Take a photo of a barcode or cover
iseefeelings's reviews
201 reviews
On Love by Charles Bukowski
3.0
Raw, intense and tender are what I would say to sum up this book.
•
The same thought struck me while reading On Love: there is a sense of loss when he talked about people. There is also tenderness whenever he wrote for his beloved ones: his daughter, his ex-wife, his favourite lover and his ultimate love. Because there are some works that I honestly can’t relate, it seems to me that Bukowski is like an alcoholic rambling and dashing his words unapologetically sometimes. I prefer his short poems than the lengthy ones.
•
Sex is nothing but true joyfulness when it comes to this ‘dirty old man’’s life and work. What I must admit is that even though sex is my least favourite part to read, Bukowski wrote it playfully and wildly with his expressive poetry language.
•
It is worth mentioning, for future reference, my best-loved poems in the book (in order of appearance):
- For the 18 months of Marina Louise
- All the love of me goes out to her (for A.M)
- An answer to a critic of sorts
- A definition
- A magician, gone
- No luck for that
- Turn
- The bluebird
•
The same thought struck me while reading On Love: there is a sense of loss when he talked about people. There is also tenderness whenever he wrote for his beloved ones: his daughter, his ex-wife, his favourite lover and his ultimate love. Because there are some works that I honestly can’t relate, it seems to me that Bukowski is like an alcoholic rambling and dashing his words unapologetically sometimes. I prefer his short poems than the lengthy ones.
•
Sex is nothing but true joyfulness when it comes to this ‘dirty old man’’s life and work. What I must admit is that even though sex is my least favourite part to read, Bukowski wrote it playfully and wildly with his expressive poetry language.
•
It is worth mentioning, for future reference, my best-loved poems in the book (in order of appearance):
- For the 18 months of Marina Louise
- All the love of me goes out to her (for A.M)
- An answer to a critic of sorts
- A definition
- A magician, gone
- No luck for that
- Turn
- The bluebird
Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom: A Story by Sylvia Plath
4.0
There is no doubt that you can clearly see 'the seeds of the writer she would become' (as how The New Yorker writer, Katy Waldman, put it in her review) with this story Sylvia Plath wrote in her early 20s.
*
Plath spares adjectives incessantly and elevates the power of her writing with dark metaphors spectacularly. Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom is a type of story that can be compared like a vivid nightmare creeping in, then leaving you with a glimmer of hope in the end. The hope in which we can take control of our lives instead of always going with the flow. Such an innocent and invaluable way of perceiving this world that Plath was tragically and gradually losing in her later years.
*
Admittedly, this is the first book of Sylvia Plath that I've had a chance to read. Besides Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath is another writer that I've been so haunted because of their personal life. It's something both melancholic and admiring about people who fight with mental illness and leave others amazed by their soul-stirring works.
*
"The passengers are so blasé, so apathetic that they don't even care about where they are going. They won't care until the time comes, in the ninth kingdom."
-
"The trip is long down the tunnel, and the climate changes gradually. The hurt is not intense when one is hardened to the cold."
-
"The frozen surface caught the light from the car and glittered as if full of cold silver needles."
-
"Outside the picture window the orange sun was sinking in the gray west."
-
"Mary felt herself sinking, drowned in shame. The shuttle of the train wheels struck doom into her brain. Guilt, the train wheels clucked like round black birds, and guilt, and guilt, and guilt.”
*
Plath spares adjectives incessantly and elevates the power of her writing with dark metaphors spectacularly. Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom is a type of story that can be compared like a vivid nightmare creeping in, then leaving you with a glimmer of hope in the end. The hope in which we can take control of our lives instead of always going with the flow. Such an innocent and invaluable way of perceiving this world that Plath was tragically and gradually losing in her later years.
*
Admittedly, this is the first book of Sylvia Plath that I've had a chance to read. Besides Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath is another writer that I've been so haunted because of their personal life. It's something both melancholic and admiring about people who fight with mental illness and leave others amazed by their soul-stirring works.
*
"The passengers are so blasé, so apathetic that they don't even care about where they are going. They won't care until the time comes, in the ninth kingdom."
-
"The trip is long down the tunnel, and the climate changes gradually. The hurt is not intense when one is hardened to the cold."
-
"The frozen surface caught the light from the car and glittered as if full of cold silver needles."
-
"Outside the picture window the orange sun was sinking in the gray west."
-
"Mary felt herself sinking, drowned in shame. The shuttle of the train wheels struck doom into her brain. Guilt, the train wheels clucked like round black birds, and guilt, and guilt, and guilt.”
