I, Lucifer, Fallen Angel, Prince of Darkness, Bringer of Light, Ruler of Hell, Lord of the Flies, Father of LieI absolutely love how the book starts -
I, Lucifer, Fallen Angel, Prince of Darkness, Bringer of Light, Ruler of Hell, Lord of the Flies, Father of Lies, Apostate Supreme, Tempter of Mankind, Old Serpent, Prince of This World, Seducer, Accuser, Tormentor, Blasphemer, and without doubt Best Fuck in the Seen and Unseen Universe (ask Eve, that minx) have decided – oo-lala! – to tell all.
It's such a beautifully written book. Not perhaps flawless, from the descriptive writing perspective, but coming very close. It's witty, it's sarcastic, and very British.
The plot itself isn't very original, if you expect "the Other Side" of the story, well you are not getting a lot of story. But you will get a lot of introspection from Lucifer's point of view. How he thinks and his motivation, which is just as well.
I still prefer John Milton's version at Paradise Lost which was subsequently used in the The Sandman universe and later spun off in it's own book. Another book that I found entertaining, if you like the theme, is To Reign in Hell, which actually retells the story of the Fall, instead of just bits and pieces like this one does....more
It was a better read than I expected. Slow start, but I liked the switching narratives and the switching styles. A lot of time was built up on preventIt was a better read than I expected. Slow start, but I liked the switching narratives and the switching styles. A lot of time was built up on preventing Hitler from being born, but when that was accomplished, the protagonist just reads a few book and races back to undo what he did. It didn't feel very balanced.
Otherwise, interesting premise and solid execution.
Also, second "What if Nazi Germany won" book I read. Woo! If you liked this, on a more serious vein, you might also like The Man in the High Castle...more
**spoiler alert** Faustus: I WANT IT ALL! THE FAME THE POWER THE GLORY! /Mephistophilis gives Faustus everything Faustus: I have made a huge mistake.
It**spoiler alert** Faustus: I WANT IT ALL! THE FAME THE POWER THE GLORY! /Mephistophilis gives Faustus everything Faustus: I have made a huge mistake.
It actually happens like that. He didn't *slowly* regret his decision, he just got what he wanted and baam! I understand it's a play but... comeon now....more
I am torn between 4 and 5 stars. I am very miser with my stars, and for the first time I wish there was a 4.5 rating.
For something written over a hundI am torn between 4 and 5 stars. I am very miser with my stars, and for the first time I wish there was a 4.5 rating.
For something written over a hundred years ago, Dracula is a surprisingly modern tale. You have your overly flowery Victorian language, but subtract that and the exact same story can be told today without any other modifications.
Dracula himself appears in only a fifth of the book. It's a mystery book more than a horror, where a modern group of people bands together to fight that is which ancient and supernatural. Perhaps has a bit of science fiction too, if you will.
The way the story is told, the absolute contrast between the good and evil, science and supernatural, the class struggle, richness of details and atmosphere, everything makes the book a classic. A perfect autumn read too, given how the story takes place over a long summer.
I don't really think it's possible to follow GTD to the letter. It's too anal for that. But I do think it's possible to implement many of it's techniqI don't really think it's possible to follow GTD to the letter. It's too anal for that. But I do think it's possible to implement many of it's techniques to your life, and you will probably save a lot of time. Probably.
Most self-help books are in the category of able to be summarized in just one article. So if don't feel you should read the entire book, just go through a good summary and see if you feel it's worth reading it. I got the audio-book because I feel that would drive the point home.
I might actually get an in-basket tomorrow....more
I have been reading this and the first book as a part of a course. And I did not enjoy any of them one bit. The books are pure non-sense, and sure, thI have been reading this and the first book as a part of a course. And I did not enjoy any of them one bit. The books are pure non-sense, and sure, the author might have used some subtle death jokes that only the adults will get at parts, but by God, does it necessarily mean that every-single-sentence has got to have a double or triple meaning?
Isn't it possible that Alice sitting beside a river bank has nothing to do with Carroll thinking about zone of transitions but rather the fact that that's what children do? Or maybe her making a daisy chain has nothing to do with her trying to make eternal symbols rather than the fact that it's interesting?
I am a technical guy, and reading to me is an escapist activity. Maybe I'll write something one of these days too. But really now, I doubt very few authors think about the symbolism to such a Freudian extent.
