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pascalthehoff's reviews
404 reviews
Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann
3.0
Ich habe selten ein Buch gelesen, in dem ich so häufig zwischen gefesselter Begeisterung zu gleichgültigem Desinteresse hin- und hergependelt bin. Die einzelnen Kapitel des Romans waren entweder faszinierend und spannend oder wirkten ein wenig verschwurbelt und ziellos.
Der rote Faden, der sich durch das gesamte Werk zieht und die Tiefpunkte gewissermaßen rettet, ist der absolut großartige Schreibstil des Autors, welcher die mittelalterliche Sprache und Atmosphäre meisterhaft einfängt. Ich bin kein Mediävistik-Student, bin mit der Epoche aber doch mehr als nur oberflächlich vertraut und meine Erwartungen an das Mittelaltergefühl von Tyll wurden definitiv übertroffen.
Hierbei geht es mir jetzt nicht einmal unbedingt um historische Akkuranz oder ob vielleicht doch an der ein oder anderen Stelle Klischees bedient werden (einfach weil ich das als Laie nicht wirklich überprüfen kann). Es ist die kompromisslose Illusion des Mittelalters selbst, die sich kohärent durch den gesamten Roman erstreckt, die das Lesen - auch an den plottechnisch etwas belangloseren Stellen - zum Genuss macht... und das sage ich als jemand, der mit der Romantisierung des Mittelalters normalerweise absolut nichts anfangen kann. Denn es ist gerade die Absurdität der mittelalterlichen Kultur, die sonst so abstoßend auf mich wirkt, welche hier für unzählige kleine humoröse Momente sorgt.
Der rote Faden, der sich durch das gesamte Werk zieht und die Tiefpunkte gewissermaßen rettet, ist der absolut großartige Schreibstil des Autors, welcher die mittelalterliche Sprache und Atmosphäre meisterhaft einfängt. Ich bin kein Mediävistik-Student, bin mit der Epoche aber doch mehr als nur oberflächlich vertraut und meine Erwartungen an das Mittelaltergefühl von Tyll wurden definitiv übertroffen.
Hierbei geht es mir jetzt nicht einmal unbedingt um historische Akkuranz oder ob vielleicht doch an der ein oder anderen Stelle Klischees bedient werden (einfach weil ich das als Laie nicht wirklich überprüfen kann). Es ist die kompromisslose Illusion des Mittelalters selbst, die sich kohärent durch den gesamten Roman erstreckt, die das Lesen - auch an den plottechnisch etwas belangloseren Stellen - zum Genuss macht... und das sage ich als jemand, der mit der Romantisierung des Mittelalters normalerweise absolut nichts anfangen kann. Denn es ist gerade die Absurdität der mittelalterlichen Kultur, die sonst so abstoßend auf mich wirkt, welche hier für unzählige kleine humoröse Momente sorgt.
The World According to Garp by John Irving
2.0
I've been wanting to read this novel for ages. I remember Stephen King (my literary idol as a teenager) mentioning Garp somewhere in passing and I was intrigued ever since then. I also remember holding the book in my hands in some store when I was eighteen... now, in hindsight, I'm glad I didn't pick it up back then. It would have utterly overwhelmed my 18-year-old self.
So, I get what this novel is going for and what it's trying to do and I totally understand how the whole concept could be appealing to a lot of people. Unfortunately, after reading a good chunk of this thing, I decided to just let it go. I like the whole premise of observing the growth of a single character over the entire span of his life, but at least to me, it didn't really work.
This novel reminds me a lot of 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster, which I read just a few weeks before attempting to read Garp. And I absolutly loved 4 3 2 1, despite the fact that it stretched the whole character arc out even thinner - with just the first roughly 25 years of the protagonist told in four different variations over double the word count of Garp.
The crucial difference between the two works is that Paul Auster's cast of characters is so rich and (for the most part) extremely likeable. The same goes for the protagonist, Archie Ferguson. He shares a lot of character traits with Garp (raised in the post-WWII-era, passion for writing, athletically talented, etc.), but he is just... much more sympathetic.
Garp and his mother, in comparison, are pretty uncharismatic characters that I found hard to become invested in. I get why this unique approach to characterization has its appeal as well, but I just couldn't convince myself to finish such a long extremely character-driven novel when I couldn't care less about what happened to the main characters.
