Critiques et Commentaires

loppear

loppear@bookwyrm.social

A rejoint ce serveur il y a 4 années, 6 mois

Reading for fun, threads over the years of scifi, history, social movements and justice, farming, philosophy. I actively work to balance out the white male default in what I read, but have a long way to go.

He/they for the praxis.

Ce lien ouvre une nouvelle fenêtre

a publié une critique de The Tainted Cup par Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

Robert Jackson Bennett: The Tainted Cup (2024, Del Rey)

An eccentric detective and her long-suffering assistant untangle a web of magic, deceit, and murder …

approachable murder mystery, off-kilter characters

Entirely enjoyable imperial intrigue and whodunnit with outsider characters in a strange enough world, just not quite my cup of tea but could see revisiting for the world once the series is complete.

Judith Butler: Who's Afraid of Gender? (Hardcover, 2024, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

From a global icon, a bold, essential account of how a fear of gender is …

appropriately correct and angry

A response to authoritarian anti-gender movements, the first half rails a bit more than I need to relive current politics, the second half updates Butler's approach to co-constructed gender in society as anti-colonial anti-racist, and emphasizes the right's lie of gender ideology being a destructive force in society, distracting from dealing with real dangers of climate, economic precarity, and war.

a publié une critique de Wretched of the Earth par Frantz Fanon

Frantz Fanon: Wretched of the Earth (2001, Penguin Books)

decolonization classic

On the violence in colonizing and decolonizing; on nationalist and authoritarian dangers in bourgeoisie decolonization that is not decentralized nor built on building power of the state from within the oppressed classes; on the psychological harms to all sides in fighting and repression. An understandable classic.

Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination (1996, Vintage Books)

A science fiction retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo.

engaging, angry, superman

Revenge across all time and reason, swashbuckling adventure and escape, twisted double-crossing. And good literary feel in many borrowed and emphasized lines and themes, a fantastic sci-fi homage to The Count Of Monte Cristo.

a publié une critique de The Sirens of Titan par Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut: The Sirens of Titan (Hardcover, Octopus/Heinemann)

The Sirens of Titan is an outrageous romp through space, time, and morality. The richest, …

subpar absurdism

Despite the entertainment of fully immiserating an Elon-esque failson, along with wealth and war and human timescales of happiness, the misogyny is heavy and the plot is pointlessly dulled along the way. Can't all be winners.

a publié une critique de Tress of the Emerald Sea par Brandon Sanderson (Secret Projects, #1)

Brandon Sanderson: Tress of the Emerald Sea (EBook, 2023, Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC)

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has …

good balance of sweet and silly

Entertaining YA-adjacent fantasy adventure, enjoyable magic and plot twists at a steady pace, and an earnest girl lead acting thoroughly considerately and boldly.

a publié une critique de Notes from a Regicide par Isaac Fellman

Isaac Fellman: Notes from a Regicide (2025, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom)

When your parents die, you find out who they really were.

Griffon Keming’s second parents …

Loving care in transition

Lit novel of chosen family support for self-determination, in trans and in revolt, with a tinge of speculative fic background and an arms-length from the action, taking place as much in the kitchen and studio as the streets. I loved this for the care and openhearted family dynamics, even though everything in the story is triggering trauma and violence, it is a warm story.

a publié une critique de Standing at the edge par Joan Halifax

Joan Halifax: Standing at the edge (2018)

via Rebecca Solnit, who provides the introduction

Accounts and reflection, mostly personally connected to the author's global Buddhist peacemaking journey, of deeply lived altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement (her organizing terms) that are central to ethical life but risk becoming all-consuming and counter-destructive at the extremes. Care and freedom for all is inseparable from care for oneself.