nb_leftist's reviews
367 reviews

Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This is part of a set of reviews I did on books collected in a volume of Ursula K. Leguin’s books:
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/42a9b225-e47b-42ec-bea9-270c4adb1d82

I liked this. As her first released book, I can see the beginnings of her more complex topics. There is definitely some hesitancy to go into the more blatant questioning like we see in Left Hand of Darkness, or The Dispossessed, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. Everyone starts somewhere and this is a beautiful start. This may have convinced me to finally re-read The Lord of the Rings.

A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

5.0

Much darker and interesting than I expected. I like how it was divided into three parts, each taking place further into the future in the same area while connecting each story with the events of the others. 

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Vandermeer shows so much restraint in this, he reveals so little and it makes the book hard to put down. It’s one of those books where not much happens, but the things that do happen are truly horrifying.

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am speechless. This is so beautiful; I almost want to read it again. It breaks my heart that I cannot live an Anarresti life of freedom and choice. 

The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Bazterrica has the ability to come up with some of the most disturbing and horrific ideas I have ever read and, somehow, write them in such a beautiful way. There were multiple times in this book that I almost threw up but there was not a single time where I wanted to stop reading or even put it down to stop reading for that moment.

I cannot recommend this enough, especially to people who like The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Simultaneously, if you are looking for another book with similar vibe as this, I recommend you read The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Psychogeist by Leslie Purnell Davies

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

The concept is really cool, a man’s subconscious is causing poltergeist-like events and when “exorcized” possesses another man’s body. The author, though, somehow messed it up. For some reason Davies decided to include a significant bit about a comic book story; the psyche which possesses the other person is that of a comic book character. On top of all this, the storytelling is unbelievably stereotypical and I absolutely do not recommend this.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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

“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a beautiful reflection on the much-less-talked-about side of anthropocentrism: the side of human separation from “objects,” things which we decide to be “less-than-organic.” I cannot recommend this enough.

The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

2.0

Totalitarian psuedo-historical garbage.

The Lily of the Field and the Bird of the Air: Three Godly Discourses by Søren Kierkegaard

challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.75

It was beautiful. I can’t say I agree with most of the things in here, I tend to agree with Stephen West’s reading in his episode in the text in Philosophize This, but I am glad I read it. The more Christian stuff I read, I simultaneously begin to realize why someone might be drawn to the Christian faith and also why cults/fanatic religious sentiments are so common.

I think overall, in a very individual sense, learning what Kierkegaard suggests could be helpful, but I think context is important, complete obedience to “god” can be easily manipulated and can easily lead to a person refusing to grow, refusing to change regardless of what context might exist.

In conclusion, this can be read so many different ways. 

Psychopolitics: Neoliberalism and New Technologies of Power by Byung-Chul Han

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Psychopolitics is a perfect description of the shortcoming of Foucault’s bio politics and directly names the methods of power which propel neoliberalism and advanced industrial capitalism. Interestingly, Han’s work is aligned with the work of Herbert Marcuse in One-Dimensional Man  even though Marcuse preceded the appearance of Big Data by many years. I love this and Han is someone I will be paying close attention to for the foreseeable future.