Finally gotten around to reading this (have seen Bladerunner many times) and I found it fascinating and engaging but also find myself more bothered byFinally gotten around to reading this (have seen Bladerunner many times) and I found it fascinating and engaging but also find myself more bothered by some of the simplified and heavy-handed perspective taken by Philip K. Dick than I once was. The dream-like perspective of hunting androids that have escaped to Earth while being unsure of who is human and who is android--an uncertainty that extends to the protagonist hunting the androids. I liked the ideas about empathy, what is human, and imaging this circumstance, plus the paranoia that comes with all of it. But I increasingly find the juxtaposition of massive technological sophistication (hovercraft, human-like androids, etc.) and poverty and inequality implausible and some of the environmental and religious allegories overly didactic and simplified. I preferred the ambiguity of what was human to the obvious and simplified critiques that appeared to go along with it....more
A completely absorbing historical saga of Hawaii that manages to build slowly but relentlessly forward while also mixing multiple story lines and persA completely absorbing historical saga of Hawaii that manages to build slowly but relentlessly forward while also mixing multiple story lines and perspectives. I last read Michener as a teenager and although I enjoyed him then I thought I had grown out of it. That was a mistake.
It begins with a chapter on the geological formation of Hawaii. Then there are four chapters that focus on four of the major groups that arrived in Hawaii: the Polynesians around 800, the missionaries around 1920, Chinese laborers around 1865, and Japanese laborers somewhat after then. The final chapter is about the "Golden Men" who combine East and West in a unique way. Each of the chapters describes the sea voyage to Hawaii with the Polynesian, missionary and Chinese voyages described in minute and painful detail.
The book has its flaws. The women are mostly saints or agency-less sex objects. It depicts enormous and epic suffering but almost all of it is redeemed with some enormous success. It has a complex portrait of the pros and cons of missionaries, the oligarchs that ran Hawaii, racism against Japanese people, and more. But it also mostly always has good intentions, it working out in the end for the better. And it veers between an outdated account of "blood" and lineages and a rejection and critique of these as all being more mixed than people believe and regardless everyone being the same.
But it is a really, really good story with some memorable characters and an amazing sweep of history in what in many ways is a really unique place. I'm glad I took the plunge....more
I found Ion, the title character of the play, the most emotionally complex and modern of the characters I have read in Greek tragedy. He was an abandoI found Ion, the title character of the play, the most emotionally complex and modern of the characters I have read in Greek tragedy. He was an abandoned child left for dead but rescued and raised at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. When we meet him he is an earnest and sincere young man with more normal yearnings like knowing his parents than anything grandiose. He then gets adopted by the King of Athens (who unbeknownst to either of them is his step father) who heeds an oracle telling him the first child he will see is his son. This leads to a combination of joy, worry about what it means for his political future to be the son of a foreign-born king (yes, he shifts to somewhat grandiose pretty quickly), to sadness and betrayal about his mother’s (again, unbeknownst to either of them) plot to kill him out of jealousy for what she perceives to be her husband’s betrayal. In all of these Ion is imperfect—not virtuous but not deeply flawed and if anything seems young, confused, and changing in his attitudes. In this sense he is nothing like Agamemnon, Oedipus, Medea or many of the other grand figures of Greek tragedy—although possibly Orestes has some of this complexity too.
I should say the plot was a bit ridiculous with coincidences and deus ex machina's but what do you expect from Euripides?
I am in the completist phase of reading Greek Tragedies--having read most of them over the last several years and getting to the final few. Many of thI am in the completist phase of reading Greek Tragedies--having read most of them over the last several years and getting to the final few. Many of these final ones have been disappointing, like Aeschylus: The Suppliants. So I was excited (wrong word?) to finally get back to a good old fashioned Greek tragedy. Deianeira is waiting for the return of her husband Heracles who has been doing some tasks and fighting a war. A false messenger comes and tricks her about what he has been up to with one of his women captives and in order to win back his heart she soaks a robe in a magic potion and send to him. But it turns out he wasn't actually unfaithful and the love potion is really a death potion. She learns this and kills herself and Heracles forgives her as he dies. All, well, tragic. Nothing close to The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus but very good nonetheless.