All Things Oz: The Wonder, Wit, and Wisdom of the Wizard of Oz by Linda Sunshine
This book would be a great collection of excerpts, quotes and illustrations for any Oz fans out there. I was impressed by the variety of artwork and the beautiful layout design, which are surpassed those of many other art books I’ve seen so far.
_
"No thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire." - The Lost Princess of Oz, 1917 (p.36)
*
"Be contented with your fate, for discontent leads to unhappiness, and unhappiness, in any form, is the greatest evil that can befall you." - The Tin Woodman of Oz, 1918 (p.140)
*
"People often do a good deed without hope of reward, but for an evil deed they always demand payment." - The Emerald City of Oz, 1910 (p.140)
"Never give up. No one knows what's going to happen next." - Dorothy, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, 1913 (p.156)
*
"There was no reply. So the boy called to the King: "Are you all right, your majesty?"
The Scarecrow groaned.
"I'm all wrong, somehow," he said in a weak voice. - The Marvelous Land of Oz, 1904 (p.272)
*
"The last end of a wait, however long it has been, is the hardest to endure." - The Tin Woodman of Oz, 1918 (p.278)
*
"To become self-reliant, you must trust your own inner nature and love yourself." Joey Green, The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over The Rainbow, 1998 (p.318)
5.0
This book would be a great collection of excerpts, quotes and illustrations for any Oz fans out there. I was impressed by the variety of artwork and the beautiful layout design, which are surpassed those of many other art books I’ve seen so far.
_
"No thief, however skillful, can rob one of knowledge, and that is why knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire." - The Lost Princess of Oz, 1917 (p.36)
*
"Be contented with your fate, for discontent leads to unhappiness, and unhappiness, in any form, is the greatest evil that can befall you." - The Tin Woodman of Oz, 1918 (p.140)
*
"People often do a good deed without hope of reward, but for an evil deed they always demand payment." - The Emerald City of Oz, 1910 (p.140)
"Never give up. No one knows what's going to happen next." - Dorothy, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, 1913 (p.156)
*
"There was no reply. So the boy called to the King: "Are you all right, your majesty?"
The Scarecrow groaned.
"I'm all wrong, somehow," he said in a weak voice. - The Marvelous Land of Oz, 1904 (p.272)
*
"The last end of a wait, however long it has been, is the hardest to endure." - The Tin Woodman of Oz, 1918 (p.278)
*
"To become self-reliant, you must trust your own inner nature and love yourself." Joey Green, The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over The Rainbow, 1998 (p.318)
Can't Help Myself: Lessons Confessions from a Modern Advice Columnist by Meredith Goldstein
5.0
After my recent breakup, I was struggling with too many questions in my mind. I had to avoid listening to music because it reminded me of what we were going through (I still rarely listen to music now). So I needed to find another thing to motivate me and get me out of gloomy thoughts rather than music.
I accidentally found the first podcast I've ever listened on Spotify (which is still my all-time favourite) - Love Letters - hosted by Boston Globe advice columnist Meredith Goldstein. Each episode tackles with a burning question about love. The first season is for all the broken-hearted people out there. I still remember the night when I was listening to the episode 'The Night I Became Roy Orbison', and I found out such a powerful breakup song - 'It's Over'.
Then, I knew about Meredith's memoir - Can't Help Myself - and fell in love with her words as much as I do with her podcast. She is so witty, sensible and warm; I admire this strong single woman so much that I just hope love will come to her in every beautiful form. I wish I knew her as a friend, and I hope to meet her in person someday.
I accidentally found the first podcast I've ever listened on Spotify (which is still my all-time favourite) - Love Letters - hosted by Boston Globe advice columnist Meredith Goldstein. Each episode tackles with a burning question about love. The first season is for all the broken-hearted people out there. I still remember the night when I was listening to the episode 'The Night I Became Roy Orbison', and I found out such a powerful breakup song - 'It's Over'.
Then, I knew about Meredith's memoir - Can't Help Myself - and fell in love with her words as much as I do with her podcast. She is so witty, sensible and warm; I admire this strong single woman so much that I just hope love will come to her in every beautiful form. I wish I knew her as a friend, and I hope to meet her in person someday.
Vincent Van Gogh by Paola Rapelli
5.0
I'm glad that the original German edition is translated into English because the book serves as a very good introduction to Van Gogh's life and work. It includes a brief and complete biography of the artist's life, the timelines with important events during his living years, a closer look behind each well-known work in chronological order and suggestions for further reading and locations to visit his paintings. I also discovered many more beloved works of Vincent van Gogh, such as Autumn Landscape with Four Trees, Vegetable Gardens in Montmartre (La Butte), Two Cut Sunflowers, Cypresses with Two Female Figures. One thing I need to mention that the photo quality is quite poor and the colours of Van Gogh's works are pretty much desaturated.
