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mmcloe's reviews
239 reviews
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
It took me like 2 months to read but goddammit Bolaño strikes again. Like 2666, this absolutely DRAGS in the massive center section, only to be completely unfolded, refolded, and folded into a new dimension by the outer sections.
This is a novel that teaches you how to read it. The hunt for Caeseria - combing through archives, talking to half-demented bar patrons and landowners, avoiding murderous pimps, writing mediocre poetry - mirrors the hunt for Lima Belano that the center lays before us like a little chess board. It's a faux archive tangled with real archives of the forgotten avant-garde of Mexico City and the savage detectives, the what's-outside-the-windows is us, the readers, playing Bolaño's archive game however we choose to.
Imagining a fun little novella framed as an edited anthology of contemporary literary scholars writing increasingly delirious analyses of Lima and Belano based on the testimonies of this book.
This is a novel that teaches you how to read it. The hunt for Caeseria - combing through archives, talking to half-demented bar patrons and landowners, avoiding murderous pimps, writing mediocre poetry - mirrors the hunt for Lima Belano that the center lays before us like a little chess board. It's a faux archive tangled with real archives of the forgotten avant-garde of Mexico City and the savage detectives, the what's-outside-the-windows is us, the readers, playing Bolaño's archive game however we choose to.
Imagining a fun little novella framed as an edited anthology of contemporary literary scholars writing increasingly delirious analyses of Lima and Belano based on the testimonies of this book.
The Fisherman by John Langan
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I think it had its strong moments and there were some meditations on loss and community history and the built environment that were interesting. Reasonably spooky and mysterious at times. I think the tremendous tangent in the middle really threw the novel off-kilter and a lot of the scenes where the plot showed its hand (i.e. the monster) didn't live up to their exposition.
I'm not too well-versed in horror as a literary form so I'm interested to continue exploring.
I'm not too well-versed in horror as a literary form so I'm interested to continue exploring.
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
My first Kushner! On the whole I thought it was good - it mostly read like an extended Pynchon side plot, not a bad thing.
A novel concerned with human imposition of meaning onto dark, hollow worlds - whether they be surveillance capitalism, agribusiness, or underground cave networks - and the rot, revolution, or retreat that effort to impose can manifest. The narrator was insufferable (and intentionally so) and I enjoyed the ways ideology seduced her in different directions. Few of the characters ideas seduced me, unfortunately. No small product of the mouths that spoke them.
A novel concerned with human imposition of meaning onto dark, hollow worlds - whether they be surveillance capitalism, agribusiness, or underground cave networks - and the rot, revolution, or retreat that effort to impose can manifest. The narrator was insufferable (and intentionally so) and I enjoyed the ways ideology seduced her in different directions. Few of the characters ideas seduced me, unfortunately. No small product of the mouths that spoke them.
The Skating Rink by Roberto Bolaño
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Interesting to see Bolano's first novel to emphasize his maturation to his later work. This had a few excellent moments, especially towards the end, that really highlight his prose skills and his knack for limning out the dialectic between desire and violence.
I don't think the tone of his different characters was differentiated enough and his prose got a little too purple at moments. Still, a solid first novel of someone with many excellent later novels.
I don't think the tone of his different characters was differentiated enough and his prose got a little too purple at moments. Still, a solid first novel of someone with many excellent later novels.
The Spirit of Science Fiction by Roberto Bolaño
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Beautiful and strange, a minor work but a lovely one. Desire flees and swarms and evaporates in all places - romance, aesthetics, cool ass motorcycles, noxious literary circles. Bolano is mystical in his tracing of these lines of desire and the gentle hints of something foul coming.
Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I liked the narrative frame a lot! I thought it was a neat exploration of queer spectatorship and changing understandings of visibility across generations.
I wasn't as enamored with the Bernie and Leah plot, unfortunately. Read as a bit trite, overly sentimental at moments, and wrapped up too evenly at the end. I think something like All This Could Be Different captures the same energy and settings with stronger language and characterization.
On a personal note, I'm always bummed to see ostensibly diverse queer stories completely void of trans women.
