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sham1ka_'s reviews
104 reviews
This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
đŠ so well-written, so articulate. best spontaneous read, i think.
âThe really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.â
âThe really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.â
Thinner by Stephen King
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
Weird, weird premise. Didnât know Stephen King wrote body horror. His writing here really just hooks you â I couldnât put it down at all â but it becomes predictable toward the end. Still pretty good horror though.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
meandrous and kinda gripping ?? somehow it felt weird to read the omniscient pov. i just imagined the author playing the role of some higher being đ
.
for about half of it i was waiting for one of them to die, a twist, something. but i guess this is not that type of horror, just a greatly internal one. canât say iâm disappointed.
for about half of it i was waiting for one of them to die, a twist, something. but i guess this is not that type of horror, just a greatly internal one. canât say iâm disappointed.
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön
everyone and their mother seemed to love this bookâŠ
but i read it for so long that no message had solidified in my mind. I donât think this helped me push through my tough times in the past year but, for what itâs worth, chapter 18 was profoundly written. The book wonât give you specific steps to overcome your difficult times, it just puts into words some aspects of our being human that we donât think about as much or as deeply. If anything this is an advertisement for Buddhism, which isnât necessarily a bad thing.
but i read it for so long that no message had solidified in my mind. I donât think this helped me push through my tough times in the past year but, for what itâs worth, chapter 18 was profoundly written. The book wonât give you specific steps to overcome your difficult times, it just puts into words some aspects of our being human that we donât think about as much or as deeply. If anything this is an advertisement for Buddhism, which isnât necessarily a bad thing.
Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag by Rogelio G. Mangahas, Ave PĂ©rez Jacob, Edgardo M. Reyes
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
It was said in the introduction to the novel that the story is inherently masculine. And yes, it is masculine, but itâs also human. None of the characters were presented as a dichotomy between good and evil, nothing was black or white. Even the seemingly inexperienced central character would shock you with the things heâd done as the story progressed.
âââ
âSa simula, siya'y isang kalansay na nakatalalan sa hangin. Pagyayamanin siya, maglalaman at lulusog sa dilig ng pawis at dugo. At siya'y matatayo nang buong tatag, lakas at tibay, naghuhumindig at nagtutumayog sa kapangyarihan, samantalang sa kanyang paanan ay naroon at lugmok, lupaypay, sugatan, duguan, nagtingala sa kanyang kataasan, ang mga nagpala sa kanya.â
Napakagaling magsulat ni EMR, dito ko nakita kung gaano kaganda ang pagkakahabi ng mga salitang Tagalog âpag gamay ng manunulat ang lengguwahe niya. May mga linyang sapul sa puso at talagang tatatak sa âyo đ„č
âââ
âSa simula, siya'y isang kalansay na nakatalalan sa hangin. Pagyayamanin siya, maglalaman at lulusog sa dilig ng pawis at dugo. At siya'y matatayo nang buong tatag, lakas at tibay, naghuhumindig at nagtutumayog sa kapangyarihan, samantalang sa kanyang paanan ay naroon at lugmok, lupaypay, sugatan, duguan, nagtingala sa kanyang kataasan, ang mga nagpala sa kanya.â
Napakagaling magsulat ni EMR, dito ko nakita kung gaano kaganda ang pagkakahabi ng mga salitang Tagalog âpag gamay ng manunulat ang lengguwahe niya. May mga linyang sapul sa puso at talagang tatatak sa âyo đ„č
Si by Bob Ong
3.0
itâs different! medyo same levels ng Para Kay B in terms of uniqueness relative to other Philippine Lit, pero ang prose mabulaklak at masasabi kong mas formal.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
4.0
Iâm not sure what made this book so hard to finish. Maybe because itâs short but dense? Itâs also repetitive, but i think that worked in favor of the book? I mean sheâs trying to illustrate her experiences following her husbandâs passing, and naturally since sheâs full of grief, everything would feel dull and tedious. Didion took the time to write about every facet of grief that sheâs experienced no matter how oddly specific she could get.
Some people said this book made them cry. I think what i felt was the kind of sadness you feel when a not-so-close relative dies, and you see everyone around you grieving. And that makes sense once you read what she wrote about grief: âGrief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.â Because we never truly know something until we experience it ourselves. We can only have so much empathy, we can feel pity, but thatâs it.
What I love about Didionâs writing in this one is the way she connected ideas that, on the surface, seem unrelated. Particularly when she wrote about geological phenomena and her nihilistic worldview. She explained how natural disasters just happen, there is no greater meaning behind them and for that reason she feels comforted. She saw these as indicators of the meaninglessness of life, not in the sense that she shouldnât live it anymore, but in the sense that she could live and be as she wished, because no one is watching. âNo eye was on the sparrow.â Same goes for her husbandâs death. It just happened, and she has to live despite the loss.
Some people said this book made them cry. I think what i felt was the kind of sadness you feel when a not-so-close relative dies, and you see everyone around you grieving. And that makes sense once you read what she wrote about grief: âGrief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.â Because we never truly know something until we experience it ourselves. We can only have so much empathy, we can feel pity, but thatâs it.
What I love about Didionâs writing in this one is the way she connected ideas that, on the surface, seem unrelated. Particularly when she wrote about geological phenomena and her nihilistic worldview. She explained how natural disasters just happen, there is no greater meaning behind them and for that reason she feels comforted. She saw these as indicators of the meaninglessness of life, not in the sense that she shouldnât live it anymore, but in the sense that she could live and be as she wished, because no one is watching. âNo eye was on the sparrow.â Same goes for her husbandâs death. It just happened, and she has to live despite the loss.
Kulang na Silya at Iba pang Kuwentong Buhay: Essays on Life and Writing by Ricky Lee
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
4.0