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ysabellabeya's reviews
31 reviews
Aphrodite Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thirst for Love by Yukio Mishima
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Can't and Won't by Lydia Davis
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"Suddenly the choice wasn’t so simple: either alive or not alive. It was as though not being alive did not have to mean she was dead, as though there were some third possibility."
These stories give me that kind of feel as if reading something I've read as a child. Lydia Davis can write stories where literally nothing happens and I'll still read it.
"Can't and Won't" is a collection of stories that brings daily life observation and irony, letters, flash fiction-esque proses into an expanded new form of short stories. Lydia Davis is so funny although I find some stories very confusing and doesn't made sense to me.
"A Story Told to Me by a Friend," is definitely and REMARKABLY my favorite (I tend to be dramatic in things I deeply love). "The Two Davises and the Rug" though unfinished, the ambiguity it implies made me love it. It took me quite days to finish "The Seals" and I find it hard to read since I'm not used to reading very dense paragraphs, though it touches the soft spot in my heart where I relate to this familiar sense of grief and longing. Another one that I dreaded reading was "The Letter to the Foundation" I relate to her every bits and piece of her in this story. It such a nice to have someone feel exactly the way you feel and share that identical piece of anxiety and fear with you.
A part from "The Letter to the Foundation" resonates to me, "I already knew that I had the habit of looking out from the window of a car or bus with longing at certain things in the distance that I would never visit, that I would wish to visit but that I would not visit" and "It may be hard for you to believe that I find some small enjoyment in what comes before the class itself, just because it is not the class, just because I am not yet even on the campus. For instance, I take some satisfaction in the little stages of the trip itself: first the bus from my town north to that small city, then the city bus out to the college campus. The city bus costs me nothing if I show my college ID, and I enjoy this privilege more than you would think"
I understand people have opinions on the book but I genuinely liked it. "Letter to a Frozen Peas Manufacturer" is another funny piece. I remember reading it while high off of cafeine. It was nice. I laughed more than it was necessary. "Ödön von Horváth Out Walking" is very much a wtf moment.
FAVORITES:
A Story Told to Me by a Friend ★★★★★
The Seals ★★★★☆
The Letter to the Foundation ★★★☆☆
The Visit to the Dentist, Two Undertaker, The Coachman and the Worm, My School Friend, My Childhood Friend, Molly, Female Cat: History/Findings, The Sentence and the Young Man (she is so funny for what 😭)
The Rooster (!!!!!!)
"Can't and Won't" is a collection of stories that brings daily life observation and irony, letters, flash fiction-esque proses into an expanded new form of short stories. Lydia Davis is so funny although I find some stories very confusing and doesn't made sense to me.
"A Story Told to Me by a Friend," is definitely and REMARKABLY my favorite (I tend to be dramatic in things I deeply love). "The Two Davises and the Rug" though unfinished, the ambiguity it implies made me love it. It took me quite days to finish "The Seals" and I find it hard to read since I'm not used to reading very dense paragraphs, though it touches the soft spot in my heart where I relate to this familiar sense of grief and longing. Another one that I dreaded reading was "The Letter to the Foundation" I relate to her every bits and piece of her in this story. It such a nice to have someone feel exactly the way you feel and share that identical piece of anxiety and fear with you.
A part from "The Letter to the Foundation" resonates to me, "I already knew that I had the habit of looking out from the window of a car or bus with longing at certain things in the distance that I would never visit, that I would wish to visit but that I would not visit" and "It may be hard for you to believe that I find some small enjoyment in what comes before the class itself, just because it is not the class, just because I am not yet even on the campus. For instance, I take some satisfaction in the little stages of the trip itself: first the bus from my town north to that small city, then the city bus out to the college campus. The city bus costs me nothing if I show my college ID, and I enjoy this privilege more than you would think"
I understand people have opinions on the book but I genuinely liked it. "Letter to a Frozen Peas Manufacturer" is another funny piece. I remember reading it while high off of cafeine. It was nice. I laughed more than it was necessary. "Ödön von Horváth Out Walking" is very much a wtf moment.
