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kai3cll's reviews
182 reviews
Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
5.0
Honesty in writing that moves you. short stories are tricky to write, you have few pages to share a memorable experience. In this one, I can say not a single word or space was left unused. It's a meaningful and valuable book.
Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah
3.0
--A man's eyes like sunken caves, a white blouse with thin cotton summer skirt whose blurred colors made it look like a dishcloth, the sound of a dog barking not a pet raised at home but a hefty animal size of a cow and a radio broadcasting weather for fishermen.--
The book describes a painfully dull, drowsy, overtaking, boiling, steamy, and stretching across never-ending hours of 30°C summer in the first chapter.
Reading this book felt like talking about a walk home in that weather, barefoot on the concrete where your every step raises steam of heat while the home never arrives.
The repetitive sentences make the book feel longer than it is and oddly, it engulfs you. A fever dream that you don't even want to be part of. A white bus going round and round. A radio broadcasting weather of sea.
It is artistic, ridiculous, makes you feel happy that you messed up with your brain but doesn't satisfy you in the process. You might never want to read this book again but it's like those spicy chicken ramyeon that you cry eating, swear to never torture yourself like this again and then one day crave that heat again.
Wouldn't recommend reading it in Summer
Or wouldn't recommend it at all for this book needs an acquired taste.
The book describes a painfully dull, drowsy, overtaking, boiling, steamy, and stretching across never-ending hours of 30°C summer in the first chapter.
Reading this book felt like talking about a walk home in that weather, barefoot on the concrete where your every step raises steam of heat while the home never arrives.
The repetitive sentences make the book feel longer than it is and oddly, it engulfs you. A fever dream that you don't even want to be part of. A white bus going round and round. A radio broadcasting weather of sea.
It is artistic, ridiculous, makes you feel happy that you messed up with your brain but doesn't satisfy you in the process. You might never want to read this book again but it's like those spicy chicken ramyeon that you cry eating, swear to never torture yourself like this again and then one day crave that heat again.
Wouldn't recommend reading it in Summer
Or wouldn't recommend it at all for this book needs an acquired taste.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
2.0
2.5 (I would give 3 but I want to be harsh today)
Before the coffee gets cold, I'll tell you how I found this book.
The book promised the story of a time-traveling cafe and its travelers to us. I was expecting a story with a similar theme to Midnight Diner (Korea / Japan) which showed the story of visitors of a Diner that opens from midnight till morning serving you any dish as long as they have the ingredients. Something warm, filling, and comforting.
Sadly, the coffee was served bland. The characters are all good people and nice to meet but it's hard to share their pain. People who relate to their stories will find much more in this book than I did.
Something that I missed through the story was salt. Something that can create a little surprise in the pallet. Maybe a gripping story plot or tight writing.
The main minus point would be the repeated mention of rules of time travel. They are mentioned in the blurb, dashful of times in the first chapter and then at least twice per every chapter. Repetition should add a different side, arc, or value to the story each time mentioned, this particular trick is well performed by Bae Suah in her books. Sadly, it didn't do much here than fill pages.
In conclusion, this hand-brewed coffee wasn't much better for me than instant coffee but I shall recommend a cup of it to friends on a good rainy day.
Before the coffee gets cold, I'll tell you how I found this book.
The book promised the story of a time-traveling cafe and its travelers to us. I was expecting a story with a similar theme to Midnight Diner (Korea / Japan) which showed the story of visitors of a Diner that opens from midnight till morning serving you any dish as long as they have the ingredients. Something warm, filling, and comforting.
Sadly, the coffee was served bland. The characters are all good people and nice to meet but it's hard to share their pain. People who relate to their stories will find much more in this book than I did.
Something that I missed through the story was salt. Something that can create a little surprise in the pallet. Maybe a gripping story plot or tight writing.
The main minus point would be the repeated mention of rules of time travel. They are mentioned in the blurb, dashful of times in the first chapter and then at least twice per every chapter. Repetition should add a different side, arc, or value to the story each time mentioned, this particular trick is well performed by Bae Suah in her books. Sadly, it didn't do much here than fill pages.
In conclusion, this hand-brewed coffee wasn't much better for me than instant coffee but I shall recommend a cup of it to friends on a good rainy day.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
4.0
*spoiler ahead*
Nothing fits more to this 17th-century tale than, "All's well, if it end's well," just that the end is out-of-sense-sexual-festival that even Dionysus wouldn't imagine organizing leading to voluntarily preparing (I assume, the most delicious) meal out of oneself to offer a table-full of criminals. (Bon appetite by Katie perry plays in the background)
It's a ridiculous book, I want to throw it away but it was an experience to enjoy the most inhuman things through literature that I shall recommend this absurdity to everyone.
