http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/1038105 en-US Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:30:38 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 31011383 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:30:38 -0700 Review27012865 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27012865 The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 2 (Hardcover, Slipcase) by Neil Gaiman
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 29535168 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:31:49 -0700 Review25862361 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25862361 to: The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1 (Hardcover, Slipcase) by Neil Gaiman
I POOPED MYSELF ]]> 27549157 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:27:44 -0700 Review24291623 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24291623 Manfred; The Lament of Tasso; Beppo; Mazeppa; The Morgante Maggiore of Pulci; The Prophecy of Dante; Occasional Pieces (Paperback) by Lord George Gordon Byron
]]> 27344223 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:32:03 -0700 Review24132077 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24132077 to: Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Text (Oxford World's Classics) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
]]> 25921533 Mon, 26 May 2008 22:35:02 -0700 Review23026437 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23026437 Rashomon and Other Stories (Tuttle Classics) by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> 24093990 Sun, 04 May 2008 19:51:51 -0700 Review21604196 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21604196 Arcana: Musicians on Music (Paperback) by John Zorn
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 23358552 Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:54:21 -0700 Review19048519 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19048519 to: The Complete Roderick (Paperback) by John Sladek
bookshelves: science-fiction
This book reminded me of two other novels: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut and Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. Sladek has a lot of the same sensibilities as Vonnegut as a writer. They're both great at dark/black humor and they both seemed interested in fake religions, of which this book contains many. It reminded me of Heinlein's novel because of the use of religious matter and an alien entity (in this case a robot pretending to be human) who is introduced into our society and has to make sense of it.

Roderick the robot provides Sladek the perfect vantage point to evaluate the mankind in a nearly objective fashion. This novel is funny, but it is pretty dark in its overall themes, such as the absurdity of life and the inability to find a purpose in said absurd life. Sladek does a good job providing many view points on the idea of what makes an entity human or at least a worthwhile, thinking creature, through his use of various religions and philosophical view points.

This novel really does a good job of progressing an absurdist view and Sladek does some interesting things with his prose, such as providing Roderick's stream of consciousness, which is fairly entertaining in his naive state. ]]> 23021853 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:38:32 -0700 Review20793651 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20793651 to: Lyrical Ballads (Paperback) by William Wordsworth
bookshelves: poetry
]]> 22838267 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:33:22 -0700 Review20663516 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20663516 Me Talk Pretty One Day (Paperback) by David Sedaris
bookshelves: to-read
]]> 22426333 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:47:58 -0700 Review20352534 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20352534 Collected Poems 1947-1980 (Paperback) by Allen Ginsberg
bookshelves: poetry
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