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rbruehlman's reviews
128 reviews
The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn R. Saks
4.0
I picked up this book after the mentally ill homeless population became much more visible in New York City following bail reform laws, and specifically after a man walked into a store I was in completely covered in plastic bags and newspapers. I will be the first to admit I am scared by some of the people on the streets now, and he looked completely absurd. But, of course, he had to be dressed that way for a reason--why? What does go on in a schizophrenic person's head?
This book started quite slowly, and initially I was bored. However, as the book unfolds, it's quite engrossing, and the way Elyn describes her life allows you to fit perfectly in her shoes. I got what I came for: I gained a much greater appreciation for the schizophrenic mind and developed a deeper sense of empathy. While I have long known schizophrenic people are far more likely to be victims of crimes than perpetrators thereof, Elyn's book truly drives home that most people with schizophrenia are simply scared. Their odd behavior is oftentimes how they deal with the confusing world around them.
However, I also developed a deep respect for Elyn Saks. She isn't recovered; she still struggles with schizophrenia. However, her tenacity and unwavering desire to focus on the things important to her in life enable her to work around and above her illness. It begs the question to anyone struggling with any kind of mental illness--if Elyn can work with and above the unfortunate set of cards her brain has been dealt, surely, then can't I?
This book started quite slowly, and initially I was bored. However, as the book unfolds, it's quite engrossing, and the way Elyn describes her life allows you to fit perfectly in her shoes. I got what I came for: I gained a much greater appreciation for the schizophrenic mind and developed a deeper sense of empathy. While I have long known schizophrenic people are far more likely to be victims of crimes than perpetrators thereof, Elyn's book truly drives home that most people with schizophrenia are simply scared. Their odd behavior is oftentimes how they deal with the confusing world around them.
However, I also developed a deep respect for Elyn Saks. She isn't recovered; she still struggles with schizophrenia. However, her tenacity and unwavering desire to focus on the things important to her in life enable her to work around and above her illness. It begs the question to anyone struggling with any kind of mental illness--if Elyn can work with and above the unfortunate set of cards her brain has been dealt, surely, then can't I?
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
4.0
I wish I could give this 3.5 stars instead, because I think it deserves a 3, but I have too many reservations for 4.
I liked that this book had no clean-cut ending. It's messy, just like life, and I like stories that don't neatly tie everything up where everyone is happy and hunky-dory. I also liked that the characters had flaws. Not in a "ugh this character sucks" kind of way, but ... people aren't perfect. Bobbi was annoying, but she was also a good person. Nick and Melissa had a fraught marriage, but neither wanted to leave the other. It happens.
I think what bothered me about the book was that Frances felt ... like Sally Rooney herself. A self-insert. I've never read a book with such a self-loathing character where self-loathing was nailed so accurately. There is no way, in my opinion, Sally Rooney could have written such a self-loathing character unless she, herself, knows what it is like to think that way, because self-esteem that low is wholly irrational and inexplicable to those who don't think that way (ask me how I know). I wondered, how much is this character uniquely Frances, and how much is actually Sally Rooney talking as Frances? It made for an unsettling and interesting read, but, by the same token, I also don't feel like I want to read another Sally Rooney book. I suspect she writes about miserable, self-hating characters because it's what she knows how to write--it's somewhat autobiographical--and I wasn't convinced reading the book that she knows how to write characters separate from herself.
I liked that this book had no clean-cut ending. It's messy, just like life, and I like stories that don't neatly tie everything up where everyone is happy and hunky-dory. I also liked that the characters had flaws. Not in a "ugh this character sucks" kind of way, but ... people aren't perfect. Bobbi was annoying, but she was also a good person. Nick and Melissa had a fraught marriage, but neither wanted to leave the other. It happens.
I think what bothered me about the book was that Frances felt ... like Sally Rooney herself. A self-insert. I've never read a book with such a self-loathing character where self-loathing was nailed so accurately. There is no way, in my opinion, Sally Rooney could have written such a self-loathing character unless she, herself, knows what it is like to think that way, because self-esteem that low is wholly irrational and inexplicable to those who don't think that way (ask me how I know). I wondered, how much is this character uniquely Frances, and how much is actually Sally Rooney talking as Frances? It made for an unsettling and interesting read, but, by the same token, I also don't feel like I want to read another Sally Rooney book. I suspect she writes about miserable, self-hating characters because it's what she knows how to write--it's somewhat autobiographical--and I wasn't convinced reading the book that she knows how to write characters separate from herself.
