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perfect_leaves's reviews
452 reviews
The Computer: An Illustrated History from Its Origins to the Present Day by Mark Frauenfelder
1.0
See the full review on my blog: Swallow Song. I've posted excerpts below.
While Fauenfelder's writing skills are alright, this book clearly did not receive enough editing. Fauenfelder repeated himself almost every other page, which makes it feel like he really didn't have much to say at all. It got to the point where I was ready to throw The Computer out the window is Fauenfelder mentioned Alan Turing's suicide one more time. Some of this repetition could have been resolved with a little reorganization of the material, but clearly the author and editor couldn't figure that out.
Organization aside, the font choice in this atrocious.
I only read 100 pages of The Computer before I gave up and pretty much every chapter featured blank space. The pictures took up most of the pages and underneath or beside each picture there were little blurbs explaining the photo.
The Computer is a coffee table book, the only problem is the book isn't good enough to be featured on a coffee table. If you have the kind of guests that just look at the pictures I suppose there isn't any harm in displaying the book, but if you have guests who actually read the books, spare them the headache.
While Fauenfelder's writing skills are alright, this book clearly did not receive enough editing. Fauenfelder repeated himself almost every other page, which makes it feel like he really didn't have much to say at all. It got to the point where I was ready to throw The Computer out the window is Fauenfelder mentioned Alan Turing's suicide one more time. Some of this repetition could have been resolved with a little reorganization of the material, but clearly the author and editor couldn't figure that out.
Organization aside, the font choice in this atrocious.
I only read 100 pages of The Computer before I gave up and pretty much every chapter featured blank space. The pictures took up most of the pages and underneath or beside each picture there were little blurbs explaining the photo.
The Computer is a coffee table book, the only problem is the book isn't good enough to be featured on a coffee table. If you have the kind of guests that just look at the pictures I suppose there isn't any harm in displaying the book, but if you have guests who actually read the books, spare them the headache.
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
3.0
Full review here , excerpt below.
Tyson’s text was easy to read and beautifully written. The sentence structure is fantastic. Tyson clearly took time when choosing his words, and his liberal use of similes and metaphors make it easy to grasp the material. My main issue with the book is that is simply wasn’t enough information for me. I’m the sort of person who enjoys delving deep into topics; I like to become a temporary expert on a subject. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry delivers exactly what it promises: a briefing on the history of astrophysics and the inner workings of the universe. Though the book is 224 pages, the pages are short and not very wide.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of new information in the book. I was fairly disappointed that Astrophysics was so general, but perhaps I expected too much. After all, it’s difficult to have both breadth and depth in just a couple hundred pages. To be honest, Astrophysics reminded me of the Very Short Introduction series. Readers with no prior knowledge of astrophysics or astronomy will probably enjoy the book. For those who have seen Tyson’s television series or who have read his other books might not find this book very interesting.
Tyson’s text was easy to read and beautifully written. The sentence structure is fantastic. Tyson clearly took time when choosing his words, and his liberal use of similes and metaphors make it easy to grasp the material. My main issue with the book is that is simply wasn’t enough information for me. I’m the sort of person who enjoys delving deep into topics; I like to become a temporary expert on a subject. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry delivers exactly what it promises: a briefing on the history of astrophysics and the inner workings of the universe. Though the book is 224 pages, the pages are short and not very wide.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of new information in the book. I was fairly disappointed that Astrophysics was so general, but perhaps I expected too much. After all, it’s difficult to have both breadth and depth in just a couple hundred pages. To be honest, Astrophysics reminded me of the Very Short Introduction series. Readers with no prior knowledge of astrophysics or astronomy will probably enjoy the book. For those who have seen Tyson’s television series or who have read his other books might not find this book very interesting.
The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man by James Weldon Johnson, Arna Bontemps
2.0
Listened to James K. White's recording on Librivox. Authobiography of an Ex-Colored Man was meh. The language is stilted and I frequently found myself annoyed by the narrator's arrogance (we never find out his name, so he is simply Mr. _____) White's recording was absolutely wonderful, wish I could say the same about the novel.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
3.0
I listened to John Greenman's recording of this book on Librivox. It's quite a fun read. It has a decent pace and relatable characters (or perhaps I feel they're relatable because I grew up in the South). It's not the greatest piece of literature on Earth, but reading it certainly didn't feel like a chore.
