Mike > Recent Status Updates

I have to say, I'm really surprised this won a Nobel Prize in literature. Not because it's bad, but just because this so clearly strikes me as an act of journalism rather than literature - the author's words are almost completely absent. But you would never give this a journalism prize, because Alexievich doesn't even document basic things like when she interviewed the people and how she met them.

I guess I don't quite understand what I'm supposed to be taking away from this book. Like, broadly speaking, it's obviously an indictment on colonialism, but other than that... what's going on here exactly? Why the focus on Heart of Darkness - where is it going? Why include the scenes of traveling the Sahara if you're going to say so little about it?

I seem to have misjudged this book quite badly in my last update. This is actually pretty interesting, although I guess I wish it had a little more form and structure to it.

So while I generally like memoirs that intersperse narrative with insight on the situation, this is too much of the latter and too little of the former. We're told all these things before we have a chance to see them - this material isn't bad per se, but it would work better if we knew more about Alexievich's actual experiences.

This definitely has the potential to be very good. But I would like less colonial history and more present tense story, especially given how short this book is. You almost wonder why Lindqvist eve decided to write a memoir, if past colonialism is what he's really interested in.

Who would've thought that a work of mainstream neoliberalism like this would give me reason to blame America for Putin's rise. This is better than I expected.

This is perhaps not as elitist as people have told me that DuBois is, but it is at least somewhat elitist. I don't think he holds contempt for poor farmers the way he could, but I still dislike this near-deterministic idea that some people are just better suited to one thing or another, especially when one of those things is hard labor.

I have to say, I'm going to be pretty disappointed/annoyed if Bales doesn't follow this chapter to its logical conclusion and advocate for the legalization of sex work. It's been screaming at me the whole time, and the fact that he hasn't said it outright yet, as a solution to nearly all the problems he's outlined this chapter, is concerning.

It's interesting how, in some ways, not that much has changed regarding even the geographical divide in U.S. politics. The struggle of appealing to both the north and the south, especially in racial issues, is still very real.

This is quite interesting so far. DuBois has a knack for covering a lot of very morally and intellectually complex ground very quickly, and I think this will ultimately produce a lot of interesting insight.

I think this is going to be exceptionally interesting. Certain sections of it do seem to drag on even after the point has been made - which is weird for a book this short - but on the whole, the writing style and content are both excellent.

I do like this style quite a bit, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it just reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Nevertheless, it's hard to deny that this is really creative.

The artwork is TERRIBLE. Just incredibly ugly, from start to finish. As a tool for understanding writing, I guess it's pretty good. Maybe a bit more abstract than necessary, but mostly pretty insightful.

Ah, this is fun. I like how the tone is like a whimsical kids' story, but all of the characters except Wendy are horrible people. I just wish it wasn't so racist and misogynistic.

This book has a ton of information that I think is extremely valuable, which is why I really wish it weren't written like a high school textbook.

This definitely loses some points in my book (heh) for the rampant racism, but other than that, I'm enjoying this quite a bit. Barrie really taps into why kids like adventure stories and reading in general; this has mostly aged quite well.

Boy, this is the most horrifying thing I've read since... well, since the last book I read about human trafficking. Which wasn't even that long ago. College is really depressing sometimes...

On another note, I think a lot of the language here is sloppy, both aesthetically and politically, but as an expose, this works pretty well.

The horrors described in this book really are incomprehensible. I don't know if anything I write could really convey that.

It's interesting - I largely disagree with the principle that Sachs is coming from, but on a practical level, I think most of what he did was really good. It's hard to argue with results, I suppose. And so far as I can see, he hasn't actually been responsible for any sweat shops so far, which is nice.

I think the horrors of this book are finally starting to get to me. Although part of it is because I already know just how bad Kolyma is.

Not much to say that I haven't said already. This is okay, not particularly special, certainly of no particular literary value.

No one told me how beautiful this book's language is. Or maybe it's just my translation. Either way, it's a lot of fun to read.

It's really interesting to hear about the aspects of being imprisoned that Ginzburg actually found good for her psyche. Probably the most 'challenging' aspect to this book.

It's hard to call this bad, but I can't think of any other memoir about prison that I would prefer this to.

Maybe I've been too hard on this book. It's a little more conventional and accessible than most memoirs like this are, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad. It has its interesting moments.

I rather like this. The writing style isn't quite funny, but it's whimsical enough to be entertaining. Barrie is certainly a creative writer.

This just doesn't have the intensity of most memoirs of similar topics that I've read. I can't picture the prison cell, I can't feel Ginzburg's emotions as she goes through what surely must be traumatic events. It's distancing in its conventionality.

I find the writing to be pretty distancing, but not in an intentional way, more that Ginzburg just doesn't describe the scenes in enough detail to form a connection with her. This is one of the weaker metaphors about Soviet Russia I've read.

This already reminds me quite a bit of Hope Against Hope, except that the writing isn't as interesting. Well, it's still early in the book, we'll see what happens as it goes on.

This really makes me think about what the value is of documenting suffering, the extent to which I can gain anything from reading it and the extent to which Shlamov gained anything from writing it. I say that because... Jesus, we really are in for 500 pages of this, aren't we.