Anyway, Looking Glass, imho, is superior of the two Alice books. I love the Chess analogy and the Kings and Queens. The book seems slightly more based on it's logic (or dream-logic), the themes are darker, and Alice has a bit more purpose and a sense of adventure not present in Wonderland.
It's certainly more elaborate. Whereas Alice in Wonderland felt that Caroll was making up the story as he went on, Through the Looking-Glass has a definite sense of structure and destination. I'd even go on to say that at times it is a bit philosophical. It's much more grown up, which might not appeal to everyone, but I liked it.
I'll have to return to this book someday again, and I hope to enjoy it more when I do.
Here's something interesting I found which I'd like to share. Carroll himself wrote the following to a friend in America, when being asked about the meaning of his poem 'The Hunting of the Snark': "I'm very much afraid I didn't mean anything but nonsense. Still, you know, words mean more than we mean to express when we use them; so a whole book ought to mean a great deal more than the writer means. So, whatever good meanings are in the book, I'm glad to accept as the meaning of the book." (source: Collingwood, "The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll")
At first the stories made absolutely no sense to me. There were no morals. They would have a slow start, a nonsense of a middlIt has been fascinating.
At first the stories made absolutely no sense to me. There were no morals. They would have a slow start, a nonsense of a middle, and an abrupt and usually violent end. I thought to myself: These are not stories for children! But as I read on I realized that I have been reading it wrong. They are meant for children. I have read them as a child. Except they were called Thakrumar Jhuli in this part of the world. I remembered I used to enjoy them, but it has been so long that I had forgotten.
So I continued reading with the specs of a young child and I loved the stories. I started seeing the symbolism. I started understanding why the stories were so violent. I started realizing why these stories seemed abrupt and random and seemed to make no sense.
But then I am a grown up now, too. So the "meaning" of the stories that swooshed over my head when I was younger, or something that I may have understood subconsciously was now much clearer. The standards of the times that the stories were written were so absolute and different that you have to wonder about the change in society. The stories are little life lessons where in many cases men are rewarded for their canny and bold manipulation (The Knapsack, The Hat, and the Horn; Six Soldiers of Fortune; and so on) while women are rewarded for their duty, obedience, and industriousness (Aschenputtel, Six Swans, and so on). And many contain no happily ever after at all. A moral isn't being presented here, the idea of good and evil, social and gender roles, etc are being presented.
If they were written in the modern times many would probably label them sexist and carry out petitions to get them out of the library. But that has been the way of the world for many centuries before where biological inequality was the same as social inequality. I don't think the concept of 'childhood innocence' even existed in those times.
I could go on, but I'll end the review with my favorite story from the book, which would I feel would sum up Brothers Grimm nicely. A cat and a mouse formed a partnership to save up for the winter. But the cat ends up stealing from the storage and when the mouse finds out, instead of justice being served, the cat ends up eating the mouse too. And the story ends there, as most of the Brothers Grimm stories do. "And that is the way of the world"
The morale presented in The Frog Prince seems questionable at first glance. Unlike most Grimm Brothers stories such as Sleeping Beauty or Aschenputtel were virtue was rewarded, the Princess in this story broke her promise to the frog and even threw him against the wall, yet was rewarded with a "prince with beautiful kind eyes". Yet I contend that there is moral, except that is hidden in perspective.
I believe that when the frog asks the princess to "let [him] sit by thee at table, and eat from thy plate, and drink from thy cup, and sleep in thy little bed" that would actually be a form of marriage engagement, for who else would let a stranger sit by her table or eat from her plate? And the young princess has consented to this engagement just so she can get her ball back again, the ball being a catch-all for anything of much importance to her, which points to the fact that she had no real choice in the engagement. "I will promise it all, whatever you want, if you will only get me my ball again."
She attempts to back off from her promise, and it was only when the King, her father, forces her to fulfull her promise does she grudgingly do so. The entire set up of the story, thus, was an analogy of an arranged marriage brokered by the father where the daughter does not find the husband attractive.
The perspective I spoke about earlier comes from the fact that when one sees the events from the young girl's eyes, one understands why she would behave unwillingly. No one wants to share bed with an ugly frog. Yet, she is forced to do so by the father, and eventually finds over the course of time that the frog was actually a prince.
