Aneel reviewed Language in Thought and Action by S. I. Hayakawa
Review of 'Language in Thought and Action' on 'Goodreads'
About how language affects thought.
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He/Him. In the USA... for now. Mastodon
I only track books that I read for pleasure, mostly SF/Fantasy. I've fallen out of the habit of actually writing reviews beyond giving a star rating. It would be nice to get back into that habit.
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Aneel reviewed Designing Visual Interfaces by Kevin Mullet
Review of 'Designing Visual Interfaces' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Started. Was underwhelmed. May try again someday.
Aneel reviewed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a 2007 novel written by Dominican American …
Review of 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Very good. A quirky mix of the Dominican Republic and the New York Metro Area. Odd juxtapositions of latino slang and SciFi and Fantasy references. Solid, sympathetic characters. Fatalistic without being hopeless.
Aneel reviewed The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only …
Review of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Interesting, but one gets the feeling that Pollan had decided which system of food production he favored at the beginning, not after he'd researched them.
Interesting, but one gets the feeling that Pollan had decided which system of food production he favored at the beginning, not after he'd researched them.
A Wizard of Earthsea is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le …
Review of 'A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Great. Rich, evocative. The writing was a pleasure to read.
Aneel reviewed Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
Flashman is a 1969 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the first of the …
Review of 'Flashman' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Amazingly un-PC. Fun adventure.
Aneel reviewed Gridlinked by Neal Asher
Gridlinked is a science fiction novel by British writer Neal Asher. His first novel, it …
Review of 'Gridlinked' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
I found this pretty disappointing. The world didn't make much sense to me, which I think is a pretty bad failure for SF. Why are these people squabbling over petty change when they have energy surpluses large enough to quickly terraform ice planets? Why do the AIs let humans make the important choices? If linking human and AI minds leads to such amazing advances, why has it only been done once? If the main character's antique weapon is so powerful, why doesn't everyone use things like that?
Overlooking the SF shortcomings, the book was pretty flat. The characterizations weren't interesting. The plot seemed contrived.
I found this pretty disappointing. The world didn't make much sense to me, which I think is a pretty bad failure for SF. Why are these people squabbling over petty change when they have energy surpluses large enough to quickly terraform ice planets? Why do the AIs let humans make the important choices? If linking human and AI minds leads to such amazing advances, why has it only been done once? If the main character's antique weapon is so powerful, why doesn't everyone use things like that?
Overlooking the SF shortcomings, the book was pretty flat. The characterizations weren't interesting. The plot seemed contrived.
Aneel reviewed The black book by Orhan Pamuk
The Black Book (Kara Kitap in Turkish) is a novel by Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. …
Review of 'The black book' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Very good. The theme of becoming someone else to be able to tell a story is compelling. Lots of very interesting material about the history of Istanbul and Turkey.
Aneel reviewed Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth is a graphic novel about the foundational quest in …
Review of 'Logicomix' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
A graphic novel exploring some of the ideas of Bertrand Russell. It covers some interesting territory, particularly the attempt to systematize mathematics and the relationship between logic and madness. But it doesn't delve very deeply. I didn't feel that the graphic novel presentation added very much, and I felt like there were a lot of extra levels of framing that were ultimately clumsy attempts to pull threads together.
A graphic novel exploring some of the ideas of Bertrand Russell. It covers some interesting territory, particularly the attempt to systematize mathematics and the relationship between logic and madness. But it doesn't delve very deeply. I didn't feel that the graphic novel presentation added very much, and I felt like there were a lot of extra levels of framing that were ultimately clumsy attempts to pull threads together.
Aneel reviewed Soon I Will be Invincible (Vintage) by Austin Grossman
Review of 'Soon I Will be Invincible (Vintage)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Fun. Gives some insights into the mentality of supervillains. The hero thread was a bit too mid-90s for my taste.
The Book of Merlyn is an Arthurian fantasy book by British writer T. H. White. …
Review of 'The Book of Merlyn (The Once and Future King, #5)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Makes the end of The Once and Future King even more depressing. Interesting look into White's anti-war, pro-capitalist views.
Makes the end of The Once and Future King even more depressing. Interesting look into White's anti-war, pro-capitalist views.
Aneel reviewed The once and future king by Terence Hanbury White
The Once and Future King is a collection of fantasy novels by T. H. White …
Review of 'The once and future king' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The first book of this (The Sword in the Stone) is a really nice read. The rest of it gives a lot of insights into the various important characters, but I felt like it became more and more depressing.
Aneel reviewed American desert by Percival Everett
Theodore Street is driving towards the ocean where he plans to drown himself. But on …
Review of 'American desert' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Weird. A relatively normal guy gets his head sewn back on after being decapitated and comes back to life. He ends up being taken out into the desert, where he meets caricatures of various American types.
Aneel reviewed City of Thieves: A Novel by David Benioff
During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown …
Review of 'City of Thieves: A Novel' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
During the siege of Leningrad, a young boy and an accidental Red Army deserter are sent off to bring back a dozen eggs to an NKVD colonel. Charming. Bleak.
Aneel reviewed The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
The Savage Detectives (Spanish: Los Detectives Salvajes) is a novel by the Chilean author Roberto …
Review of 'The Savage Detectives' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
The structure of this was very interesting: part diary, part collections of interviews. It jumps backwards and forwards in time, and almost demands a second reading after you know what happens in the pivotal section (which is, of course, at the end).
The actual content was less interesting to me than the structure. It focuses on a poetic movement in Mexico, and on a few characters involved in its creation.
It was interesting to be reading about Mexico while I was there. I learned at least one piece of slang from it that was actually being used around me.