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nitroglycerin's Reviews (952)
“It sounds like you're saying we can choose to live. Or we can choose to survive.”
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If you were told when you were going to die, the exact date, would you believe it? Would you love your life differently?
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The Immortalists is the tale of four siblings who are given the dates of their deaths and how they chose to live their lives afterwards.
Would you, like youngest brother Simon, follow a life of hedonistic pleasures? Or would you be more careful and fearful like oldest sister Varya.
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I preferred the stories of the younger two siblings over the older two. That could be as their lives were more bold and daring, and therefore interesting. It did leave me wondering though: Did the fact that the kids knew when they were going to die influence how they lived their lives or did they influence their deaths based on how they lived their lives?
•
If you were told when you were going to die, the exact date, would you believe it? Would you love your life differently?
•
The Immortalists is the tale of four siblings who are given the dates of their deaths and how they chose to live their lives afterwards.
Would you, like youngest brother Simon, follow a life of hedonistic pleasures? Or would you be more careful and fearful like oldest sister Varya.
•
I preferred the stories of the younger two siblings over the older two. That could be as their lives were more bold and daring, and therefore interesting. It did leave me wondering though: Did the fact that the kids knew when they were going to die influence how they lived their lives or did they influence their deaths based on how they lived their lives?
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
As you go on with your life, always remember the things that are good in you. They’re your gifts. As long as you have these things, you’ll find happiness, and you’ll make the people around you happy. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. And goodbye. I hope you always keep hold of these things that are so beautiful about you.”
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If the devil offered you a chance to extend your life by a day - at the cost of making something disappear, would you do it?
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If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura is not a book about cats being gone from the world. Just to put that out there. It is a book about facing your own mortality and realising what’s actually important in life - love, family, living in the moment. Just being.
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If the devil offered you a chance to extend your life by a day - at the cost of making something disappear, would you do it?
•
If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura is not a book about cats being gone from the world. Just to put that out there. It is a book about facing your own mortality and realising what’s actually important in life - love, family, living in the moment. Just being.
My initial thoughts on Convenience Store Women were a little unsure to middling. Keiko the main character is 36, *still* working in a convenience store that she joined whilst at university, *still* unmarried, and worse, is content with this. This doesn’t meld well with the very Japanese societal and family pressure to succeed!
The story follows the turns Keiko’s life takes when a new coworker starts working at the store. Someone else who fails to meet the standards of society.
For the most part, this is an easy read. On the surface, we’re just seeing the world from Keiko’s point of view, but through her eyes we get a glimpse of the culture and expectations of life in Japan.
The story follows the turns Keiko’s life takes when a new coworker starts working at the store. Someone else who fails to meet the standards of society.
For the most part, this is an easy read. On the surface, we’re just seeing the world from Keiko’s point of view, but through her eyes we get a glimpse of the culture and expectations of life in Japan.
I enjoyed Elevation but I wasn’t blown away by it. It’s a nice little story with an unusual premise but a daft ending, even if I was still touched by it. Someone on booksta said it would have been better off as part of a short story/novella collection and I have to agree there. And if we’re to compare his novellas, I much preferred Gwendys button box to this.
informative
slow-paced
Porter has blended folklore and contemporary fiction to tell the story of Dead Papa Toothwort, older than anything, and Lanny, a free-spirited child who finds himself missing. The book swaps perspectives from the two characters, plus Lannys parents and others in the village, to tell a story not just of a boy gone missing, but of social issues, biases, media hounding, and the magical aspects of the tale. 4.5/5
To be homeless is to be ignored when people walk past, while still being in full view of everyone.
Kazu was old. He was homeless. He is now, it seems, a ghost, telling us the story of his life and the history of Ueno Park and the land it is on. Through Kazu we learn about the battles of the Civil War and the return to power of the Meji that occurred where Ueno is now, as well as the natural disasters that have plagued it. We hear about the 1966 Olympics, the construction work being what brought Kazu yo Tokyo in the first place, and hints at the plans for the 2020 games, and the museum’s, galleries and temples that it contain. You also find out about the homeless villages that have sprung up in the park, how the people live and survive without support or assistance.
