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mmcloe's reviews
235 reviews
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh what a jarring and clever little novel that I almost completely fell for if it weren't for Googling one of the footnotes.
Masterful structuring and writing on all levels. I'm so impressed by how the content of the novel begins to poke holes in "Western" understandings of universal race/class/gender/language identities all while the structure creeps up on us the whole time to totally tear those understandings to tiny pieces. A stunning example of how even well-meaning Western narratives about the Middle East and north Africa can twist and distort the complexities of people's lives so quickly.
Masterful structuring and writing on all levels. I'm so impressed by how the content of the novel begins to poke holes in "Western" understandings of universal race/class/gender/language identities all while the structure creeps up on us the whole time to totally tear those understandings to tiny pieces. A stunning example of how even well-meaning Western narratives about the Middle East and north Africa can twist and distort the complexities of people's lives so quickly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Sexism, and War
Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley
funny
mysterious
fast-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
3.5
I wasn't particularly thrilled by this one. I didn't think the general conceit was very interesting and the whole thing was way too optimistic and uncritical about modern heterosexuality for me. It was funny at parts for sure but a lot of this book read as if the author wasn't sure if they wanted to wrote a Moshfegh novel or something more wholesome.
Dark Constellations by Pola Oloixarac
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Loved it like everything else Oloixarac does. The deep tech references and biological jargon took a while to get used to but ultimately I found the novel to be a interesting portrait of how European colonialism, digital capitalism, the biological surveillance state, and modern mythologies all braid together across time, space, and place. The prediction of blockchain crashes also surprised me. I wish there were more time to explore the ins and outs of each of the worlds she constructs.
Paradiso by José Lezama Lima
challenging
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I'll be honest I've never read a more difficult book in my life and I've read Gravity's Rainbow and Ulysses and Three Trapped Tigers and 2666. I don't really feel like I can give this a proper rating because I only understood about 20% of what was going on at any given point in time. Kudos to Lima for writing a book this dense though! Perhaps one day when I'm very old and have read much much more I'll be able to return to this book and glean something meaningful from it. I think there was gay stuff which is cool!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Overall I really enjoyed this book and I don't think I've read through something this quickly since Lote. Zevin is a very masterful writer and many sections towards the end were especially striking with their changes in narrative structure and experimentation in language. I'm decently familiar with the kind of video games they talk about and the sections where they discuss the mechanics of the fictionalized games were some of my favorite. I'd love to play Ichigo!
There was a lot I wasn't as fond of, however. I found a lot of the romantic/relationship action and discussion to be fairly contrived and far too saccharine in a lot of places (not to mention straight, boring!). I was also super disappointed by what the novel didn't go into further - the tension between capitalist profit and creativity, virtual spaces and the utopias they attempt to create, and the relationship between digital and human memory. I also thought that, by leaving many of these topics underexplored, the book's politics landed pretty solidly in the center-left liberalism that populates bumper stickers and mediocre college Democrat groups. These politics aren't necessarily problematic, but they are incredibly tired and increasingly useless to discuss nowadays.
There was a lot I wasn't as fond of, however. I found a lot of the romantic/relationship action and discussion to be fairly contrived and far too saccharine in a lot of places (not to mention straight, boring!). I was also super disappointed by what the novel didn't go into further - the tension between capitalist profit and creativity, virtual spaces and the utopias they attempt to create, and the relationship between digital and human memory. I also thought that, by leaving many of these topics underexplored, the book's politics landed pretty solidly in the center-left liberalism that populates bumper stickers and mediocre college Democrat groups. These politics aren't necessarily problematic, but they are incredibly tired and increasingly useless to discuss nowadays.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Car accident and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia and Racial slurs
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
Pierre Menard, Orbis Tertius, and Forking Paths continue to be my favorites of his.
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The absolute blueprint for so much of the literature I adore. It's astounding how Borges can just pump out hit after hit that all consistently press on the edges of our understandings of genre and discourse and narrative.
Some gems from this reread that I didn't pick up on before
Some gems from this reread that I didn't pick up on before
- The Babylon Lottery
- The Secret Miracle
- Death and the Compass
- The Sect of the Phoenix
Pierre Menard, Orbis Tertius, and Forking Paths continue to be my favorites of his.