It's certainly well-written and I gotta commend it for its pleasant pace and flow, but well... that's just as far as it went for me. Pleasant. Nothing less, but also nothing more.
So, I get what this novel is going for and what it's trying to do and I totally understand how the whole concept could be appealing to a lot of people. Unfortunately, after reading a good chunk of this thing, I decided to just let it go. I like the whole premise of observing the growth of a single character over the entire span of his life, but at least to me, it didn't really work.
This novel reminds me a lot of 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster, which I read just a few weeks before attempting to read Garp. And I absolutly loved 4 3 2 1, despite the fact that it stretched the whole character arc out even thinner - with just the first roughly 25 years of the protagonist told in four different variations over double the word count of Garp.
The crucial difference between the two works is that Paul Auster's cast of characters is so rich and (for the most part) extremely likeable. The same goes for the protagonist, Archie Ferguson. He shares a lot of character traits with Garp (raised in the post-WWII-era, passion for writing, athletically talented, etc.), but he is just... much more sympathetic.
Garp and his mother, in comparison, are pretty uncharismatic characters that I found hard to become invested in. I get why this unique approach to characterization has its appeal as well, but I just couldn't convince myself to finish such a long extremely character-driven novel when I couldn't care less about what happened to the main characters.
It's certainly well-written and I gotta commend it for its pleasant pace and flow, but well... that's just as far as it went for me. Pleasant. Nothing less, but also nothing more.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
2.0
First of all: The whole premise of this novel is terrifyingly good in theory. I was so much looking forward to reading this book once I found about its existence and expected something like... I don't really know what I expected, but not quite this, to say the least.
There is so much potential in here for a truly groundbreaking dystopic novel. In the accolades on its cover, the book is described as a pageturner, containing a "thrill-a-minute". I didn't stop the clock, but most of the thrills I got from this novel were rather cheap. Most of the things that could have made the novel really stand out, unfortunately, defied the golden rule of "show don't tell".
All the social and political circumstances - aka the things I really cared about - played out way too fast and felt rather shallow and implausible. In the beginning, it was still a lot better than in the end (the last 100 pages must have been the most dreadful thing I've read in a while), but even then it wasn't enough.
Maybe it's just because I'm too tied-up or something, but the entire concept of the female power in this book was handled way too much like some super power from a Marvel film. Miracle healings, stealing each others powers, drugs that enhance the powers in ridiculous ways...? Come on.
I know the novel is taking place over the span of multiple years, but it doesn't feel like that at all. And even then, the stuff that is happening here would be pretty far-fetched, even if the book showed us 100 years of female rule.
The final nail in the coffin - at least to me - is the novel's stern focus on just a handful of flat and tropey characters. I couldn't have cared any less about what happened to these people, although some of the things they witnessed really made an impression that will (hopefully) last - I gotta give the novel that.
But even those genuinely thought-provoking, sometimes terrifying scenes felt off as soon as the torture and violence went completely over the top in the end. I guess its not completely unbelievable for society to evolve in such a way (if one really wants to suspend one's disbelief). But I feel like the author could have toned down on all the extreme stuff (which there is A LOT of) and a more plausible and more immersive novel could have come out of that as a result.
Maybe it's just my expectations. This novel is probably a really great thriller with an incredibly interesting premise and maybe, if I'd have tackled the book with a mindset, I'd tackle, for example, a Stephen King book with, maybe I'd have found some joy in it. But somehow, I really don't like these kind of books anymore that try to emulate the excitement of movies. Pagelong action scenes, new chapters every five pages and stuff like that might engage some readers, but I kinda expected something with more depth.
There is so much potential in here for a truly groundbreaking dystopic novel. In the accolades on its cover, the book is described as a pageturner, containing a "thrill-a-minute". I didn't stop the clock, but most of the thrills I got from this novel were rather cheap. Most of the things that could have made the novel really stand out, unfortunately, defied the golden rule of "show don't tell".
All the social and political circumstances - aka the things I really cared about - played out way too fast and felt rather shallow and implausible. In the beginning, it was still a lot better than in the end (the last 100 pages must have been the most dreadful thing I've read in a while), but even then it wasn't enough.
Maybe it's just because I'm too tied-up or something, but the entire concept of the female power in this book was handled way too much like some super power from a Marvel film. Miracle healings, stealing each others powers, drugs that enhance the powers in ridiculous ways...? Come on.
