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yzziheap's reviews
35 reviews
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Syd Barrett: Crazy Diamond: The Dawn of Pink Floyd by Mike Watkinson, Pete Anderson
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.0
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
1.0
the last page was the only vaguely good page in the entire book
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
0.0
full of information loosely strung together by the vague concept of physical geography being important. marshall failed to offer any more or interesting analysis, instead opting to write about fifty different examples to back up his basic claim.
unbearably biased to the point where it could almost be considered misinformation. marshall makes no effort to offer any critical analysis in his attempts to weave a ‘china = bad’ narrative into what feels like every single chapter. some highlights included attributing both european success and african hardships almost solely to geography with little mention of colonialism, depicting the israel/palestine conflict as one sided where israel is innocent (“militants in gaza seeking rockets that can fire further, and Israel developing its anti-missile defence system.”), and calling fidel castro an “old man” that “huffed and puffed” about america.
most of the book felt like marshall was writing for the sake of writing. it was not interesting nor sensical for vast portions. a personal favourite was the strange comparison of the us and eu, where marshall questions why americans identify as american first, and by state second whereas europeans identify country first and european second. he comes to the conclusion that this is due to “geography” and “the history of the unification of the usa”. i would point out that it is due to the us being a country whilst the eu is not, but i guess that’s neither here nor there. it was a weird comparison to make.
also, for a book supposedly about maps there is a resounding lack of them in the book. the ones that are present are basic and only somewhat relevant to each chapter. at points marshall talks about maps and theoretical maps that aren’t even in the book and it became quiet convoluted and pointless.
prisoners of geography is the worst book i have ever read. it is boring, biased and poorly written. you could get more interesting analysis from a banana about an apple than marshall offers in his book which he should’ve called ‘*insert vaguely relevant point about geography*: ten reasons i love colonialism and hate china’
most of the book felt like marshall was writing for the sake of writing. it was not interesting nor sensical for vast portions. a personal favourite was the strange comparison of the us and eu, where marshall questions why americans identify as american first, and by state second whereas europeans identify country first and european second. he comes to the conclusion that this is due to “geography” and “the history of the unification of the usa”. i would point out that it is due to the us being a country whilst the eu is not, but i guess that’s neither here nor there. it was a weird comparison to make.
also, for a book supposedly about maps there is a resounding lack of them in the book. the ones that are present are basic and only somewhat relevant to each chapter. at points marshall talks about maps and theoretical maps that aren’t even in the book and it became quiet convoluted and pointless.
prisoners of geography is the worst book i have ever read. it is boring, biased and poorly written. you could get more interesting analysis from a banana about an apple than marshall offers in his book which he should’ve called ‘*insert vaguely relevant point about geography*: ten reasons i love colonialism and hate china’
The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5