Byzantine and claustrophobic novel of a man arrested by the secret police and charged with …
Clever and entertaining
5 stars
This novel was a joy to read. This labyrinth of relativising statements which grind down each others content until nothing is actually said is a timeless comment on bureaucracy and capitalist alienation in general.
A Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published on …
A hundred years old and still very much relevant
5 stars
Virginia Woolf explores the topic of "Women and Fiction". She describes a fictionalized research into this topic where she entertainingly experiences examples of her talking points during research. This style is very entertaining and makes it a breeze to read through this little essay.
In addition to her funny writing she's also making points that are sadly still relevant today. It's nothing advanced, but I'd say it's one of the best introductory texts into feminism.
Just like her book High Tide the poems are mixed. Mostly forgettable, with a few great ones thrown in. But since there's no postcards this one's a bit better as there's more poems overall and as such more good ones as well.
You’ve just passed someone on the street who could be the love of your life, …
A couple excellent short stories
5 stars
This collection contains five short stories dealing with the topic of desire in some way. The five star rating is due to the first and last story that really resonated with me.
The first one demonstrates how love can be unreasonable, drastic and disruptive. It also carries a heavy mystical or fantastic undertone which is common for most of the stories in here.
The last story is more melancholy and deals with loneliness that butts up against a love too good to be true.
This comprehensive guide on how to respond to code of conduct reports includes:
Basic code …
Good starting point and reference
4 stars
I never really got what a Code of Conduct is and what it can achieve. While the meat of this book is how to respond to violations it also quickly lays out what a CoC is, what it's for, when it's good to have one (always) and the main things to keep in mind when writing one.
Overall, it made me excited to work on getting a CoC implemented in my communities and appreciate the value a CoC can have.
One plight gripe I had with this book is the middle chapter. It lays out how to deal with different cases one might encounter, like dealing with abusers with social awkwardness or mental health issues etc. This part got too slow and uninteresting for me, because there's a lot of repition and it didn't all feel relevant for a general read. I'd recommend only reading as far as you like …
I never really got what a Code of Conduct is and what it can achieve. While the meat of this book is how to respond to violations it also quickly lays out what a CoC is, what it's for, when it's good to have one (always) and the main things to keep in mind when writing one.
Overall, it made me excited to work on getting a CoC implemented in my communities and appreciate the value a CoC can have.
One plight gripe I had with this book is the middle chapter. It lays out how to deal with different cases one might encounter, like dealing with abusers with social awkwardness or mental health issues etc. This part got too slow and uninteresting for me, because there's a lot of repition and it didn't all feel relevant for a general read. I'd recommend only reading as far as you like in that section and then move on to the next chapter. As a reference it is of course important to list all these cases.
„Ich denke an alle Lieder, die ich gespielt habe. Alles, was ich gelernt habe, verlernt, …
It's okay
2 stars
I didn't really care for this. Although the protagonist travels between many different planets there was no location that struck me as original or terribly interesting. The book didn't intellectually challenge me nor did it emotionally grab me. The music, which is the heart of the story was never described vividly enough to make me feel and empathize with those listening to the music.
What it does quite well is representation. There's a bunch of queer characters and some are using neo-pronouns which is nice to see.
I got this book after seeing the Video at a Museum in Amsterdam (https://vimeo.com/639528236).
And it's really amazing. It's the first time I've read a poem with footnotes and a bibliography.
Arcadia lyrically examines our current society especially with regard to consumerism and social media. It builds on the work of philosophers and thinkers both current and old. In this examination I saw beautiful words put to what I had been feeling for a long time. But then it goes further and offers up a possible path forward to escape this hellish condition we find ourselves in.
Magdalena hält sich für unrettbar. Mehr schlecht als recht hangelt sie sich durch ihren Alltag …
Nice little read
4 stars
Great portrait of a broken woman. A small vignette making you think about shame, sexuality and love.
Contains some enthralling romanticized descriptions of vomiting which are like a car crash you can't look away from.
... suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.
So begins Lewis …
It's a children's book
3 stars
As such an often referenced work I was expecting there to be more inside. But in the end it's just a small children's book story without much happening. There's a surprising amount of poetry and growing and shrinking involved though.