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oliainchina's reviews
514 reviews
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
4.0
I've read Heller's "Catch 22" first, so Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse" sounded to me like a deja-vu. The absurdist structure of the novel is amazing but it is stuffed with metaphors and other means of rhetorics to such level that their uniqueness disappers. However, one could interpret abundance of figures of speech in this way: like personages that are not allowed to become characters in times of war, so the words - they lose all their character in the stream loaded with uniqueness.
The Enormous Room by E.E. Cummings
3.0
As a fan of the history of WWs and as a fan of literature, I liked this book. It's fascinating to look behind the impersonality of a war, especially under the guidance of such a master of the word as Cummings. He describes the world of a concentration camp in France in a form of vignettes dedicated to the most interesting characters and events. As he states himself, the book is rather a compilation of notes than a full-fledged novel or a historical account.
My Struggle: Book 3 by Karl Ove Knausgård
4.0
I had some reservations about the first two volumes of My Struggle but the third one leaves no place for doubts. It is amazing.
I guess, the difference between the novels of the cycle has something to do with memories. One writes about childhood in a more romantic key than about the present. The memory of a childhood is prettier than the childhood itself. At the same time, we easily connect our childhood to the one about which we hear or read. No matter how bad it might have been, childhood still has a magical quality of a far-away land, where you won't go back but which stays with you not matter what.
In this sense the book is a lot about the author's struggle with his demons born in the period of his childhood. And that's what makes me give it 4 stars instead of 5: sometimes it is too much about accusations and uncontrolled therapeutical-cleansing-through-writing, than about literature.
But the novel is still amazing. Even if the characters don't change too much in the course of the novel, it is, after all, exactly how we perceieve those people close by: we attribute roles to them and expect them to act in the attributed frames. In this sense, the author remains true to his method of describing his life, as it is.
I guess, the difference between the novels of the cycle has something to do with memories. One writes about childhood in a more romantic key than about the present. The memory of a childhood is prettier than the childhood itself. At the same time, we easily connect our childhood to the one about which we hear or read. No matter how bad it might have been, childhood still has a magical quality of a far-away land, where you won't go back but which stays with you not matter what.
In this sense the book is a lot about the author's struggle with his demons born in the period of his childhood. And that's what makes me give it 4 stars instead of 5: sometimes it is too much about accusations and uncontrolled therapeutical-cleansing-through-writing, than about literature.
But the novel is still amazing. Even if the characters don't change too much in the course of the novel, it is, after all, exactly how we perceieve those people close by: we attribute roles to them and expect them to act in the attributed frames. In this sense, the author remains true to his method of describing his life, as it is.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
5.0
What I like about the book besides its good writing and vivid descriptions of pre-WW2 American South, is the attitude that Maya Angelou has towards life and the process of living it.
When I read her words, I imagine a little girl that stands on the porch and looks at the world around her with big, curious eyes. She doesn't know a thing about it, she might be scared to ask for directions, but she tries and makes the first step anyway, on her own. On the way she might make mistakes, in other people's eyes, but she reaches for her dreams, as well.
The life as presented by her looks like a game, which one plays live. One can hide, run away or step aside, but then one is out of it. And then it is a bore.
.
When I read her words, I imagine a little girl that stands on the porch and looks at the world around her with big, curious eyes. She doesn't know a thing about it, she might be scared to ask for directions, but she tries and makes the first step anyway, on her own. On the way she might make mistakes, in other people's eyes, but she reaches for her dreams, as well.
The life as presented by her looks like a game, which one plays live. One can hide, run away or step aside, but then one is out of it. And then it is a bore.
.