calarco's Reviews (760)

In this re-released edition we see Sylvia Plath's work curated as she has originally intended with a forward from her daughter. Notable themes include overwhelming internal conflict, inescapable dread, and bees.

Even reading the poems aloud like Plath suggests in her BBC interview (the transcript for which is also included in the volume), there was some language choice that was certainly uncomfortable, and not in a thoughtfully provocative manner.

Overall, much of the context of this work was framed by her psychosis nearing the time of her suicide. That said if you a Plath fan or dealing with depression, you may find this moving. Otherwise, it probably won't be your thing.

I thought it was okay.

If I could describe this novel-cookbook combo as anything, it would be "delightful." Katish is a joyful soul whose cheery exuberance is only matched by the American family's adoration for her and her cooking.

A great way to learn about people and their cultures is through their food, and this novel offers a great insight into the unique idiosyncrasies that comprise Russian culture. The recipes also paint the accurate picture of how important sour cream and butter are to the overall Russian diet.

Having previously worked and lived in Yosemite, I have to come clean that reading Muir's own nostalgic account of Yosemite, was for me an inherently nostalgic experience.

There is so much about Muir's rich language that so eloquently and authentically illustrates the beauty and sublime experience of being in Yosemite.

His warnings against building the damn that would fill Hetch Hetchy were especially moving. When I was there I could not help but ponder what could have been.

His writing style and overall growth of empathy for other people are also much improved from his earlier works, so there's that too.

In this one, the narrator vividly expresses a feeling of hopelessness as he seems to passively experience life, with the people around him making his decisions for him in order to adhere to their notions of social convention. This then sets the stage for him to openly mock the validity of those very societal norms that lead to suppression, depression, and death. Classic Vonnegut absurdism.

The deadpanned tone that simultaneously mocks these absurdities, offers insights into his own defeat and morose self-hate of passively going through the motions. Life happens to him, he is profoundly unhappy, but accepts the status quo as his norm. He is a prisoner in his own life.

"The truth can be very funny in an awful way, especially as it relates to greed and hypocrisy." Funnily enough, a part of this hypocrisy is the narrator's own emotional detachment from the terrible deeds he has committed throughout his life, some of which could and should have landed him in jail.

Ultimately, the bad guy of this novel seems to be power, or rather the imbalanced hierarchical structures systemically rooted in society which allot some people power/agency, while sapping others of their own humanity/agency. But he ultimately does not harbor hate for individuals who abuse power, so much as he bemoans the system that creates these great inequalities. He denotes, "I agree with the great Socialist writer George Orwell, who felt rich people were poor people with money." That said, he himself is a great abuser of power, so this conclusion is likely due to his own detached apathy, rather than the result of deeply thought out empathy.

"Hocus Pocus" is truly great and it will make you think. I laughed like hell.

An excellent memoir told from the view point of what Murakami truly is at heart - a runner and a novelist. Even if these are also just things he randomly decided to do one day.

Murakami as a writer has a keen knack for understanding, describing, and accepting reality as it truly is, even if his plots take surreal and nonsensical turns. This type of understanding stems from his practice of running; to be able to reach a certain distance, in addition to physical training one has to achieve a level of mental presence to accept the realities (and pains) of pushing ones body to its limits, and continue to carry on regardless. He states that suffering is optional, that a situation is what you make of it.

Additionally, he accepts the reality of training and running with little to no improvements at times, and asserts that it is the process and the feeling you consequently receive in your heart that makes the whole ordeal worthwhile, even if it is seemingly absurd. This is the mentality of a true distance runner.

I would recommend this book to anyone who gets profound enjoyment from actively practicing at something they are passionate about, running or otherwise.

I do enjoy a good pun. In this entertaining collection of short stories, the reader will be taken from an airport to a number of "planes" with interesting and diverse extraterrestrial cultures.

These cultures are well-developed through an anthropological lens. However, perhaps because these planes are explored from a tourist's point of view, I myself was only able to emotionally connect with some of them. Others felt like hollow encyclopedia entries.

Overall, this is still a great collection of stories, written with great prose from a great author. I would recommend it, especially if you are in an airport.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Human behavior in relation to potential weapons of mass destruction has never taken so many perplexing twists and turns. But "Ice-9," a weapon concocted during escalating tensions of the Cold War - well played Vonnegut.

Ultimately, each character just seems to go with the flow, acting and responding to events in accordance with what their respective stations in life have shaped them up to be as individuals. And still given the nature of Ice-9, and the nature of humanity, chaos ensues.

Bokononism is truly a religion of merit.

While this novel is a surreal nightmare, Gaiman vividly and genuinely captures the realities of a child's mentality in the face of terror and danger.

This dark tale shines a clear light on the divide between childhood and adulthood psyches, while also pointing out that adults are themselves children in many ways. Growing up is in large part finding out you are not the center of the universe, and that in that universe nothing is certain.

Coming to grips with trauma is also a meandering journey that stretches from childhood to adulthood. While the main character endures a lot, I was left wondering how this journey could have played out.

Lettie was my favorite.

While this volume does contain some good technical and logistical information, especially in regards to exhibit accessibility, it is not without its problems.

First, much of the technical information lacks in-text citations. In addition to being a personal pet-peeve, this is problematic when wanting additional information, or fact-checking a specific topic. Second, much of the information here is really only suited for larger institutions. Tonally it reads as a universal "how to," but its guidance overlooks the realities for the majority of museums in the world.

Much of what is written is based off of the author's personal experiences throughout her career, and has some entertaining, illustrative anecdotes. She seems like a cool professional. Ultimately though, I feel there are better works out there.

While I cannot say I liked a single character, I still found this crazy soap opera to be thoroughly enjoyable.

Under no circumstances would I consider this tale to be a romance in the vein of Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre." Rather, and I can't say this was the author's intent, I found this to be a profoundly unromantic look at the realities of 19th century marriage/means of inheritance, and the negative impact these practices have over generations.

Moreover, the classic trope of a woman caught between the safe, kind, boring "good guy" (Edgar Linton) and the passionate, violent, romantic "bad boy" (Heathcliff), is in a way turned on its head in this novel. Here you see how both of these choices are inherently terrible; Catherine would have been better off staying home and becoming an eccentric cat lady. But in these days women had to marry as a means of survival, and Catherine is not exactly a resourceful or contemplative individual, so tragedy it is.

I would definitely recommend this, so long as the reader does not romanticize the hot mess that is this unhealthy series of entanglements.