College Unbound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students by Jeffrey J. Selingo
2.0
Full review < href="http://www.sarabieventide.com/2017/07/25/college-unbound/">here, excerpt below.
As the title promises, College (Un)bound is an investigation of the problems with U.S. higher education and some of the approaches various firms are taking to solve them. While the information in the book was decent, none of it was new or surprising. I tried to pretend I was back in 2013 and the advances that have happened since then didn’t yet exist, but it was fruitless. The fact of the matter is, not very much has changed in U.S. higher education in the last 4 years. This book added nothing to my life, because I knew all of the issues it discussed. I will give Selingo credit for discussing some of the solutions. Although they mostly fell along the same vein of thought (separating the college degree from the “college experience” and moving at least part of the education system online), I hadn’t heard of some of the companies, and I plan on checking them out.
For some people, the information in the book may be a revelation; people who do not have family members who have been to college may benefit from the book. It’s possible that people whose family members have attended uni for hundreds of years without taking a critical look at the system may also benefit from reading College (Un)bound. I, however, fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
As the title promises, College (Un)bound is an investigation of the problems with U.S. higher education and some of the approaches various firms are taking to solve them. While the information in the book was decent, none of it was new or surprising. I tried to pretend I was back in 2013 and the advances that have happened since then didn’t yet exist, but it was fruitless. The fact of the matter is, not very much has changed in U.S. higher education in the last 4 years. This book added nothing to my life, because I knew all of the issues it discussed. I will give Selingo credit for discussing some of the solutions. Although they mostly fell along the same vein of thought (separating the college degree from the “college experience” and moving at least part of the education system online), I hadn’t heard of some of the companies, and I plan on checking them out.
For some people, the information in the book may be a revelation; people who do not have family members who have been to college may benefit from the book. It’s possible that people whose family members have attended uni for hundreds of years without taking a critical look at the system may also benefit from reading College (Un)bound. I, however, fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs
3.0
I'm condensing my original review for the sake of Goodreads.
I really wanted to love this book, but I couldn’t. I’ll say outright that the first and last stories are the most poignant, the others are forgettable. Though I love the idea of having Caribbean representation, I feel How to Love a Jamaican failed to provide a holistic picture. Because Arthurs opted to write a series of short stories, I expected to see multiple different aspects of Jamaican life. Instead, all of the characters are more or less the same, and they’re all victims. In fact, one of the stories seemed lifted directly out of the New York Times. I felt like I was reading trauma porn.
To be honest, I wouldn’t have minded the trauma porn if there were character growth and if the composition had a bit more artistry. Besides the structural issues, I found a problematic thread running through the stories. There were both implicit and explicit declarations that fair/yellow skin, wavy hair and “European features” are more beautiful and that those bearing them are more deserving of success. I’m sure Arthurs included these threads simply to illustrate Caribbeans’ unnatural obsession with fair skin, but I would have appreciated more commentary on the subject.
Even though the book is not for me, I will still acknowledge that it’s not that bad. I’m not Caribbean, but I still see myself represented in How to Love a Jamaican. There are also moments when Arthurs makes a very good point, laying bare the internal struggles PoC face.
Frankly speaking, even I’ll admit that three stars is a little harsh for this book, but 3.5 is also too much. It has the potential to be a four star collection but it’s just not there for me yet.
Ultimately, I decided three stars was a fair compromise, but if I’m feeling generous I’ll call it 3.5. I can see this book winning awards. It ticks all the boxes: it’s a debut collection from a Black female author, it discusses sexuality in detail, it serves trauma for breakfast and it’s full of introspection rather than action. All of the books that have been nominated recently seem to be pretty much the same thing: “innovative” ways to see women’s/minority’s stories. There’s nothing particularly innovative if you belong to that community, but the people making the decisions usually don’t, therefore the novels are praiseworthy.
I really wanted to love this book, but I couldn’t. I’ll say outright that the first and last stories are the most poignant, the others are forgettable. Though I love the idea of having Caribbean representation, I feel How to Love a Jamaican failed to provide a holistic picture. Because Arthurs opted to write a series of short stories, I expected to see multiple different aspects of Jamaican life. Instead, all of the characters are more or less the same, and they’re all victims. In fact, one of the stories seemed lifted directly out of the New York Times. I felt like I was reading trauma porn.
