justinlife's Reviews (916)

Fantastic read. A great way to introduce readers to various queer topics and concepts. 

Solid read. He tries to make the science digestible and he’s mostly successful. Sometimes it’s a bit dense and the concepts have to sit before they take root. 

Overall, very interesting and informative. 

So, it's not fair to the book that I loved the movie so much. It's not fair that the movie had visual imagery, acting, and scenes that linger after you watch. It's not fair to the book that the movie is more cohesive and honestly better and I went into reading the book wanting to capture some of what I felt when I watched it. L.A. Confidential is one of my favorite movies. It's so well done. The costumes, the direction, the script, all of it works and I was hoping for that feeling when reading it. Maybe hearing some saxophone in my ear and pulling up images of 1950s LA.

The book is ok. It's detective fiction first and focuses more on that than the imagery. Very little of the setting is described. Because my expectations were high, my opinion of the book suffered. There are moments in the book that are genuinely good. Overall though, it felt like Ellroy was just looking for excuses to insult minorities. It felt like on every page we'd get a new insult for black people, Jewish people, Asian people, and gays.

The plot is a bit all over the place. I still don't know if I connected all the pieces. Lots of names and the story moves quick so it's easy to lose track of who is who.

If I'm honest, if I never saw the movie, I'd probably still give this book 2 stars. Too many things felt convoluted and contrived. It's not bad, but it's not great. It's just... ok. Stick with the movie if you want care for the story.

Sometimes a book is incredible because the circumstances and the events in life add nuance to the work.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007 while promoting democracy and running for office. Earlier that year there were multiple attempts on her life which killed others but she survived. During that time, she was finishing up this manuscript. Bhutto comes from a family who has tried to bring Pakistan out of the grips of dictatorships and restore democracy. This book was release in February 2008, less than two months after her assassination.

Part biography, course in international relations, modern religious interpretation, and a lesson of Muslim democracies, Bhutto gives her views on how to improve the West's relationship with Muslim nations and Islam, how Muslim nations can help each other and how Islam has been distorted and used to control power. She rebukes the West at times for the tepid support for democracies as long as it benefits the Wests needs and continue to support dictatorships. She's not wrong, and it's interesting to read how she views her religion and her love of democracy and whether intended or not, her death shows how dangerous these interpretations are. Her views and paths sound legitimate. They make the reader want to believe that if we can subscribe to this, peace can be achieved.

What makes this book incredible is the events that occurred before its publication and just recognizing what a voice she could have been in the world. As she's facing death, a death she feels is certain (maybe that's just hindsight speaking and my interpretation), she points all the fingers at the Pakistani government for not doing enough to keep her protected. She shows the receipts too. Part of this book is a message for the world after she dies. If she dies, here's why and it's chilling.

Her views on international relations and how education and access can strengthen struggling democracies feels too shiny. Reading this after a Trump presidency, many of us recognize how easy it is to elect a demagogue so I'm skeptical that internet access can be used to promote democracy when it seems that fascism and white supremacy and extremist religious views in general are far more accessible.

I wish she was alive today. I wonder how this book would have been received if she was alive to do the press, to defend it, to export her ideas and her paths to peace. It's not an easy read. Prime Minister Bhutto is an intellect and approaches the material as such. When I say it's a course, it's only missing a syllabus. It doesn't detract from it, to me, it shows how versatile her knowledge is and how it could have been used for so much good.

It's fascinating reading about a woman whose family shaped a country's politics. Her grandfather helped create the constitution, her dad and brother were executed, and she was assasinated. When read about a family and a woman who wants democracy for her people so much, you begin to look at our current nation and how we forget the power of the vote and how easy it is to manipulate it.

It's not an easy book to glide through, but it's fascinating. Reading it 14 years after her death and seeing how the world is now, one wonders what could have been. That's the amazing thing about it. It's like reading potential. 

This book was ridiculous. A book published in the 80s about Hong Kong in the 60s that involves business mergers, bank runs, stock market crashes, KGB, the mafia, kidnapping, murder, local gangs, horse races, landslides, boat restaurant fires, flooding, water shortages, but wait, there's more- global politics all within an 8 day period is going to be ridiculous.

I loved it though. It was so much fun. It reminded me of the 80s night time soaps like Dallas, Falcon Crest, and Dynasty. The unbridled capitalism is on full display as is the author's perspective on the communist countries Russia and China. No one look good. The wealthy, Western colonizers come across caring more about money than anything else. The communist care more about secret power than anything else. It was great.

Also, the amount of times Clavell uses the "lost in thought while in a middle of a conversation" trope had me concerned for his fictional characters. Like, honeys, get your life together, please.

There's a lot to be said about how the women are viewed and portrayed here. It feels misogynistic, but there is some small truth that men are gross and think constantly of sex and how that person would be in bed. It was weird reading and seeing it, but then I think about all the thirst traps today and all the comments and thoughts we have and maybe he's not too far off.

The book is definitely of its time. If you embrace the ridiculousness of it and realize you're reading and 80s soap or a messed up version of Real Businessmen of Hong Kong then you'll enjoy it. There are a lot of characters and it can difficult to keep up with but honestly it was so much fun to read.