Nothing fits more to this 17th-century tale than, "All's well, if it end's well," just that the end is out-of-sense-sexual-festival that even Dionysus wouldn't imagine organizing leading to voluntarily preparing (I assume, the most delicious) meal out of oneself to offer a table-full of criminals. (Bon appetite by Katie perry plays in the background)
It's a ridiculous book, I want to throw it away but it was an experience to enjoy the most inhuman things through literature that I shall recommend this absurdity to everyone.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca
3.0
This could have been better. It was quick and the speed took away the horror (disgust) element of it.
I'm not a fan of horror and was prepared to dnf this book when it starts getting horrific but it didn't. If I can finish this book without much feeling scared or disgusted (was just as horrible as watching animal hunting on discovery) then it has to be a letdown for anyone expecting a good edgy book that makes you want to fling it across the room and then put it in the freezer to feel better.
Good concept butchered by haste.
I'm not a fan of horror and was prepared to dnf this book when it starts getting horrific but it didn't. If I can finish this book without much feeling scared or disgusted (was just as horrible as watching animal hunting on discovery) then it has to be a letdown for anyone expecting a good edgy book that makes you want to fling it across the room and then put it in the freezer to feel better.
Good concept butchered by haste.
The Best Girls by Min Jin Lee
4.0
Min Jin Lee treats death just as life treats it. In one blow and swiftly the time runs ahead without interacting with the meager thoughts of- How many people died in the single death, did the ones left behind moved ahead, and did the soul remembered to stop breathing? It's is cruel and understandable.
This short story probably needed a few extra pages because the end came loudly. Although, I did see some complaining that it was too predictable so it could just be me.
This short story probably needed a few extra pages because the end came loudly. Although, I did see some complaining that it was too predictable so it could just be me.
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
3.0
I've realized that there is a long way lined with many words that I'll need to walk barefoot before I can say that I understand poetry. I read this book, I read every word and held onto some; I tried to understand them and then gave up from my lacking and tried to feel them instead. It felt like tasting drought on my tongue.
So, perhaps this is a beautiful book. A remarkable one or perhaps it's overhyped. I may know which it is when I finally learn to understand poetry.
So, perhaps this is a beautiful book. A remarkable one or perhaps it's overhyped. I may know which it is when I finally learn to understand poetry.
Harvest by Manjula Padmanabhan
5.0
Firstly, I hate this book.
It is good and dark. The extreme situations are used well to convey the realities of today; Wouldn't call it thought-provoking but more of a warning, a threat, a slap, and a reminder to move before it's too late.
It's the oscar-winning movie parasite on steroids. The class difference, the exploitation of resources, settler colonialism are various matters burned and scared with words in this.
It's a good book, I hate it.
It is good and dark. The extreme situations are used well to convey the realities of today; Wouldn't call it thought-provoking but more of a warning, a threat, a slap, and a reminder to move before it's too late.
It's the oscar-winning movie parasite on steroids. The class difference, the exploitation of resources, settler colonialism are various matters burned and scared with words in this.
It's a good book, I hate it.
In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
2.0
I wish it truly was the praise of shadows without the degradation of lights, the intention is present but one has to move beyond lots of personal and political points to grasp the beauty tried to portray here. I find that as finding a beam of light in shadows of personal opinions.
Fortune by Lenny Bartulin
3.0
"When you want to write about the vastness of the ocean, start from numbering the drops it contains"
This seems to be the approach of this historical fiction when taking us through the French Revolution.
The book begins in a promising way as we are taken from the Grand entry of Napoleon into Berlin to an intimate scene of passion. Things keep tumbling after that, taking us from streets to oceans to tortures of humanity.
I've already been warned about the number of jumps this strange book takes but even after keeping notes of the infinite characters (a new set every 3 pages), it is hard to keep up with. If anything this book can cure you of distractions because the moment you let your eyes wander will be the moment you lose the multiple strands of characters you are holding.
The good points of the book are that it is a fast-paced book, the constant throwing and pulling can be enjoyable and there are certain sentences that you can hold onto for a while.
Overall, it's a book of taste. Someone with previous knowledge of the revolution will most probably enjoy the book better than someone who doesn't have an inkling of the wars. Heads up there are some nightmare-inducing scenes.
Personally, won't be recommending this to anyone.
This seems to be the approach of this historical fiction when taking us through the French Revolution.
The book begins in a promising way as we are taken from the Grand entry of Napoleon into Berlin to an intimate scene of passion. Things keep tumbling after that, taking us from streets to oceans to tortures of humanity.
I've already been warned about the number of jumps this strange book takes but even after keeping notes of the infinite characters (a new set every 3 pages), it is hard to keep up with. If anything this book can cure you of distractions because the moment you let your eyes wander will be the moment you lose the multiple strands of characters you are holding.
The good points of the book are that it is a fast-paced book, the constant throwing and pulling can be enjoyable and there are certain sentences that you can hold onto for a while.
Overall, it's a book of taste. Someone with previous knowledge of the revolution will most probably enjoy the book better than someone who doesn't have an inkling of the wars. Heads up there are some nightmare-inducing scenes.
Personally, won't be recommending this to anyone.