jersy's reviews
644 reviews

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

4.0

Since this is quite different from the books I usually read and enjoy, I find it quite different to rate. I don't gravitate towards fantasy novels set in our own world, but this isn't full of the tropes I expect from urban fantasy, instead all of the different aspects were fascinating and wild. I think I would love an adaptation of this: it's a true spectacle and the tropes I did recognice reminded me of some of the historical and science fiction TV shows, movies and games I like.
The author throws a bunch of things at you and you gotta be along for the ride, not expecting the strongest character developement. They arent entirely shallow, though, and the writing is really engaging. It's a bit too fast paced for me but it was definetly an experience.

Golden Fool by Robin Hobb

5.0

All of the political and personal pieces of the plot are in place and all of the relationship moments just worked.
Longer review coming soon, for now I just need to say that this book is basically about Fitz trying to teach stuff he doesn't understand himself, and it's glorious.

Bug-Jargal by Victor Hugo

4.0

This book made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I think in this case it's a good thing. It is written from the POV of someone very much of his time and while he, at his time, might be seen as a good person and doesn't like the cruelty against slaves, he is still very flawed, seeing these people as less than him and only manages to respect one of them after extreme acts of kindness. Whenever the former slaves spoke, I saw how the author portrays their feelings and motives very sympatheticly, however since the narrator others and despises them, the racism shown will be just too much for some readers. The edition I read had been edited by the author later in life but he wrote it at 16, and I think some aspects would have been handled better by an older Victor Hugo, but I could still respect the intention and already very impressive writing of this debut.
With that out of the way, it was a really compelling story and I kind of like narratives told in flashback. It was a window into the past and I just enjoy the author's prose a lot.

Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense

4.0

Not quite as powerful as the first book but still very effective. Especially the mother - daughter dichotomy was really fascinating to me as well as the individual characters sense of purpose and priorities. I loved that, in this, it framed our protagonist a bit differently this time. Maybe the hundret pages around the middle wasn't what I wanted to focus on but it was still important, especially for the religious conflict which was also an interesting aspect of the story.
Octavia Butler has managed again to match really thematicly deep content with a compelling SF story.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.

The writing is beautiful and the themes powerful, I'm just not enjoying my time with it and struggle not to skip half of the book. While the writing is really sophisticated, it's too much for me.

Nevermore by Cécile Wajsbrot

hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Das ist ein Buch, mit dem ich mich ständig im Dialog gefühlt habe. Es geht um das Vorhaben, To The Lighthouse von Virginia Woolf zu übersetzen, und als jemand, der Sprache und Übersetzung unglaublich interessant findet, habe ich geliebt, wie das in den Roman eingebaut wurde.

Ein Absatz beginnt meist mit einem Zitat aus Woolfs Buch, gefolgt von möglichen Übertragungen, häufig mit Gedanken darüber, welche Formulierung wohl besser passt und wo die Schwierigkeiten liegen. Darauf folgen Assoziationen und Überlegungen zu den angesprochenen Themen und Problematiken, wobei oft spezielle Orte zur Sprache kommen, besonders Dresden, wo sich die Protagonistin zur Zeit der Übersetzung aufhält, und Chernobyl. So geht es um Zerstörung und Zerfall, Verödung und Veränderung und darum, was an die Stelle des Alten tritt und was zurückbleibt.

Mir wurde gesagt, dass ich dieses Buch auch ohne To The Lighthouse zu kennen genießen kann. Das stimmt zwar, trotzdem habe ich mir manchmal gewünscht, den Kontext und die Motive des Werkes zu kennen, um schneller zu erfassen, was Cécile Wajsbrot mir hier sagen möchte, auch wenn das Raten und Philosophieren darüber auch seinen Reiz hatte.

Insgesamt war es ein sehr besonderes und wunderschönes Buch, anspruchsvoll aber wenig prätentiös, dass zum Nachdenken und Schwelgen einlädt.

Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg

reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Fascinating peak into a mindreaders mind and life and how his abelity afects his connection to others and his opinion of himself. Pretty cynical but also beautifully written with some literature analysis. All the main topics of the 70s are in here, too. If you like SF that is very psychlogical and down to earth, this comes highly recommend.

Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb

4.0

While the story itself was probably my least favourite one by Robin Hobb so far, so much of the book just worked. The emotions, the reunions, the impact the previous books left on Fitz - all of it was incredibly well executed and affected me so much. There was maybe too little actual plot progression, but I wouldnt want to sacrifice any of the quiet and personal moments. I can't wait to find out how things will go from here.

Zeitzuflucht by Georgi Gospodinov

informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.0

Das Buch behandelt die Themen Zeit, Erinnerung und Vergangenheit auf viele unterschiedliche Arten, einige Handlungselemente haben mir sehr gefallen, andere weniger. Verallgemeinert würde ich sagen, dass alles was entweder sehr persönlich oder nachdenklich war für mich funktioniert hat, während die eher politischen und zeitgeschichtlichen Aspekte mich nicht mitreißen konnten. Der Roman hat schon sehr unterschiedliche Teile und ich weiß nicht ob ich mir mehr Zusammenhang gewünscht hätte oder in der zweiten Hälfte einfach nur den Teilen des Buches nachgetrauert habe, die ich interessanter fand.
Insgesamt sind hier viele gute Gedanken, eine faszinierende Figur im Zentrum, eine tolle Prämisse und wahrscheinlich für jeden was dabei. 

Selig & Boggs by Christine Wunnicke

funny lighthearted reflective

4.0

Mit einer guten Prise Humor ersinnt Christine Wunnike einen Beginn der Filmproduktion in Hollywood basierend auf echten Personen. Man fühlt sich in der Zeit zurück versetzt, sieht aber auch viel, was noch heute relevant erscheint. Wer das alte Hollywood liebt wird sehr viel Freude an den vielen Einblicken haben, aber auch wer nicht für das Thema brennt findet hier interessante und markante Figuren und Situation vor.