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neuro_chef's reviews
41 reviews
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Stories, at their best, are conduits for human emotion. They span centuries and continents, permeating every inch of the world and instilling in it hope, beauty, wonder, and adventure. They speak to us regardless of the year and place, and connect every person who reads them with the same sense of light and color as it has for their ancestors generations earlier, and as it will for their descendants, decades after.
Cloud Cuckoo land, at its core, is an ode to stories. A love letter to books and those who write them, to stories and those who pass them on throughout generations, and to knowledge and those who spend their lives protecting and storing it.
The book follows five people across six hundred years, three continents, and one spaceship, from their childhood to their twilight years, all inexorably linked to each other through one story. The beauty of the book comes from piecing together the puzzle of these characters' stories, linking them together piece by piece and understanding the intertwined stories that the author has intricately woven together. While it might seem daunting to have to navigate such different worlds and seemingly individual stories, it is anything but. Every single story is easy to follow and incredibly captivating, seemingly starting at the edges of our understanding then carefully all converging at the end of the book, leaving the reader with a sense of what can only be described as elatedness.
The characters can best be described as mediums for the themes of the book to present themselves through, with many of them representing a mix of ideas and aspects that the book is trying to convey to the reader. That is not to say they are not interesting or captivating on their own, quite the contrary. Even though we follow them for most of their lives, not a single one feels overplayed, boring, or milked.
The prose is beautifully written. Doerr's words dance off the page, I was transported to the world and truly felt like I could see, smell, and feel the beautifully crafted vistas and bustling 15th century cities the author has laid out for us. It felt like an exploration, with the author giving us the base to imagine his world and leaving us to explore and imagine the rest, playing into the theme of adventure and wonder that so carefully injected into every chapter.
The book is extremely critical of the role of technology in the shaping, or destruction of societies. This juxtaposition is evident in how technology drives different aspects of the story forward, with its either negative or positive effects. This contrast can be easily missed as its hidden behind the more obvious themes.
Speaking of obvious themes, the book, like many, is a warning letter to our effect on the climate, and offers stringent criticism on how giant conglomerates shift blame from themselves and place it on the individual, and how they neuter the outcry of many an activist by making insignificant changes (like changing plastic straws to paper) In addition, it provides commentary on those who are willing to commit heinous acts against innocent bystanders in an ill-fated attempt to change the status quo or as a message. This also speaks to the idea placing individuals as the ones to blame, not the corporations and multinational conglomerates.
There is one more very apparent message within the book that, in my opinion, is the most important and heartwarming one, but I feel like its effects will be much more impactful if the reader discovers it for themselves so I'll keep myself from saying it.
Few books leave me with such a sense of warmness at the end, with such pride to call myself a reader. And maybe that's why I loved the book so much, but that is also why I can guarantee that this is a book for book lovers. This is a story for the dreamers and lovers of the world. This is a chronicle for us who want to live with a little more color in our lives, and use black words on a white background to do it.
Cloud Cuckoo land, at its core, is an ode to stories. A love letter to books and those who write them, to stories and those who pass them on throughout generations, and to knowledge and those who spend their lives protecting and storing it.
The book follows five people across six hundred years, three continents, and one spaceship, from their childhood to their twilight years, all inexorably linked to each other through one story. The beauty of the book comes from piecing together the puzzle of these characters' stories, linking them together piece by piece and understanding the intertwined stories that the author has intricately woven together. While it might seem daunting to have to navigate such different worlds and seemingly individual stories, it is anything but. Every single story is easy to follow and incredibly captivating, seemingly starting at the edges of our understanding then carefully all converging at the end of the book, leaving the reader with a sense of what can only be described as elatedness.
The characters can best be described as mediums for the themes of the book to present themselves through, with many of them representing a mix of ideas and aspects that the book is trying to convey to the reader. That is not to say they are not interesting or captivating on their own, quite the contrary. Even though we follow them for most of their lives, not a single one feels overplayed, boring, or milked.