FAVORITES:
A Story Told to Me by a Friend ★★★★★
The Seals ★★★★☆
The Letter to the Foundation ★★★☆☆
The Visit to the Dentist, Two Undertaker, The Coachman and the Worm, My School Friend, My Childhood Friend, Molly, Female Cat: History/Findings, The Sentence and the Young Man (she is so funny for what 😭)
The Rooster (!!!!!!)
"When did she leave the tartar sauce? You wouldn’t think a person could become attached to something like a jar of tartar sauce. But I guess you can—I didn’t want to throw it out, because she had left it. Throwing it out would mean that the days had passed, time had moved on and left her behind."
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
there are some heartfelt scenes and as I was progressing through the book, it was suppose to make you cry???? i thought I would cry too but I didn't tho. this book is suuuper atmospheric that you feel like you're in a café in Japan. good read not a favorite tho. nice story, especially the concept!! nice to read on a chilly night. i was super invested on the last story which I think is prolly the best of them.
top faves: IV. Mother and Child, II. Husband and Wife, III. The Sisters
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
—3.5 stars
‘I think you’re the man I want to marry,’
‘You’ll be working in a cafe if you do.’
there are some heartfelt scenes and as I was progressing through the book, it was suppose to make you cry???? i thought I would cry too but I didn't tho. this book is suuuper atmospheric that you feel like you're in a café in Japan. good read not a favorite tho. nice story, especially the concept!! nice to read on a chilly night. i was super invested on the last story which I think is prolly the best of them.
top faves: IV. Mother and Child, II. Husband and Wife, III. The Sisters
But Kazu still goes on believing that, no matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart. And if the chair can change someone’s heart, it clearly has its purpose.
Daddy by Emma Cline
a whole book of daddy issues :)
this hits too close to home. arcadia fucked me up. AND I REALLY WISH IT DIDN'T CAUSE I LOVEEEEEEEE THE STORY SOiMUCH. i didn't slept well after reading it. I relate with son of friedman and what can you do with a general too much. I love the characters, especially the addition of kids! I looked up each name and the meaning corresponded to their circumstances on the book. Cline's descriptive writing style gave this book life effectively that it made me unnerved or even fucking disturbed, even if it's just the ordinary.
i remember going to sleep then the book name just popped right into my head. guess it's just the universe giving me what I just needed. and I will never ever forget breaking down on the line, “No longer my worry. But if I see so much as a bruise, I’ll end you.” 'cause that's when I knew. I knew I've got fucking issues.
top faves: Arcadia, The Nanny, Son of Friedman, What Can You Do with a General, Mack the Knife
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
And who do you love? Do you love your daddy?
Yes.
Who do you love more, your daddy or your mommy? Do you love your daddy the most?
John glanced at Sasha, but she was gone.
a whole book of daddy issues :)
this hits too close to home. arcadia fucked me up. AND I REALLY WISH IT DIDN'T CAUSE I LOVEEEEEEEE THE STORY SOiMUCH. i didn't slept well after reading it. I relate with son of friedman and what can you do with a general too much. I love the characters, especially the addition of kids! I looked up each name and the meaning corresponded to their circumstances on the book. Cline's descriptive writing style gave this book life effectively that it made me unnerved or even fucking disturbed, even if it's just the ordinary.
i remember going to sleep then the book name just popped right into my head. guess it's just the universe giving me what I just needed. and I will never ever forget breaking down on the line, “No longer my worry. But if I see so much as a bruise, I’ll end you.” 'cause that's when I knew. I knew I've got fucking issues.
top faves: Arcadia, The Nanny, Son of Friedman, What Can You Do with a General, Mack the Knife
George knew that he was wrong, of course he was wrong, that his son’s fond memory did not include him.