To be honest, I wouldn’t have minded the trauma porn if there were character growth and if the composition had a bit more artistry. Besides the structural issues, I found a problematic thread running through the stories. There were both implicit and explicit declarations that fair/yellow skin, wavy hair and “European features” are more beautiful and that those bearing them are more deserving of success. I’m sure Arthurs included these threads simply to illustrate Caribbeans’ unnatural obsession with fair skin, but I would have appreciated more commentary on the subject.
Even though the book is not for me, I will still acknowledge that it’s not that bad. I’m not Caribbean, but I still see myself represented in How to Love a Jamaican. There are also moments when Arthurs makes a very good point, laying bare the internal struggles PoC face.
Frankly speaking, even I’ll admit that three stars is a little harsh for this book, but 3.5 is also too much. It has the potential to be a four star collection but it’s just not there for me yet.
Ultimately, I decided three stars was a fair compromise, but if I’m feeling generous I’ll call it 3.5. I can see this book winning awards. It ticks all the boxes: it’s a debut collection from a Black female author, it discusses sexuality in detail, it serves trauma for breakfast and it’s full of introspection rather than action. All of the books that have been nominated recently seem to be pretty much the same thing: “innovative” ways to see women’s/minority’s stories. There’s nothing particularly innovative if you belong to that community, but the people making the decisions usually don’t, therefore the novels are praiseworthy.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
3.0
Perhaps I knew more about the Iranian Revolution than I thought I did, but I didn’t really learn anything new from Persepolis. The more interesting parts of the book dealt specifically with Satrapi’s life.
It’s impossible to tell whether she’s embellishing her story, but she seems to have had a pretty deep understanding of the situation despite her young age. I’m guessing her analytical skills came from her family’s apparent wealth, her parents’ political leanings and her secular French education. Based on Satrapi’s telling, the less-educated children were more susceptible to believing the propaganda of the “Islamic” regime. Still, her family’s status lead to several uncomfortable moments for me throughout the story.
Near the beginning, when Satrapi discusses the nation-wide veiling mandate, she drew an image that equates the veil to oppression, without much context. There the reader is supposed to assume that wearing hijab is something evil, oppressive and wrong, whereas not wearing an outer covering is the “correct” choice.
Seeing as the regime mandated the covering, I can see how Satrapi would conflate covering with oppression, but the lack of nuance in the story telling is precisely what leads Western societies to assume all women who cover are doing so by force. It also leads Western governments to take actions that prevent Muslim women from exercising their choice to cover. Despite being irked by Satrapi’s choice, I appreciate that she later told the audience that both women and men were subject to strict dress codes.
[redacted paragraphs]
When her mother suggests they also leave, her father brushes off the idea, suggesting they’d “sink” to the level of taxi drivers and cleaning ladies in the US. This, to me, meant he was attached to his material wealth, and that he thought himself better than people in those service industries. I was raised to treat everyone equally, regardless of where they come from or what they do for a living (assuming they’re not in the business of harming people), so this scene rubbed me the wrong way. Satrapi’s father placed his wealth in higher regard than his family’s safety. This isn’t the only scene where we see his attachment to worldly goods.
Despite all of my issues with it, Persepolis isn’t a bad book. I can see how it’s important in the cannon of Middle Eastern female writers. Persepolis, however, obviously isn’t meant for people like me. If you know nothing about Iran or the Iranian Revolution, then perhaps you’ll enjoy the novel. If you’ve never met an Iranian person and have no hopes of meeting one, then give Persepolis a go. Since I’ve already learned at least the basic situation and having met several Iranians in my life, Persepolis didn’t add anything to my knowledge base. That said, I kept reading because I wanted to see what happened in Satrapi’s life, and the graphic novel ended on a little cliff hanger. I’m intrigued enough to want to read the second part, but I don’t feel compelled to read it right away.
It’s impossible to tell whether she’s embellishing her story, but she seems to have had a pretty deep understanding of the situation despite her young age. I’m guessing her analytical skills came from her family’s apparent wealth, her parents’ political leanings and her secular French education. Based on Satrapi’s telling, the less-educated children were more susceptible to believing the propaganda of the “Islamic” regime. Still, her family’s status lead to several uncomfortable moments for me throughout the story.
Near the beginning, when Satrapi discusses the nation-wide veiling mandate, she drew an image that equates the veil to oppression, without much context. There the reader is supposed to assume that wearing hijab is something evil, oppressive and wrong, whereas not wearing an outer covering is the “correct” choice.