The prose is beautifully written. Doerr's words dance off the page, I was transported to the world and truly felt like I could see, smell, and feel the beautifully crafted vistas and bustling 15th century cities the author has laid out for us. It felt like an exploration, with the author giving us the base to imagine his world and leaving us to explore and imagine the rest, playing into the theme of adventure and wonder that so carefully injected into every chapter.
The book is extremely critical of the role of technology in the shaping, or destruction of societies. This juxtaposition is evident in how technology drives different aspects of the story forward, with its either negative or positive effects. This contrast can be easily missed as its hidden behind the more obvious themes.
Speaking of obvious themes, the book, like many, is a warning letter to our effect on the climate, and offers stringent criticism on how giant conglomerates shift blame from themselves and place it on the individual, and how they neuter the outcry of many an activist by making insignificant changes (like changing plastic straws to paper) In addition, it provides commentary on those who are willing to commit heinous acts against innocent bystanders in an ill-fated attempt to change the status quo or as a message. This also speaks to the idea placing individuals as the ones to blame, not the corporations and multinational conglomerates.
There is one more very apparent message within the book that, in my opinion, is the most important and heartwarming one, but I feel like its effects will be much more impactful if the reader discovers it for themselves so I'll keep myself from saying it.
Few books leave me with such a sense of warmness at the end, with such pride to call myself a reader. And maybe that's why I loved the book so much, but that is also why I can guarantee that this is a book for book lovers. This is a story for the dreamers and lovers of the world. This is a chronicle for us who want to live with a little more color in our lives, and use black words on a white background to do it.
موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال by الطيب صالح
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
This is self-help in its purest and only valid way.
I’m not a big fan of the vast majority of self-help books. They do nothing but uphold the existing structures of society that led people to buying these books in the first place, this is different. All about Love talks about Love (duh), its place within society, and how it influences and is influenced by culture, capitalism, gender relations, etc.. It also addresses the importance of Love in our life, in all its forms and aspects, note the capitalization of the word) and how we can introduce or re-Introduce it into our lives.
The reason I loved this book is because instead of telling me what I’m doing wrong and how to fix it, it merely provides questions, some semblance of an answer, and leaves you to fill in the blank and continue the thought process by yourself. This is amazing! By guiding you towards these ideas and how to think about them, she leaves the reader to think and ponder on their own terms, using their own life, not blindly follow a one-size-fits-all “self help” scheme. It does an amazing job of that and multiple times made me stop and truly reflect.
The book also heavily delves into society’s view on Love and why its evolved to be the way it is, from the external influences by Patriarchal norms and capitalism to the cynicism people face after having their heart broken, and again it doesn't just tell us these facts ands moves on, but rather introduces ideas that guide us to not only learning how to deal with these realities but how to overcome them, and introduce Love into our collective lives, especially in places we never thought it existed.
When the book talks about love in its multiple forms, it means it. Romantic, familial, friendship, and even general community love are all specifically addressed and broken down, delved into, and analyzed. The author puts into perspective ideas and thoughts that we as a society merely acknowledge in passing or don't recognize at all, leading the reader to truly contemplate their relationship with Love in these different contexts, the result is a much more deliberate and conscious way to live our lives day by day, in an empathetic, caring, and loving way.
While the book talks about the influences of large economic and cultural systems on Love, it also talks about how Love can help improve and mend these systems. While what she says isn’t wrong, it feels overly simplistic, looking at the way to solve these huge intersectional crises as merely introducing Love into our lives feels like she isn’t giving these topics the weight they deserve, and while I completely understand where she’s coming from, and I understand that this isn’t a book about analyzing those topics in a more material way, her solutions just felt kind of lacking.
Her analysis and potential solutions for interpersonal problems though, are captivating and eye-opening, and I found myself directly implementing them into my life right after reading them!
This book will ruffle a lot of feathers, it directly addresses Patriarchial structures and the relationship between genders and how society molds them in relation to Love, both societally and interpersonally. I know that many people will read this and feel defensive or attacked because I felt this too, but I think it’s important, when we feel that way, to stop and think about why we feel it and if what she’s saying is wrong or merely something that we don’t want to hear.
