extemporally

Right, okay, this is just getting RIDICULOUS -

One paragraph book reviews!

( 10 books: highlights include Judith Butler, Jackie Kay, and Sarah Waters )

I have other things to do, like studying for the GRE or packing for London, but let's face it: reading fiction is the best and funnest. In this entry: I (belatedly) make good on my 2013 resolution to read more novels by POC. More novelists to explore: Xiaolu Guo, Sanjeev Sahota, Taiye Selasie (yes, I am using the Best of Young British Novelists 2013 as a resource, a gambit that has so far paid off), Teju Cole, & Mo Yan. Also: new Claire Tham novel about CRIME AND IMMIGRATION! Exciting! ... anyway, to the books:

Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh

( My review amounts to 'Good, but too long'> )

On Beauty, by Zadie Smith.

( Zadie Smith's least good novel, but still compelling in parts. )

The Icarus Girl, by Helen Oyeyemi.

( Precocious, but extremely respectable debut. )

Lady Oracle, by Margaret Atwood.

( By far the most comic novel Atwood has ever written. )

Fire & Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones.

I felt totally bleak and desperate after finishing this book. What a good book, though! I think it might be one of my favorite DWJs - it achieves a psychological complexity that didn't quite work for me in Time of the Ghost, and tied that up with really intriguing thoughts about the way fantasy and magic and time and childhood works. I really, really loved it.

( wordvomit )

ANYWAY SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE I LOVED THIS BOOK <3

Repetitions upon a theme: sometimes I feel like I make the same LJ entry over and over again before I'm done getting this shit out of my system. Allons-y!

( Blammo: a Bowie entry )

Stopping for a Spell, by Diana Wynne Jones.

Kind of a short, fun read - DWJ's at her best when skewering the grown-up world of etiquette, and here she does it to great degree re: visitors. I read this in the library so can't really quote from it, but delightful! Not one of her best - and I don't know that she really excels at short stories as opposed to the full-length novels - but really really sharp and fun.

Right Ho, Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse.

This is kind of embarrassing to admit - oh whatever - but I have to admit I am constitutionally incapable of telling Jeeves & Wooster plots apart. Intricate as they are - usually, idk. Wooster nearly gets married to Madeline Bassett? There's a piece of clothing Jeeves doesn't want Wooster to wear? Aunt Dahlia or Aunt Agatha come bursting in on Wooster? YOU SEE MY DIFFICULTY. So... this was a fun read, but not outstanding by any measure of the word!

Although this part was cute:

( Read more... )

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick.

( Brilliant and harrowing. )

The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves - and Why It Matters, by B.R. Myers.

( Interesting, but I disagreed with about 60% of this. )

Long Road Home, by Kim Yong.

"memoir of growing up in a comfortable existence in North Korea, only to be thrown into one of the worst prison camps in that country - and then escape to write about it all."

( Read more... )

Finally - on the last day of the year I bring to you: the end of year book meme!

( meme )

To round off an extremely long LJ entry, here's the full list, in all its unformatted and chronological glory!

( The List )

As I am currently dealing with severe undermotivation and some substantial procrastination.

( Adventure Time, Parks & Rec, Hark! A Vagrant, Lizzie Bennett Diaries, Never Mind the Buzzcocks RPF )

In other news today oliphaunts and I were talking about the upcoming BBC adaptation of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (WHO IS EXCITED ABOUT THAT, CERTAINLY NOT ME, IT'S NOT ME GETTING ALL OVERHEATED OVER HERE AND PASSING OUT IN A FAINT) and then she said, "Idris Elba should play Stephen Black!" and then I passed out forever, the end.

Taking a break from revisin' to write down what I thought about some books.

Possession, by A.S. Byatt.

To be honest it's long ago enough, and I don't have a copy to hand, that I can't give a very detailed review of this - I really liked it, and I think it's a good book, but I didn't love this. Part of this may be personal (give me the novel about three doctoral candidates writing their dissertations on legal theory, who're sharing a flat and also falling in love with each other, now). Part of it comes down to a wider problem about accessibility in novels about academia; not only insofar as the hyperacademic, relentless intellectualising of the characters can get frustrating, but also to the extent that participating in academia dooms you to unlikeability. THEY'RE JUST SO UNHAPPY AND SELF-AWARE ABOUT IT THO.

Nevertheless, cracking good literary mystery, and you have to give her lots of points for writing all the poetry (which was mostly good enough to convince you they were classics). I did enjoy that Byatt was reflective enough about the pitfalls of academia to skewer everyone who came into to the picture, even her protagonists, for it. And that's sort of all I have to say?

The Archaeology of Knowledge, by Michel Foucault.

( This entire review is 'Idgi... 'I'm going to criticise the shit out of it anyway' )

The Rule of Law, by Tom Bingham.

( Lord Bingham represent )

Silent House, by Orhan Pamuk.

( If I gave out grades for novels, this would probably be a B. )

PS. I'm really tempted to review all my law books but I probably shan't, hahaha! That being said: John Eekelaar's Family Law and Personal Life is very good, but why doesn't he (and a bunch of other academics) ever acknowledge the great intellectual debt they owe to Martha Nussbaum and Philippa Foot?

On the to-do list for today: laundry, dishes, editing, revision. Hence the meme, obviously.

Comment if you want me to:

1. Tell you why I friended you. If I remember.
2. Associate you with something.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Associate you with a character/pairing.
6. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
7. Tell you my favourite userpic of yours.
8. Tell you that you must post this in your own journal.

Actually I might just get back into bed and read Possession. /o\

Two books I read on the plane. Expect me to read basically nothing else until December rolls around... still, it's been a good run! I definitely didn't expect to read over a hundred books this year.

A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn.

SO GREAT. This should basically be required reading for everyone, and I am glad to see that in some places it is.

and
that's all I have to say without quoting
I'M NOT SURE HOW ELSE TO REVIEW THIS IS ALL

I'm pretty sure I read the original 1980 edition so I'd love to read the extended new one?!

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Bronte.

( Mostly liked this. tw for discussion of abuse. )

Partners in Crime, by Agatha Christie.

A short story collection linked by an overarching plot featuring Tommy & Tuppence Beresford, whom I am incredibly fond of - the format worked, better than it did in The Big Four. It was a really delightful partnership! Sometimes Tommy wins, and sometimes Tuppence wins, and sometimes you think Tuppence wins when really Tommy does, and it's all very silly and twisty and parodic. Stuff I liked: that they got bored, that they jumped at the chance to take on a covert assignation and literally play at being detective (such puppies!), and that neither of them are really on top of the game yet, so they don't reach superhero levels of brilliance. They're just really likeable, I think. ♥

Poirot Investigates, by Agatha Christie.

Classic Poirot - Hastings is incredibly dense, and Poirot has foibles. For some reason, that was literally the only thing I can remember from this book. So, uh, cool, but not very involving, I guess?

House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones.

Gah, I loved this - Charmain is exactly my kind of heroine, by which I mean 'spends far too much time lounging around reading and being useless but also knows it and is delightful anyway', and also her biggest ambition is literally to be an archivist at the Royal Palace. Nerrrrd! Also, the way DWJ writes not-perfect families is just perfect:

( quotes & spoilers )

They Do It With Mirrors, by Agatha Christie.

( I liked this! No spoilers )

Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones.

( no spoilers )

Currently reading: Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I have somehow become a person with Opinions on how urban fantasy should be done, apparently. /o\