ranam's reviews
79 reviews

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman

4.0

This was a nifty read. I found all of the vignettes poignant, smart, and beautifully written in poetic prose. Einstein dreams about a series of scenarios that have time as a concept as their theme.  These worlds can exist with or without time. Time is either fluid or inert or non-existent. It is malleable, crossing into the realm of sci-fi. 
One example of such a world is one in which every day is the end of time.  People stop caring about anything and engage in activities they would not have at any other time. But is time a circle in such a world without any allusion to a hereafter? Are the citizens of such a world  destined to keep living the same day infinitely?

There's another issue I'd like to discuss. There's a type of person who lives in the past, refusing to move forward,  clinging to good times and happy memories. This person leads a stagnant,  fossilized life. In this world, the past and present are indistinguishable.  The past is gone, the future unknown and the present is a gift; that's why it's called the present.

My only issue is that the past was once the present. Even in heaven,  people have good memories from their previous life. Time I believe is linear because you can't repeat the past once it's gone even if you tried.  Each memory is etched in time like text on a chalk board, continually changing in the perspective of the memory holder.  I don't think the present can ever be indistinguishable  from the  past. Life goes on. 

You are dead and brought to life,  then you pass away, then you are brought before the Lord for judgment and sentenced to heaven or hell based on your book of deeds. Then you will have everlasting bliss or misery, the fire with charcoal to drink  or gardens with rivers of pure water, milk, honey, and wine of glorious substance without intoxicating qualities.
Time is just another creation based on quality, not quantity.  Not insurmountable but mercurial. There's a new standard for the next life.

Rana M.
 

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The main character,  the narrarater, is a self-avowed anti-hero; cruel,  mean and lacking any ethical boundaries , he needlessly suffers for his transgressions because he is sick and tries to subjugate people, even those who love him in spite of his reclusive  predilection.  He only torments himself however.  No one stays behind to bother him  

He reminds me of Dorian Gray, James Taggart of Atlas Shrugged, the stranger in Camus and the main character of Blue Eyes, Black Hair by Marguerite Duras. How can you believe in your own existence and not in the existence of a Creator.

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

5.0

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

5.0

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This was sweet.  It's filled with an array of characters: specters,  gryphons, ogres, dragons, human royalty, fairies, scorcerers and dwarves. It was a bit slow-paced, but the last half or so of the book went by quickly enough.  I loved the fantastical elements that likened it to Ella Enchanted, the only other book I read by her. Good read. 

The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling

adventurous funny reflective

4.0

This book is so funny.  It focuses on the exploits of two British male friends in what is now modern day Afghanistan. Like the themes in this type of sub-genre , its women (in this case from the  indigenous population) that thwart the colonists ambitions to rule over their people.  They lust after them and say they look like British women.  That's their hubris,  women. 

Normal People by Sally Rooney

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I got this copy from @crownpublishing. I felt like shedding pure cathartic tears by the end of this book.  About two thirds of the way through I wasn't sure how I felt about it,  but further on it became quite engrossing. Part of the reason I had ambivalent feelings was my  averse dislike of the characters. Also  I understood the main theme was normalcy, it was interesting to think  about it,  what it reveals about communities, people and their desire to belong,  but that word,  normal,
was so repetively used through out the work that it felt like overkill and Rooney was beating me over the head with it. 
Still, it was romantic. 

 

The Old Curiosity Shop: A Tale by Charles Dickens

adventurous challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Even though this book is some what shorter than his other tomes, the pace was slow and tiring. Even so, it still has the same prosaic beauty inherent  in his other works. I love his language and style. Poor callow Nell, forced to take up a burden no child should. She was a saint and a redemption to mankind.  Everyone who met her loved her.  She was only rejected once when her grandfather and her were forced into begging. 

Her light was exinguished way too early.

How to Love by Thích Nhất Hạnh

hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

5.0

Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery

5.0