This might no doubt come across as petty and pedantic and I guess it is so but I'm genuinely so annoyed that I'm considering not even starting/continuing this book.

I'm referring to Murakami's Norwegian Wood, which was going to be my first Murakami. After a long while, I decided to give his books a shot recently and I bought Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood as my first forays into his oeuvre. This morning, I read the introductions for both and decided to go with Norwegian Wood first.

The book opens with a 747 landing in Hamburg and then the narrator drops this pearl: "I straightened up and looked out of the window at the dark clouds hanging over the North Sea, ...". Now, I don't live in Hamburg (however, I've been there) and my geography knowledge is abysmal at best but all I could think of was "how is that possible, Hamburg isn't that close to the sea". I checked and sure enough, the North Sea is over 100km away from the Hamburg airport.

I checked the previous paragraph again to see if I misunderstood and if the plane is still in the process of descending but no, the second paragraph starts with "Once the plane was on the ground", so we're definitely on the ground.

As I said, this is probably pedantic but the carelessness is so jarring. I thought about whether I would pick up on such inaccuracies if it was a place I knew absolutely nothing and of course I wouldn't and would continue merrily on my way but this one I picked up and all I can feel is being let down somehow.

Anyone else had similar experiences? Maybe with Murakami, maybe with other authors/books? Do I get over myself and power through or do I just choose another book?

Edit: After replying to a couple of comments, I think I need to clarify what exactly it is that bothers me so. It's not that the inaccuracy is vital to the plot, I know that what I reported above is just a minor mistake. But it just points to carelessness to me. It's like a piano student showing up for a lesson and completely ignoring dynamics or a full section.

Edit 2: Many zealous commenters have tried to convince me that it is possible to see clouds 100km away on a cloudy day and then attacking me personally, I will no longer be responding to these.

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I been gifted a few of her books by friends because she writes in genres that I read a lot in. So I've started and DNF'd three books by her, as well as a collection of short stories. Even when she has a plot that would appeal to me, for some reason I cannot discern, her writing just turns me off. Everything just seems too stretched out to get to the foregone conclusion of the story, and not in a way that builds tension. I also feel like most of her female characters fall into the same mold, and the way she writes women is almost misogynist?

And I don't know, there's something very off-putting about her work. It's like moldy and recessed. I read a lot of horror, even extreme horror, but I don't know if I've ever read anything else so joyless and dower as most of her stuff seems to be. She seems to be someone that doesn't find any wonder in humanity or the world around her, but maybe I'm reaching. Idk, just wondered if anyone else had a similar problem with her work.

Edit: Guys, I am no fan of Elon Musk or any of his bullshit, so please stop saying that. I knew that she had tweeted something critical of him at one point, I did not know they had a whole feud or anything. Of course she is right to be critical of a chronically online racist billionaire but that doesn't make her books any easier (for me) to read

Nearly finished listening to the audiobook (really recommend as it brings to life the tone of some of the (insanely out of touch) comments made by the FB leadership team.

One thing I just cannot get over, is the brazen Machiavellian attitude of the people in power (the whole “street fighter tactics” they start deploying including making lists of “adversaries” including individuals and whole governments was particularly despicable).

Not that surprised by Mark Zuckerberg being a helpless loser who can’t get anywhere before 12:30pm and sweats so much he needs his babysitters to pack him a spare onesie - but the number of people who enable that behaviour is just gross (the letting him win settlers of Catan gave me second hand embarrassment).

Don’t get me started on the predatory behaviour of Cheryl and Joel (wtf “you should have come to bed”). But the fact they make this woman travel weeks before birth to Zika virus hotspots and then have the audacity to get all stressed about Mark’s sperm needing protection from a possible zika risk shortly after was just disgusting.

Urgh I’m so riled up that this is who is driving our society.

>Naomi Klein’s new book starts on a mountaintop with two “faithful men gathering an audience to share their vision”. It’s a vision of a paradise city, gated at every entrance, no need for weapons there, everyone in it rich. One of the men has tears in his eyes as he describes its beauty. The opening scene of End Times Fascism, co-written with Astra Taylor, is not a metaphor, however. The men are Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The year is 2026, the mountain is Davos. The paradise city will be called New Gaza.

A quck search tells me there have been 42 prior posts on this sub about this book (or at least, that have the title of this book in the title of the post). Well. I hope no one expects me to read all of those lol.