Nice collection of jokes (I didn't find them very funny, but they are enjoyable) sprinkled with a paragraph or two about certain branches of philosophNice collection of jokes (I didn't find them very funny, but they are enjoyable) sprinkled with a paragraph or two about certain branches of philosophy. Might be interesting to many, but will definitely not teach the uninitiated enough to talk about philosophy to anyone in any intelligent manner....more
As someone else said, "Theres zero suspense as you are told what the ending will be in the first chapter. The entirI should have liked this book more.
As someone else said, "Theres zero suspense as you are told what the ending will be in the first chapter. The entire book is a build up to that "event" which ends up being a short, disappointingly mild one."
But it's his /way/ of writing that makes this book unique. It's extremely... Vonnegut-y. It's almost like he is depressed and egoistical at the same time. And then he goes on to make dick jokes, while continuing to look wise.
I would recommend the book to anyone who is a beginner/intermediate into the game of Poker and is smart enough to know the game goes beyond mathematicI would recommend the book to anyone who is a beginner/intermediate into the game of Poker and is smart enough to know the game goes beyond mathematics and luck. If you have, however, read books on Body Language before (mention goes to The Definitive Book of Body Language), you won't find anything new here.
I love me some young adult books from time to time. They are so easy to read! As was this one. The premise of changing realities has always intriguedI love me some young adult books from time to time. They are so easy to read! As was this one. The premise of changing realities has always intrigued me, so I was able to pick this up right away and managed to finish it within a few hours....more
This book right here. I am not sure how to write about it, except that I do. It was difficult to get into, but when I did get into it, by god!
Look, it'This book right here. I am not sure how to write about it, except that I do. It was difficult to get into, but when I did get into it, by god!
Look, it's easy to enjoy a world so preposterous that it defies imagination. I have done that a few times already. However, one of the reviewers compared Snow Crash to books as The Matrix was to movies- awe-inspiring even though you don't really understand what is happening, and I wholeheartedly agree! Everything in this post-cyberpunk world has been made a business franchise - prisons, churches, suburbs et all. The story is taking place in both Reality and the Metaverse- a virtual reality. In hindsight, now that we have Internet (this book was published in 1992, well before the Netscape era), the Metaverse is both familiar and strange.
But that's just Hiro Protagonist's universe (probably the best name ever given to a protagonist). The plot itself is unique in it's own way. Now I won't go deep into that, but titular Snow Crash has been explained by Junaita, Hiro's love interest, in this way - "Wait a minute, Juanita. Make up your mind. This Snow Crash thing—is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?" Juanita shrugs. "What's the difference?"
What is really striking is how the story progresses amidst skateboard wielding Y.T, Vitaly Chernobyl and the Meltdowns, robot dogs with actual dogs' soul imprinted on them, the android-ish Ng, Uncle Enzo of the Mafia (which, consequently, now runs a pizza delivery business), the baddest motherfucker on Earth - Raven, and a huge Raft of a million religious people and ancient Sumerian myths about programming human minds. All these underneath a finely coated layer of sarcasm and humor.
So why the four star rating? Because it gets really, really tiresome in the middle. Too many research which never served the bottom line, and not enough samurai sword fights. I have no problem with infodumps, but reading 50 pages worth of myths which can be condensed to 5 pages is extremely difficult. I understand that research has it's value in the greater scope of the novel, but most of it flew over my head. The ending, too, seemed haphazard and does not tie all the lose ends.
I am sure if I re-read the book I'll end up giving it five stars. But until then, I urge you all to read Snow Crash, and find out how how deep the rabbit hole goes*!
Thing about Machiavelli is, he's not evil. When you start reading you expect him to be evil, because that's what you are told, but he is not. WhateverThing about Machiavelli is, he's not evil. When you start reading you expect him to be evil, because that's what you are told, but he is not. Whatever he talks about is devoid of petty morales like good or evil. You have a goal, and that is to run/conquer a country. And through The Prince, he will tell you the most logical way to do it.
I suppose that's what the book shows. Logic over Morales. The word "machiavellian" shouldn't be synonymous with manipulation or deceit. If anything, it should be synonymous with being realist or utilitarian....more
This reminded me of a similar story of Zafar Iqbal that I had read before. I can't remember the name off hand, but it definitely had a huge overlap inThis reminded me of a similar story of Zafar Iqbal that I had read before. I can't remember the name off hand, but it definitely had a huge overlap in the plot.
Either that or I read the same book twice and don't remember the first one.
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