Overall, I think this is one of the very few books I think everybody SHOULD pick up, I won’t claim that it magically transformed my life because it didn’t, it merely provided a framework for me to try to look at life through, and live my life as, not through giant glaring changes, but tiny incremental ones that compound over time. I think the message it presents is of the utmost importance and I hope that more people read it.
I’m not a big fan of the vast majority of self-help books. They do nothing but uphold the existing structures of society that led people to buying these books in the first place, this is different. All about Love talks about Love (duh), its place within society, and how it influences and is influenced by culture, capitalism, gender relations, etc.. It also addresses the importance of Love in our life, in all its forms and aspects, note the capitalization of the word) and how we can introduce or re-Introduce it into our lives.
The reason I loved this book is because instead of telling me what I’m doing wrong and how to fix it, it merely provides questions, some semblance of an answer, and leaves you to fill in the blank and continue the thought process by yourself. This is amazing! By guiding you towards these ideas and how to think about them, she leaves the reader to think and ponder on their own terms, using their own life, not blindly follow a one-size-fits-all “self help” scheme. It does an amazing job of that and multiple times made me stop and truly reflect.
The book also heavily delves into society’s view on Love and why its evolved to be the way it is, from the external influences by Patriarchal norms and capitalism to the cynicism people face after having their heart broken, and again it doesn't just tell us these facts ands moves on, but rather introduces ideas that guide us to not only learning how to deal with these realities but how to overcome them, and introduce Love into our collective lives, especially in places we never thought it existed.
When the book talks about love in its multiple forms, it means it. Romantic, familial, friendship, and even general community love are all specifically addressed and broken down, delved into, and analyzed. The author puts into perspective ideas and thoughts that we as a society merely acknowledge in passing or don't recognize at all, leading the reader to truly contemplate their relationship with Love in these different contexts, the result is a much more deliberate and conscious way to live our lives day by day, in an empathetic, caring, and loving way.
While the book talks about the influences of large economic and cultural systems on Love, it also talks about how Love can help improve and mend these systems. While what she says isn’t wrong, it feels overly simplistic, looking at the way to solve these huge intersectional crises as merely introducing Love into our lives feels like she isn’t giving these topics the weight they deserve, and while I completely understand where she’s coming from, and I understand that this isn’t a book about analyzing those topics in a more material way, her solutions just felt kind of lacking.
Her analysis and potential solutions for interpersonal problems though, are captivating and eye-opening, and I found myself directly implementing them into my life right after reading them!
This book will ruffle a lot of feathers, it directly addresses Patriarchial structures and the relationship between genders and how society molds them in relation to Love, both societally and interpersonally. I know that many people will read this and feel defensive or attacked because I felt this too, but I think it’s important, when we feel that way, to stop and think about why we feel it and if what she’s saying is wrong or merely something that we don’t want to hear.
Overall, I think this is one of the very few books I think everybody SHOULD pick up, I won’t claim that it magically transformed my life because it didn’t, it merely provided a framework for me to try to look at life through, and live my life as, not through giant glaring changes, but tiny incremental ones that compound over time. I think the message it presents is of the utmost importance and I hope that more people read it.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I’m very conflicted with this book
The book is written from the perspective of a robot, and with a book so focused on what it means to be human and how to love, a robot would be a funny choice for a protagonist but it works really well as it offers a fresh and somewhat objective perspective on such innate feelings and emotions, leading the reader to truly reflect on these matters and ideas, and examine them within ourselves and our lives.
The protagonist is very passive within the context of the story, which makes it so that, even though the story is in the first-person, we get a lot of scenes that usually only work in third-person. I personally loved the protagonist and their journey but because she’s so passive, it feels like she just isn’t there for some parts of the story, and so I wish she would have become more active and assertive throughout the book. But she is very well-written and a genuinely heart-warming character.
The rest of the cast feels very HUMAN which is perfect for this type of story but a lot of humans suck and these characters are no exception, leaving it very hard for me to like most of them, but I suspect that was one of the intentions of the book, so kudos to the author ig.