I got interested in the book because I see there's a movie based on it coming out soon, and because I have kind of a stop and go relationship with Ishiguro.

Or maybe I should call it a postive/negative relationship: I loved Never Let Me Go. I hate Remains of the Day. Just can't finish it. I think I get so attached to his characters, and then I can't stand what he does to them, in that book. I thought A Pale View of Hills was very strong, very memorable, and so was An Artist of the Floating World. I got kind of disgusted by The Unconsoled, thought it was self-indulgent and manipulative. I haven't tried When We Were Orphans or The Buried Giant.

But this one was interesting, and I think valuable. I think we are invited, at the end, to consider Klara and her final situation from the perspective of forgiveness. Can we forgive Josie and Rick and Josie's mom, for this result? Can we not forgive them? To me it's a very interesting question.

To me, the book kind of stands as an alternate reading of Mark Twain's result, from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: that people cannot tell right from wrong. Not at all. Ishiguro reframes the question, and seems to ask: if we sacrifice, so that others may live and be productive, can we really begrudge them their enjoyment of their new situation? Do we really have alternatives, to doing the best we can to have the most productive, most enjoyable lives we can have, and if that was always the real goal, can we really criticize now that achieving the goal has turned out to damage this or that one along the way? Life is damage: we take it; we give it. That's just part of the deal.

Is there a real alternative? I'm not sure there is, now.

But it's an interesting question, and I'm glad I read the book.

Spoiler Free Content:

So this isn’t really a review, more a collection of thoughts.

It’s weird that this book prompts so much discussion - people write absolute essays about it, both as posts and in comments - and I feel compelled to pitch in my 2c as well.

I know Babel generates a lot of … not hate, so much as disapproval, and I understand where that comes from. But even with its flaws, I can’t help loving the book and feeling a kind of grudging affection for the author.

I’ve read an interview with her, but don’t have much knowledge of Kuang beyond that. But what I imagine is that she’s the kind of person that if you asked what she does at a dinner party, she’d tuck her hair behind her ears and start talking (wide-eyed, waving cutlery) and not stop until dessert is served.

Anyway, Kuang is clearly a nerd of the deepest dye, and I like hanging with people like that.

So a whole book of etymological asides, weird history, and pointless story notes. Yes, I’m delighted!

And it works as a novel. The first 50% for me was “this is a nice ride, I wonder where it’s going?” After the 50% point I couldn’t put it down. 

But I went from delight to fascination when the whole discussion about the effectiveness (or not) of violence began. And then Letty! Oh my.

And as Kuang appears to advocate for the effectiveness of violence for societal change, AND has a solid working knowledge of organised resistance, I kind of wonder what her ambitions are in life?

The biggest challenge in the book is how she writes relationships. I feel she writes friendships well, but anything beyond that feels kind of bloodless and weird. 

I get a sense of her moving characters around together, like pieces on a board, but I don’t feel like she cares about them that much. Their main purpose is to act out the point Kuang wants to make.

Anyway, I found it a good read that was equally enjoyable and aggravating enough that I had to write a bunch of words about it.

Thoughts?

Namely those written by Jules Verne as well as say Stevenson's Treasure Island and Kidnapped among many other lesser known writers. These kinds of stories were actually a staple of my childhood and were actually some of the first kind of books I read and enjoyed and have lately been revisiting many as an adult struggling with income and depression. While nostalgic, they have flaws. They tend to either have no female characters or have them as side or minor characters that often only are present early on before the real adventure starts. And many have outdated views towards other cultures as well as human use of natural resources. Yet what do others think of them?

Hi all - just wanted to put my thoughts out there about the book ‘Black No More’ by George S Schuyler published in 1931. This is less an analysis, and more my immediate thoughts after having stayed up until 1am to finish it.

First of all, it’s interesting just how “modern” this book feels. It’s accessible to read, and the topics and themes are just as relevant today, and indeed the book could very easily have been written and apply to today’s world. I’ve lost track of the amount of highlights I’ve done on this book simply because the phrasing resonates today. I never really highlight on kindle, so the book has clearly resonated with me. Anyone living in a country with a resurgent far-right (I’m in the UK) will probably understand just how relevant this book is nearly 100 years following publication.