Seeing as the regime mandated the covering, I can see how Satrapi would conflate covering with oppression, but the lack of nuance in the story telling is precisely what leads Western societies to assume all women who cover are doing so by force. It also leads Western governments to take actions that prevent Muslim women from exercising their choice to cover. Despite being irked by Satrapi’s choice, I appreciate that she later told the audience that both women and men were subject to strict dress codes.
[redacted paragraphs]
When her mother suggests they also leave, her father brushes off the idea, suggesting they’d “sink” to the level of taxi drivers and cleaning ladies in the US. This, to me, meant he was attached to his material wealth, and that he thought himself better than people in those service industries. I was raised to treat everyone equally, regardless of where they come from or what they do for a living (assuming they’re not in the business of harming people), so this scene rubbed me the wrong way. Satrapi’s father placed his wealth in higher regard than his family’s safety. This isn’t the only scene where we see his attachment to worldly goods.
Despite all of my issues with it, Persepolis isn’t a bad book. I can see how it’s important in the cannon of Middle Eastern female writers. Persepolis, however, obviously isn’t meant for people like me. If you know nothing about Iran or the Iranian Revolution, then perhaps you’ll enjoy the novel. If you’ve never met an Iranian person and have no hopes of meeting one, then give Persepolis a go. Since I’ve already learned at least the basic situation and having met several Iranians in my life, Persepolis didn’t add anything to my knowledge base. That said, I kept reading because I wanted to see what happened in Satrapi’s life, and the graphic novel ended on a little cliff hanger. I’m intrigued enough to want to read the second part, but I don’t feel compelled to read it right away.
Beijing Smog by Ian Williams
2.0
There are so many issues with Beijing Smog I don’t even know where to start. The review I posted on my sight was nearly 1000 words, so let me try to condense it here.
Essentially, the characters are all slackers and every problem they have is their fault. That's the case with most books, but in other novels the characters have redeeming qualities that make you root for them. That's not so in Beijing Smog. Beijing Smog features a cast of slackers, womanizers and generally unintelligent people.
The novel is incredibly slow-paced. It’s not obvious to the readers how the characters are connected until about halfway through the novel, and even the characters’ stories don’t really start overlapping until about the 75% mark. When the characters do meet each other, it’s only Chuck that meets Wang, and their interaction only lasted a handful of pages. Tony never meets Wang, but Wang meets one of Tony’s new enemies. Chuck and Tony meet early on, but there’s so much filler that their interactions become boring.
Moreover, as someone who has intimate knowledge of Shanghai and who knows a lot about China's history, culture and politics (I studied there for 4 years and stayed an extra year), I found the plot rather contrived. There were elements of truth (censorship, bribery, surveillance, etc) but the way everything came together felt haphazard. There was too much build-up and too much truth-stretching for too little action. Beijing Smogs leaves the reader with a lot of loose ends.
In my original review, I gave Beijing Smog two stars. I'm not sure why. I think I was being generous because I love Shanghai and because Williams got some things right. I'll preserve the two-star rating but I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Essentially, the characters are all slackers and every problem they have is their fault. That's the case with most books, but in other novels the characters have redeeming qualities that make you root for them. That's not so in Beijing Smog. Beijing Smog features a cast of slackers, womanizers and generally unintelligent people.
The novel is incredibly slow-paced. It’s not obvious to the readers how the characters are connected until about halfway through the novel, and even the characters’ stories don’t really start overlapping until about the 75% mark. When the characters do meet each other, it’s only Chuck that meets Wang, and their interaction only lasted a handful of pages. Tony never meets Wang, but Wang meets one of Tony’s new enemies. Chuck and Tony meet early on, but there’s so much filler that their interactions become boring.
Moreover, as someone who has intimate knowledge of Shanghai and who knows a lot about China's history, culture and politics (I studied there for 4 years and stayed an extra year), I found the plot rather contrived. There were elements of truth (censorship, bribery, surveillance, etc) but the way everything came together felt haphazard. There was too much build-up and too much truth-stretching for too little action. Beijing Smogs leaves the reader with a lot of loose ends.
In my original review, I gave Beijing Smog two stars. I'm not sure why. I think I was being generous because I love Shanghai and because Williams got some things right. I'll preserve the two-star rating but I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.