt a bit more emotionally involved, it could have been really great instead of just fun.
Kiara and Carlos start out not being all too fond of each other, but eventually go from this good-natured banter to a slow-burn romance. Carlos is a bad boy, who grows to have a soft spot for this one girl. Who doesn't love that?
Unfortunately, there was never really a moment where they truly seemed to connect. I guess, at some point, they sort of just decided that they were perfect together, but it's never really shown as to how, when and why they got to that conclusion. This kind of threw me off, and I found it difficult to take their feelings all that seriously. If we had just gotten those moments in which their compatibility shines, then I would have felt very differently about their love. Maybe I would have even swooned. I think there would have been a high possibility of that, actually.
Regardless, this was a fun and cute novel, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. If I could have just maybe felt a bit more emotionally involved, it could have been really great instead of just fun.
This book was extremely cute. I could really see the connection between River and Anastasia, and they do seem perfect for each other. I would have preferred a little bit more drama with a swooning amount of groveling, but I guess it was also sweet to see them work out so well without much trouble.