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vimcenzo's reviews
105 reviews
Berserk Deluxe Volume 2 by Kentaro Miura
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
A stunningly deep story, with marvelous, unforgettable characters that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Some battle scenes can be difficult to follow, which is a pity when the series is so rooted in realism that it should not be the main issue. Although, speaking of: the Nosferatu Zodd plotline was the main irritant of this otherwise spectacular story. Of course, the previous volume was filled with magic. But for me, the absolute limit feels like it should have been with the Behelit’s eye opening. This series is at its best when its plot is centered in realism, although its fantasy elements are not bad. This is barely not a 5. I would give it a 4.9 if I could.
Land of the Lustrous 7 by Haruko Ichikawa
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Intense, and keeps ramping up.
Land of the Lustrous 6 by Haruko Ichikawa
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The darkest the series has gotten.
Land of the Lustrous 5 by Haruko Ichikawa
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Things’re certainly getting more dark. It’s especially interesting to see the parallels between Ghost wanting to become more powerful and Phos, on the other side of gaining that power, lamenting that she had done so.
Land of the Lustrous 4 by Haruko Ichikawa
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Many happy returns, and I think the art style has improved. My issue with a lot of the earlier volumes was that the simple looks were a bit overused, although now I guess we can make the argument that as the tone gets more serious, then the jokes have diminishing returns.
I have also always admired that the translator will add notes to the end of the book. This should be an industry standard.
I have also always admired that the translator will add notes to the end of the book. This should be an industry standard.
Volpone Glory by Nick Kyme
Did not finish book. Stopped at 54%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 54%.
Thought it was getting good around my third attempt to sit through this, but I can’t deal with it. Unironic Starship Troopers fanfiction and a military soap opera lacking the charm of something like Metal Gear Solid.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is like an explosion in your hands. Honestly, it's like finding a water stain in the shape of Jesus's face; it's art, but not one that was carefully crafted or that even has an artist commanding it. Through Thompson, an eye-searing account of the failing American Dream and the darkness present in every human soul is given flesh through words, and this deserves as close a reading as any classic--if this book is not considered already by enough people to be a classic.
If you came here from the movie, I will say that this is a much less sympathetic view on thompson, who's been mythologized by the Depp portrayal and countless parodies and becoming a pop-culture icon. However, it just makes the book more unflinchingly honest.
The foreword has no influence on the score, but I need to acknowledge it because of that: It was written by a troglodyte with no understanding of the content they were prefacing. Just some desperate caterwauling for relevance that wasted the world's collective time.
If you came here from the movie, I will say that this is a much less sympathetic view on thompson, who's been mythologized by the Depp portrayal and countless parodies and becoming a pop-culture icon. However, it just makes the book more unflinchingly honest.
The foreword has no influence on the score, but I need to acknowledge it because of that: It was written by a troglodyte with no understanding of the content they were prefacing. Just some desperate caterwauling for relevance that wasted the world's collective time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Charles Van Doren, Mortimer J. Adler
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
4.0
Rating this as a "book" is strange, because it's instructional. It's like rating the guide to an IKEA assembly guide. If the end result was a shelf, then the instructions were successful. And if you don't, or they involved a struggle to understand, then they probably weren't.
So do I know how to read a book? Yes, ignoring the obvious, of course, but this is a book that means to truly "absorb" a book. They use an analogy regarding baseball, whether a ball is "caught" or not. If a reader does not "catch" the book, then the work they do to bridge the gap of knowledge is the "enlightenment" that the reader will experience. Really, this book is commendable for trying to address that people do not indeed know "how" to read a book, that they are pre-fed an understanding and interpretation to pass a course or expected to be well-read by a societal peer pressure at the cost of never truly understanding a book past a surface level.
Some flaws: Although I wouldn't call this a self-help book, strictly speaking, I think that it has its hallmarks in the way it occasionally negs the reader and makes them doubt themselves. It takes on some self-deprecation, in saying that few people ever perfectly understand a book, and those that do are very few and far between. That the learning, and the effort, is in trying. However, their methodology to get to that is flawed as a result. They write a tautology at some point that suggests that reading something by an author means the reader must agree or disagree, or defer judgement if they feel they have not understood the material in full. Disagreement, of course, means that the reader must have a learned reason why that is not the case (one not driven by emotion). They then turn this tautology on their own work, saying that if the reader accepts all the words said as being true, then it is their imperative to read in the style that Adler and van Doren dictate.
No.
