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knowmadic_369's reviews
175 reviews
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Even though I'd say this is a good book, I did not like it.
Things I did not like:
- How Griet was a victim start to finish. Everything happened TO her, and she had little to no control over any of it. She was constantly at the mercy of other people's cruelty and selfishness.
- I felt that the disturbing relationship between her and Vermeer was romanticized, when in reality she was just used by him the same as by the others. He was cruel to her in his own way, yet the story wants you to believe that he was 'on her side' and friendly towards her.
Things I did like:
- The stories behind Vermeer's different paintings, not just the Girl With A Pearl Earring.
- The few descriptions of the technicalities of Vermeer's painting in the 1600s.
- How the book captivates the reader and draws them in to the drama and emotional turmoil of the plot.
Things I did not like:
- How Griet was a victim start to finish. Everything happened TO her, and she had little to no control over any of it. She was constantly at the mercy of other people's cruelty and selfishness.
- I felt that the disturbing relationship between her and Vermeer was romanticized, when in reality she was just used by him the same as by the others. He was cruel to her in his own way, yet the story wants you to believe that he was 'on her side' and friendly towards her.
Things I did like:
- The stories behind Vermeer's different paintings, not just the Girl With A Pearl Earring.
- The few descriptions of the technicalities of Vermeer's painting in the 1600s.
- How the book captivates the reader and draws them in to the drama and emotional turmoil of the plot.
Little Daughter by Damien Lewis, Zoya Phan
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
There are very few books I feel is necessary to read. Little Daughter is one of them. Anyone who is not familiar with Burma should start here, with this personal account from Zoya Phan.
Up until I read this book, my knowledge of Burma was minimal. All I knew came from Youtube clips and online articles. Objective, factual accounts that are void of the emotional storm that actually rages over these matters. Zoya changed that. Reading her book is like hearing her personal story, with all the colourful strokes of anger, dispair, desperation, ambition, heroism, danger, and so much more that come with intimate conversations. I read through the last few chapters with tears streaming down my cheeks.
The world needs more memoirs like Little Daughter. We can not hide comfortably behind our computer screens and TV screens, watching brief clips with stoic voiceovers or narration, feeling so far removed from what we're seeing. We need to spend the hours, days, weeks necessary to read a book like Little Daughter, we need to listen to the voices of survivors and fighters directly so that we can truly be affected by the content of these books. Zoya succeeded in that with me.
Read this memoir. Let it touch you, let it instill a curiousity in you that will hopefully lead to more research. Better yet, if it's within your means, let Little Daughter ignite a desire to teach others, to act against the injustices that happen not just in Burma, but also around the world.
Up until I read this book, my knowledge of Burma was minimal. All I knew came from Youtube clips and online articles. Objective, factual accounts that are void of the emotional storm that actually rages over these matters. Zoya changed that. Reading her book is like hearing her personal story, with all the colourful strokes of anger, dispair, desperation, ambition, heroism, danger, and so much more that come with intimate conversations. I read through the last few chapters with tears streaming down my cheeks.
The world needs more memoirs like Little Daughter. We can not hide comfortably behind our computer screens and TV screens, watching brief clips with stoic voiceovers or narration, feeling so far removed from what we're seeing. We need to spend the hours, days, weeks necessary to read a book like Little Daughter, we need to listen to the voices of survivors and fighters directly so that we can truly be affected by the content of these books. Zoya succeeded in that with me.
Read this memoir. Let it touch you, let it instill a curiousity in you that will hopefully lead to more research. Better yet, if it's within your means, let Little Daughter ignite a desire to teach others, to act against the injustices that happen not just in Burma, but also around the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Rape, and Torture
The Odyssey by Homer
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
3.0
Months ago I started a literary journey to read Homer with the single purpose of finally learning the context to modern day Greek retellings. Today I finally concluded that journey - and by Zeus am I relieved!
I didn't have many expectations of Homer's works when I first set out on this not-so-little adventure. I knew his poems were long and I knew some fragments of the tales. But I didn't expect to dislike the great Odysseus, favoured by Athena for his quick wit. I'm all for wit and intelligence, but there's more to Odysseus than just his smarts. He has a sense of cruelty and self-righteousness that I found immensely off-putting (I get you, Poseidon!) . I didn't particularly enjoy following him on his longwinded journey back to Ithaca and I was actually grateful that some parts of the story weren't elaborated on much. If The Odyssey had the same sluggish pace as The Iliad, it likely would've taken me another 4 months to trudge through.
But I guess the book isn't all bad. It's a much lighter read than The Iliad and much more versatile in its plot and characters. Whereas The Iliad's story centered around one main setting and one main event, The Odyssey moves around. We meet various kinds of characters, all with their own unique flavours. There are also tales within tales, told by different narrators, frequently changing the rhythm of the story. And then the chapters aren't impossibly long and monotonous. All-in-all, I enjoyed the storytelling in The Odyssey, despite hating on the main character.
I am glad to be done with Homer for now. In all honesty, it was a bucket-list read and I'm proud of my accomplishment, but I won't be rereading Homer's poems anytime soon. For now, I'm excited to read Circe and The Penelopiad, before putting the Ancient Greeks away for a while.
I didn't have many expectations of Homer's works when I first set out on this not-so-little adventure. I knew his poems were long and I knew some fragments of the tales. But I didn't expect to dislike the great Odysseus, favoured by Athena for his quick wit. I'm all for wit and intelligence, but there's more to Odysseus than just his smarts. He has a sense of cruelty and self-righteousness that I found immensely off-putting (I get you, Poseidon!) . I didn't particularly enjoy following him on his longwinded journey back to Ithaca and I was actually grateful that some parts of the story weren't elaborated on much. If The Odyssey had the same sluggish pace as The Iliad, it likely would've taken me another 4 months to trudge through.
But I guess the book isn't all bad. It's a much lighter read than The Iliad and much more versatile in its plot and characters. Whereas The Iliad's story centered around one main setting and one main event, The Odyssey moves around. We meet various kinds of characters, all with their own unique flavours. There are also tales within tales, told by different narrators, frequently changing the rhythm of the story. And then the chapters aren't impossibly long and monotonous. All-in-all, I enjoyed the storytelling in The Odyssey, despite hating on the main character.
I am glad to be done with Homer for now. In all honesty, it was a bucket-list read and I'm proud of my accomplishment, but I won't be rereading Homer's poems anytime soon. For now, I'm excited to read Circe and The Penelopiad, before putting the Ancient Greeks away for a while.