Tried this, but can’t get into it at all. Just not my type of book I guess.
I did just finish: The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?
Thought that was excellent.
I generally don’t like mega post modern style but I found this book to be enjoyable. But I cam see where you’re coming from, I find that it treads the line between clever and too clever, if that makes any sense.
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About 1/3 the way through this book.
Fascinating look at Japanese culture after the end of WW2 during American occupation, and all the ways that time period still affects Japanese culture today.
Wild coincidence, I was just talking about that exact subject with my gf (4th-gen Japanese American) the other night. If you have a chance, after you get done with the book, post back with your thoughts.
Anybody want to read about particle accelerator physics for free?
Yes
LOLWSJ
Outsiders got a glimpse of the intensity of the #DisruptTexts campaign recently when self-described “antiracist teacher” Lorena Germán complained that many classics were written more than 70 years ago: “Think of US society before then & the values that shaped this nation afterwards. THAT is what is in those books.”
If there is harm in classic literature, it comes from not teaching it. Students excused from reading foundational texts may imagine themselves lucky to get away with YA novels instead—that’s what the #DisruptTexts people want—but compared with their better-educated peers they will suffer a poverty of language and cultural reference. Worse, they won’t even know it.
Her claims are silly. We have limited time to teach specific books or use them as tools for broader lessons. It’s smart to reconsider whether the texts traditionally taught are not serving the education and development of young people as much as we would like. Yet she is claiming that if we don’t teach the texts she prefers, we may as well not be teaching anything.
Animorphs > The Odyssey
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I wouldn’t ban The Odyssey for woke reasons but it should be saved for college, it’s not exactly easy to read or very relatable. Our Latin teacher tried to get us to read it after we were done with finals, lol that did not happen.
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Probably for the best since it’s in Greek!
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Indeed. It was Greek to me, but when in Rome…
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Animorphs and Goosebumps are two series that should be read in totality.
Also, many people are saying that Achilles’ “cousin” Patroclus was really treated very unfairly by Hector. Achilles and Patroclus had a very “special” relationship. Don’t believe the lamestream Trojan media, Hector knew what he was doing when he killed Patroclus! Trying to get into Achilles’ head for their subsequent bout. A total disgrace!
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https://twitter.com/Brooklyn__Ann/status/1344107822133362690
This initially perked my interest—was Luc the Piers Gaveston to Deke’s Edward II, except kind of incestuous, which would make it somewhat more kinky?
Alas, no. The true reasons why these two paragons of masculinity engage almost exclusively in threesomes are both much more hilarious and much more repulsive than using a woman as a conduit to express homosexual urges. But more on that later.
So I trucked along for a while, wallowing cheerfully in the terrible plot, but after a while, the sheer weight of the terrible prose crushed my sense of humor. The only comfort left to me was reading the more ludicrous parts out loud to friends.
The part that broke me? The part that made me throw my hands up and say “I give up”? Was when Kimber decides…
I could go on, but I think you get the point: this book is a trainwreck of unintentional hilarity. If ever there was a book ripe for MST3K treatment or a drinking game (take a shot every time a character starts a musing with “Damn”), this would be it.
Any of you read this one? Sounds perfect for fans of fantasy, gangsters, the Godfather. That’s close to 0/3 for me, but it’s so well regarded that I want to give it a chance.
In this World Fantasy Award-winning novel of magic and kungfu, four siblings battle rival clans for honor and power in an Asia-inspired fantasy metropolis.
Named one of TIME 's Top 100 Fantasy Books Of All Time
World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, winnerJade is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. It has been mined, traded, stolen, and killed for – and for centuries, honorable Green Bone warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their magical abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion.
Now, the war is over and a new generation of Kauls vies for control of Kekon’s bustling capital city. They care about nothing but protecting their own, cornering the jade market, and defending the districts under their protection. Ancient tradition has little place in this rapidly changing nation.
When a powerful new drug emerges that lets anyone – even foreigners – wield jade, the simmering tension between the Kauls and the rival Ayt family erupts into open violence. The outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones – and of Kekon itself.
In an interview discussing the world building, author Fonda Lee said:
As is often the case, research was the key. I immersed myself in fiction and non-fiction books and films about organized crime groups from all over the world. I read books about the history of the Triads and watched documentaries about the Camorra. I found interviews with yakuza leaders and historical accounts of the Five Points Gang. I read travel guides, I studied the maps of Taipei and Hong Kong, I found old photographs of 1970s Shanghai and current pictures of jade mining sites in Myanmar. And then I set it all aside in a folder (in Scrivener, naturally), and I wrote, making everything up by plucking and changing details I’d picked up in dozens of ways.
The nationalistic history of the Green Bone clans is modeled to a large extent on the Chinese Triads, as are the allegiance oaths and the fanciful titles such as “Pillar,” “Weather Man,” and “Horn” (Triad organizations have “Red Poles,” “Incense Masters,” and “Straw Sandals,” among others). The strict hierarchy, openly visible societal legitimacy, body modification as status, and charming custom of amputating a minor body part as atonement for sins, came from the Yakuza. Neither the Triads or the Yakuza possess the strong family aspect that I lifted directly from the Italian-American Mafia. The Green Bone weapons are modeled after the Burmese sword (“dha”) and the Indonesian kerambit. I had the core of a very recognizably Asian gangster culture, and from there I expanded the view and filled in all the details: everything from food and cars, to sporting traditions and holidays, religious customs and superstitious sayings.
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I’m in a big reading rut, haven’t been able to find anything to read the past couple months but this sounds pretty awesome, I might give it a shot
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Just Finnished this (joke sponsored by keeeeed), translation was great and still one of my favorite books, even if a bit documentary nowadays tho.
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Sweet! How do write “howling fantods” in Finnish?
I can’t remember it now but it was something great. The translator, guy I know (of course), was given 2 years for this gig nd he’s done a great job.
I mean, I read everything in English, German, Swedish, Russian, respectively. Finnish language has like 20 words of which 19,5 depict depression, this book doubled the verbiage on that.
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