This book does almost nothing to talk about reading with different critical lenses, like Marxism, or semiotics, or other modes of thinking that, while not guaranteed to be the solution, is better than the blind charge that this book tries to encourage. They begrudgingly give advice on how to use reference books and specify that the history of words. They're right to at least feel suspicious that a reference book will taint a reader's perception of how to understand a word or concept. But outright dismissing Shakespeare editions that have that reference sheet baked into it puts a lot of faith in the reader that if they are not intelligent, that they will not grow frustrated with the struggle. This is simply my opinion, to be sure, but what I find contradictory is the idea that the reader must accept this style of reading as the best option while in the same book admitting that "few have truly understood a book." Really? Does that include the authors themselves, who have placed hundreds of works in their recommended reading list? And if they have failed to understand the reading, does that not mean that their own methodology is flawed? Are they not obligated to propose a better alternative to what they have done? I certainly do not have one--as flawed as their tautology is, I follow it in some degree. But I think it's a bit much to write a book literally declaring it is the way "to read a book" and then shrug and say "Well, but who has ever read a book, really?"
I picked this during my Ph.D because the classes weren't as demanding as I wanted them to be (or to involve something a little more dynamic and a little less like busywork.) I was feeling a little intellectually flabby and even the book itself was a difficult read. I'm saying this because if you are an English Major, you likely already know most of what this book proposes and more. But if you don't study English and want to crack the code a little, this is gonna get you where you need to go.
So do I know how to read a book? Yes, ignoring the obvious, of course, but this is a book that means to truly "absorb" a book. They use an analogy regarding baseball, whether a ball is "caught" or not. If a reader does not "catch" the book, then the work they do to bridge the gap of knowledge is the "enlightenment" that the reader will experience. Really, this book is commendable for trying to address that people do not indeed know "how" to read a book, that they are pre-fed an understanding and interpretation to pass a course or expected to be well-read by a societal peer pressure at the cost of never truly understanding a book past a surface level.
Some flaws: Although I wouldn't call this a self-help book, strictly speaking, I think that it has its hallmarks in the way it occasionally negs the reader and makes them doubt themselves. It takes on some self-deprecation, in saying that few people ever perfectly understand a book, and those that do are very few and far between. That the learning, and the effort, is in trying. However, their methodology to get to that is flawed as a result. They write a tautology at some point that suggests that reading something by an author means the reader must agree or disagree, or defer judgement if they feel they have not understood the material in full. Disagreement, of course, means that the reader must have a learned reason why that is not the case (one not driven by emotion). They then turn this tautology on their own work, saying that if the reader accepts all the words said as being true, then it is their imperative to read in the style that Adler and van Doren dictate.
No.
This book does almost nothing to talk about reading with different critical lenses, like Marxism, or semiotics, or other modes of thinking that, while not guaranteed to be the solution, is better than the blind charge that this book tries to encourage. They begrudgingly give advice on how to use reference books and specify that the history of words. They're right to at least feel suspicious that a reference book will taint a reader's perception of how to understand a word or concept. But outright dismissing Shakespeare editions that have that reference sheet baked into it puts a lot of faith in the reader that if they are not intelligent, that they will not grow frustrated with the struggle. This is simply my opinion, to be sure, but what I find contradictory is the idea that the reader must accept this style of reading as the best option while in the same book admitting that "few have truly understood a book." Really? Does that include the authors themselves, who have placed hundreds of works in their recommended reading list? And if they have failed to understand the reading, does that not mean that their own methodology is flawed? Are they not obligated to propose a better alternative to what they have done? I certainly do not have one--as flawed as their tautology is, I follow it in some degree. But I think it's a bit much to write a book literally declaring it is the way "to read a book" and then shrug and say "Well, but who has ever read a book, really?"
I picked this during my Ph.D because the classes weren't as demanding as I wanted them to be (or to involve something a little more dynamic and a little less like busywork.) I was feeling a little intellectually flabby and even the book itself was a difficult read. I'm saying this because if you are an English Major, you likely already know most of what this book proposes and more. But if you don't study English and want to crack the code a little, this is gonna get you where you need to go.
Dragon Ball (3-In-1 Edition), Vol. 14, Volume 14: Includes Vols. 40, 41 & 42 by Akira Toriyama
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
If the entire Freeza arc were one volume, I think it could have earned a 5. This is the best the series has been since that arc, and all in one volume. Way to end in a perfect note with all the characters. Lots of laughs, lots of highs. What a wonderful experience to now be able to share with countless other fans.
Dragon Ball (3-In-1 Edition), Vol. 13, Volume 13: Includes Vols. 37, 38 & 39 by Akira Toriyama
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This has Vegeta's most interesting moments so far. Boo as a villain reminds me of some of the earlier Dragonball enemies and I like that about him, and I hope he gets a turnaround or can be negotiated with--something that, while I criticized would be stupid if it happened with Cell, now I think it would be appropriate. Boo almost has innocence to him, not unlike Android 8 who is one of my favorite characters. Goten and Trunks are very charming as a retread of Kid Goku as well and I look forward to seeing them excel. Hercule is also great fun, as well as his daughter.
Gohan is not very fun anymore, and the length of this series feels more grueling whenever he's onscreen. I hope his whole schtick wraps up sooner rather than later.
Gohan is not very fun anymore, and the length of this series feels more grueling whenever he's onscreen. I hope his whole schtick wraps up sooner rather than later.