I should confess, however, that I do have some imaginative trouble with Heracles in Greek tragedies because my images of him are so dominated by the hero in children's books and the Disney cartoon that I can't quite picture the raw, brutal, tender and even humorous character that he is depicted to be here (he has also shown up in other tragedies I've read including Alcestis and Prometheus Bound, all at the end). I have a much easier time picturing Achilles, Odysseus, Antigone, etc. But that is not really Sophocles' fault.
The black-and-white artwork is fantastic but I got tired of the story of a hermit living alone on a remote lighthouse imaging what life could be like The black-and-white artwork is fantastic but I got tired of the story of a hermit living alone on a remote lighthouse imaging what life could be like otherwise. Written with very few words there just is not enough plot or emotional interest in the character and too much repetitiveness to sustain it....more
Reading this graphic novel feels like watching a Miyazaki film. The same types of imagery, the same hero quest, the same legendary/mythic backdrop, alReading this graphic novel feels like watching a Miyazaki film. The same types of imagery, the same hero quest, the same legendary/mythic backdrop, although in this case less steampunk and Europe and more Asia. That said, there is a reason Miyazaki is known for his films and not for this--film is a much better medium to accomplish all of this. So in some ways this book (published in 1983 in Japan, before he created Studio Ghibli) feels like sketches for what was to come--but sketches that are interesting in and of themselves....more
Will Eisner is an extraordinary graphic novelist. This covers a similar style and similar subjects to what I've read from him before--Jews in New YorkWill Eisner is an extraordinary graphic novelist. This covers a similar style and similar subjects to what I've read from him before--Jews in New York in the recent past drawn in energetic black and white--but it is harder and more brutal. The subject is using marriage to better ones social and economic standing, different types of Jews (German, Eastern European), the ups and downs of various industries (garment and stocks), and--unfortunately--a set of terrible relationships that are loveless and transactional at best or brutal and abusive at worst....more
I read Charles Burns’ Last Look trilogy (which began with X'ed Out) about a decade ago and still vividly remember the imagery, in fact much more than I read Charles Burns’ Last Look trilogy (which began with X'ed Out) about a decade ago and still vividly remember the imagery, in fact much more than many graphic novels I read that long ago. But I also was frustrated by the trilogy because I did not really understand it—or know whether or not I was supposed to understand it. Final Cut has a similar style of memorable, great imagery, also has a certain amount of weirdness, but ultimately it is a more linear and understandable story—which makes it more than the pictures to also develop characters and their trajectory through life. It is a coming of age story (possibly autobiographical) about a man in his early 20s (give or take) who has connected up with a group of friends to make a home movie science fiction horror film. The group includes a male childhood friend and a striking red headed woman he met more recently. His fascination with film, images, and shifting between the fantasy world he lives in and the real world with this woman are the main theme of what is ultimately a touching, tender, but somewhat melancholy book. Among the best graphic novels I’ve read in a while....more
The joy of being a completist is that you discover hidden gems you might not otherwise have discovered. The perils of being a completist is that you eThe joy of being a completist is that you discover hidden gems you might not otherwise have discovered. The perils of being a completist is that you eventually start wading your way through things without much joy just because you want to complete them. In the case of The Suppliants it was more peril than joy. None of what one expects from Greek tragedy is in this play—no hero, no fall, no action, not really much of anything except lots and lots of chorus. The introduction says this is particularly beautiful Greek poetry but my tastes don’t really run in that direction. But now that Aeschylus is complete I can go back to the amazing, stunning Oresteia. ...more
A short collection of short stories set in Hawaii. The stories do a very strong job of setting the scene of a mixture of native Hawaiians, mixed ancesA short collection of short stories set in Hawaii. The stories do a very strong job of setting the scene of a mixture of native Hawaiians, mixed ancestry people, people with leprosy, missionaries, millionaires, Chinese origin, surfers (!) and others. They're less good on character and even less good on plot. But nicely conveys the flavor of a particular slice of Hawaii and there horrors of the approach the leprosy at the time....more
A very dramatic and action packed account of the siege of Thebes--featuring Jocasta, Creon, Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles. In many ways more plot dA very dramatic and action packed account of the siege of Thebes--featuring Jocasta, Creon, Antigone, Polynices and Eteocles. In many ways more plot driven that most Greek dramas it includes a lengthy prologue that tells the story of Oedipus (at some variance with the Sophocles version) and then gets to the attempt to prevent a war between his two sons, the failure of that attempt, and the beginning of the burial drama that was fully described in Antigone. Plus it also had the sacrifice of Creon's son which seemed bizarrely disconnected from everything else. Highly recommended as part of the Theban saga, filling in some links and interesting reinterpretations, but not anywhere nearly as profound as Oedipus Rex or Antigone.