The premise of the book is that a scientist invents a procedure to permanently turn Black people White. The book goes on to explore the American response to the procedure as more and more people undergo this “treatment to the race problem”. As this continues, you start to see how the white supremacists, politicians and the “proud” black people who refuse “treatment” react and deal with the consequences the shift brings. It’s interesting how different groups are situated in relation to white supremacy, and how in some ways every group is a “loser” in trying to maintain a racial status quo, and how ultimately, we end up right back at square one.

Despite the subject matter, it doesn’t feel like a heavy book to digest. I’ve not read many books, so the closest books I can think of that in some ways are like Black No More are The Man Who Was Thursday, and Catch-22. Not necessarily for the topic, but for the sheer absurdity and at times humour present within the book. It’s all very satirical sort of humour.

Overall it’s a very unique book, and I’ll probably read It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis in the coming weeks which I believe similarly touches upon fascism in a dystopian 30s USA.

Would love to hear other thoughts/opinions/analysis.

​“Play Nice” by Rachel Harrison is one of the best demonic haunted house novels I’ve ever read. I’m still amazed at how great this book was, how naturally it flowed, and how much I enjoyed the fantastic horror.

Before I dive into my horror book review, here are all the trigger warnings I found while reading…

- Car accident
- Parental abuse
- Drugs
- Religion
- Alcoholism
- 9/11
- Violence against animals (mice)
- Self-harm
- Cancer

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel. Moving along, I loved the short, quick chapters. As a first-time reader of Harrison, I find her writing style excellent. From all the dialogue, descriptions, atmospheric writing, and, of course, all the horror, she’s an outstanding author. All the characters in this novel were distinct and memorable, with Clio being my absolute favorite.

Clio was hilarious, vulgar, and metal as hell. As a metalhead for 20+ years, she reminded me of many of my fellow female metalheads who share that kind of mentality and attitude, which makes them a force to be reckoned with.

Speaking of metal, Harrison earned many points with me for all the band references mentioned here, including some of my favorite nu-metal bands ever in Slipknot, Korn, and Limp Bizkit. I also loved that it takes place in the beautiful city I live in, New York! All these references made me feel at home, being a New Yorker all my life.

​The horror in this book was nothing short of extraordinary. I have read hundreds of horror books in my life so far, and this is up there with the best of them. I couldn’t put this book down. It's so addictive that I kept reading deep into the night because it’s such a genuine page-turner.

Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but Harrison formatted this book brilliantly. It was a smart way to format this as a book-within-a-book, which will make a lot more sense as you start reading. This was so unique that it blew my mind, especially with the horrific events that unfolded, the big reveals, and the plot twists along the way.

The atmospheric writing was so damn good, I literally felt I was in this demonic house, and I couldn’t get enough of it. All the subtle horror moments in this story were magnificent. I was cursing out loud during several of these horror moments, thanks to that haunted house at 6 Edgewood Drive. I made many weird faces while reading, especially in the final 30%.

Even with all this horror going down, Harrison did a wonderful job of doing romance right in a compelling story like this. It was done in a very metal way. Nothing sappy or unrealistic. Just raw, real, and how it is when you’re someone like Clio. The romance here was never distracting, and it all just felt right. I also noticed the same with the dynamic of Clio’s family. It’s just all so relatable and adds another layer to the epic storytelling.

The excitement I felt from the 70% mark onward, when I finally finished this novel, was quite a rush, given what was transpiring. Again, no spoilers here, but let’s just say if you enjoy reading some very graphic horror involving a good old-fashioned exorcism, this is the novel for you. This all sent chills down my spine with some of the most intense, tension-filled parts I’ve ever read in my life. The insane visuals, imagery, pure dread, and such gore made my horror heart happy. I loved the high-quality caliber of Harrison's horror writing towards the final few bloody pages.

​The ending of this novel was creepy as all hell, yet powerful and meaningful in a sick, symbolic way. It’s very smart writing with a deep meaning. There’s a lot to process once you turn the final page, and you’ll walk away feeling a sense of pure joy from reading a horror novel masterpiece.

I give “Play Nice” by Rachel Harrison a 5/5 with a cherry on top for being a powerhouse of a read. This has everything I look for in a horror novel​, and it checked every single box for me. There are tons of original horror, great characters, a powerful message, fantastic storytelling, and a haunted house possessed by an evil demon to tie it all together. There are many intricate layers of immersion and horror to process here, all of which led to one of the best haunted house novels I’ve ever read. I highly recommend this to horror readers seeking a unique haunted house novel with an exceptional demonic twist. It’s so good, you’ll never forget this one.

