mint_renegade's reviews
165 reviews

meditative, but i'll take my broken heart Gibran or Rilke, thanks.

I loved the many references to books and music. I liked the art style, the plot, the pacing, the unfortunate timeless nature of the politics. That being said, i found it difficult differentiating some of the characters, found the ending a bit lacklustre, anticlimactic. 

I enjoyed the movie (in some aspects, more than the book) which may be skewing the rating somewhat. I expected a lot monte cristo references (even had a tab dedicated to it!!) but found very few. 

Short story syndrome 

like a dawning epiphany 

Realistically a 3.5 but I'm feeling sentimental so 4. 

This was too long, a lot of the middle chapters felt sluggish and without purpose. But an excitement to get to know and understand Lestat kept me coming back. Armand and Marius' backgrounds really hooked me. Akasha and enkil chapters I'd like to revisit. The notion of ancient Egyptian vampires thrills me - I could have done with more chapters just on this plane. 

There's a different depth to book 2, not the philosophical kind to be found in book 1 (maybe because Louis was ever the philosopher, Lestat the anarchist, the wolfkiller. To louis death was a romantic tragedy, to Lestat it was life's inevitability; and when death's finality was taken away it became something to goad at, to antagonize and toy with)

Like being buoyed on a float in the middle of the Pacific while a storm rages on. 

How to read - an elegy a day; read it in your head; then reread it aloud; then read the commentary; then reread the poem. 

Pulitzer my ass. 

When you don't feel it, you probably aren't going to feel it. If it didn't click at page 200, it wasn't going to at 400. 

70% of thr way through and key characters remained indistinguishable

I was looking for something in the realm of steppenwolf, this wasn't it. 

missives and ramblings, here and there alluding to winter; window panes that seek to make the outside visible inside, manhole covers that when uncovered lead to more questions than answers - what this has to do with winter, i don't know. i enjoyed it for what it was. a capsule for the season, a compilation of missives to read during the commute. it made for a soothing balm when read in conjunction with austen, byron and ovid. 

enjoyed, but not memorable  

it was fine

language - i think this is a  regency era classic. having read it, i am convinced this is a period i will not be readily seeking in any future reading. not a style of writing i enjoyed; it felt excessively indulgent; the language constrained to the period in which it was written. i am glad to be able to say "i read pride and prejudice" but can say that it is a story that will pass very quickly from my remembrance (at least as it was depicted in the source material - luckily  i have the 2005 screen adaptation to refer to at any time). i read some 80 pages physically, and the rest in audiobook format, the latter for which i am grateful. i don't think i would have been able to finish it otherwise. 

characters - darcy felt stiff almost to the point of being one-dimensional. mrs bennet's ignorance and lack of self-awareness was  abhorrent and jane, in her bid for impartiality appeared excessively naïve. the unending politeness of english society, which i so greatly loathe in my own time, was so concentrated in these characters as to make the reading experience annoying. 

that being said, darcy's peevishness may have been his way of rebuffing fake bitches; mrs bennet's eagerness is directed towards the security of her children; and jane, being the eldest of five, was forced into a role of temperance to counter a neurotic mother, an inattentive father, a strong willed confidante in eliza, and an excitable brood of younger sisters. 

plot - nothing happened, and i liked it. although it was jarring just how quick darcy was to change his manner, but i suppose for true love (or plot advancement) vices are easily shucked.

23.04 - someone on insta said darcy has social anxiety/is autistic. i felt that