Reviews and Comments

This novel was a joy to read. This labyrinth of relativising statements which grind down each others content until nothing is actually said is a timeless comment on bureaucracy and capitalist alienation in general.

Listening to interviews with the author it seems he really knows what he's talking about. And he's got really inspiring anecdotes and metaphors for his concepts.

Virginia Woolf explores the topic of "Women and Fiction". She describes a fictionalized research into this topic where she entertainingly experiences examples of her talking points during research. This style is very entertaining and makes it a breeze to read through this little essay.

In addition to her funny writing she's also making points that are sadly still relevant today. It's nothing advanced, but I'd say it's one of the best introductory texts into feminism.

Just like her book High Tide the poems are mixed. Mostly forgettable, with a few great ones thrown in. But since there's no postcards this one's a bit better as there's more poems overall and as such more good ones as well.

I liked three of the poems. The postcards I didn't find interesting at all.

This collection contains five short stories dealing with the topic of desire in some way. The five star rating is due to the first and last story that really resonated with me.

The first one demonstrates how love can be unreasonable, drastic and disruptive. It also carries a heavy mystical or fantastic undertone which is common for most of the stories in here.

The last story is more melancholy and deals with loneliness that butts up against a love too good to be true.

Apart from "Ur-Fascism" it included four more articles. Those were also okay, but Ur-Fascism was what I was mainly looking for. That one's also available online for free.

I didn't really care for this. Although the protagonist travels between many different planets there was no location that struck me as original or terribly interesting. The book didn't intellectually challenge me nor did it emotionally grab me. The music, which is the heart of the story was never described vividly enough to make me feel and empathize with those listening to the music.

What it does quite well is representation. There's a bunch of queer characters and some are using neo-pronouns which is nice to see.

I got this book after seeing the Video at a Museum in Amsterdam (vimeo.com/639528236). And it's really amazing. It's the first time I've read a poem with footnotes and a bibliography.

Arcadia lyrically examines our current society especially with regard to consumerism and social media. It builds on the work of philosophers and thinkers both current and old. In this examination I saw beautiful words put to what I had been feeling for a long time. But then it goes further and offers up a possible path forward to escape this hellish condition we find ourselves in.

Great portrait of a broken woman. A small vignette making you think about shame, sexuality and love. Contains some enthralling romanticized descriptions of vomiting which are like a car crash you can't look away from.

As such an often referenced work I was expecting there to be more inside. But in the end it's just a small children's book story without much happening. There's a surprising amount of poetry and growing and shrinking involved though.