|
June 26
|
|
Jet
is currently reading:
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History (Paperback)
by Stephen Jay Gould
bookshelves:
currently-reading,
seriousnonfiction
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Jet said:
"I bought this after reading the footnotes in God is Not Great - interesting thus far but I am no biologists...
"
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Hardcover)
by Christopher Hitchens
bookshelves:
seriousnonfiction
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
recommended for: Protestants especially, Catholics, Monotheists, Atheists
read in April, 2008
Jet said:
"I haven't updated my Goodreads for so long, I think I have a backlog, but this is the most memorable book among my more recent buys/reads. It is well written even if the Hitchens is anything but balanced. It is thought provoking but garners only thre...more
I haven't updated my Goodreads for so long, I think I have a backlog, but this is the most memorable book among my more recent buys/reads. It is well written even if the Hitchens is anything but balanced. It is thought provoking but garners only three stars because after a while his rants get a tad repetitive and he throws all intellectual tradition out of the window. His examples are too anecdotal for my liking, but he has them well articulated. Read this, if only just for the debate.
Now I am Catholic, but I think it does our faith good when more people read what the atheists and the agnostics say and accept that they do have their points. I obviously subscribe to the apologists tradition. ...less
"
|
|
March 11
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
The Road to Middle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created A New Mythology (Paperback)
by T.A. Shippey
bookshelves:
tolkien
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
January 27
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
by J.K. Rowling
bookshelves:
fantasy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in January, 2008
Jet said:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
I hated the ending. It was too messy and quite honestly I am not cer...more
I am so tempted to give this a 2-star but I did finish reading it, which is more than what I can say about some other fantasy books on the market these days, so I stopped short.
I hated the ending. It was too messy and quite honestly I am not certain what all the character deaths are supposed to achieve - largely because there has not been any build up. To quote another reviewer for an earlier HP book, the climax came with a sense of "Oh are we here already?" as opposed to "Oh, I have been waiting for this!" A thin line divides plot twists from poor plot management. All the DB bits are ill-placed, because, he is dead! There are recaps, which is all fine and dandy, and then there are speaking portraits - which had immediately spark off n exasperated "Oh come on" from me.
The one thing still haunting me is, why did Fred have to die?
Wait, a second thing. Harry was deposited at his aunt's place as a baby! How on earth does he ride around on a toy broom as a one-year old??! Illogical if you ask me. Logical lapse.
And of course, after a cop-out of an ending, the 19-years-later bit aggravated me even further. Let's imagine this. As a child, I had to be sent to Muggle world because I am world-famous for being the only one to have survived a death curse. I was so famous, everyone recognised me from my scar. Now years later, I was not only the One-who-Survived, I was the Chosen One who killed You-Know-Who. Which part of that will allow me to happily stand on a platform to send my children to school, without getting stares?! And why on earth will my own children, and my best buddies' children not know why they are being stared at? Well, if they have been cocooned away at home in Muggle World, that makes sense, but my elder son is already in school! On come on.
The problem with a complicated plot is, if you don't manage it well, it falls flat and it becomes a "I am trying to be clever" moment. It runs away from you. The reader reads it once, reads it twice and goes, she's a genius! when it could have been, the reader reads it once and goes, "AH! Tell me more!" I'm done with the series, and I still think, as great as Rowling is, she does not measure to the likes of her inspiration and E Nesbit least of all....less
"
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
by J.K. Rowling
bookshelves:
fantasy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in January, 2008
Jet said:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
I always have problems with Rowling's endings from the second book on. She was clearly writing with a broader picture in mind, but that doesn't mean you can't do proper closure for each book as a separate entity. Tolkien did it fine e...more
Oh come on.
