theoryoftheafro's reviews
308 reviews

Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

dark 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

5.0

It's easy to say this is great Gothic fiction, one of the first and greatest pieces of science-fiction and a horror masterpiece. That's because it is, everything from the character work, the fabulous lines of dialogue ("I shall collect my funeral pile, and consume to ashes this miserable frame, that its remains may afford no light to any curious and unhallowed wretch, who would create such another as I have been. I shall die."), and in particular, taking centre stage in many of the passages, the descriptions of the wild pre-industrial European landscapes, with lush and dark forests of green, running rivers, castles in ruin. This all to evoke a sense of gloom and dark in the reader that so few works of fiction have managed to hold me by.
I was aware I'd like this, but not that I would absolutely love it, my library's copy has now been dogmarked to oblivion, and previously to mine reading it, some other lucky one managed to underline passages throughout the novel that help only to pay even more attention to the wording. It deserves every praise and every sense of worth as a great novel.

Les cendres a la piscina by Laura Gost

emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

És preciós, aquest llibre; una història de la tristor i de crèixer, que relata les vides enreversades dels personatges que populen una Mallorca canviant. Em fa pensar sovint, llegint aquest text, en els meus amics i llurs contes i històries de llurs pobles, de la Vila Joiosa i de Burjassot, del Campello i Xàbia, del Cabanyal mateix, enfrontats tots a un món que canvia veloçment i deixa enrere a molts; la tragèdia d'en Sebastià n'és una d'un home excèntric i vividor, molts en dirien el típic "cunyat" espanyol, i ben potser sí, però és alhora una vida trista, plena de decepcions, de lloances a qui no se les mereix i de decisions que sovint no sabem ben bé pas per què les prenguem, però en fem tot i manera. Pocs llibres m'hauran marcat tan estranya i bellament com aquest.

Canto jo i la muntanya balla by Irene Solà

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

Adore, m'encisa l'escriptura de la Irene Solà; possiblement la veu més interessant amb què m'he trobat els darrers anys dins de la literatura de l'estat espanyol (no puc parlar-ne de la catalana, car no n'he llegit prou, del modern). Reflecta una veu d'una Catalunya perduda, les dones oblidades arran de la guerra civil i la posterioritat a la dictadura, les seues novel·les em fan sentir el què un nou àlbum dels Manel, em dóna els aires d'una muntanya perduda al prepirineu català, amb què m'emsomnie i m'hi perc, als seus boscos eterns, amb llurs bèsties desconegudes. Mai no em cansaré de tornar a llegir la seua obra, i n'estic ansiós del què vindrà.

Petals Of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Moses Isegawa

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

5.0

Arguably the better of the two novels I have read by the author, so far, and also the more realised and heavier with symbolism (which will warrant not a second, but a third, perhaps a fourth, endless, rereads); the first reaction I had upon reaching the climax of the story was how ineffective my very specific upbringing during my teen-age years, as a student in Tanzania, proves in introducing us to the literature of the continent. And not solely the literature of the continent, but its most relevant in a native African tongue; surely we all know the Achebes, the Ngozi Adichies, the Yabouzas, amongst many more greats, who have (like their Latin American counterparts) made the language of their colonisers theirs, and theirs to exploit, bend to their will, and express the open wounds left behind by Empire; but aside from wa Thiong'o's achievement, the median reader will struggle with naming a single other author from the mother continent who doesn't write in English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, etc.
The journeys Karega, Munira, Wanja and Abdulla go through, with the colourful and lively Ilmorog village (then city, then massive urban sprawl à la Nairobi), each relate an aspect of Kenyan society through the back years of the colony as well as the dawn of a proud new nation after a terrible guerrilla war which has left scars on every soul of the land, as well as irreparably damaged and strained social standards, familial and friendly relations, who could once have been your comrade in revolution and strike was now your opressor, and your former opressors now were nowhere to be found, completely unaccounted for. These, the pains of Kenya, reflect not only this one single land, but the very tangible lines of suffering on the entirety of Africa, not for nothing has wa Thiong'o found incredible success throughout his whole career amongst the lucky few of his fellow Africans to have read him, whom through his masterful translation of his own works have felt a pain reflected on their own nations carved out of the continent through strife and war. Ilmorog village, very much like Macondo representing Colombia and Latin America in García Márquez' Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude), reflects not only the average Kenyan villaged rebuilt and redesigned for the white touring eye, but the soul of the entire continent, ravaged, pillaged, razed, violated, exploited, for the interests of the white European metropolis. Abdulla in particular, hit me the hardest, as one of the remaining heirs of the struggle for freedom, with many of his ideals reflected in the younger eyes of Karega and Munira, but is as well the saddest and most poignant reflection of those who in the past struggled for a better tomorrow: lost nigh on their lives and well-being

, for a nation that has forced them into the dirt and wretch of the modern capitalist Kenya-Africa

.
This book is hard for me to review, to be objective and at the same time subjective, about a topic I feel so particularly affected by, the exploitation of the Global South and the ever-growing presence of destruction capitalism, but if I could, perchance, leave a single sentence to summarise this book for a possible reader, it'd be this: our situation is forever bleak, for those purportedly standing by our side could always betray us, but we struggle onwards, not for the prize we ourselves can and must attain, but so that those after us need not struggle again for them.

Flashpoint by Geoff Johns

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Aproximació a la història social de la llengua catalana by Brauli Montoy Abat

reflective medium-paced

4.75

Com a aproximació, inici, engegant a la història de la llengua , hi dóna un bon peu, en parla dels punts principals i més rellevants al nostre parlar, però s'estalvia de fer gairebé cap mena de comentari sobre la situació actual del català, només fins arribar a les darreres planes.

Cyclops, Vol. 2: A Pirate's Life for Me by John Layman, Javier Garrón

tense slow-paced

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

2.25

I liked some of the scenes, but overall I couldn't bring myself to much care, though i think the relationship between Scott and Corsair could be much more deeply explored, but one would think they'd do that in the 90s, not in 2010

Phoenix #2 by Stephanie Phillips

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

Nothing really happens! Sure, Corsair is a fun character to have Jean Grey interact with, but it was genuinely a lot of "go on, girl, give us nothing!" I'm aware second issues don't often hit exactly well, at least for myself, but from how enjoyable the first issue was, I expected more...? I'm hoping the pace of the story picks up, and I'm really hoping we get the engaging character work this book promises; give us post-Krakoa Jean Grey being the ultimate force of the universe, or give us nothing.

Phoenix #1 by Stephanie Phillips

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

Intriguing start to say the least!

Uncanny X-Men #1 by Gail Simone

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0