Ian Mathers’s books on Goodreads (1,080 books) (original) (raw)

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| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | ------ | | | checkbox | position | cover When I Sing, Mountains Dance | title When I Sing, Mountains Dance | author Solà, Irene | isbn 1644450801 | isbn13 9781644450802 | asin 1644450801 | num pages 216pp | avg rating 4.24 | num ratings 24,776 | date pub May 08, 2019 | date pub edition Mar 15, 2022 | Ian's rating | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Nov 18, 2024 | date read not set | date added Nov 18, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Philip K. Dick, electric shepherd (Best of SF commentary ; no. 1) | title Philip K. Dick, electric shepherd(Best of SF commentary ; no. 1) | author Gillespie, Bruce | isbn 0909106002 | isbn13 9780909106003 | asin 0909106002 | num pages 106pp | avg rating 3.64 | num ratings 11 | date pub 1975 | date pub edition 1975 | Ian's rating | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review None | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Nov 10, 2024 | date read not set | date added Nov 10, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Asterios Polyp | title Asterios Polyp | author Mazzucchelli, David | isbn 0307377326 | isbn13 9780307377326 | asin 0307377326 | num pages 324pp | avg rating 4.21 | num ratings 27,973 | date pub Jul 07, 2009 | date pub edition Jul 07, 2009 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review So yes, I'm one of those people who really only knows Mazzuchelli's work on Batman: Year One (and loves that). When this one came out I was aware he'd So yes, I'm one of those people who really only knows Mazzuchelli's work on Batman: Year One (and loves that). When this one came out I was aware he'd been doing his own thing in the interim but was intrigued by both the 'new' art style and the reviews, and just never got around to reading it. And in some ways I'm glad I waited to read it until now. I'm not at Asterios's age (for a while yet) but I'm both closer to this phase in life, and yet further away from him in personality, than I was in my late 20s when this came out.To be clear, I hope and believe I was never quite like Asterios in some respects; while I also knew lots of stuff and had opinions and was good enough at speaking/rhetoric to convince people of things frequently, I had some experiences when I was younger that I think kept me off the exact path of "there are correct opinions about x, y, and z and I know them and if you feel different it's because you're wrong." But there is a reason they refer to the arrogance of youth, and so I did find myself wincing in several places here. Even as I became endeared to Asterios the book makes it very easy to be clear eyed about who is as a person, and how it impacts the people around him.Especially Hana, a character who feels both lovably and painfully real. She is responsible for the first of the two page turns here that stunned me, stopped me in my tracks. (The second, at the end, caused panicked, almost frenzied laughter to erupt out of me). Those two moments and the character work would alone make this one of my favourite comics, but the rest of the story is equally strong. And I haven't even discussed the aesthetic, stylistic, and artistic choices made here and how frequently they blew me away. There are plenty of works this technically impressive that get by with an ok story, and plenty with incredible writing that get by with ok art. Having both elements hit this hard is a real accomplishment on Mazzuchelli's part. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Nov 07, 2024 | date read Nov 07, 2024 | date added Nov 10, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover When We Cease to Understand the World | title When We Cease to Understand the World | author Labatut, Benjamín | isbn | isbn13 | asin B08QM8VHRT | num pages 193pp | avg rating 4.13 | num ratings 45,342 | date pub 2020 | date pub edition Aug 2022 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review I'm very appreciative of the brief author's note at the end where he at least vaguely explains how much of this is fictionalized (one paragraph in the I'm very appreciative of the brief author's note at the end where he at least vaguely explains how much of this is fictionalized (one paragraph in the opening story; "more" in the later ones). I'm still pretty afraid that at some point years from now I'll have forgotten that some vivid detail that's stuck with me is from here, and I'll tell someone a lie about Heisenberg, Grothendieck, etc. Worth it though, for the experience of reading the one book that's given me the most existential dread about math and epistemology. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started Oct 27, 2024 | date read Nov 02, 2024 | date added Oct 27, 2024 | owned | format Kindle Edition | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Mister Miracle | title Mister Miracle | author King, Tom * | isbn 1401283543 | isbn13 9781401283544 | asin 1401283543 | num pages 300pp | avg rating 4.42 | num ratings 7,861 | date pub Feb 19, 2019 | date pub edition Feb 19, 2019 | Ian's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review A re-read; I was in the library picking up a hold and thought an excuse to revisit this one/to see if it felt any different in physical media was wort A re-read; I was in the library picking up a hold and thought an excuse to revisit this one/to see if it felt any different in physical media was worth the borrow. For better or worse, the way King writes his protagonists and their psychology (and just the way he... structures stories, I guess?) tends to work really well for/on me. I'm glad I thought that Rorschach series was bad, hopefully proving I've still got some discernment when it comes to his work. (Danger Street was also pretty mid; on the one hand I am sucker for issues like the Manhunter/Codename: Assassin one, on the other the whole bombastically out of place narrator thing that works fine here is way too much on that series.) When Mister Miracle was coming out I was absolutely riveted, probably would have called it my favourite comic running, etc. Upon returning, it's still very good but... maybe it's one of those things where once you know where it's going it loses a step.In terms of my own taste, the deck here is stacked in King's favour; I love Scott and Barda as characters (and think one of the strongest elements here is the way both of them are written), I love anytime a writer really goes deep and/or wacky with the whole conceptual angle of "I can escape anything," and I get practically feral about a good Anti-Life Equation story. I think Gerads' art and design choices work extremely well, too. I even like the ending to a fair degree (and yes, my own take/thoughts on it were informed by finding the de rigeur Reddit post where people talk about what they think is happening); the uncertainty about whether this is a victory or defeat, or even what those would mean; "I think I did everything wrong. I should've escaped. I shouldn't have escaped." All of that, absolutely.I think what didn't land for me on this go round, and what leads me to rounding down to 4, is just... at no point did I think or hope this series was 'canon' (for whatever value that has), and it's clear from pretty early on these versions of Scott etc. are not the ones from the main DC universe. That's totally fine! But something about positing that this is the Scott Free from that main DC universe just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe I'm placing too much importance on this, but I think it bugs me for two reasons: it feels like it puts the book's thumb on the scale about whether Scott has escaped the Anti-Life Equation or not (in a way that the closing issue otherwise doesn't, in my opinion). And also... c'mon, what halfway sane DC character who found their way out of that universe to another one where things may not be perfect but they don't ever have to worry about crises, crossovers, or Darkseid would ever return, even if their dad/God tells them it's right thing to do? The story had plenty of stakes on it own, as a completely self-contained thing, and this one thing feels to me like it deflates those stakes a bit. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 1 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started Oct 27, 2024 | date read Oct 27, 2024 | date added Oct 27, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Vermis, Lost Dungeons and Forbidden Woods (Vermis, #1) | title Vermis, Lost Dungeons and Forbidden Woods(Vermis, #1) | author Plastiboo | isbn | isbn13 | asin B0DM4JWW6Y | num pages 128pp | avg rating 4.64 | num ratings 760 | date pub 2023 | date pub edition 2023 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review This doesn't have that much in common with Scavengers Reign except that both feel almost specifically tuned to my sensibilities to the point it's almo This doesn't have that much in common with Scavengers Reign except that both feel almost specifically tuned to my sensibilities to the point it's almost creepy, even while both don't go quite where I might have guessed they were headed (if I'd been guessing instead of completely rapt in the respective experiences). The samples I saw had me pretty convinced that would be how it went, so I ordered this, the sequel, and the newer Godhusk once they were all in print. Even if the other two are a wash, it was honestly worth it just for this one. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Oct 16, 2024 | date read Oct 16, 2024 | date added Oct 16, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos | title The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos | author Carson, Anne | isbn 0375707573 | isbn13 9780375707575 | asin 0375707573 | num pages 160pp | avg rating 4.22 | num ratings 7,191 | date pub Feb 06, 2001 | date pub edition Feb 19, 2002 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review _Ray please I never lied to her. When need arose I may have used words that lied._I bought this because I randomly found it somewhere and wanted to read _Ray please I never lied to her. When need arose I may have used words that lied._I bought this because I randomly found it somewhere and wanted to read more Anne Carson. Then I forgot it on my shelf until the point where I thought it would be painful to read because I assumed it was about a happy marriage. Then I noticed (one way or another) that it was absolutely not, by which time it felt like the opposite would be painful to read. Now I'm doing fine, our relationship (although changed) is doing fine, and I felt capable of reading it on a whim. As great (enlightening, powerful, lucid, mysterious) as it is, I also found myself laughing. At myself. The wounds here are sufficiently different from my own I could have read it at any point, even before they started to heal. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 2 | date started Oct 06, 2024 not set | date read Oct 06, 2024 not set | date added Oct 06, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Cabinet | title The Cabinet | author Kim, Un-Su | isbn 0857669176 | isbn13 9780857669179 | asin 0857669176 | num pages 304pp | avg rating 3.52 | num ratings 5,027 | date pub 2006 | date pub edition Oct 26, 2021 | Ian's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review First I was surprised at how much part of this book reminded me of Invisible Cities (diverse, metaphorically resonant collections of oddities with the First I was surprised at how much part of this book reminded me of Invisible Cities (diverse, metaphorically resonant collections of oddities with thematic but not plot-based connections) and then just about when I'd settled into that I was surprised by how much the rest of the book... didn't do that. Both modes work for me and the transition isn't jarring, but also neither was really what I was expecting from the back of the book. Not a complaint! I still enjoyed the mostly low key, weird vibe of this (and even the one section that's pretty unpleasant). ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Oct 2024 | date read Oct 09, 2024 | date added Oct 01, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Strangers Drowning: Grappling with Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the Overpowering Urge to Help | title Strangers Drowning: Grappling with Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the Overpowering Urge to Help | author MacFarquhar, Larissa | isbn 1594204330 | isbn13 9781594204333 | asin 1594204330 | num pages 336pp | avg rating 3.91 | num ratings 2,792 | date pub Sep 22, 2015 | date pub edition Sep 29, 2015 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review The need of the world was like death, she thought—everyone knew about it, but the thought was so annihilating that they had to push it out of consciou _The need of the world was like death, she thought—everyone knew about it, but the thought was so annihilating that they had to push it out of consciousness or it would crush them._I heard of this one via Charlotte Shane's excellent newsletter (and I say that as someone who is pretty lukewarm on newsletters) and it did not disappoint. There were a lot of elements I appreciate, particularly MacFarquhar including a few chapters throughout looking at just why we've often been skeptical of do-gooders, and also the way she keeps going back to (and often rejects) the supposed dichotomy between the idea(l) of the saintly and the actual very human lives and experiences of her subjects. A few small elements haven't aged terribly well (I would love to know what she makes of Effective Altruism nearly a decade later, for one thing), but this was both thought- and emotion-provoking and I'm pretty sure I'm going to think of it often. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Sep 23, 2024 | date read Sep 30, 2024 | date added Sep 24, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Berserk, Vol. 41 | title Berserk, Vol. 41 | author Miura, Kentaro | isbn 1506733778 | isbn13 9781506733777 | asin 1506733778 | num pages 176pp | avg rating 4.82 | num ratings 3,716 | date pub Dec 24, 2021 | date pub edition Nov 22, 2022 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review I remember, years ago, reading Mark Fisher (also gone too soon) on Joy Division, and how he felt sometimes that people who only heard of or listened t I remember, years ago, reading Mark Fisher (also gone too soon) on Joy Division, and how he felt sometimes that people who only heard of or listened to them after Ian Curtis killed himself had a fundamentally different experience of their music than he and his friends did. Not necessarily lesser or worse, just different. Fisher (and many others his age) originally knew those records as the work of living people, artists still changing and creating; they didn't know the end. Knowing the end, at least some of the time, changes things. Years ago I heard crazy things about Berserk, and I checked out whatever I could randomly find. I happened on what I now understand was just about the worst chapter or chapters to read out of context and I thought, well, I don't want this edgelord shit anywhere near me. (I know, I know.)Much more recently, having not thought about the series since then, when Miura died I started seeing how other people felt about Berserk. And I just couldn't understand how to reconcile what I was hearing with what I dimly remembered reading back then. People whose opinion I trust were talking about it as one of the greatest stories out there, period. Ultimately it was the way Woolie and John of Versus Wolves talked about it that nudged me over the edge. I grabbed the series from the beginning up until the last chapter Miura worked on, 41 volumes in all.That was eleven days ago.There so many things I could talk about here at great length, positive/personal feelings (and yes, some negative ones) and nuances and questions and moments I'm still thinking about. But taken as a whole? As a journey, as emotions, as a sustained thing? Yeah, this is one of the best stories I've ever encountered. I feel practically feral about it. Huge respect for what Mori and Studio Gaga are even trying to do now, and I'm sure I'll read it at some point. But in one sense the story ends here (and I could go on for so long about where exactly it ends). I'm not someone who's cavalier or uncaring about stories, but I don't remember the last time I cared about one, about its characters, so much. To the extent that there's a small part of me that wishes I'd never started, because getting to the end hurts. But a much larger part of me is so incredibly glad I did. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Sep 08, 2024 | date read Sep 19, 2024 | date added Sep 19, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Jason Molina: Riding with the Ghost | title Jason Molina: Riding with the Ghost | author Osmon, Erin | isbn 1442268689 | isbn13 9781442268685 | asin 1442268689 | num pages 240pp | avg rating 4.06 | num ratings 711 | date pub unknown | date pub edition May 15, 2017 | Ian's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review What a frustrating experience. I don't know if the copy I got from the library is the most current edition; I kind of hope it wasn't. I've been an edi What a frustrating experience. I don't know if the copy I got from the library is the most current edition; I kind of hope it wasn't. I've been an editor pretty much my entire adult professional life, although mostly not of books. But I have edited a couple of them, and this book needed at least one more thorough editing pass.To be clear, the bones of what's here are mostly pretty good! Molina comes across as pretty fundamentally unknowable but in a very human way that shakes off some of the mystique that tends to gather around artists like him (this is a good thing). The entire period of decline and death is wrenchingly sad, and the frustrated love of Molina's friends and family comes through strongly. With books like this (or the Julian Cope memoir I read recently) the thing I most want is a sense of the texture of this life/place/community etc., and I got that here. This should be four stars on that basis, easy.But then, while I trust the research and interviews that went into this as far as accuracy goes, there were just so many little moments that were awkward or jarring, especially when information that we were given 20 pages (or, in at least one case, one paragraph!) ago is treated as if we'd never heard it before in a way that yanked me right out of the book every time it happened. It's not that either instance was bad or poorly crafted; the issues here are more around consistency, clarity, flow. That's why I call it frustrating; none of this really negates what the book presents, but none of it should have been difficult to fix, either. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 2 | # times read 1 | date started Sep 11, 2024 | date read Sep 23, 2024 | date added Sep 11, 2024 | owned | format ebook | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Head-On: Memories of the Liverpool Punk-scene, & the story of the Teardrop Explodes (1976-82) | title Head-On: Memories of the Liverpool Punk-scene, & the story of the Teardrop Explodes(1976-82) | author Cope, Julian | isbn | isbn13 | asin | num pages 249pp | avg rating 4.35 | num ratings 1,100 | date pub Jan 01, 1994 | date pub edition 1994 | Ian's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review I picked this up ages ago, despite not being super familiar with Cope's music, because often am I going to randomly find something like this with "OUT I picked this up ages ago, despite not being super familiar with Cope's music, because often am I going to randomly find something like this with "OUT OF PRINT $4.00" inside the front cover? (It's the Magog Books edition, although I couldn't find an edition on here that matched the cover exactly.) I remember zipping through it, thoroughly entertained, and then looking up a couple of the Teardrop Explodes songs that it made sound appealing to me. They were ok! Not really my thing. I'm listening to "Reward" right now. It's fine! Having not really gotten into the band nor Cope's solo work in the interim (not that I've made much of an effort - I've most enjoyed Cope as a record reviewer to be honest) has not dented the enjoyment I got out of Head-On at the time and if anything I found it a better read this time. When you're in your 20s yourself, it be hard to recognize that it can be nearly as adolescent a phase of life as the actual teen years; easier to spot from your 40s. I appreciate how unabashedly personal and partial Cope is here; the very brief introduction situates how and why he wrote it quite well, and his own younger self gets as much or more slagging as anyone else (justifiably, by the sounds of it, although it's hard to not like and sympathize with our narrator, at least sometimes). I also appreciate that his feelings about others, David Balfe in particular, don't feel the need to pretend to be consistent or justified; that's often how feelings are, especially when you're young and/or very very high. The combination of breakneck and warts-and-all is ultimately very satisfying as it hurtles along; object lesson, ripping yarn, bildungsroman, score settling, catharsis, all of the above? ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Aug 29, 2024 | date read Sep 09, 2024 | date added Sep 02, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) | title Beloved(Beloved Trilogy, #1) | author Morrison, Toni | isbn | isbn13 9781400033416 | asin 1400033411 | num pages 325pp | avg rating 3.96 | num ratings 453,373 | date pub Sep 16, 1987 | date pub edition Jun 08, 2004 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review It is rare to read a book that is such a masterful example of craft, that is stunning in its creative brilliance; it's even rarer, I'm tempted to say It is rare to read a book that is such a masterful example of craft, that is stunning in its creative brilliance; it's even rarer, I'm tempted to say singular, for a book like that to also possess such a gutting visceral impact, to cut so deep and hurt so much. Quite possibly the best novel I've ever read. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 1 | # times read 1 | date started Aug 25, 2024 | date read Sep 06, 2024 | date added Aug 25, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover The Girl from the Sea | title The Girl from the Sea | author Ostertag, Molly Knox | isbn 1338540580 | isbn13 9781338540581 | asin 1338540580 | num pages 256pp | avg rating 4.13 | num ratings 54,165 | date pub Jun 01, 2021 | date pub edition Jun 01, 2021 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Very happy to spot this in my local library; I know Ostertag has done a bunch of more prominent stuff since (and based on the quality of this one, I'd Very happy to spot this in my local library; I know Ostertag has done a bunch of more prominent stuff since (and based on the quality of this one, I'd check those out too) but count me one of the ones (dozens? are there dozens of us?) vainly hoping that someday she and Brennan Lee Mulligan will go finish the story of their Strong Female Protagonist webcomic, which is absolutely one of my favourites (and now even the website doesn't work, which means the last two chapters are just... lost, officially at least, unless/until they get collected). Anyway, that soapbox aside, this was a delight! I appreciate when this kind of story doesn't shy away from consequences and less than perfect endings for our protagonist and others. And also smaller touches like... the mom is written such that her reaction to events wasn't at all surprising to me, but I also completely agreed that a teenager wouldn't necessarily see that, or at least would worry about it (because the possible consequences for me, the reader, are... significantly more abstract). I often don't enjoy teenage-era stories where characters have friction with their friends, family, etc. but that's because that kind of story often has one or more character be over the top cruel/resistant/refusing to understand or listen, etc., and everyone here is written to be more realistic and human. Which doesn't mean there isn't stress or bad behaviour! The result pretty much hits the sweet spot for me; lovely without being saccharine, realistic without being a downer, funny without losing touch of its emotional core. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Aug 22, 2024 | date read Aug 22, 2024 | date added Aug 22, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead | title Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead | author Tokarczuk, Olga | isbn | isbn13 | asin B07TVKLV2B | num pages 12pp | avg rating 3.95 | num ratings 112,811 | date pub Nov 25, 2009 | date pub edition Aug 13, 2019 | Ian's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Going to get some t-shirts made up that say "MRS. DUSZEJKO DID NOTHING WRONG" and distribute them to the children. Going to get some t-shirts made up that say "MRS. DUSZEJKO DID NOTHING WRONG" and distribute them to the children. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Aug 14, 2024 | date read Aug 24, 2024 | date added Aug 14, 2024 | owned | format Audible Audio | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Time’s Arrow | title Time’s Arrow | author Amis, Martin | isbn 0099455358 | isbn13 9780099455356 | asin 0099455358 | num pages 136pp | avg rating 3.76 | num ratings 16,863 | date pub Sep 26, 1991 | date pub edition 2019 | Ian's rating liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Really a 3.5, but I feel like I've been rounding those up a lot recently, sorry Martin. Kind of feel like the strongest element of this one (the ever- Really a 3.5, but I feel like I've been rounding those up a lot recently, sorry Martin. Kind of feel like the strongest element of this one (the ever-hopeful and ignorant narrator and the gap between what it understands and what we do) is inextricable from its weakest element (doesn't really go anywhere!). There are no great insights here, unless you count the way our protagonist (such as he is) both has context for what he does and that the evil of what he does also has (lesser) negative consequences for himself. Neither of these are particularly revelatory, but that doesn't mean that ruminating on this facet of human evil, human history, and human nature is without value. Amis puts the whole thing together quite well, and if it's particularly frustrating that "Dr. Tod Friendly" never truly experiences consequences for what he's done, well, that's a good bit of the book's bleak power (and you can't say you didn't know that was how it was going to go, from very early on in the book). ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 2 | # times read 1 | date started Aug 05, 2024 | date read Aug 09, 2024 | date added Aug 05, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Film Noir: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) | title Film Noir: A Very Short Introduction | author Naremore, James | isbn 0198791747 | isbn13 9780198791744 | asin 0198791747 | num pages 124pp | avg rating 3.71 | num ratings 103 | date pub Feb 15, 2019 | date pub edition Apr 28, 2019 | Ian's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Been having pretty good luck with the Very Short Introductions I randomly find in the library! This made me look up the wikipedia pages of roughly thr Been having pretty good luck with the Very Short Introductions I randomly find in the library! This made me look up the wikipedia pages of roughly three dozen films I've never seen, and reminded me I've been meaning to rewatch Kiss Me Deadly for a while. As you might expect from the series, this more functions as an overview and an introduction to the interesting questions, in a way that made me think I might want to look up the longer treatment of the genre the author mentions. Love that right at the beginning he places these films in "a fictional zone somewhere between Gothic horror and dystopian science fiction," which I had never considered before but that makes total sense to me. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Aug 2024 | date read Aug 04, 2024 | date added Aug 01, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Lyorn (Vlad Taltos, #17) | title Lyorn(Vlad Taltos, #17) | author Brust, Steven * | isbn 0765382865 | isbn13 9780765382863 | asin 0765382865 | num pages 288pp | avg rating 4.43 | num ratings 657 | date pub Apr 09, 2024 | date pub edition Apr 09, 2024 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review You know, it's only really occurring to me now, having burned through this one, what a massive thing the previous book did to the whole series. I don' You know, it's only really occurring to me now, having burned through this one, what a massive thing the previous book did to the whole series. I don't think it truly landed until I saw 'current-day' Vlad wrestling with what he knows (now/again) and until I looked up exactly when Tsalmoth was set. I don't know how common this is, but when I think of the chronology of this series I still think of Jhereg as the starting point and everything set before that as almost prologue or prequel. And all that happened before Jhereg!This especially hit home because of the end of this book, which is what nudged it up the final star for me (and I say this as someone who does not particularly enjoy musicals and audibly groaned when I hit "going through the lotions" at the beginning of one chapter). In some ways this series has been about Vlad refusing and rejecting the reality/politics of the/his situation, about resisting the ties he actually has to the rest of the world and the people he knows (in the abstract, if often not at all in practice). And now, finally, he can't. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jul 28, 2024 | date read Aug 2024 | date added Jul 28, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Darkly: Blackness and America’s Gothic Soul | title Darkly: Blackness and America’s Gothic Soul | author Taylor, Leila | isbn 1912248549 | isbn13 9781912248544 | asin 1912248549 | num pages 187pp | avg rating 4.42 | num ratings 551 | date pub Nov 12, 2019 | date pub edition Nov 12, 2019 | Ian's rating really liked it | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review Really interesting book, that makes a strong/compelling argument that, if there is a distinctively American version of Goth, it is Black, and that sim Really interesting book, that makes a strong/compelling argument that, if there is a distinctively American version of Goth, it is Black, and that simultaneously to be Goth is to have enough room for romanticism, excess, frippery, etc. in your life that it's often inaccessible to Black people trying to survive in (North) America. What's here is very good, but I find myself with some conflicting takeaways; part of me wishing it was more specifically focused with a more linear argument, but then part of me just wanting more, to let Taylor keep adding new sections about different topics (personal, historical, aesthetic, whatever!) and let the overall gestalt assemble in my head into the argument as I'm reading it. good stuff. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jul 22, 2024 | date read Jul 28, 2024 | date added Jul 22, 2024 | owned | format Paperback | actions view (with text) | | | | | checkbox | position | cover Lancer TTRPG Core Rulebook | title Lancer TTRPG Core Rulebook | author Bloom, Tom | isbn 1506742912 | isbn13 9781506742915 | asin 1506742912 | num pages 432pp | avg rating 4.67 | num ratings 9 | date pub unknown | date pub edition Jul 09, 2024 | Ian's rating it was amazing | my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves | review So this is definitely the.... second book I've read because of a shitpost (I do have a review of the dril book on here). I have read and really loved So this is definitely the.... second book I've read because of a shitpost (I do have a review of the dril book on here). I have read and really loved most of Kill Six Billion Demons (the creator of which cocreated this one!) but it was seeing a Tumblr roundup of funny posts about various Lancer mechs that got me to actually look into it, which eventually got me into getting the PDF, which led to ordering the new physical edition. As things currently stand, I'm not at all likely to ever actually get to play a game (my current groups aren't really into this kind of system, and while I'd love to play I'm not sure I'd want to run it), but I still loved it. I read it very slowly in bits and pieces, eventually interrupted by the new D&D Player's Handbook (which doesn't appear to be on here?), which felt like a higher priority since the game I'm running is using that one.But I love pretty much everything about this book. I love the setting (and particularly some of the choices the authors have made around the politics of the setting), I love the mechanics, I love the various mechs and have daydreamed plenty of halfassed build ideas since I've read this. I've also thought about the HORUS Pegasus frame roughly 50 thousand times since I first read the shitpost about it. So although I might not be playing it anytime soon, between loving this book (and what I've seen of the other resources for this game) and loving all the memes I've run into on Tumblr, I'm happy. ...more | notes Notes are private! | comments 0 | votes 0 | # times read 1 | date started Jul 17, 2024 | date read Oct 06, 2024 | date added Jul 17, 2024 | owned | format Hardcover | actions view (with text) | | | |

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