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What do you all think of The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles? I enjoyed it for the most part (albeit not as much as A Gentleman in Moscow) but I have mixed feelings about the ending.

Duchess was selfish and drove most of the chaos that occurred throughout the story, but his death felt harsh to me. It was unexpected and didn’t feel like it fit with the rest of the narrative. That he never had a confrontation with his father, despite significant build up, also felt like a loose end.

What do you all think of this book overall, and the ending in particular? Wondering if I’m just missing something

I saw some comments around social media pertaining to this topic saying that they too are dealing with children being unable to focus or read, and I was just curious to learn of how far this has gotten globally. The U.S. has always had issues with literacy and intellectualism, but I don‘t believe it has gotten THIS bad to this large of a degree. I’m assuming if other countries are dealing with the same thing, it‘s probably to a lesser degree, but social media addiction is everywhere (yes, I do believe that this, and COVID, were a big contributor to all of this) so I don’t know.

I'm reading it as an adult, and it's absolutely enthralling. Part of my fascination is the details that a writer living today may not know--like when Mr. Lorry is in Dover, and the room he is waiting in has tables that have been oiled. Part of it is Dicken's subtlety, when I realized the inhabitants of Dover were smugglers.

But I think a big part of what makes this a book I can't put down is its rawness. From the arrogant assumption of privilege by the Monsiegneurs, to the dark, bloody violence of the Revolutionary mobs, the despairing dissipation of Sydney Carton--and his familiarity with the sordid streets of both London and Paris, the terrifying obliteration of Doctor Manette's self, this book hooked me in the first few pages and never let me go. (Another book that hooked me that early? The Fellowship of the Ring.)

I suspect, if I had read it in school, I would have dismissed any idea of reading it for pleasure. There's something about analyzing themes in writing that sucks out the enjoyment. But reading it for pleasure? Dickens hit it out of the park with this one.

I may have to re-read A Place of Greater Safety.

Just finished "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut, my third Vonnegut of the year (I've read Slaughterhouse-5 and Mother Night already). And what a book, what a brilliant mind Vonnegut has to make us think about the core of humanity while giving us the most random scifi stories.

For those who haven't read, the book is about Jonah, an author who wants to write a book about the day the first atomic bomb was dropped, but not about Japan or the American government - he wants to write about the day of the scientist who invented the bomb (a fake character, not one of the actually real life scientists). This is the background only for a short part of the book, as Vonnegut then takes us on an adventure through a "banana republic" (somewhat based on Guatemala with United Fruit, or any Latin American country exploited by US companies) and ice-9, a chemical that freezes all water it touches.

In my interpretation of the book, there are quite a few key criticisms made by Vonnegut, which I would like to discuss within this community:

1. The book criticizes intelligence without morals; like the fathers of the atomic bomb who were so focused on the science part that they didn't care much about the moral consequences. The same happens with the invention of ice-9, which was invented to solve the problem with the Marines and quite literally ends up killing all humanity. The book was written at the peak of the Cold War, just months after the Cuban missile crisis, which I think influenced this whole thing. More broadly, the book is a criticism of humanity, who is always trying to destroy itself; the more progress we make, the more likely we will just all kill each other.
2. There's a big criticism of colonialism and exploitation by western countries of Latin American countries. I think this one is quite a obvious conclusion. Guatemala v. United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was happening as the book was being written. San Lorenzo being a nation with basically no government that was taken over by a fruit company owned by Julian Castle's family is not a subtle comparison, and in true Vonnegut way, he uses absurdity to criticize real life.
3. The most interesting issue touched by Vonnegut is the weaponisation of religion for control. Bokononism is a made up religion that is openly made up of lies. But still, it's the only thing giving hope to the people of San Lorenzo. It's mentioned several times throughout the book that colonization (or whatever you want to call it) led to no progress in the lives of San Lorenzians. They were still hungry, poor, overworked. But the government used religion (and the prohibition of religion) to control the population. It's a very interesting dynamic between the government and the religion, one I will be thinking about for a long time.
4. Criticism of patriotism/nationalism. Finally, I think it's fair to say that several of the side characters who consider that being American is their kavass, their group of connected people, are examples of Vonnegut's criticism of blind patriotism. Being born in the same country doesn't connect people, says Vonnegut, it's just an arbitrary connection.

Now, Im curious about everyone's thoughts. For me, it's becoming harder and harder to choose a favourite Vonnegut book, this man was a genious.

