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larryebonilla's reviews
32 reviews
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
4.0
Read by recommendations of my Creative Writing Professor (shoutout Dr. Blake)
As this is my first time reading Cormac McCarthy’s work, I am particularly interested in his prose style. He is commonly regarded as a minimalist, and one can definitely see that. With this style of writing, McCarthy can play with perspective and dialogue in very interesting ways. Thoughts, dialogue, and perspective are melt easily together. Yet, there is an intuitive element to the way he writes. Additionally, I want to praise the balance of excellent and progressive poetry in his prose.
Thematically there is lots to appreciate. This is my first post-apocalyptic novel, but I think The Road may be the standard. We cut away from the melodrama, fantastical, and absurd circumstances of a post-apocalyptic world. In The Road, readers are thrown into a world where the only truth is the bond between a man and his son trying to trek the desolation of the world. Here we are presented with the themes of survival, anemoia, capriciousness of modern normalities, existentialism (there is an absurdist angle), and the value of precious little moments.
As this is my first time reading Cormac McCarthy’s work, I am particularly interested in his prose style. He is commonly regarded as a minimalist, and one can definitely see that. With this style of writing, McCarthy can play with perspective and dialogue in very interesting ways. Thoughts, dialogue, and perspective are melt easily together. Yet, there is an intuitive element to the way he writes. Additionally, I want to praise the balance of excellent and progressive poetry in his prose.
Thematically there is lots to appreciate. This is my first post-apocalyptic novel, but I think The Road may be the standard. We cut away from the melodrama, fantastical, and absurd circumstances of a post-apocalyptic world. In The Road, readers are thrown into a world where the only truth is the bond between a man and his son trying to trek the desolation of the world. Here we are presented with the themes of survival, anemoia, capriciousness of modern normalities, existentialism (there is an absurdist angle), and the value of precious little moments.
No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories by Gabriel García Márquez
4.0
Read for class: Studies of World Literature: Gabriel Garcia Márquez
GGM writes with absolute intimacy and patience. This is a story of the failure of government systems, the act of taking and giving, and the dread of significance and need. In this story, the Colonel—a hard pressed and down-on-his-luck man—has to stress and weigh the strategies of maintaining a living. His dead son left a time-sensitively-valuable rooster, yet his wife is sick—dying. The community believes in the worth of this Rooster, yet the coupled are pressed into a terribly difficult situation. Th is is especially effectively done with GMM’s use of the final line to emphasize the patient dread of a painful period between the now and the later.
GGM writes with absolute intimacy and patience. This is a story of the failure of government systems, the act of taking and giving, and the dread of significance and need. In this story, the Colonel—a hard pressed and down-on-his-luck man—has to stress and weigh the strategies of maintaining a living. His dead son left a time-sensitively-valuable rooster, yet his wife is sick—dying. The community believes in the worth of this Rooster, yet the coupled are pressed into a terribly difficult situation. Th is is especially effectively done with GMM’s use of the final line to emphasize the patient dread of a painful period between the now and the later.
A Happy Death by Albert Camus
4.0
A Happy Death is a special novel. There is an episodic nature to the contents, but the unifying element is the understanding of happiness. Camus is one of my favorite writers, I try to emulate him. As this is his first fictional work, it is amateurishly composed, yet I think there is a stylistic value in this. This has some of my favorite prose and the imagery language is beautiful. This is a good novel, and I am very happy to have read it.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
5.0
East of Eden is the novel. John Steinbeck is a highly capable writer—he writes with great and high authority on the human condition (of things that timelessly matters). I am so fascinated with the use and execution of a generational narrative, and I am very satisfied and surprised with what could be done. The iconic cast of characters and strong evocative messages will certainly stick with me for a long time.
Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
reflective
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Hard Rain Falling is a grounded narration of difficulty. In Carpenter’s novel, readers follow the life of Jack Levitt. As it would seem, he was born with bad faith and worst of all—unloved. In many ways Hard Rain Falling is a story about the “masculine condition,” yet Carpenter’s writing extends beyond that. Above all, this is a story about being given a bad hand and trying to move beyond it.
Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir by Joyce Johnson
4.0
Read for class: 20th Literature: Literature of the Beat Generation
Joyce Johnson is AMAZING. I read this for my Literature of the Beat Generation class, and this book is a breath of fresh air. This is an intimate reflection by Johnson on her time with Kerouac—but most importantly—with life in the 1950s.
Joyce Johnson is AMAZING. I read this for my Literature of the Beat Generation class, and this book is a breath of fresh air. This is an intimate reflection by Johnson on her time with Kerouac—but most importantly—with life in the 1950s.
Women of the Beat Generation: The Writers, Artists and Muses at the Heart of a Revolution by Brenda Knight
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.
Read for class: Time Constraints
Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
4.0
I have been meaning to read this for the longest time! I finally found a second-hand copy, and I am glad to have read this concisely constructed story! Zweig delves deep into a prisoner/sport(?) story. In this story we are tackling with the themes of discipline and forced-solitude. Lovely, quick classic.
Stoner by John Williams
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
A quiet story about a man who has a quiet life. With casual drama, a bleak time period, and a dry lead character, Williams crafts an excellent story that I beg for more of!