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
3.0
The eventual premise was interesting, but it took far, far, far, far too long to get there. Literally 90% of the book's intrigue is in the last 20% of the book, and the remaining 80% of the book is so torturously slow. I picked this book up at the recommendation of someone else, and I don't think I would have bothered finishing had he not raved about it. While the genre and premise is definitely up my alley, the stultifying slow execution was such that I couldn't recommend it to anyone else unless they were trapped somewhere for several hours with nothing else to read.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
3.0
This book was just okay.
The premise is about a boy who embarks on a journey to achieve his "Personal Legend". He dreams twice of the Pyramids of Giza, and is told by both a seer and a mysterious old man that it is an omen and he should pursue going to the Pyramids, despite whatever obstacles might be in his way. The idea of the book is that everyone has a Personal Legend--something that matters to them and makes their life meaningful--and many people fail to pursue it, because they are afraid, let life get in the way, or some other reason. But the universe will conspire to help you if you are determined to help yourself achieve your dream. As long as you persevere against the odds, you will succeed, eventually.
Having heard the title of this book so often, I admittedly had high expectations for the book. What I described above is not a bad takeaway, but it was also established very early on the book, and I was expecting to be left with a more profound set of insights. Instead it got repeated over and over, which made it feel a bit repetitive and frankly preachy instead... I also think this book violates the "show, don't tell" principle a bit. I think good writing should allow readers to come to profound conclusions by themselves; in this book, conclusions about characters and why they were not pursuing their Personal Legend and how that impacted them were shoved onto the reader. Quite literally, the protagonist or character would explicitly tell you how to interpret the character. I dunno. It felt like my final analysis was pushed on me, with very little space for me to draw my own analysis and interpretation.
The premise is about a boy who embarks on a journey to achieve his "Personal Legend". He dreams twice of the Pyramids of Giza, and is told by both a seer and a mysterious old man that it is an omen and he should pursue going to the Pyramids, despite whatever obstacles might be in his way. The idea of the book is that everyone has a Personal Legend--something that matters to them and makes their life meaningful--and many people fail to pursue it, because they are afraid, let life get in the way, or some other reason. But the universe will conspire to help you if you are determined to help yourself achieve your dream. As long as you persevere against the odds, you will succeed, eventually.
Having heard the title of this book so often, I admittedly had high expectations for the book. What I described above is not a bad takeaway, but it was also established very early on the book, and I was expecting to be left with a more profound set of insights. Instead it got repeated over and over, which made it feel a bit repetitive and frankly preachy instead... I also think this book violates the "show, don't tell" principle a bit. I think good writing should allow readers to come to profound conclusions by themselves; in this book, conclusions about characters and why they were not pursuing their Personal Legend and how that impacted them were shoved onto the reader. Quite literally, the protagonist or character would explicitly tell you how to interpret the character. I dunno. It felt like my final analysis was pushed on me, with very little space for me to draw my own analysis and interpretation.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
3.0
I really wanted to like this book. It had traces of futuristic dystopian elements and promised to explore what it means to be "human" in the context of artificial intelligence. Seemed like a slam-dunk to me.
What I got instead was an initially pleasant-enough read that became increasingly frustratingly shallow and ploddingly paced until it became rushed. Ishiguro had the beginnings of an interesting book, but failed to capitalize on any of it. Like a child's novel, the book tells, not shows, the author's intended takeaway.
1. Firstly, Klara is an unbelievable character, who is too blatantly written to fit the needs of the plot. She is dumb and naive when Ishiguro needs her to be, and astonishingly perceptive the rest of the time. The book makes a point very early on, and often, to expound on how unusually perceptive she is, and she's intelligent and well-read enough that it's suggested she tutor another character for an elite school. So how on earth does she reasonably come to a pivotal crazy theory in the book,? In every other capacity, Klara is incredibly logical, intuitive, and intelligent, and even frequently fine-tunes and disregards other incorrect theories she forms, yet she persistently holds onto this wacky belief.