Not much happens in this play beyond a chorus of women pleading to Theseus, ruler of Athens, to make the Thebans allow them to bury their husbands whoNot much happens in this play beyond a chorus of women pleading to Theseus, ruler of Athens, to make the Thebans allow them to bury their husbands who died in the siege of Thebes that is described in Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes, Euripides' The Phoenician Women, and elsewhere. No real action, no real drama, but some of it was still engaging.
I needed a short book for a short trip to Paris and this fit the bill perfectly. It is the original source for La Traviata and has a reputation for beI needed a short book for a short trip to Paris and this fit the bill perfectly. It is the original source for La Traviata and has a reputation for being somewhat less than high brow. I guess that's fair--not a lot of complexity in the characters and the situation they face is a bit clichéd (although possibly this book helped make the cliché). But, I did think it was wonderfully constructed--starting with the author showing up at the auction for the recently deceased courtesan Marguerite Gautier. Then he meets Armand Duval who tells his story from the beginning (the one that La Traviata is based on)--with a conclusion that, even though I expected it, still had me in tears because of the nobility and sacrifice of Marguerite and the feeling Armand's father showed as well--all while reading the words and hearing the music in my head....more
Not in the top twenty Greek tragedies but I still liked it. It takes place between Oedipus Rex and Antigone (although doesn't fit exactly since it is Not in the top twenty Greek tragedies but I still liked it. It takes place between Oedipus Rex and Antigone (although doesn't fit exactly since it is not by Sophocles and regardless they all are variants of the same basic story), with an almost thrilling action being described (off stage) as Etocles is defending Thebes' seven gates from seven people attacking it, with the seventh--and leader--being his twin brother Polynices. We are told they are both cursed by fate but unlike other tragedies it does not explore really why or how and none of their actions play into it (although this was the third in a trilogy and is possible more of this was in the missing first and second parts). But by the end both brothers are reported dead--and we're implicitly bracing ourselves for their sister Antigone's actions in the (justifiably) more famous play.
Circe is less than the sum of its parts. It has too many parts that do not really fit together, bolting together a variety of greek myths and legends Circe is less than the sum of its parts. It has too many parts that do not really fit together, bolting together a variety of greek myths and legends into one story that has Circe at its center—if not its periphery. Almost the opposite of a Greek drama that takes place in a limited time and place or the Iliad which uses a few weeks to tell an epic story of a ten year war.
Circe is an interesting character, someone who discovers herself over the course of the book. The primordial discussions of Titans and the new waves of gods was interesting. Circe transforming Glaucus and Scylla worked well. The extended Minotaur/Daedelus/etc seemed out of place. The Odysseus parts were less interesting, too close to the original but also not offering an exciting new perspective. And the entire last part with Penelope and Telemachus coming to Circe’s island was downright bizarre.
Overall, I liked The Song of Achilles much more, although that too had serious flaws but of a different type. The Pat Barker ones are much, much better.
[Note - I tightened up my star ratings this past year, in previous years I probably would have given this three stars. Also I listened to about two-thirds of this on Audible and read the other third.]...more
I find this play hilarious and endearing. Argon, a severe hypochondriac is being taken advantage of by his second wife and his doctors, misled by his I find this play hilarious and endearing. Argon, a severe hypochondriac is being taken advantage of by his second wife and his doctors, misled by his daughter and her lover, and finally honestly reckoned with by his brother who has a dialogue with him about the fraudulence of medicine. It is a silly farce, it would be wrong to compare to anything Shakespeare wrote--the characters are all one dimensional and do not change (except Argon who changes in an abrupt and predictable way based on a farcical trick he plays)--but it is enjoyable.
Note this is one of Molière's prose plays, many of his others are in rhyming couplets. It is delightfully translated by two people who have mostly translated Russian classics (Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky) along with Richard Nelson....more