Three Trapped Tigers by Guillermo Cabrera Infante
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I feel so bad writing anything about this book because Cabrera Infante and his translators deserve so much more than anything I can offer.
The novel takes pre-Revolution Cuba (its language, nightlife, literary reputation, personal relationships, etc.) and turns it inside out, shakes its contents onto the ground, and assembles them into a scavenged sculpture of the city and how it's (mis)remembered. I'm particularly in love with Bustrofedon section and its relentless attack of puns and parodies and experimentations. I'll need to return to this novel when I'm leveled up as a reader and bring a map and some pencils along with me.
Also, I understand the Joyce comparisons but I think the novel is equally at home with Pynchon and Ishmael Reed and anticipates beautifully the writing of people like Bolano and Oloixarac.
The novel takes pre-Revolution Cuba (its language, nightlife, literary reputation, personal relationships, etc.) and turns it inside out, shakes its contents onto the ground, and assembles them into a scavenged sculpture of the city and how it's (mis)remembered. I'm particularly in love with Bustrofedon section and its relentless attack of puns and parodies and experimentations. I'll need to return to this novel when I'm leveled up as a reader and bring a map and some pencils along with me.
Also, I understand the Joyce comparisons but I think the novel is equally at home with Pynchon and Ishmael Reed and anticipates beautifully the writing of people like Bolano and Oloixarac.
Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Had a hard time with this one to be honest. To start with the good, I really appreciated how much work went into the writing, research, and translation of this piece. I learned a lot about different artists and critics. I also appreciated how the narrative occasionally became some other type of text - court notes or auction catalogues, for example.
With these types of metafictional novels very much concerned with the intersection of art and archives and conspiracy (thinking about Pola Oloixarac or Shola von Reinhold), I think it's very hard to address the aesthetic themes without also addressing the ideological impulses that drive aesthetics. All of the characters in this novel didn't seem to struggle much with what it means to forge art or what powers are in place to facilitate or stop art forgery. I think there were a lot of avenues left unexplored, which left the novel lacking, in my eyes.
With these types of metafictional novels very much concerned with the intersection of art and archives and conspiracy (thinking about Pola Oloixarac or Shola von Reinhold), I think it's very hard to address the aesthetic themes without also addressing the ideological impulses that drive aesthetics. All of the characters in this novel didn't seem to struggle much with what it means to forge art or what powers are in place to facilitate or stop art forgery. I think there were a lot of avenues left unexplored, which left the novel lacking, in my eyes.
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Clarice is an odd lady writing about odd ladies I love her.
A bit less existentially sparkling than her earlier work but nevertheless incredibly fun and experimental and impactful writing. I'm still thinking through Macabéa as a figure of refusal (like Svejk more than Bartleby) and her relationship to the narrator controlling her story.
Also compelling to read alongside 2666, as both were written as their authors were dying.
A bit less existentially sparkling than her earlier work but nevertheless incredibly fun and experimental and impactful writing. I'm still thinking through Macabéa as a figure of refusal (like Svejk more than Bartleby) and her relationship to the narrator controlling her story.
Also compelling to read alongside 2666, as both were written as their authors were dying.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Sexism
2666 by Roberto Bolaño
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Oh my god
I'm going to have to come back later and review this more fully after I have more time to digest everything. I don't know how to rate something like this.
A diary of total breakdown - academic, personal, artistic, legal, moral, discursive collapse of modern society. There's some respite and hope in huddling together and embracing the small pleasures of the senses, but not a ton. I'm reminded a lot of Delany's Dhalgren and Anzaldua's Borderlands. I'm left facing the ghost of Christmas future; is this a picture of what will be, or what may be?
Also all the true crime podcast listeners need to read this, especially the part about the crimes (one of the only sections of a novel I had to put down entirely).
I'm going to have to come back later and review this more fully after I have more time to digest everything. I don't know how to rate something like this.
A diary of total breakdown - academic, personal, artistic, legal, moral, discursive collapse of modern society. There's some respite and hope in huddling together and embracing the small pleasures of the senses, but not a ton. I'm reminded a lot of Delany's Dhalgren and Anzaldua's Borderlands. I'm left facing the ghost of Christmas future; is this a picture of what will be, or what may be?
Also all the true crime podcast listeners need to read this, especially the part about the crimes (one of the only sections of a novel I had to put down entirely).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and War