Take a photo of a barcode or cover
laurelthebooks's Reviews (662)
dark
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Hangsaman is strange and a type of real that makes it scary in and of itself, a fictional world containing a disturbing inner reality. Jackson's writings are known for being elegant yet unsettling and this continues that pattern.
Narrator Natalie Waite starts off giving what seems to be a portrait of her middle-class family, with a worried mother, an arrogant father, and a somewhat present brother, but the narration style immediately pulls the reader deep into Natalie's personal world. Natalie's personal world is not a comfortable place to be. Narration progresses from observation to cruel occurrence, to matter of fact lies and the occasional aside of an imagined world that could possible be real? Natalie Waite is no reliable narrator.
Natalie attempts to reinvent herself when she leaves for college, but her habit of overthinking continues even until the uncertain climax. This entire novel is fractious and ambiguous, but all the more absorbing for those elements.
"I suppose any mind like mine, which is so close, actually, to the irrational and so tempted by it, is able easily to pass the dividing line between rational and irrational and communicate with someone drunk, or insane, or asleep."
Narrator Natalie Waite starts off giving what seems to be a portrait of her middle-class family, with a worried mother, an arrogant father, and a somewhat present brother, but the narration style immediately pulls the reader deep into Natalie's personal world. Natalie's personal world is not a comfortable place to be. Narration progresses from observation to cruel occurrence, to matter of fact lies and the occasional aside of an imagined world that could possible be real? Natalie Waite is no reliable narrator.
Natalie attempts to reinvent herself when she leaves for college, but her habit of overthinking continues even until the uncertain climax. This entire novel is fractious and ambiguous, but all the more absorbing for those elements.
"I suppose any mind like mine, which is so close, actually, to the irrational and so tempted by it, is able easily to pass the dividing line between rational and irrational and communicate with someone drunk, or insane, or asleep."
The Bruising of Qilwa has blood magic, politics, belonging, younger siblings, and is well-paced for a novella (oh, and the multiple mentions of eggplant being hated by the younger sibling amused me lol).
This novella shined for me in the character relationships, pacing, and world-building elements. A few of the plot details feel a little bare, but the heart of this story comes across as a sincere look at family and the struggles that come with finding a place to belong after uprooting yourself.
This novella shined for me in the character relationships, pacing, and world-building elements. A few of the plot details feel a little bare, but the heart of this story comes across as a sincere look at family and the struggles that come with finding a place to belong after uprooting yourself.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Are the aspirations we have around reading accurately reflected in the reality of the world? Castillo tackles that with unapologetic verve and bite here - and this is a collection of essays I will return to.
Here are highlights of some of the essay topics touched, which are in no way comprehensive coverage of all the topics in here:
1. a take on the why behind decolonizing your reading or reading outside of authors writing to your demographic
2. Is non-political reading possible?
3. Does reading fiction actually impact empathy?
4. Who is travel writing written for?
5. A dare, or more an invitation, to do better (maybe just different?) in how and why you read
Castillo engages with long-held assumptions on reading, and her writing comes across as earnest and fiery. I am not in complete agreement with the entirety of this book, but I also need to think more on so much of this book - and it is written in a way that I feel free to be in disagreement with sections because it is an open discourse with demands but also questions.
There is also a deep analysis of how Castillo has read throughout her life - how she has encountered the many mediums of story, how she was expected to interact with those stories, and how that differed from how she actually did.
The 'unexpected reader' is a term she defines as someone an author would not have expected to interact with their material. The examples she provides wiggled free some relation to "Shakespeare in the Bush" for me, which I read long enough ago not to remember clearly, other than the fact that it does seem to me directly pertinent to the concept of the unexpected reader. It is a concept I will likely be unable to forget every time I pick up a book.
Some essays I found more absorbing than others, but all of them I found thought-provoking.
I now also wish to re-read Toni Morrison's Playing in the Dark as Castillo cites it regularly throughout to great effect. If either reading with intention or delving into the whys and hows of reading are in your field of interest check this book out - you may love it or hate it, but it will have you sitting up and taking notes. It isn't a perfect book, but the depth of thought and the passion in it tick all the boxes for my area of interest so I loved engaging with .
Here are highlights of some of the essay topics touched, which are in no way comprehensive coverage of all the topics in here:
1. a take on the why behind decolonizing your reading or reading outside of authors writing to your demographic
2. Is non-political reading possible?
3. Does reading fiction actually impact empathy?
4. Who is travel writing written for?
5. A dare, or more an invitation, to do better (maybe just different?) in how and why you read
Castillo engages with long-held assumptions on reading, and her writing comes across as earnest and fiery. I am not in complete agreement with the entirety of this book, but I also need to think more on so much of this book - and it is written in a way that I feel free to be in disagreement with sections because it is an open discourse with demands but also questions.
There is also a deep analysis of how Castillo has read throughout her life - how she has encountered the many mediums of story, how she was expected to interact with those stories, and how that differed from how she actually did.
The 'unexpected reader' is a term she defines as someone an author would not have expected to interact with their material. The examples she provides wiggled free some relation to "Shakespeare in the Bush" for me, which I read long enough ago not to remember clearly, other than the fact that it does seem to me directly pertinent to the concept of the unexpected reader. It is a concept I will likely be unable to forget every time I pick up a book.
Some essays I found more absorbing than others, but all of them I found thought-provoking.
I now also wish to re-read Toni Morrison's Playing in the Dark as Castillo cites it regularly throughout to great effect. If either reading with intention or delving into the whys and hows of reading are in your field of interest check this book out - you may love it or hate it, but it will have you sitting up and taking notes. It isn't a perfect book, but the depth of thought and the passion in it tick all the boxes for my area of interest so I loved engaging with .
This reads like a very opinionated memoir, and the author has a large appreciation for Maurice Sendak on multiple fronts (expect to see his name often).
Touching at times but a bit of a surprise to me who was expecting something less like personal essays. If you have an interest in conversations on children's lit or enjoy memoir I would recommend - if you're looking for a deeply researched dive on children's lit that is widely applied try elsewhere. This dive may be deep on occasion, but has a personal bent to it.
(Also, more of a per-peeve but the bibliography and consulted works are not alphabetized which makes utilizing them tricky.)
Touching at times but a bit of a surprise to me who was expecting something less like personal essays. If you have an interest in conversations on children's lit or enjoy memoir I would recommend - if you're looking for a deeply researched dive on children's lit that is widely applied try elsewhere. This dive may be deep on occasion, but has a personal bent to it.
(Also, more of a per-peeve but the bibliography and consulted works are not alphabetized which makes utilizing them tricky.)