____
"Here art is linked to a message: art should evoke emotions. That is why it was important for Van Gogh not to paint things as they appear, objectively speaking, but rather as he saw them, transfigured by his emotions. That too leads to 'untruths, but to untruths that are truer than the outwardly visible truth.' ".
***
" 'My brushstroke does not keep to any one particular technique,' wrote Van Gogh to the painter Émile Bernard from Arles in April 1888: 'I thrust irregular brushstrokes onto the canvas and leave them as they are. Thick dabs of paint, bare patches of canvas, here and there a completely unfinished section, overpainting, roughness; in short the result is, I'm afraid, pretty disconcerting and annoying and will by no means satisfy those with established opinions about technique.'" ".
____
"Here art is linked to a message: art should evoke emotions. That is why it was important for Van Gogh not to paint things as they appear, objectively speaking, but rather as he saw them, transfigured by his emotions. That too leads to 'untruths, but to untruths that are truer than the outwardly visible truth.' ".
***
" 'My brushstroke does not keep to any one particular technique,' wrote Van Gogh to the painter Émile Bernard from Arles in April 1888: 'I thrust irregular brushstrokes onto the canvas and leave them as they are. Thick dabs of paint, bare patches of canvas, here and there a completely unfinished section, overpainting, roughness; in short the result is, I'm afraid, pretty disconcerting and annoying and will by no means satisfy those with established opinions about technique.'" ".
Illustrating Children's Books: Creating Pictures for Publication by Martin Salisbury
4.0
Even though this book was published in the early 2000s, it still covers a wide range of invaluable information for children's book illustrators. I jotted down many helpful notes while reading, there are some techniques/ the process of book-making that I'd never heard of.
•
My favourite chapter is the making of novelties and pop-ups, what an interesting challenge! You can surely find a lot of these things on the internet but the book serves as a good checklist to review all the basic skills and a good overview of all the possibilities you have as a book illustrator.
•
My favourite chapter is the making of novelties and pop-ups, what an interesting challenge! You can surely find a lot of these things on the internet but the book serves as a good checklist to review all the basic skills and a good overview of all the possibilities you have as a book illustrator.
Before They Were Authors: Famous Writers as Kids by Elizabeth Haidle
Elizabeth Haidle is a brilliant illustrator herself. Not only does she never cease to amaze me with many experimental illustrative works, but she also proves herself to be a very good graphic novel artist/writer. Compiling different stories of 10 famous writers and their childhood, Haidle takes on the challenge of making this book with such skilful illustrations and insightful summaries of the authors' lives. As an emerging illustrator who is also a book nerd, this book would be in the top of my list whenever I need references for making graphic biography zines/books.
As a reader I am, the most successful thing of 'Before They Were Authors' is that Elizabeth Haidle evokes the great interest in me to put many good recommendations on my to-read list and to get to know more about the famous writers (such as Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl, Madeleine L'Engle). Haidle once told me on IG that she is in the progress of making a sequel, "Before They Were Artists", which I'm so eager to hold it in my hands!
_
personal notes:
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one once he grows up." - Pablo Picasso
- public moralist, political philosopher (Mark Twain)
- The friendship between Helen Keller & Mark Twain
- "I could crawl into the space between the notes and turn my back to loneliness." - Maya Angelou talking about jazz
-"Perhaps all memory is a chance at storytelling and every story brings us closer to revealing ourselves to ourselves." - Sandra Cisneros (A House of My Own)
- Roald Dahl's 'witches potion' (milk tinted green with food coloring)
- Roald's gravesite in his museum
- The Big Friendly Giant as his favourite tale
-J.K.Rowling's literary heroine: Jo March from Little Women
-Influence: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis, Emma by Jane Austen
-"You just have to resign yourself to wasting a lot of trees before you write anything really good." - J.K.Rowling
-"Words and images convey emotion differently...I wanted to attack stereotypes through image because I wanted you to feel it in your gut." - Gene Luen Yang
-"I have just made stories to please myself because I never grew up." - Beatrix Potter
- The friendship between C.S.Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien
- "Isn't everything?" - Madeleine L'Engle defined science fiction
5.0
Elizabeth Haidle is a brilliant illustrator herself. Not only does she never cease to amaze me with many experimental illustrative works, but she also proves herself to be a very good graphic novel artist/writer. Compiling different stories of 10 famous writers and their childhood, Haidle takes on the challenge of making this book with such skilful illustrations and insightful summaries of the authors' lives. As an emerging illustrator who is also a book nerd, this book would be in the top of my list whenever I need references for making graphic biography zines/books.