The main and most central theme is the meaning of love and how it shapes and defines what a human is, and if we’re special in some ineffable, innate way, and this is explored through the relationship of the second main character (a human) with our robot protagonist and the other humans throughout the story; the different relationships of love they have with her and how they express that in different ways. There are many other themes that would have been amazingly handled if the author just gave them more time. It feels like such a waste to have such deep and meaningful themes and societal issues brought up but not more deeply explored (to give a few: environmentalism and the struggle of activists, the growing rift between rich and poor, how being rich influences the upbringing of a child and their eventual future, the economic displacement of people by artificial machines). These are all merely touched upon and it feels like the author forcefully moved on from them to continue the main story because so many of them feel incomplete and unexplored, I feel that if the author wasn’t going to explore such topics, he should have just stuck with the one and explored that even deeper. It’s important to note that even though I really wish these themes were explored, it does not make sense narratively (considering the point-of-view of the book and the state of the narrator which you’ll understand if you read the book) to explore these topics further, so I can’t slight the book too much for it, but it’s still very annoying that I was introduced to so many great themes and didn’t get to explore them.
The book has such an intense tonal shift at around 2/3rds into the book with a certain scene that it completely threw me off. It was absolutely hinted towards but the type of book and tone up to that point led me to believe that something like that wouldn’t happen, so when it did, I was left absolutely dumbfounded. But like the secondary themes of the book, it felt like a storyline that was cut too short and left me clamoring for more.
The pace of the book is rather slow, and at times I felt like the story is moving at a snail’s pace that I just wanted to skip paragraphs to get to the next story point.
Overall, this is a great exploration of the human condition with a stellar idea, I just think the execution could be worked on a bit better.
The book is written from the perspective of a robot, and with a book so focused on what it means to be human and how to love, a robot would be a funny choice for a protagonist but it works really well as it offers a fresh and somewhat objective perspective on such innate feelings and emotions, leading the reader to truly reflect on these matters and ideas, and examine them within ourselves and our lives.
The protagonist is very passive within the context of the story, which makes it so that, even though the story is in the first-person, we get a lot of scenes that usually only work in third-person. I personally loved the protagonist and their journey but because she’s so passive, it feels like she just isn’t there for some parts of the story, and so I wish she would have become more active and assertive throughout the book. But she is very well-written and a genuinely heart-warming character.
The rest of the cast feels very HUMAN which is perfect for this type of story but a lot of humans suck and these characters are no exception, leaving it very hard for me to like most of them, but I suspect that was one of the intentions of the book, so kudos to the author ig.
The main and most central theme is the meaning of love and how it shapes and defines what a human is, and if we’re special in some ineffable, innate way, and this is explored through the relationship of the second main character (a human) with our robot protagonist and the other humans throughout the story; the different relationships of love they have with her and how they express that in different ways. There are many other themes that would have been amazingly handled if the author just gave them more time. It feels like such a waste to have such deep and meaningful themes and societal issues brought up but not more deeply explored (to give a few: environmentalism and the struggle of activists, the growing rift between rich and poor, how being rich influences the upbringing of a child and their eventual future, the economic displacement of people by artificial machines). These are all merely touched upon and it feels like the author forcefully moved on from them to continue the main story because so many of them feel incomplete and unexplored, I feel that if the author wasn’t going to explore such topics, he should have just stuck with the one and explored that even deeper. It’s important to note that even though I really wish these themes were explored, it does not make sense narratively (considering the point-of-view of the book and the state of the narrator which you’ll understand if you read the book) to explore these topics further, so I can’t slight the book too much for it, but it’s still very annoying that I was introduced to so many great themes and didn’t get to explore them.
The book has such an intense tonal shift at around 2/3rds into the book with a certain scene that it completely threw me off. It was absolutely hinted towards but the type of book and tone up to that point led me to believe that something like that wouldn’t happen, so when it did, I was left absolutely dumbfounded. But like the secondary themes of the book, it felt like a storyline that was cut too short and left me clamoring for more.
