Goodbye Hugi, you were never useful.
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koishi commented on The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny (The Chronicles of Amber, 1-10)
koishi commented on The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny (The Chronicles of Amber, 1-10)
koishi commented on The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny (The Chronicles of Amber, 1-10)
koishi commented on The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny (The Chronicles of Amber, 1-10)
Content warning book 5 spoilers
ARE YOU KIDDING ME DARA HAS CORWIN'S CHILD IN SHADOW!? OH MMY FUCKING GOD I KNEW WE WOULD EVENTUALLY HAVE CORWIN'S CHILD BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO BE DARA'S HELP HEEEEEELP
koishi commented on The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny (The Chronicles of Amber, 1-10)
koishi started reading The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny (The Chronicles of Amber, 1-10)
koishi finished reading The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny (The Chronicles of Amber, 1-10)
koishi stopped reading A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
I read a short story before this one, one about a sculpture that contained a gem, and all the hints were basically withheld from the reader. The solution literally came down from the skies. I was very disappointed.
After reading this one, I cared more about the backstory of the criminal than anything regarding Sherlock Holmes. I may be almost at the end (chapter 5 of the second part), but this is as far as I am going.
koishi commented on A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
koishi started reading A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
koishi commented on His Soul is Marching On to Another World by The Cabbage Preacher
koishi reviewed By the sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Books that would improve by having a family tree at the end
4 stars
Content warning Spoilers for a good bunch of the book
As someone who read an independent translation of the Arabian nights many years ago, I was pleasantly surprised when it dawned on me that this book takes the same base concept as the way to structure everything.
A big part of this book reads like a soap opera, exploring how two separate families interact and evolve over the course of several generations. One of the main reveals is that all of the families that crop up are one and the same (sometimes connected by marriage or by two characters being lovers). This is eventually what kick-starts the events happening in the present. It also means that you will reach a point in the final quarter of the book where it is difficult to visualise how different people are related. Hence the title.
Now, I know that describing this book as a soap opera is glossing over the complex political issues that are happening in the background. The reason why I am glossing over them is twofold: on the one hand, they read more like an external influence that further pushes the characters into making the decisions they make. On the other, I am unfortunately too far removed from the context of 20th century Tanzania for it to really have left a significant mark on me.
What did actually left a mark on me was the treatment of black Muslims (or, to use their own words, blackamoors) in the present. Both seeing how Omar and Latif were being mocked at for being black and the beatiful descriptions provided by Omar, which are so unavoidably tied to his identity as a Muslim.
All in all, a solid 4 stars. Not a book that has influenced the way I see writing, but a book I would wholeheartedly recommend.