I know the novel is taking place over the span of multiple years, but it doesn't feel like that at all. And even then, the stuff that is happening here would be pretty far-fetched, even if the book showed us 100 years of female rule.
The final nail in the coffin - at least to me - is the novel's stern focus on just a handful of flat and tropey characters. I couldn't have cared any less about what happened to these people, although some of the things they witnessed really made an impression that will (hopefully) last - I gotta give the novel that.
But even those genuinely thought-provoking, sometimes terrifying scenes felt off as soon as the torture and violence went completely over the top in the end. I guess its not completely unbelievable for society to evolve in such a way (if one really wants to suspend one's disbelief). But I feel like the author could have toned down on all the extreme stuff (which there is A LOT of) and a more plausible and more immersive novel could have come out of that as a result.
Maybe it's just my expectations. This novel is probably a really great thriller with an incredibly interesting premise and maybe, if I'd have tackled the book with a mindset, I'd tackle, for example, a Stephen King book with, maybe I'd have found some joy in it. But somehow, I really don't like these kind of books anymore that try to emulate the excitement of movies. Pagelong action scenes, new chapters every five pages and stuff like that might engage some readers, but I kinda expected something with more depth.
Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones by Quincy Jones
4.0
I didn't really know much about Quincy Jones before reading this memoir. I knew that he produced three of the best Michael Jackson albums and that he was involved in the 1950s/1960s jazz-scene. Then I read an interview he did for Vulture.com (http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/quincy-jones-in-conversation.html) and was so intrigued by his personality and the interesting anecdotes he had to tell that I immediately went and got his autobiography.
This guy is really a jack of all trades. I never realised what an important figure Quincy Jones really was in all kind of areas related to the entertainment industry. But apart from that, he really just seems like a fascinating character with all his friends, his multiple wives and many kids, who still love him, despite him being so entangled with his ambitious work. You would think, he would just be making that stuff up for his memoir if it wasn't for the letters from friends and family members that are inserted in-between each chapter (and some of them would probably count as chapters of their own).
Definitely a recommendation for everyone who is interested in fascinating and unique real-life characters, even apart from the whole music-related aspect of the book. It sheds an interesting kind of light on America's dark history with black people. Because other than most narratives about or written by black people born in pre-WWII-America, this one is about one of the very rare occasions where a black person actually rose all the way to the top, pioneering in many positions formerly only held by white people. It may not be representative of the situation at the time as a whole, but Quincy Jones' exceptional situation makes everything all the more fascinating. And that is not because of a lack of hurdles in his way - quite the opposite - it is fascinating because he came so far DESPITE the myriad of ocstacles he had to overcome, only due to his skin color.
This guy is really a jack of all trades. I never realised what an important figure Quincy Jones really was in all kind of areas related to the entertainment industry. But apart from that, he really just seems like a fascinating character with all his friends, his multiple wives and many kids, who still love him, despite him being so entangled with his ambitious work. You would think, he would just be making that stuff up for his memoir if it wasn't for the letters from friends and family members that are inserted in-between each chapter (and some of them would probably count as chapters of their own).
Definitely a recommendation for everyone who is interested in fascinating and unique real-life characters, even apart from the whole music-related aspect of the book. It sheds an interesting kind of light on America's dark history with black people. Because other than most narratives about or written by black people born in pre-WWII-America, this one is about one of the very rare occasions where a black person actually rose all the way to the top, pioneering in many positions formerly only held by white people. It may not be representative of the situation at the time as a whole, but Quincy Jones' exceptional situation makes everything all the more fascinating. And that is not because of a lack of hurdles in his way - quite the opposite - it is fascinating because he came so far DESPITE the myriad of ocstacles he had to overcome, only due to his skin color.
Simply An Enigma by Brittany Evans, Chelsea Lauren
3.0
First of all, it should be mentioned that this is not a genre I usually read (I guess you'd classify this book as a young adult novel), but I purchased the book on a whim after seeing the author promoting it under a tweet that went viral. Quite random, I know, but I was intrigued by the novel's premise and I thought it couldn't hurt to just try it out.
The novel's plot in itself is pretty solid. Yes, it follows the scheme of a classic romantic story, but the elements introduced by the characters' circumstances are enough to keep it fresh until the end. Where this book slightly stumbles, pacing-wise, is maybe the beginning. This is where it actually read a lot like a fairly generic teenage love story, but it still provided adequate build-up for the excellent second half.