The pace of the book is rather slow, and at times I felt like the story is moving at a snail’s pace that I just wanted to skip paragraphs to get to the next story point.
Overall, this is a great exploration of the human condition with a stellar idea, I just think the execution could be worked on a bit better.
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
Great book!!
Some of the most lovable characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Their development is top notch and the dialogue between them is masterfully written. Every single one of the characters, main and side, are endearing in one way or another, and of course, they’re all funny! It’s crazy how unique and diverse the characters are, they all have their own motivations, personalities, dialogue quirks, and, with some characters, even accents! (Which is crazy in a book). The characters are undoubtedly the best part of the book and the crux that holds everything together, I only cared about the story because of how much I’ve grown to love these characters.
There is a magical element but it’s only ever used insofar as to progress the plot and not as an actual meaningful part of the world that the authors were building. (which isn’t bad, I think it’s perfect for this kind of story, and it builds into using the genre and medium to explore the themes presented in the story, which I touch upon further in the review).
The themes encompassed are deep and meaningful but are handled in such a lighthearted way that you can’t help but laugh in the face of even the most existential of questions that the book posits. Things like religion, free will, destiny, morality, and human nature are all on the table, and they’re not just given lip service, they are fully explored and delved into not only as individual themes but as ones that intersect and interact with one another. I think using comedy as a genre to explore these ideas is a very smart choice, because it suspends our disbelief for the events happening within the story even more and allows the storyteller to push the boundaries of the logic of the world they’ve written in order to explore such concepts, which the reader welcomes because it’s funny, providing a good medium to explore these ideas without getting bogged down by if the overall plot will allow such ideas to be explored.
The comedy is masterful, never distasteful and never forced; the book is oozing with style and that classic British humor many of us love. We should expect that much from the two giants of literature that are the authors.
Ofc Gaiman and Pratchett are both masters of the craft in their own right, but together, they push each other up and potentiate their individual skills leading to a book that neither of them could have written separately.
Absolutely amazing read, great plot, meaningful themes, absolutely stellar character-work, some of the best in the genre. Pick this book up, you won’t regret it!!
Some of the most lovable characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Their development is top notch and the dialogue between them is masterfully written. Every single one of the characters, main and side, are endearing in one way or another, and of course, they’re all funny! It’s crazy how unique and diverse the characters are, they all have their own motivations, personalities, dialogue quirks, and, with some characters, even accents! (Which is crazy in a book). The characters are undoubtedly the best part of the book and the crux that holds everything together, I only cared about the story because of how much I’ve grown to love these characters.
There is a magical element but it’s only ever used insofar as to progress the plot and not as an actual meaningful part of the world that the authors were building. (which isn’t bad, I think it’s perfect for this kind of story, and it builds into using the genre and medium to explore the themes presented in the story, which I touch upon further in the review).
The themes encompassed are deep and meaningful but are handled in such a lighthearted way that you can’t help but laugh in the face of even the most existential of questions that the book posits. Things like religion, free will, destiny, morality, and human nature are all on the table, and they’re not just given lip service, they are fully explored and delved into not only as individual themes but as ones that intersect and interact with one another. I think using comedy as a genre to explore these ideas is a very smart choice, because it suspends our disbelief for the events happening within the story even more and allows the storyteller to push the boundaries of the logic of the world they’ve written in order to explore such concepts, which the reader welcomes because it’s funny, providing a good medium to explore these ideas without getting bogged down by if the overall plot will allow such ideas to be explored.
The comedy is masterful, never distasteful and never forced; the book is oozing with style and that classic British humor many of us love. We should expect that much from the two giants of literature that are the authors.
Ofc Gaiman and Pratchett are both masters of the craft in their own right, but together, they push each other up and potentiate their individual skills leading to a book that neither of them could have written separately.
Absolutely amazing read, great plot, meaningful themes, absolutely stellar character-work, some of the best in the genre. Pick this book up, you won’t regret it!!
Monkeyluv: And Other Lessons on Our Lives as Animals by Robert M. Sapolsky
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0