Andrew Benesh > Recent Status Updates

Well, con travel messed up my reading schedule. I like the character development so far. I'm glad to be off that boat. More Abysmith info would be nice.

This has been a very complex, very trippy sea battle.

Those were weirdly articulate pirates. I like the shit and dragonman.

"With dexterity better befitting a murderous squirrel..."

I like when you can tell the author is having fun while writing.

What an ethereal ending. The blurring between Pat and present, truth and myth, and the embodiment of symbolism are beautiful. The epilogue really captures the idea of family adaptation and ritual.

The stories of the bombing of the zoo sans the final visit to the deathless man are particularly beautiful. The costumes at the zoo, and the respect for the waiter were superb work. Building a parallel between the zoo and the city is brilliant. And now we know more about who Gavo is...

There's tragic, and then there's Darisa. I was really hoping he'd torn into an unlikely ally. I'd read a book about just him.

Good discussion of branding and identity. Suggestions for research books are intriguing. I appreciate the attention to boundary work.

Grandma is pissed. Zora is pissed. Everybody's pissed. I suppose that's an inevitable result. I have to wonder if the deathless man is with Dure.

Well, Luka was briefly more compelling. The villagers gossip is all too familiar. I'm not sure how the Tigers wife will really tie back into the main narrative though. The shifting perspective and reflecting in truth and stories is interesting.

The deathless man is a fascinating figure. The way he's slowly developing is great. The orphanage section and trip to the clinic felt oddly paced, but had an interesting tension. It's hard to figure which way this book is going.

Luka is really shitty. I feel bad for the blacksmith. The tiger is surprisingly sympathetic.

The descriptive detail is excellent. The sick children story felt a little too real; I think I've met these people before. The escaped tiger is progressing nicely.

That was a weird story. I did not expect this to be a Highlander crossover. I'm curious to see where this goes.

Also, midnight elephant.

Grandma is an interesting character. I have a sneaking suspicion that the hospital town is not what it seems. The political backdrop needs more illumination, but I suspect that's coming.

Opening with a tiger attack! A bold strategy.

There literary chapter seemed like filler. The last profiles on finding independent morality were interesting, but I felt they were more abstract. I'd love to see more of how they pursued their morality.

The ending to the Japanese priest story was excellent. The never ending adoption family is an odd one; I feel like important details were missing. Still, am interestingly and inspiring case.

The kidney transplants seem pretty reasonable, if unusual. The female pastors experience seems like it's very borderline. I'm not sure what to make of the suicide monk - it seems here's practicing a weird form of solution oriented therapy.

Interesting chapter on pathological helping. The psychology is still very dated and grounded in what's essentially AA mythology, but the arguments are always interesting. Bringing it back to aid efficacy and questions of freedom was a clever move.

The accounts of Baba, Vikas, and Prakash are intriguing; it's a sort of development work that makes more sense to me than the extreme poverty seekers. I can get behind the sense of community obligation and sacrifice here.

While I appreciate the historical perspective on resistance to altruism as an idea, I do wish they would get past psychoanalysis. I find the secular humanist origin of the word rather entertaining.

Good overview chapter on Utilitarianism. The effective altruists are interesting - more grounded than the misery quantifiers, but prone to hyperbole all the same. There literal moral calculus seems like it's not always well reasoned; it seems a mistake to assume a single best use exists and to prioritize purely on economic efficiency.

I have missed feelings about the chicken guy. He seems very inconsistent - there's no real pattern to his rigidity. I do empathize with a lot of his thinking though re: personal work ethic and self as change agent.

First profile was interesting; the vacillations between purposes were a bit disorienting. I found her later ideas better; early ideas look excessive fasts, dramatic forced poverty, and similar acts felt internally inconsistent. There Nicaraguan adventure felt more genuine and appropriate.

Interesting premise and challenge. The mediation on our hostility towards the do-gooders is interesting, but feels incomplete. I hope it's revisited as the book progresses. Onward to difficult moral questions!

I like that we see mature resolution and ongoing relationships as the characters take on more archetypal roles, but I wish we saw more of that happening. There epiphany of autonomy and honest relationships is powerful, but feels too easy for characters so steeped in pain and helplessness. The sibling adoption is a great touch.

And then the intensity jumped to 10! I'm glad to see Ava having more insight and clarity, though it's leading to some truly brutal conversations. Sylvia is getting grounded again. The Devon story is finally clear. In curious what's left for Henry and JJ. And Johnnie, actually. Screw Don.

Things are picking up - there's active conflict now. Sylvia might just kill them all; I'm also wondering if Devon has (had?) schizophrenia or a related disorder. I haven't commented on it before, but the handling of segregation and it's legacy, and the idiosyncrasies of rural black life are excellent.

And now everyone's having an affair. Also, Mama Lora is seriously shitty. Ava is starting to show some insight and initiative. I don't trust JJ.