redheadreading's reviews
2147 reviews

Electric Light by Seamus Heaney

challenging reflective fast-paced

3.5

I much preferred the second part full of moving elegies. The first part I can see Heaney is returning to a lot of childhood memories, as well as drawing a lot on classical allusion, but I think maybe I lack the context to connect with them? My fave from the first part is The Border Campaign, perhaps no surprise as I love Beowulf! 

We Can Be Heroes: A Survivor's Story by Paul Burston

emotional reflective fast-paced

3.5

An honest and raw autobiography. I found his discussion of his activism and founding Polari the most interesting aspects of this for sure, and I appreciate the candor with which he shared some vulnerable aspects of his life, from the emotional toll of the AIDs crisis to his addictions and trauma. As other reviewers have pointed out, there is a lot of name dropping throughout in a way that does not always feel very authentic and I could have done without the extensive quotations from all the reviews of his literary works. 

The Ill-Made Knight by T.H. White

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

My favourite of the series so far! I'm a sucker for Arthurian retellings which really lean into the love triangle going all ways, and this one threw in an extra pillar with Lancelot's relationship to God too. I just adore the unconventional way TH White tells the tale, directing us to Mallory if we want to read about such-and-such a detail. He also goes on these little asides which demonstrate such a vivid understanding or human nature, posited in an analogy that begins very mundanely. Another thing that was very compelling was seeing the ideal of the court begin to crumble. I do wish we hadn't lost Arthur so much in the tale.

Magnolia, 木蘭 by Nina Mingya Powles

reflective fast-paced

3.0

I can see seeds of Tiny Moons and Small Bodies of Water in here, but I definitely prefer the author's longer prose works to her poetry. 

The Sundial by Gillian Clarke

reflective medium-paced

3.0

The Just City by Jo Walton

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thought this would be much more plot-heavy but really it's a big old thought experiment, a Socratic dialogue on Plato's Republic, the fallibility of humans and how you go about ascertaining whether robots are reaching sentience - in short, absolutely my jam! I think it becomes extremely clear very early on that not only is the entire concept of Plato's Republic flawed, but the people putting it into practise are even more so, their biases are completely unexamined. As as a result, we have some abhorrent things happen from rape to eugenics, none of which are examined very thoroughly within the narrative but I feel that's because it's so clearly awful that it doesn't need to be spelled out? We so clearly have a case of lofty ideals being undercut by the prejudices of flawed humans and being enabled by the detached emotionless viewership of Athena. Personally that aspect worked for me, perhaps more strongly than when Walton does try to attack topics head on? The discussion of slavery becomes an ongoing one that I did appreciate but the climactic debate near the end felt a little lackluster - at least some of the glaring thoughts I felt could have been utilised were ignored in favour of ones that felt weaker overall!
 My favourite parts were absolutely from when Socrates appears and questions everything, but I also enjoyed some of Apollo's journey to understanding volition and the growing presence of the robots. Super intrigued where the next one will go, I shall have to explore it soon. 

The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues by Plato

challenging reflective slow-paced

4.0

On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe by Caroline Dodds Pennock
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.

Entirely personal preference but I can't stop noticing how many times we get lists of questions and the level of "perhaps/we can only imagine/etc". Understandable given the limitations in primary sources from Indigenous peoples, but the writing style isn't wholly working for me so I think I'll prioritise picking up some of the books on my list written by Indigenous peoples instead.

The Gododdin: Lament for the Fallen by Gillian Clarke

reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging by Jessica J. Lee

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

Dreamy writing and gorgeous reflections, I always enjoy Jessica J Lee's work but this really explored the concept of "invasive" plants/the movement of species in a really fascinating way. Some of these essays feel really special (tea, mauve, seaweed) and will definitely stay with me.