My biggest criticism with this book would actually be the... yeah, not really the quality of the writing. It definitely IS well-written, but stylistically it feels a bit clumsy at times. Maybe it comes with the genre or the target audience. (But are young adult novels actually only aimed at young adults at this point?)
Very often, the characters first person monologue got really overexplanatory. Here's an example for what I mean:
"Man, was I grateful for Ian. He never got angry. He always understood my thoughts and feelings and was empathetic toward them. He never made me feel stupid for anything I did or said. He could read me like an open book. I wish everyone was more like him."
- Evans, Brittany. Simply An Enigma (p.88). Represent Publishing. Kindle-Version.
Well of course, what Julian says here is true, but couldn't the readers have been trusted with coming to that conclusion by themselves? Everything Julian utters in these sentences could have been deduced by an observant reader beforehand. Explanatory bits like the one above are way too prevalent, especially in the first half of the novel, I felt.
Then, there are the explanatory bits that just feel preachy to an unnecessary degree like this one:
"Words like 'slut' and 'whore' dehumanized woman… The worst part was that it’s so ingrained in our society that so many people are unaware of the hurt, fear, and isolation it created."
Evans, Brittany. Simply An Enigma (p.126). Represent Publishing. Kindle-Version.
Criticising these bits does not mean I don't advocate those sentences' content - quite the opposite. I don't think I have to explain that I'm all for the values this novel tries to raise awareness for. But, usually with novels that pursue a similar goal, these values are transported mostly on an implicit level. Readers who made it to page 126 are probably interested enough in the subjects of the book that they would have come to the conclusion that slut-shaming is horrible by themselves. Again, maybe these explanatory bits are aimed at younger readers as an educational tool, but I think readers of age 14 and above can be trusted with deciphering a bit of subtext.
The novel isn't too bloated as it is, but still, toning these overly chatty monologue passages down could have helped the pacing. Additionally, I felt like this book didn't challenge me on any level - it didn't make me think for myself but told me exactly how I had to think. This is not a bad thing inherently - for non-fiction this approach can work pretty well, but for fiction, it doesn't. I couldn't really get involved in what was happening, because I felt pretty detached at most times.
The other minor gripe I had with the story was with how oblivious the main characters were. Of course, they're teenagers, but they appear to be fairly smart people. And with the contemporary setting, it's kinda unlikely that they've never stumbled upon the term 'asexuality' or maybe just thought of googling Julian's problems. As mentioned, this is more of a minor flaw, but it still pulled me out of the narrative every now and then.
With Julian saying things like "I just stood there in disbelief at the turn tonight took." (p.218) after his toxic friend behaved in a way that anybody could have foreseen or being amazed by the fact that girls actually masturbated (p.325) you just have to question how naive a guy of that age can be.
These complaints aside, this was still a really neat and charming love story with an important message. Maybe I wasn't part of the target audience at all, but I thought it couldn't hurt to offer a bit of construcitve criticism.
The novel's plot in itself is pretty solid. Yes, it follows the scheme of a classic romantic story, but the elements introduced by the characters' circumstances are enough to keep it fresh until the end. Where this book slightly stumbles, pacing-wise, is maybe the beginning. This is where it actually read a lot like a fairly generic teenage love story, but it still provided adequate build-up for the excellent second half.
My biggest criticism with this book would actually be the... yeah, not really the quality of the writing. It definitely IS well-written, but stylistically it feels a bit clumsy at times. Maybe it comes with the genre or the target audience. (But are young adult novels actually only aimed at young adults at this point?)
Very often, the characters first person monologue got really overexplanatory. Here's an example for what I mean:
"Man, was I grateful for Ian. He never got angry. He always understood my thoughts and feelings and was empathetic toward them. He never made me feel stupid for anything I did or said. He could read me like an open book. I wish everyone was more like him."
- Evans, Brittany. Simply An Enigma (p.88). Represent Publishing. Kindle-Version.
Well of course, what Julian says here is true, but couldn't the readers have been trusted with coming to that conclusion by themselves? Everything Julian utters in these sentences could have been deduced by an observant reader beforehand. Explanatory bits like the one above are way too prevalent, especially in the first half of the novel, I felt.
