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Reading Update
Mar. 26th, 2021 05:33 pmKind of a weird month.
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Man, I feel bad for Gulliver's wife and kid. Which probably shouldn't be my main take away, but come on, the guy constantly leaves for ship travels that he ultimately never gets paid for, because some natural disaster or mutiny happens, and when he's finally back for good he goes "fuck humans, horses are my only friends :)"
Anyway, fun to read the full version of something I'd only read very abridged excerpts for as a kid, and I mostly enjoyed all the exaggerated takes on what it's like being surrounded by people whose values and methodologies are alien to you, and vice versa. The only exception was the horse place, where Gulliver finally breaking was depressing.
I cracked up at the part of the final chapter where Gulliver explains why he didn't claim any of the lands he visited as colonies for the English.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
I got super into this book, which I really didn't expect. Stayed up at night to finish the back half of it. Once I hit the beginning of Mia's backstory I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the prose, the PoV shifts worked for me and everyone felt very real, if not entirely likeable. Though, to be honest, I think the only character I really disliked was Mrs Richardson, for that's a personality hard for me to like at all in fiction or reality - trapped mostly by their own choices, and yet resentful of and blaming other people for it all. There's a TV adaptation, but the changes I've heard of means I'm uninterested in watching it.
(Random note: When starting this book, I wondered why "Shaker Heights" sounded so familiar to me, and it turns out I was thinking of this 538 article covering the changes in political leanings of two different Cleveland suburbs, one of them Shaker Heights.)
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
I think I was too confused by this book to dislike it. Sure learned some stuff about debate though, and it was excuse enough to stare at the Kansas portion of the North America map on my wall.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
A YA novel take on this kid. Meh for me, and everything to do with the Chamberlains wrap-up at the end left me feeling more confused than confident, which I don't think was the intention. Not to say I'm not down for takes on Miles that obviously account for how he occupies a different context than Peter Parker - just that an army of zombie white dudes giving specific people cat dreams as psychological weapons, including Miles' relatives, isn't a take that really works for me. We also don't find out what happened to the kids who got snatched. Did remind me I should get the Miles Morales game whenever it goes on sale.
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Man, I feel bad for Gulliver's wife and kid. Which probably shouldn't be my main take away, but come on, the guy constantly leaves for ship travels that he ultimately never gets paid for, because some natural disaster or mutiny happens, and when he's finally back for good he goes "fuck humans, horses are my only friends :)"
Anyway, fun to read the full version of something I'd only read very abridged excerpts for as a kid, and I mostly enjoyed all the exaggerated takes on what it's like being surrounded by people whose values and methodologies are alien to you, and vice versa. The only exception was the horse place, where Gulliver finally breaking was depressing.
I cracked up at the part of the final chapter where Gulliver explains why he didn't claim any of the lands he visited as colonies for the English.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
I got super into this book, which I really didn't expect. Stayed up at night to finish the back half of it. Once I hit the beginning of Mia's backstory I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the prose, the PoV shifts worked for me and everyone felt very real, if not entirely likeable. Though, to be honest, I think the only character I really disliked was Mrs Richardson, for that's a personality hard for me to like at all in fiction or reality - trapped mostly by their own choices, and yet resentful of and blaming other people for it all. There's a TV adaptation, but the changes I've heard of means I'm uninterested in watching it.
(Random note: When starting this book, I wondered why "Shaker Heights" sounded so familiar to me, and it turns out I was thinking of this 538 article covering the changes in political leanings of two different Cleveland suburbs, one of them Shaker Heights.)
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
I think I was too confused by this book to dislike it. Sure learned some stuff about debate though, and it was excuse enough to stare at the Kansas portion of the North America map on my wall.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
A YA novel take on this kid. Meh for me, and everything to do with the Chamberlains wrap-up at the end left me feeling more confused than confident, which I don't think was the intention. Not to say I'm not down for takes on Miles that obviously account for how he occupies a different context than Peter Parker - just that an army of zombie white dudes giving specific people cat dreams as psychological weapons, including Miles' relatives, isn't a take that really works for me. We also don't find out what happened to the kids who got snatched. Did remind me I should get the Miles Morales game whenever it goes on sale.