When I first tried to read the Vampire Chronicles as a Buffy-obsessed teenager, this is where I gave up.
But time has increased my fortitude/ability toWhen I first tried to read the Vampire Chronicles as a Buffy-obsessed teenager, this is where I gave up.
But time has increased my fortitude/ability to wade through long, boring passages for details about my blorbos. Still, after consuming most of the other VC books I've read this year in 2-3 days, this took me nearly two weeks to finish.
It's okay? Probably more of a two-star for me, with a bonus star for the campiest opening of all time. All the campest passages are pretty good: Lestat and the wolves; Lestat and Armand and Nicki in Paris; and the king himself, Rock Star Lestat. But I get very bored with yet another telling of the backstory of Those Who Must Be Kept, which never gets any less racist (Anne -- via Marius, so maybe grain of salt except for some reason, Anne stans Marius -- actually says that the Romans abhorred human sacrifice, which: LOL) and any scene with Marius that isn't Daniel and/or Armand somehow killing him is a scene too many, imo. But I think I will have to (hopefully) look to the show for satisfaction in that regard.
Since, in this 550 page book, only 50 pages are actually Lestat's Rock Star era, we've honestly gotten more quality content from the S3 trailer alone. So I have faith. ...more
Absolute gut punch. Starts out tricking you into thinking it's one thing -- a relatively sympathetic portrait of a lonely writer looking back on his nAbsolute gut punch. Starts out tricking you into thinking it's one thing -- a relatively sympathetic portrait of a lonely writer looking back on his naive but optimistic past through diaries from the 1970s that he rediscovers -- but gradually, sneakily becomes something else. This is a corruption narrative. It's darkly funny in places, deeply sad, and with some unnervingly resonant passages about memory and artistic integrity and who and what we value on the path up, and the path down. I had to read it slowly because it kept cutting my legs out from under me in different ways.
For anyone else who, like me, is partially here for trashy IWTV reasons: eerily, Bogosian's protagonist here shares a lot in common with Daniel Molloy, drugs, bicuriosity, tape recorder and all. But like, if he were evil and sucked -- and not in a fun vampire way.
It feels weird and fated that Bogosian wrote this back in 2009. But it also stands alone as an absolute wallop of a novel....more
Welcome to Trin Reads Popular Books a Decade Too Late.
Not sure why I have stubbornly held onto this for ten years, as it is so clearly Not For Me. ThiWelcome to Trin Reads Popular Books a Decade Too Late.
Not sure why I have stubbornly held onto this for ten years, as it is so clearly Not For Me. This novel feels like it was grown in a lab to be generically heartwarming, but I didn't buy it. It feels like a 2010s (male) fantasy in so many respects: cranky old man wins the hearts of his entire community by being steadfastly old-fashioned and secretly right about everything (and more competent than the Youth) while learning not to say slurs. Ove knows how to Fix Things With His Hands and teaches an immigrant woman Never to Buy Foreign Cars. Lol sure.
No shade to anyone who found this charming -- I myself have been emotionally manipulated by other clearly emotionally manipulative books -- but the stiff translation, the fact that Ove is an HOA guy (ew), and the distance of ten years meant this one lost any chance of working on me....more
I like the idea of this far better than the execution. I share Pericoli's obsession with views, with the way the frame of a window frames your perceptI like the idea of this far better than the execution. I share Pericoli's obsession with views, with the way the frame of a window frames your perception, and how much the environment outside your window can shape your creative life. His ink drawings are simple but can be evocative -- though often I do wish they incorporated color or more detail. It's the essays that really let this concept down. They're just not very interesting or good? Which is especially disappointing when your contributors are all writers. But most simply do not have anything compelling to say, and one even starts going on about "the nobility of poverty" (vom).
2.5 stars, rounded up for what could have been....more
I remember trying to read Love and Rockets in the early 2000s; I didn't get it then and I don't get it now. A lot of it just seems like an excuse to dI remember trying to read Love and Rockets in the early 2000s; I didn't get it then and I don't get it now. A lot of it just seems like an excuse to draw tits. Which is bizarre as I so often see this described as a classic feminist project (written and drawn by three men). Could be I just picked up the one "off" volume, but......more
Impressive work of scholarship (to my limited knowledge) and nuanced storytelling. My understanding is that there is genuinely new material here; therImpressive work of scholarship (to my limited knowledge) and nuanced storytelling. My understanding is that there is genuinely new material here; there is certainly the most comprehensive account of the Armenian Genocide that I have read, followed through to its repercussions throughout various aspects of history, politics, culture. The closing section about the importance and power of memory genuinely moved me. ...more
Very traditional-feeling but mostly effective novel about the final voyage of the cruise ship the Queen Isabella. Christensen's writing is fluid and rVery traditional-feeling but mostly effective novel about the final voyage of the cruise ship the Queen Isabella. Christensen's writing is fluid and readable, and her characterization compelling, but I spent the whole last half to third dreading the inevitable "literary" ambiguous ending and -- yup. I'm sorry, but without an actual thematic purpose, don't endings like this just feel like the author didn't know how to tie up their plot?...more
Lots of action, lots of body horror. The action sequences are classic and fun -- the Doctor has a fight on the roof of a train! The Doctor defuses a bLots of action, lots of body horror. The action sequences are classic and fun -- the Doctor has a fight on the roof of a train! The Doctor defuses a bomb! -- and I enjoyed the "small 1930s British village" setting. There's something a bit odd going on with the Doctor's characterization here, though -- Anji's feeling distrustful of him, and his seeming lack of caring and bursts of violence, while Fitz continues to be entirely devoted and faithful. The contrast is interesting -- gosh, I wonder what could be causing the difference in their feelings? -- but I hope this is building to something, along with the Doctor's still-present partial amnesia. (Eight as Amnesias Georg strikes again.)...more
Poems written in, and reckoning with, the Black Southern (and Midwestern) Gothic and Blues traditions. I liked, at least in concept, the series of odePoems written in, and reckoning with, the Black Southern (and Midwestern) Gothic and Blues traditions. I liked, at least in concept, the series of odes to Southern cooking, and there's a great deal of clever wordplay and individual poems I liked (especially, oddly, "Ring of Fire," which is about Las Vegas). I could have done without the instances of poetic "I hate my wife" humor, or the poem to his penis -- like, I respect where in Blues these things are coming from ("squeeze my lemon," etc.) but that doesn't mean I want to read them....more
I think I acquired this either in college or just afterwards, and I probably should have read it then; I have now consumed so much excellent queer litI think I acquired this either in college or just afterwards, and I probably should have read it then; I have now consumed so much excellent queer literature that this feels highly meh. It's most interesting as a snapshot of New York gay life in the 1980s, but as the characters are almost all wealthy and white, this portrayal feels lopsided. Favorite stories were "Interview with the Drag Queen" (ha) and "A Christmas Carol." I'm glad I finally read it, but it's not one I need to keep in my collection....more
The most 2005 book to ever exist, despite having its origins in the '80s. Farts around on the fence between intellectual and crude (he quotes WittgensThe most 2005 book to ever exist, despite having its origins in the '80s. Farts around on the fence between intellectual and crude (he quotes Wittgenstein -- but also cusses! lol) but doesn't really say anything. Ends with "sincerity itself is bullshit," which is some pure mid-aughts BS of its own.
