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kris_mccracken's reviews
2529 reviews
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexiévich
5.0
I read this over a long period, and 'enjoyed' it very much. It's a majestic work, but very depressing. I found it quite heartbreaking, as to a large extent it is a book that captures people's memories of life defined by failure, and catastrophic failure at that. Failure of ideology, failure of hope, personal and professional failure.
That said, there is redemption here, but redemption can be a heavy thing to come at the end of ones life!
That said, there is redemption here, but redemption can be a heavy thing to come at the end of ones life!
Solaris by Stanisław Lem
5.0
A difficult book to pin down really. Most of the time, very little happens. Think of it as an extended Sunday afternoon in a quiet part of the Universe. Listening to the early works of Morrissey. All packaged in an extremely original structure.
It's an extended mediation on what it means to be human. Following this, it explores what it means to be alien. Most importantly, the novel asks what is it that makes humans want to understand the alien. And what the implications of that are.
One of the best I've read in a while.
It's an extended mediation on what it means to be human. Following this, it explores what it means to be alien. Most importantly, the novel asks what is it that makes humans want to understand the alien. And what the implications of that are.
One of the best I've read in a while.
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
3.0
While it has it moments, I reckon that it could have withstood the pruning of a good hundred or so pages. Quite funny in parts, I also found it a touch heavy-handed at other points. I'm never quite sure about Pratchett, and here it's reasonably clear who wrote what in this collaboration. I'm more inclined to the Gaiman-side of things.
Passing by Nella Larsen
4.0
A fantastic novel that for some reason really hasn't received its appropriate dues. Beautifully evocative of its time the US in the mid- to late- 1920s, and set among the milieu of upwardly mobile African American society.
Exploring race, gender, sexuality and class with an honesty and sensitivity that must have been truly shocking to a contemporary reader, this book has aged exceptionally well. I understand that some people really don't like the abrupt ending, but I thought it appropriately shocking.
I'd recommend this most highly.
Exploring race, gender, sexuality and class with an honesty and sensitivity that must have been truly shocking to a contemporary reader, this book has aged exceptionally well. I understand that some people really don't like the abrupt ending, but I thought it appropriately shocking.
I'd recommend this most highly.
The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky
3.0
A very Russian book. Personally, I have very little time for gambling. It's a mug's game (if you will). That is one interpretation of this book. The other, I'd prefer not to dwell on it, as it is nonsense. Maybe that's Dostoyevsky's point, after all.
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
3.0
A lovely little diversion from the bleak and dark norm, this novel is bright and (after an early series of mishaps) positive. Worth picking up if you're feeling down
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
3.0
A decent little read, but one that I thought went off the rails a little in the final quarter. You'll enjoy this much more if you are a keen music fan (as I am).