I wasn't as enamored with the Bernie and Leah plot, unfortunately. Read as a bit trite, overly sentimental at moments, and wrapped up too evenly at the end. I think something like All This Could Be Different captures the same energy and settings with stronger language and characterization.
On a personal note, I'm always bummed to see ostensibly diverse queer stories completely void of trans women.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It was just OK. It was hitting all of the reasonably correct anarchist, slightly tenderqueer tendencies that leftish authors and critics are sure to snap up but a lot of it seemed void of any major artistry or rigorous examination of the systems its trying to tackle. It seemed as if 2/3 of the book was Vern in the parking lot of a different establishment trying to acclimate to life outside the woods and not much beyond that.
I'm also shocked that for all of the philosophical and literary allusions, Deleuze & Guattari or Jasbir Puar or Donna Haraway or Kim Tallbear or the many others who write on rhizomatic structures of colonial capitalism and the resistance which can emerge from them.
I'm also shocked that for all of the philosophical and literary allusions, Deleuze & Guattari or Jasbir Puar or Donna Haraway or Kim Tallbear or the many others who write on rhizomatic structures of colonial capitalism and the resistance which can emerge from them.
Let the Dead Bury Their Dead by Randall Kenan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Sparkling and dazzling and bizarre and magical
Kenan does a tremendous job constructing community through their interactions to the fabulous and the ways these weird little intrusions from who knows where can shape and alter the resonances of history long held and society rooted to space.
Kenan does a tremendous job constructing community through their interactions to the fabulous and the ways these weird little intrusions from who knows where can shape and alter the resonances of history long held and society rooted to space.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Racism, Rape
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.25
It was OK! The facts Criado Perez presented were insightful and often illuminating - I think her early chapters on urban design and her later chapters on nation-building were among the most impactful for me.
That being said, this book leaves a ton of gaps in its pursuit to close gaps. I was shocked to find that queer people of any stripe were completely absent. One offhand mention of lesbians and no mention of trans people whatsoever. Some of the most impactful strides made in women's rights on a practical and theoretical level have been made by queer women, so it was incredibly disappointed to see them missing. Similarly, many of the chapters seemed to presume a white, "Western," middle class woman as the default. Later chapters started doing well to address women's challenges globally but the early narrow focus led to some overly repetitive chapters and talking points. The author also didn't really engage with capitalism or imperialism as structural forces; their symptoms were often mentioned but not the diseases themselves, which have brutally imposed the gendered regimes we know today. She's the daughter of a very powerful CEO, so I guess that makes sense.
Also, the citational practices in this book were absolutely unhinged. The endnotes are almost entirely URLs that I have no way of knowing whether or not the links are dead. I would've appreciated more rigorous citations, a lack of which is another major cause of gender data gaps.
That being said, this book leaves a ton of gaps in its pursuit to close gaps. I was shocked to find that queer people of any stripe were completely absent. One offhand mention of lesbians and no mention of trans people whatsoever. Some of the most impactful strides made in women's rights on a practical and theoretical level have been made by queer women, so it was incredibly disappointed to see them missing. Similarly, many of the chapters seemed to presume a white, "Western," middle class woman as the default. Later chapters started doing well to address women's challenges globally but the early narrow focus led to some overly repetitive chapters and talking points. The author also didn't really engage with capitalism or imperialism as structural forces; their symptoms were often mentioned but not the diseases themselves, which have brutally imposed the gendered regimes we know today. She's the daughter of a very powerful CEO, so I guess that makes sense.
Also, the citational practices in this book were absolutely unhinged. The endnotes are almost entirely URLs that I have no way of knowing whether or not the links are dead. I would've appreciated more rigorous citations, a lack of which is another major cause of gender data gaps.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I think a lot of readers will be quick to draw pretty divergent ideological interpretations of this - either as an endorsement of nihilism or a lamentation of its arrival. I think placing these ideologies in the minds and hands of middle schoolers is a really effective way to demonstrate how much moral development is being constantly negotiated and re-formed as we grow. There's bits of light and freedom (to the extent those are good) in many outlooks, the answer on how to grasp them further is a process.
Otherwise, pretty interesting reflection on how fleshy and bodily it is to be young.
Otherwise, pretty interesting reflection on how fleshy and bodily it is to be young.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts