crusoe's reviews
239 reviews

I FORGOT HOW SEXIST THIS BOOK IS!! 

Anyway, other than the sexism, I do really like this story and its themes. You can really taste the influence of mysticism. I also find the parallels with the story of the garden of Eden (knowledge as a corrupting factor) fascinating. Every read you find something new to ponder on. I am glad I decided to 'read' the audio book this time because the section on Dorian's fascination with beauty in music and throughout history are damn near unreadable. A great read! 

P.S. Poor Basil. He's so in love and his fascination is murdered in a brutal way. 

This is a very solid classic. In some aspects, I would even say it's better than Dracula, except that one has a very cool way of telling its story through letters. Carmilla is an amazing villain and it's fun to see how she approaches her victims. You can most definitely see where the inspiration of modern vampires originates. 

Mijn grootste probleem met De Krater is dat het boekenweek geschenk de beste plek is om te innoveren; om te laten zien wat de Nederlandse literatuur waard is. Maar De Krater is niet innovatief. Het is hoogstens een slap aftreksel van veel betere YA die dealt met dezelfde themas. En dat is eeuwig zonde.

Verder is het wel een prima verhaal. Het is prettig hoeveel er doorschijnt van waar Eden mee zit. Ook Johnny is goed uitgewerkt maar Benji blijft qua persoonlijkheid achter. 

Net als veel anderen stoor ik me wel aan het taalgebruik. Het is niet opzettelijk dat Eden lingo gebruikt uit 4 verschillende generaties en dat is storend. 

I am beyond obsessed with this graphic novel! I used to read the original on Tapas and it's better than it's ever been! 

I love the artstyle, I love the casual representation (we've got characters with disabilities, not one but TWO ace characters...) and I love how the designs of all characters are utterly unique.  

The story is funny, slowburn and very cosy. It truly feels like stepping into a warm bath. I can't wait to see what's next.

Also, Janine Janssen, the legend you are. I love that we've got talented comic artists like you in our country. 🌈❤️ Amazing work! 

Oh Susan Sontag, the woman you are... 

The first two essays hit harder than the later parts of the collection, if only because the title is 'on women'. They're sharp and possess a clarity that illuminates the origin of current discourse. 

The parts on fascism are okay, if a bit muddled by a higher and more theoretical level of abstraction. They're more okay in light of the response and interview that follow because they offer some contextualization. 

However, the piece on Reich and fascism only tangentially hits on her womanhood which Sontag also tries to argue in the interview. (We need not always include the explicit mention of a feministic analysis because these power relations and struggles are a given. It can be more productive to turn our analysis to other power relations at play). While it hits upon some interesting nuance I feel like it dims the power of this collection.  

Reading this book leaves you with more questions than you start with. Fortunately, you also leave with more insights and I think with every reread this story will reveal more depending on your frame of reference. 

I was reading On Women by Susan Sontag at the same time which gave me a very feminine frame to read this story through. It is rather glaring that the society the women create is still a cishet one that reflects the power dynamics present in one even without any men. I don't think this makes the story genderessentialist- it is the one thing the women can cling onto to connect them with their former life. The rituals of modesty, of community bring them comfort in a comfortless world. 

The interesting thing is how much of it reflects -or does not reflect- in the MC who has never known the world before the bunker. 

Either way, it gives a lot of food for thought. 

We Are the Ants is a beautiful story about coming to terms with meaninglessness in the face of tragedy. In my view it is also about ||CW||

passive suicide ideation

and recognizing the signs in other people. 

Although I love a good story that ends with a message about positive nihilism, I think it would have hit harder if I'd read this as a teen. If you like I'll Give You the Sun, Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda or the Perks of Being a Wallflower, I'd recommend this one. 

A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is fascinating: it gives us insight into the workings of the capitol and how it was effected during the war, as well as the early shapings of the games we know during the hunger games trilogy. 

Snow's perspective is deeply fascinating because you can see the root of his reasoning even if it is deeply flawed and selfish. He is able to justify his actions through a lense of survival, forgetting that (as the tributes in the arena and especially Lucy Gray show) there are moments in survival where you can still show kindness and humanity. 

Unfortunately, the narrative bounces around too much to place this in the same ballpark as the hunger games trilogy. The pacing feels horrendously off at times. 

I really liked the discussion on what makes a villain that this story introduces. The new additions to Olaf's troupe are quite nice too and I like the slow hinting at the mysteries going on in the background. The repetitive structure is starting to become grating no matter the setting which is unfortunate. 

I don't care for the setting of this book but I think it ups the stakes really nicely and gets the audience invested in the underlying mystery that connects the Snickets, the Beaudelaires and the V.F.D. 

As a sidenote: I think it's great how Sunny across the books starts to speak more and more clearly. It's such a neat detail.