Read to get off my shelf, as I'm not sure why I had it in the first place....more
Hard to read. The Armand of this book, unlike -- I think -- the Armand of the show, doesn't know or can't admit that he was abused, specifically by hiHard to read. The Armand of this book, unlike -- I think -- the Armand of the show, doesn't know or can't admit that he was abused, specifically by his maker, Marius. It is horrible to see him forgive Marius, up to and including Marius' last horrible betrayal at this novel's end -- and worse still to see all the other characters accept and even love this absolute fuck weasel.
I was excited to find this in a used bookstore because I know of Powell as from that circle of New Yorker writers and as a Maxwell Perkins author, andI was excited to find this in a used bookstore because I know of Powell as from that circle of New Yorker writers and as a Maxwell Perkins author, and this is supposed to be a satire of the 1930s New York literary scene. Unfortunately, I bounced pretty hard off the voice, which feels experimental but not innovative, lots of stream of consciousness from lots of characters' POVs, few of which come alive. One aspect I did like were the chapters following the two ex-wives of a Hemingway-like character, one of whom is dying and who only has the other -- the wife she supplanted -- to visit in the hospital while she waits desperately for not-Hemingway (who's off fucking a dancer) to come. There are some beautiful descriptions of the first wife's mental state and observations in these scenes, but they don't sustain a whole book, and the literary satire itself felt limp as old salad. Alas!...more
Plot: 2.5-3? There are some really fun action sequences, but also many that drag on way too long, and I found the villain and his motivations uninspirPlot: 2.5-3? There are some really fun action sequences, but also many that drag on way too long, and I found the villain and his motivations uninspired.
Homoeroticism: off the scale. Cole ships Eight/Fitz so hard and their dynamic in this is absolutely insane. Jaw on the floor, I snipped and sent many screencaps.
"Do you love Anji?"
Now Fitz burst out laughing. "That's a good one. Er, no. We're not together in that way. We're just friends."
"Then are you lonely?" Vettul asked in her solemn voice.
"I used to be," Fitz said. "But I'm not any more. I met someone special. You saw him tonight, the Doctor."
Saw him that night, he means, when the Doctor ran forward and kissed the video screen when Fitz came on the call. You know, normal friend behavior.
The Doctor also princess carries an injured Fitz -- and then uses his legs as a battering ram.
I would pay cash monies to see this filmed....more
Well, you better like lots and lots of descriptions of skin peeling off.
THAT SAID, I ended up appreciating this considerably more than I thought I wasWell, you better like lots and lots of descriptions of skin peeling off.
THAT SAID, I ended up appreciating this considerably more than I thought I was going to. The main character is an asshole, the prose is intentionally simplistic, but the way Smith weaves in and out of other narratives and stories to explore grief and family and even the seductive appeal of alternate universes is unsettling and, ultimately, at least somewhat rewarding. This is not the type of haunted house story -- if it even is a haunted house story -- where you can expect a big splashy ending or even a dramatic reveal. But I admire its restraint more than I would a schlocky forced finale. And I think Smith is trying to engage with real themes -- even if stylistically, this was not always up my alley....more
The most normie book I've read in a while, and -- look, I like plenty of normie books; I enjoy The Thursday Murder Club series for example. But this wThe most normie book I've read in a while, and -- look, I like plenty of normie books; I enjoy The Thursday Murder Club series for example. But this was so painfully whitebread I struggled to get through it. Lippman was clearly inspired by the work of James M. Cain -- if it weren't clear from the Problematic Women and insurance schemes, she references him repeatedly in the text -- and I could see this story working as a film, like so many of Cain's novels did, with dynamic lead performances and cinematic atmosphere to add much needed texture. But classic noir is usually written with personality, with a lot of voice on the page, and this has none. Instead you spend the entire time going, Gosh, what mildly naughty activities will these white heterosexuals get up to next? And will there be an overly expository epilogue to clarify things that didn't need to be clarified?
This is not a 1-star as in bad, unequivocally, but I really, really did not like it or enjoy reading it, so it's a 1 for me....more
Loading...
