competencefantasy's Reviews (912)

Not as nostalgic as I was expecting. 

Hadn’t known she was a singer first. 

Or so young.

Quite the family dynamic there

Seems like a lot of other people’s mental health

Maybe I should have read the first one first? 

She really wants to live in the Alps

Like really wants to live in the Alps

This is probably the source of some of the problems that she wants to live in the Alps

Yeah a lot of other people’s addiction and mental health

(Trigger warning for suicide stuff that I wish I’d known about) 

The way she talks about other people’s suicidality made me defensive

Learned a lot about other movies she did. 

I am of many minds about whether I should watch Victor Victoria

(Sorta unexamined transracial adoption)

Did talking about Vietnam just work… differently or something back then?

Seems like a weird place to end the book

Honestly I… don’t know about this. 

Her voice is still *really* soothing though

Read for Tome Topple 

Other Review/Analysis I’ve seen

The business insider::An interview with Julie Andrews: On balancing motherhood and a career, the importance of therapy, and how fame changed her

The Gazette: Review: Julie Andrews' memoir 'Home Work' relives her glorious, complicated, Hollywood life

I would really like to read some reviews by adoptees (especially Vietnamese ones) because I’m not sure if my own resistance to parent narratives is causing me to have my back up unnecessarily. If you’re reading this and you know of such please let me know! 

 

 Another story about family, first person man

Malaise of course malaise. 

I am all set to be bored to tears 

So literary amiright?

Dosa, fraught, dosa

And curry, how cruel

These people hate each other, maybe

Do I like bitterness as a theme?

Money, money, money makes you poor or makes you rich

*Gets distracted remembering drummer boy specials*

(those had problems didn’t they?)

What does it mean to earn a living? 

What structures of dependency are acceptable?

Ambition, lack of ambition, spoiled, lazy, gendered probably...

Well that was actually pretty sweet

Must find out if that traditional marriage rep is considered good

Entanglement. ENTANGLEMENT

I am suddenly so into this?

Wait did they...

And then I’m rereading the last few pages because oh….OH.

Started for @translateathon finished later.

Other reviews/analysis I’ve read

Thehindu review 

Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag | Unpolular opinion | Bookshot

GHACHAR GHOCHAR! | Novella Chat! | Short, but powerful | BOOK OPINIONS

Litfest 2016 Ghachar Ghochar

@Booksmenbrokenhearts  insta post

 

 Maybe it's the novella length because I feel like it moves a little too fast. There's instant love, which is one thing and I think fairly well supported. There's the en medias res, which means that readers have to jump to a level of emotional involvement that the characters have had time to sulk about. Then the resolution of one of the major problems gets sped through as character is finally informed about problem, character tries something, jump to epilogue and the problem is fixed. Other than that, I thought the dating stuff was cute, and the details were interesting. It was nice to have something I could get through quickly. I just thought I was always slightly behind the emotional eight ball here. 

This author has a great skill at expressing self reflection in a way that is open and approachable. I felt that he had very deeply shared his mental and emotional journey with me. The book was also pleasant to read, even when the topic matter was difficult. I did a lot of thinking about the concepts presented, especially the ones where I didn't share the author's experience. It also broke my nonfiction slump.

The pacing in this ramps up sharply as the book goes along. At first you're just getting to know the characters. Then an initial event happens and there's a jump into a future where it seems like things have reached equilibrium. There's mysterious jumping back and forth, more character development, and some more character work. Then something else happens and everything gets dark. Seriously, I made the mistake of trying to finish the book at night, but I was too wound up to sleep. 

So as a medievalist I recognize the value of this as a primary source text. However... yikes. This guy has some issues. He seems convinced that absolutely everything needs to be given up for a god he never actually seems to define. Things he feels guilty for include mourning (briefly) for his mother and enjoying church music for the music not just the lyrics. As for the rest... this is why I can't stand philosophy most of the time. 

I have a history with this one, so I thought I'd fit a quick reread in to get some #valitines squares. Poe is very good with language and the whole thing stays creepy, though the ending is less emotionally affecting than I remembered. I also noticed some imperialistic worldview things that I missed when I was younger. My favorite thing about this story is the way horror is put on the house and dynastic family. I think I should try to read more gothic things, or modernized gothic things. I seem to like the tropes involved. 

This is so much fun. I never thought anything could make me want to engage with football culture, but the events in this sounded like a hoot. There was also more serious content, especially in the MC's backstory than I anticipated and it really helped balance the book out.  All of the characters, even the minor ones really seemed to work. The ending really hit the level of cultural catharsis I didn't know I was hoping for, and there was a scene near the end with a teacher that had me yelling out loud with delight. Overall this is a really great romp, and I'm so glad I gave it a try. 

It's immediately obvious that this ( Deesha Philyaw ) is immensely skilled at the short story form in general and cultural imagery in particular. For example, I simultaneously will never look at peach cobbler again and have been craving it for a week. When that same imagery popped up in a later story, the part of me that love structural connections was out of my seat cheering. This is a very sexual work, focusing not just on the particular couple but on the societal ripples that come out from the breaking of sexual norms. There's also a focus on family, both found and born, and how that changes and adapts. I'm not sure how I feel about the juxtaposition of LGBT+ and sleeping with people who are unfaithful to their partners, which seems kind of unavoidable given what big themes they are, but still is something I'm going to need to sit with for a bit. Overall, it's great. Give it a try

This is the first one by this author where I'm starting out with themes that are up my ally. The relationship of the protagonist with her community and lack of community, the mysterious semi symbolic nature of the powers, an other parts of the central conciet were very much my thing, which is why I bought the book so close to release. What this did for me was allow all the authors other skills in language use, mood, and effective choice of details to rise to the top of my awareness. This stuff is really interesting and really good.