Library

FUCKING HATE html, so the book array is out of commission for now PKD Man in the High Castle - 3 - The interesting parts are real engaging, but it stumbles sometimes. I like the cultural focus - its unique - and how the characters' stories interact. The ending was a lot of things, but i must say, expected it was not. Beloved - 2 - i think its a good book and there's a lot of good messaging, but its not for me. the stream of conscious narration is a little much for me to follow, so it made reading it feel very not leisurely

The Situation Room
(still reading)

The Handmaid's Tale
3/17/2025
4 Stars

Also read this in three days. I think I'm sensing a pattern.

Anyhow, really good book. especially right now. The writing is gripping, so even while there's little plot, Offred's narration of the simple day-to-day was really engaging. Also, the interspersed bits of worldbuilding - the news, flashbacks to the coup, even the whole Historical Notes section at the end - were like drugs to me. And I wanted the next hit. Really good.

Something fascinating I noticed, though, was how many parallels I drew to Tale of Two Cities. From the broad, evokative lack of agency pervasive throughout, to minor things like the brutal, rug-pully starts of these dystopias, things just line up. I'm writing a synthesis of the two books, and will elaborate on my stuff here once that's finished - and I figure out what I'm talking about.

Tale of Two Cities
3/11/2025
0 Stars

Frenchmen, Englishmen, and 18th century writing. This book disgusts me.

No plot happens until Book the Third, which is to say nothing happens for the first 64% of the book. But let me tell you, that 64% drags so much it feels like 80%.

I do find the plot (when it exists) intriguing, and love how everything comes together at the end, but so much nothing happens between the good parts that I'd need an abridged version to justify reading it again.

The Secret History
(still reading)

The Martian
1/1/2025