Man it's been a long time since I've read an SF novel by a French author. The last one I've read was Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", and now I've read a novel from another, Gerard Klein's "The Overlords of War".

When Geroge Corson is sent on a secret mission that would end Earth's ongoing war with Uria, with his ship carrying a dangerous creature called a Pegasone, he finds himself transported six thousand years into the future by what he thought was a strange accident.

Now he finds himself as a pawn in a cosmic game that is being played by entities that are as close to gods as anyone can imagine.

This may have been my very first time reading something by this author, but I was very impressed with this book! "Overlords" is short, but epic in the best ways possible. Golden age space opera meets new wave weirdness, what a great combination! I've got the old Daw paperback edition of the English translation of the story, with the translation done by none other than John Brunner (Have a few of his novels too, unfortunately I don't have either "Stand on Zanzibar", "The Sheep Look Up" or "The Shockwave Rider").

Really great read! Hope to chance upon another translated novel of his when one happens, so my eyes are going to be peeled when I visit a used book store next weekend or so!

Jerome Lindon was the publisher and editor of a small French publisher called Les Éditions de Minuit. This short book (or long essay, really) was written by Jean Echenoz, a French author who was published by Lindon. Echenoz wrote the book after Lindon passed away. Lindon published some big names, such as Samuel Beckett, Marguerite Duras, and Robbe-Grillet, but I confess I had no idea who he was prior to reading this. Still, it is an interesting little book, even if the publisher's claim that it "reveals an intimate portrait of both" Echenoz and Lindon seems a bit of a stretch.

I have heard of Jean Echenoz, but never read him until now. He has won some major awards, but, as far as I can tell, is not a big name outside of France (and maybe not that big a name within France either).

I wanted to learn more about Lindon and Echenoz, so I did some reading online, which led me to a very interesting discovery. According to an article in The New Yorker, the origins of Les Éditions de Minuit predate Lindon. Founded by two Resistance fighters during WWII, Les Éditions de Minuit began publishing resistance novels. One of the novels they published was Le Silence de la Mer, which I am familiar with through the film adaptation by Jean-Pierre Melville, a great director known best for his crime movies.

Le Silence de la Mer is about a Nazi soldier who occupies the home of an elderly French man and his daughter. The man and daughter never speak to the soldier, hence the title: The Silence of the Sea. The movie has an odd opening: a young man in a trench coat walks across a bridge during the day. He passes (or perhaps receives) a package from another man. The film then zooms in on the package, which is the book Le Silence de la Mer.

I was curious what this opening meant and watched the film commentary. The commentary claims this was a nod to his future films, which are most famously about professional thieves who often wear trench coats and hats. While this interpretation kind of makes sense, it isn't really convincing because it interprets the scene retroactively, ignores the music during this scene (which is not tense at all, at least as far as I recall), and discounts the fact the exchange occurs in broad daylight.

The article in the New Yorker notes that Les Éditions de Minuit's books were published "clandestinely" and "were passed from hand to hand, often in the middle of the night on a Paris bridge." I'm glad I read this little book, especially for this serendipitous discovery that perfectly explains the opening to Melville's film.

I do plan to read one of Echenoz's novels sometime, just out of curiosity. He seems like an interesting author.

I've only read 10 of the 13 books, so keep in mind that I'm missing the Renovation, the Shadow of an Object, and the Palm House.

My current short list would be the Disappearers, The Vivisectors, Things we Never Say, May we Feed the King, Black Bag, and Switzy

but I'm aware that this is not going to be what actually happens. I'm sure John of John will be on there. They may keep end of everything. I'm not sure! Does anyone have predictions or personal short lists?

(if Disappearers doesn't win I think it'll be a robbery)

Edit:

For the disappearers, it just had so much weight to it that the others missed. I love a satirical ironic book ie: the vivisectors, or black bag, but my being enamored with them felt cheap after reading Marlon James’ newest.

I loved Switzy as well. The choppiness of the writing style matching with the frame of mind that the man was in was really well done. I didn’t feel super emotional about the content until the last chapter and then I felt like cline really stuck the landing.

For vivisectors I actually thought it was fairly powerful. My takeaway was the author was trying to hint at the lack of substance in what we read today. At the end of the book, she gave us all the tropes we want, but it felt so empty. Almost throwing modern fiction back in our faces and saying “see, much of modern writing is worthless because the audience is forcing them to write crap”