I always have problems with Rowling's endings from the second book on. She was clearly writing with a broader picture in mind, but that doesn't mean you can't do proper closure for each book as a separate entity. Tolkien did it fine enough and while I am biased on Tolkien's account, take all the generations of children's fantasy authors: E Nesbit, C S Lewis, Madeline L'engle, they all managed haven't they? But yes, details. In Chamber, I really dislike the phoenix bit (no rhyme nor reason, and DB's reason about loyalty is plain, for the lack of a better word, lame). In Azkaban, I had problems with Sirius escaping and Dementors called off, because you think that a ministry will let the escape of a prisoner quite as easily? And don't get me started on time-space continuum. In Order, it was a problem with the way Sirius was killed because it was too freaking abrupt and ditto in Half-Blood for he who died. Oh sheesh. Agitates me.
Two things that continues to agitate me in Rowling's writing style. I had CAPS, because I think the English language is malleable enough without having to bend to computer-literacy rules to make it seem that a character is upset and is shoutingt. Besides, reading CAPS give me a headache, because I am computer literate. I hate multiple eclipses as well. It works well if it happens once or twice at the end of a paragraph or within the quotation marks, but use it too often and it smacks of author-laziness, ("My Dear Reader, please feel free to fill in the blanks...") ...less
"
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)
by J.K. Rowling
bookshelves:
fantasy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)
by J.K. Rowling
bookshelves:
fantasy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in January, 2008
Jet said:
"This'd be the last book I'd consider giving a 4 star too. I know some folks think that the books become better and better in the last four books, but I think the Quidditch Cup marks the end of Harry Potter as a children's fantasy series and the begin...more
This'd be the last book I'd consider giving a 4 star too. I know some folks think that the books become better and better in the last four books, but I think the Quidditch Cup marks the end of Harry Potter as a children's fantasy series and the beginning of the adult alternative-universe genre. I generally prefer children's fantasy because they do not make a pretence of bridging the reality we know with the book-reality created for the fantastical behaviour. It calls for a suspension of belief, which adults often lose the capability to do.
Granted, I suppose, kids, or some adults for that matter, probably won't know enough of our own reality and thus do not build those bridges - therein lies Rowling's genius, catering to different audiences simultaneously. However, I do draw the connections and frankly, it spoilt my enjoyment of the story. From this point on, the books are really about a badly managed power struggle. The twists and turns, I suppose, thrill some folks because yes, Rowling is fantastic with her plots - but I find that often times she builds up to a climax only to let it down with shabby treatment.
The book I probably enjoyed most was the very first. I liked Chamber less the phoenix and Azkaban for its new characters, and Goblet for the first bit on the Quidditch Cup. Thereafter, I have to calibrate my expectations.
...less
"
|
|
January 25
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3)
by J.K. Rowling
bookshelves:
fantasy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in January, 2008
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)
by J.K. Rowling
bookshelves:
fantasy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in January, 2008
Jet said:
"I did hesitate as to whether I should give this a 3 or a 4 - I did not like the random appearance of the phoenix, which formed such a pivotal role in the book's climax that it is hard not to be affected by that one sequence alone.
Still, at least...more
I did hesitate as to whether I should give this a 3 or a 4 - I did not like the random appearance of the phoenix, which formed such a pivotal role in the book's climax that it is hard not to be affected by that one sequence alone.
Still, at least this book is still in the realm of children's fantasy. ...less
"
|
|
January 23
|
|
Jet
gave
to:
Spiderwick Chronicles: The Complete First Serial (Hardcover)
by Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi
bookshelves:
fantasy
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in January, 2008
Jet said:
"So obviously all I have been doing in my free time these last couple of days was to read children fantasy. I had been meaning to pick up Spiderwick for the longest of time - if only for the pretty illustrations. I like my illustrations, now more than...more
So obviously all I have been doing in my free time these last couple of days was to read children fantasy. I had been meaning to pick up Spiderwick for the longest of time - if only for the pretty illustrations. I like my illustrations, now more than ever. It was a tad disappointing because the plot ran all over the place and I did not quite like the writing style. I can't put my finger on it, but I suppose the language simply is not wrought well. Philip Reeve in Larklight and Starcross has a marvellous way of speaking to the reader, while J K Rowling can tell a story with a richness of details. Spiderwick however is written as a collection of serial columns, which means the writing tends to be more economical and the plot lines truncated.
Which is to say, I still prefer British authors I think. ...less
"
|
