bookshelves: currently-reading
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"So far, this is the best book I've read all year."
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bookshelves: cambodia, gotitfromthelibrary
I found the subtitle a little misleading. I expected more of an oral history told from the point of view of survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. There was some of this, but also a lot of background info on ancient and modern Cambodia, a long section on Vietnam from the fall of Saigon until the invasion of Cambodia, some material pulled from the records of the infamous Tuol Sleng Security Prison, and a personal account of the author's two week "Potemkin Village" style tour of "Democratic Kampuchea".
Apart from the Vietnam section, which I thought could have been much shorter, this was an engrossing read, and timely in light of the trials of the Khmer Rouge leadership, which have only just begun in 2009, more than 30 years after the genocide took place. ]]>
This review is for both volumes together.
I think this was written for a more academic audience than me, though my interest in the subject, especially as explained using comparative Indo-European linguistics, made it a fascinating read.
Though the text is translated, a lot of the notes aren't, and my limited French, German, and Latin hampered my understanding of parts of the book.
Also, I'm still skeptical of Dumézil's trifunctional hypothesis, which divides Indo-European cultures into priests, warriors, and farmers/merchants. The last category seems too often to be a catch-all for anything that doesn't fit the first two.
But overall, this is very interesting stuff. ]]>
bookshelves: gotitfromthelibrary, linguistics
This review is for both volumes together.
I think this was written for a more academic audience than me, though my interest in the subject, especially as explained using comparative Indo-European linguistics, made it a fascinating read.
Though the text is translated, a lot of the notes aren't, and my limited French, German, and Latin hampered my understanding of parts of the book.
Also, I'm still skeptical of Dumézil's trifunctional hypothesis, which divides Indo-European cultures into priests, warriors, and farmers/merchants. The last category seems too often to be a catch-all for anything that doesn't fit the first two.
But overall, this is very interesting stuff. ]]>
bookshelves: dystopian, gotitfromthelibrary, to-read
Read this when I was 12 or so, right after I read "1984" for the first time. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me then. In hindsight, neither did "1984", but it felt like it did much more than this book.
I'm 40 now, and I just reread "1984", for probably the 20th time, so I figured it might be a good time to revisit "1985". I've always liked Burgess, but I haven't read much of his stuff in a long time.
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bookshelves: reread-over-and-over
Just reread this. This is one of the few books I can reread every year or two and never get sick of. Orwell's unadorned style is perfect. It's how I would like to write if I somehow were a writer. ]]>
bookshelves: post-apocalyptic
I barely remember this book, and it's only been a few months since I read it. Decent if you like post-apocalyptic SF, but nothing special. ]]>