I really loved the flow of this. It was almost a stream of consciousness, with remembrances and segue into observations. I think the translation was done well, as it felt smooth and polished. This is one of those books that are just like the anime films I prefer to watch, gentle and thoughtful. 4.5/5
Kazu was old. He was homeless. He is now, it seems, a ghost, telling us the story of his life and the history of Ueno Park and the land it is on. Through Kazu we learn about the battles of the Civil War and the return to power of the Meji that occurred where Ueno is now, as well as the natural disasters that have plagued it. We hear about the 1966 Olympics, the construction work being what brought Kazu yo Tokyo in the first place, and hints at the plans for the 2020 games, and the museum’s, galleries and temples that it contain. You also find out about the homeless villages that have sprung up in the park, how the people live and survive without support or assistance.
I really loved the flow of this. It was almost a stream of consciousness, with remembrances and segue into observations. I think the translation was done well, as it felt smooth and polished. This is one of those books that are just like the anime films I prefer to watch, gentle and thoughtful. 4.5/5
A short novella told from the perspective of a young boy (and wrote in a way that shows his youth) who becomes infatuated with a woman who works at the supermarket selling sandwiches. He finds her beautiful, visits the supermarket often, and draws her face all the time. A story about learning how to cope with feelings, grief, loss and growing up.
At 92 pages this is short and sweet, and I devoured it in one go. 4/5
At 92 pages this is short and sweet, and I devoured it in one go. 4/5
dark
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is a collection of three short stories, described on the back cover as “haunting and lyrical”, however I would describe them as just plain weird.
The first and titular story, A Record of a Night Too Brief, is a series of dream like events, as a woman experiences a night that seemingly never ends. Each event is disorienting and hard to follow, but there was some sense of a loose story running through in alternative chapters, which just made it more surreal and bizarre.
The second story, “Missing”, and third story “A Snake Stepped On” are, in comparison, much more straight forward. In Missing, traditions dictate life while girls family members disappear. In A Snake [...] a woman steps on a snake in a park- which it uses as an invitation to move in to her apartment where it attempts to invite her to the snake world in more and more intense and violent ways.
In all honesty, I feel like this is like someone read Alice in wonderland, got high, and decided to write their own surreal stories. I struggled to enjoy the stories, and only kept reading because I thought they might make sense when they finished (they didn’t), and it was only a short book.
The first and titular story, A Record of a Night Too Brief, is a series of dream like events, as a woman experiences a night that seemingly never ends. Each event is disorienting and hard to follow, but there was some sense of a loose story running through in alternative chapters, which just made it more surreal and bizarre.
The second story, “Missing”, and third story “A Snake Stepped On” are, in comparison, much more straight forward. In Missing, traditions dictate life while girls family members disappear. In A Snake [...] a woman steps on a snake in a park- which it uses as an invitation to move in to her apartment where it attempts to invite her to the snake world in more and more intense and violent ways.
In all honesty, I feel like this is like someone read Alice in wonderland, got high, and decided to write their own surreal stories. I struggled to enjoy the stories, and only kept reading because I thought they might make sense when they finished (they didn’t), and it was only a short book.
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
I don’t think I’d have enjoyed this half as much if I’d read the book as opposed to listening to the audiobook. There was something about the way this was narrated which made it come across as a soothing and gentle read, while telling an emotional story.
Morrie has ALS. He is dying. Mitch pays him a visit and they decide to record some of Morries stories and wisdom in a book to make money to assist with Morries medical bills. Fair enough.
While the book, the stories, are sweet, they do lack substance, which is why I think I’d have found this less enjoyable as a read, since there was little to get into. Listening to it while walking or shopping however was pleasant. In hindsight I have dropped the rating from 4 stars to 3 as I think my emotional response to Morries death (sorry spoiler!) made me hike it up a bit.
Morrie has ALS. He is dying. Mitch pays him a visit and they decide to record some of Morries stories and wisdom in a book to make money to assist with Morries medical bills. Fair enough.
While the book, the stories, are sweet, they do lack substance, which is why I think I’d have found this less enjoyable as a read, since there was little to get into. Listening to it while walking or shopping however was pleasant. In hindsight I have dropped the rating from 4 stars to 3 as I think my emotional response to Morries death (sorry spoiler!) made me hike it up a bit.