2. Secondly, the worldbuilding initially really excited me. However, many of the aspects he introduces are mentioned once and never again. So I was instead left with far more questions than answers, and I am more unsatisfied than if he didn't mention those aspects at all. What is "lifting", who does it, why? Why are there lawless gang communities in parts of the world that the dad randomly lives in? What is "substitution" and what did that mean for the dad's job? Why are fascists mentioned several times in the book as a thing to be scared of? What are "interactions" that children must attend, and why do they exist? These are all concepts the book introduces, and I didn't put spoiler tags on any of these because there is nothing to spoil by mentioning them--they are never explored and have no plot significance.
3. Related to the unexplored worldbuilding, I got a vaguely dysfunctional, futuristic dystopian vibe. You would think that, given AI and the book's premise that it explore what it means to be human, that the book would actually explore some of these themes that it introduces. For instance, what is the impact of AFs in society, since they seem to be so ubiquitous? What is the impact of "lifting" children? What does it mean to be human, vs. AI, when the AFs seem so astonishingly human? These concepts are never explored.
4. The plot pacing left a lot to be desired. I quite enjoyed the book for the first half or so, but then started to feel like nothing was happening. Concepts and plot points were being introduced, but they didn't really build on previous plot points; they just introduced more questions. Klara's indefatigable nature started to grate as the plot slogged on. Then, at once, the plot moves--but in a herky-jerky, cursory fashion that left my head spinning.. Whew. That is a lot to pack in in the last 25% of the book, and the last few events were given few pages. It felt like it was almost dumped on the reader. "Gotta finish this book, bye!"
5. The ending, to me, made no sense. Ishiguro is clearly trying to make some kind of point here, but there are few logical breadcrumbs to the ending scene.
What I got instead was an initially pleasant-enough read that became increasingly frustratingly shallow and ploddingly paced until it became rushed. Ishiguro had the beginnings of an interesting book, but failed to capitalize on any of it. Like a child's novel, the book tells, not shows, the author's intended takeaway.
1. Firstly, Klara is an unbelievable character, who is too blatantly written to fit the needs of the plot. She is dumb and naive when Ishiguro needs her to be, and astonishingly perceptive the rest of the time. The book makes a point very early on, and often, to expound on how unusually perceptive she is, and she's intelligent and well-read enough that it's suggested she tutor another character for an elite school. So how on earth does she reasonably come to a pivotal crazy theory in the book,
Spoiler
thinking that the sun is a god and that killing a single pollution machine would entice the sun to save a child from genetic editing gone wrong2. Secondly, the worldbuilding initially really excited me. However, many of the aspects he introduces are mentioned once and never again. So I was instead left with far more questions than answers, and I am more unsatisfied than if he didn't mention those aspects at all. What is "lifting", who does it, why? Why are there lawless gang communities in parts of the world that the dad randomly lives in? What is "substitution" and what did that mean for the dad's job? Why are fascists mentioned several times in the book as a thing to be scared of? What are "interactions" that children must attend, and why do they exist? These are all concepts the book introduces, and I didn't put spoiler tags on any of these because there is nothing to spoil by mentioning them--they are never explored and have no plot significance.
3. Related to the unexplored worldbuilding, I got a vaguely dysfunctional, futuristic dystopian vibe. You would think that, given AI and the book's premise that it explore what it means to be human, that the book would actually explore some of these themes that it introduces. For instance, what is the impact of AFs in society, since they seem to be so ubiquitous? What is the impact of "lifting" children? What does it mean to be human, vs. AI, when the AFs seem so astonishingly human? These concepts are never explored.
4. The plot pacing left a lot to be desired. I quite enjoyed the book for the first half or so, but then started to feel like nothing was happening. Concepts and plot points were being introduced, but they didn't really build on previous plot points; they just introduced more questions. Klara's indefatigable nature started to grate as the plot slogged on. Then, at once, the plot moves--but in a herky-jerky, cursory fashion that left my head spinning.
Spoiler
First, it seems like Klara will be tasked with pretending to be Josie after Josie's death in another AF body. Hm, that brings up interesting ethical issues--this is explored for a bit, but Klara, the narrator, doesn't really care about what this means, and instead continues on her perplexing task of killing the pollution machine. Unsurprisingly, this doesn't work, and the book hurries on to Josie's impending death. She abruptly gets better, which I found to be a frustratingly unsatisfying and unrealistic turn-of-events. Then the book timeskips, quickly says that Josie is better now and is moving on with life, and Klara has taken a backseat. OK, that was abrupt. Then it quickly jumps to Klara being a garbage dump pleased as punch about life as ever.5. The ending, to me, made no sense.