Then, there are the explanatory bits that just feel preachy to an unnecessary degree like this one:
"Words like 'slut' and 'whore' dehumanized woman… The worst part was that it’s so ingrained in our society that so many people are unaware of the hurt, fear, and isolation it created."
Evans, Brittany. Simply An Enigma (p.126). Represent Publishing. Kindle-Version.
Criticising these bits does not mean I don't advocate those sentences' content - quite the opposite. I don't think I have to explain that I'm all for the values this novel tries to raise awareness for. But, usually with novels that pursue a similar goal, these values are transported mostly on an implicit level. Readers who made it to page 126 are probably interested enough in the subjects of the book that they would have come to the conclusion that slut-shaming is horrible by themselves. Again, maybe these explanatory bits are aimed at younger readers as an educational tool, but I think readers of age 14 and above can be trusted with deciphering a bit of subtext.
The novel isn't too bloated as it is, but still, toning these overly chatty monologue passages down could have helped the pacing. Additionally, I felt like this book didn't challenge me on any level - it didn't make me think for myself but told me exactly how I had to think. This is not a bad thing inherently - for non-fiction this approach can work pretty well, but for fiction, it doesn't. I couldn't really get involved in what was happening, because I felt pretty detached at most times.
The other minor gripe I had with the story was with how oblivious the main characters were. Of course, they're teenagers, but they appear to be fairly smart people. And with the contemporary setting, it's kinda unlikely that they've never stumbled upon the term 'asexuality' or maybe just thought of googling Julian's problems. As mentioned, this is more of a minor flaw, but it still pulled me out of the narrative every now and then.
With Julian saying things like "I just stood there in disbelief at the turn tonight took." (p.218) after his toxic friend behaved in a way that anybody could have foreseen or being amazed by the fact that girls actually masturbated (p.325) you just have to question how naive a guy of that age can be.
These complaints aside, this was still a really neat and charming love story with an important message. Maybe I wasn't part of the target audience at all, but I thought it couldn't hurt to offer a bit of construcitve criticism.
Spinner by Benedict Wells
4.0
Spinner erinnert rein strukturell und erzählerisch ein wenig an ähnliche Steam of Conciousness-Romane wie American Psycho, Faserland und Co. Dass die Geschichte in diesem Fall aus der Perspektive eines sensiblen und einfühlsamen (aber nichtsdestotrotz abgefuckten) jungen Mannes erzählt wird, verpasst dem ganzen den nötigen Spin, der alles aufregend hält.
Rein sprachlich ist Benedict Wells' Schreibe absolut großartig. Spinner ist eine luftig-leichte Erzählung im eloquenten Plauderton, welche die Leser mit einer Prise Non-Sequitur als kreative Subversion an genau den richtigen Stellen immer wieder zum Schmunzeln bringt. (So habe ich z.B. noch nie erlebt, wie jemand eine Club Nintendo-Mitgliedschaftskarte zum Portionieren von Kokain benutzt.)
Inhaltlich setzt die Kernhandlung keine neuen Maßstäbe, sollte man bereits mit dem Stereotyp des romantischen Träumers in Selbstfindungsphase vertraut sein. Dennoch setzt es dieses Klischee auf eine aufregende, tiefgründige und nicht zuletzt unterhaltsame Weise um... auch wenn solche Stream of Conciousness-Bücher aufgrund ihrer inhärenten Geschwätzigkeit stets ihre Längen mit sich bringen.
Rein sprachlich ist Benedict Wells' Schreibe absolut großartig. Spinner ist eine luftig-leichte Erzählung im eloquenten Plauderton, welche die Leser mit einer Prise Non-Sequitur als kreative Subversion an genau den richtigen Stellen immer wieder zum Schmunzeln bringt. (So habe ich z.B. noch nie erlebt, wie jemand eine Club Nintendo-Mitgliedschaftskarte zum Portionieren von Kokain benutzt.)
Inhaltlich setzt die Kernhandlung keine neuen Maßstäbe, sollte man bereits mit dem Stereotyp des romantischen Träumers in Selbstfindungsphase vertraut sein. Dennoch setzt es dieses Klischee auf eine aufregende, tiefgründige und nicht zuletzt unterhaltsame Weise um... auch wenn solche Stream of Conciousness-Bücher aufgrund ihrer inhärenten Geschwätzigkeit stets ihre Längen mit sich bringen.