As a reader I am, the most successful thing of 'Before They Were Authors' is that Elizabeth Haidle evokes the great interest in me to put many good recommendations on my to-read list and to get to know more about the famous writers (such as Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl, Madeleine L'Engle). Haidle once told me on IG that she is in the progress of making a sequel, "Before They Were Artists", which I'm so eager to hold it in my hands!
_
personal notes:
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one once he grows up." - Pablo Picasso
- public moralist, political philosopher (Mark Twain)
- The friendship between Helen Keller & Mark Twain
- "I could crawl into the space between the notes and turn my back to loneliness." - Maya Angelou talking about jazz
-"Perhaps all memory is a chance at storytelling and every story brings us closer to revealing ourselves to ourselves." - Sandra Cisneros (A House of My Own)
- Roald Dahl's 'witches potion' (milk tinted green with food coloring)
- Roald's gravesite in his museum
- The Big Friendly Giant as his favourite tale
-J.K.Rowling's literary heroine: Jo March from Little Women
-Influence: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis, Emma by Jane Austen
-"You just have to resign yourself to wasting a lot of trees before you write anything really good." - J.K.Rowling
-"Words and images convey emotion differently...I wanted to attack stereotypes through image because I wanted you to feel it in your gut." - Gene Luen Yang
-"I have just made stories to please myself because I never grew up." - Beatrix Potter
- The friendship between C.S.Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien
- "Isn't everything?" - Madeleine L'Engle defined science fiction
No Happy Endings by Nora McInerny
3.0
I was having a love-hate relationship with this book. I appreciate the way Nora genuinely reveals her vulnerability and imperfection. However, I can’t help but question if she acutely revised the whole book before publishing or not. At times she even doubts the word she chose (lay or lie?).
Sometimes she puts the abbreviation abruptly almost as if what I was reading is more like an instant message. These are two qualms worth mentioning for me.
I don't think you would like 'No Happy Endings' if you're a picky reader. Still, the book can be a great comfort for whoever going through a hard time in life.
Life has no happy ending for anyone, but I'm glad that Nora has her new exciting chapter in this beautiful moment.
_
(101) - "Unexpected goodness is as large and overwhelming as unexpected tragedy."
(103) - "Love is strange. You won't find that in the Bible, but they should update 1 Corinthians to reflect that."
- "Love is universally regarded as the highest thing that we can strive for, as something not only worth pursuing, but worth fighting for, worth dying for if you're into that. And that strangest thing about love is that we have opinions about love that isn't ours."
(253) - "It's not about living as though everything is fine. Nothing ever just fine, unless you are a criminally boring person or a completely liar. It's about facing whatever darkness looms over you; your suffering, your sorrow, your sickness, and still putting one foot in front of the other."
(263) - "Truly, most of us aren't world changers. Most of us aren't going to end up on the cover of a magazine or hold elected office. That can make it feel like our words and actions don't count for much, or that there isn't much that we can do. There's something to be said for persistence. For small acts that can add up to something bigger."
Sometimes she puts the abbreviation abruptly almost as if what I was reading is more like an instant message. These are two qualms worth mentioning for me.
I don't think you would like 'No Happy Endings' if you're a picky reader. Still, the book can be a great comfort for whoever going through a hard time in life.
Life has no happy ending for anyone, but I'm glad that Nora has her new exciting chapter in this beautiful moment.
_
(101) - "Unexpected goodness is as large and overwhelming as unexpected tragedy."
(103) - "Love is strange. You won't find that in the Bible, but they should update 1 Corinthians to reflect that."
- "Love is universally regarded as the highest thing that we can strive for, as something not only worth pursuing, but worth fighting for, worth dying for if you're into that. And that strangest thing about love is that we have opinions about love that isn't ours."
(253) - "It's not about living as though everything is fine. Nothing ever just fine, unless you are a criminally boring person or a completely liar. It's about facing whatever darkness looms over you; your suffering, your sorrow, your sickness, and still putting one foot in front of the other."
(263) - "Truly, most of us aren't world changers. Most of us aren't going to end up on the cover of a magazine or hold elected office. That can make it feel like our words and actions don't count for much, or that there isn't much that we can do. There's something to be said for persistence. For small acts that can add up to something bigger."