The Deal by Elle Kennedy
adventurous
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
"Groovy."
"Slouching Towards Bethlehem" by Joan Didion is my first entry of her astonishing works. As we are Sagittarius moons alike, I look up to her so much and I am willing to learn how she pushed the boundaries of journalism.
I am more drawn to the personal essays than the first section and third section. I love the 'One Self-Respect' piece the most.
FAVORITES "Life Stamps In The Golden Land:" Marrying Absurd, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 7000 Romaine, Los Angeles 38, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream, Where The Kissing Never Stops
FAVORITES "PERSONALS:" On Keeping a Notebook, On Self-Respect, On Going Home, I Can't Get That Monster out of My Mind
FAVORITES "Seven Places of the Mind:" Goodbye to All That, Notes from a Native Daughter, Los Angeles Notebook
Joan Didion is one of the inspiration and role model I look up to and respect the most. Rest easy, angel.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
—4.0 stars
See enough and write it down, I tell myself, and then some morning when the world seems drained of wonder, some day when I am only going through the motions of doing what I am supposed to do, which is write.
"Groovy."
"Slouching Towards Bethlehem" by Joan Didion is my first entry of her astonishing works. As we are Sagittarius moons alike, I look up to her so much and I am willing to learn how she pushed the boundaries of journalism.
I am more drawn to the personal essays than the first section and third section. I love the 'One Self-Respect' piece the most.
FAVORITES "Life Stamps In The Golden Land:" Marrying Absurd, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, 7000 Romaine, Los Angeles 38, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream, Where The Kissing Never Stops
FAVORITES "PERSONALS:" On Keeping a Notebook, On Self-Respect, On Going Home, I Can't Get That Monster out of My Mind
FAVORITES "Seven Places of the Mind:" Goodbye to All That, Notes from a Native Daughter, Los Angeles Notebook
Joan Didion is one of the inspiration and role model I look up to and respect the most. Rest easy, angel.
The dismal fact is that self-respect has nothing to do with the approval of others--who are, after all, deceived easily enough; has nothing to do with reputation, which, as Rhett Buder told Scarlett O'Hara, is something people with courage can do without.
The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative by Vivian Gornick
This book is a reminder that recounts why I love writing and Vivian Gornick is responsible for adding the fuel to the flame to its resurgence.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
—5.0 stars
"How does the writer of personal narrative pull from his or her own boring, agitated self the truth speaker who will tell the story that needs to be told?... I trained my eyes on the writing: how it got done, how it functioned, took its place in the world, helped alter literary history. "
This book is a reminder that recounts why I love writing and Vivian Gornick is responsible for adding the fuel to the flame to its resurgence.
"The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative" by Vivian Gornick has never failed to left me in awe in every fragment at its tail end. The book gave me insights on the 'persona' that we should adapt when writing, that we should know who we are at the moment of writing and when questioned with the "Who am I?," one must deliver not with an answer but with the depth on inquiry.
I love every part of the "one. THE ESSAY" and least liked the part "two. THE MEMOIR" because I am still confused on the idea of "becoming." This helped to discover and dissect literary pieces and I love how Gornick gave explanations that I found very compelling. I find her narrative just my taste and her analogies are (I don't know, I would say) punchy. It lead me to discovering essayists and memoirists that are excellent storytellers and their works that I would definitely happy to consume in the future.
I love every part of the "one. THE ESSAY" and least liked the part "two. THE MEMOIR" because I am still confused on the idea of "becoming." This helped to discover and dissect literary pieces and I love how Gornick gave explanations that I found very compelling. I find her narrative just my taste and her analogies are (I don't know, I would say) punchy. It lead me to discovering essayists and memoirists that are excellent storytellers and their works that I would definitely happy to consume in the future.
This book is one great read and I would definitely look back to it with gratitude that it existed in the right time when I need it and is well-received by my psyche because what it is addressing is alive. Now. Right now.
"With relief I thought, I’m not losing myself. Suddenly I realized there was no myself to lose. I had a narrator on the page strong enough to do battle for me. "
The Houseguest: And Other Stories by Amparo Dávila
There's always something about these weird-fic modern fairytale genre that made me fall in love with Latin-American Literature.
"The Houseguest and Other Stories" by Amparo Davila is one hell of a ride, an experience shrinked into a 144 pages of anxiety, paranoia and hysteria. The book explored themes such as the unwelcomed arrival of death when it's least expected, the inescapable confinement to depression, the fear of owning a body you thought once was yours but just a living shadow of someone, and the slow build up from anxiety to hysteria and dissolve into complete madness.
After finished reading the book it did not scare me as the usual, gory, visualistic scare but its anxious nature and mundane terrors that fucks you up in the brain is far enough to terrify me. I had a good start with "Moses and Gaspar." Did not like "The Houseguest. " I love the irony in the story "Fragments of a Diary," 'destroying your happiness as you master the art of suffering.' "Musique Concrete," is a personal favorite. "End of a Struggle," there is always something about the idea of doppelgangers that terrifies me. "Tina Reyes," the whole sequence is just a depiction of spiralling down into a rabbit hole of complete paranoia. "The Breakfast," "The Last Summer," and "The Funeral," the endings were good, great execution but I would say, predictable.
This book is definitely a hit-or-miss and not everyone's cup of tea. The endings are quite predictable for me and did not suprised me at all, I've either read it somewhere or I've seen it in the movies. It had me thinking about maybe I was destined to discover the works of Poe or even Kafka, and maybe even love them.
The horror of uncertainty of the things that may or may not be there that crept in your mind, spread through your brain until it poisons your mentality have always left me in distraught. This one's a nightmare.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
—4.0 stars
It was true stroke of genius to measure suffering by degrees, to assign different categories and limits. Some say that pain lasts forever and never runs out; but I believe that past the 10th degree of my scale, all that's left is the memory of pain, hurting only in recollection.
There's always something about these weird-fic modern fairytale genre that made me fall in love with Latin-American Literature.
"The Houseguest and Other Stories" by Amparo Davila is one hell of a ride, an experience shrinked into a 144 pages of anxiety, paranoia and hysteria. The book explored themes such as the unwelcomed arrival of death when it's least expected, the inescapable confinement to depression, the fear of owning a body you thought once was yours but just a living shadow of someone, and the slow build up from anxiety to hysteria and dissolve into complete madness.
After finished reading the book it did not scare me as the usual, gory, visualistic scare but its anxious nature and mundane terrors that fucks you up in the brain is far enough to terrify me. I had a good start with "Moses and Gaspar." Did not like "The Houseguest. " I love the irony in the story "Fragments of a Diary," 'destroying your happiness as you master the art of suffering.' "Musique Concrete," is a personal favorite. "End of a Struggle," there is always something about the idea of doppelgangers that terrifies me. "Tina Reyes," the whole sequence is just a depiction of spiralling down into a rabbit hole of complete paranoia. "The Breakfast," "The Last Summer," and "The Funeral," the endings were good, great execution but I would say, predictable.
This book is definitely a hit-or-miss and not everyone's cup of tea. The endings are quite predictable for me and did not suprised me at all, I've either read it somewhere or I've seen it in the movies. It had me thinking about maybe I was destined to discover the works of Poe or even Kafka, and maybe even love them.
The horror of uncertainty of the things that may or may not be there that crept in your mind, spread through your brain until it poisons your mentality have always left me in distraught. This one's a nightmare.
"Yes, it's me. You can sleep in peace now, my darling, tonight and every other night. The toad will never bother you again."
An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
But, Richard, I wouldn't invite that old woman for tea anytime soon.
The goal is to be like Maud when I get older. Smart enough to think that murder is the only way to solve a problem and mysteriously rich. I'll just get rid of anyone who gets in my way. #queenbehavior