MetaFilter posts tagged with bookreviews

Two Chinese Brothers

escabeche — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:03:57 -0800

"This is a novel born out of the intersection of two eras. The first is a story of the Cultural Revolution, a time of fanaticism, repressed instincts, and tragic fates, similar to the European Middle Ages. The second is a story of today, a time of subverted ethics, fickle sensuality, and every kind of phenomena, even more like the Europe of today. A westerner would have to live four hundred years to experience the vast differences of the two eras, but a Chinese would only need forty years for the experience." Yu Hua's Brothers, a sprawling, foul-mouthed, comic-historical epic, and the best-selling novel in China's history, is available in English. (The quote above comes from the afterword to Brothers, not included in the US edition.) The New York Times didn't care for the translation, by Eileen Chow and Carlos Rojas; Chinese litblog Paper Republic criticized the review, leading to an interesting comment thread in which both Chow and the NYT reviewer participate. Yu got even tougher treatment from local critics, who were baffled by Yu's abandonment of his previous restrained, literary style. Cang Hang (translation via Paper Republic) calls the book "a 500,000 character trash heap." Read an excerpt from Brothers and listen to the relevant podcast at NPR.

The Millions: The Best Book Blog, Bar None

ocherdraco — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:39:52 -0800

The Millions, online since 2003, is a book blog of exceptional breadth and depth, and "an independent literature and culture publication that pays its writers." Until recently, that breadth and depth was hard to fathom, as the site had outgrown its infrastructure. Now, however, its excellent features are easy to find, as are series like The Future of the Book, Ask a Book Question, and The Millions Interview. Superb reviews can be found as they happen or in the Book Review Index, and, a vestige of when The Millions was a one man operation, you can find out what C. Max Magee, founder of The Millions, is reading on the Book Lists page. Some excellent recent essays: Julia Child and the Ethical Appeal by Garth Risk Hallberg

It's not often we think of recipes as a form of literature, but they are as formally exacting as the Spenserian stanza. And, as anyone who's ever ruined $40 worth of lamb knows, the stakes are higher. So Julia Child turns out not only to have been a kind of unfussy feminist; she was also a terrific writer.

Summer of My Discontent by Lydia Kiesling

Sometimes I read a novel that drags, and then another that drags, and then another, and before long I have spurned books in favor of internet television, Calvin and Hobbes, and puerile blogs.

Nabokov, Wallace, and the Incredible Shrinking Book by Belazel Stern

Why is it that books are being published in the contemporary market that don’t have the length or stamina of books? I am thinking, in particular, of David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech to the Kenyon College 2005 graduating class, published posthumously as This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life. I had read the commencement speech long before it was officially published. In fact, shortly after Wallace delivered it a friend sent it to me over e-mail. It took me about fifteen minutes to read. And I read slowly.

The War Within

McGuillicuddy — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:03:52 -0800

Bob Woodward has a new book released today titled The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008. The Politico has a lengthy review by Mike Allen. Bloomberg also has an early, less flattering, review. From the Politico:

“[Bush] remains a man of few doubts, still following his gut, convinced that the path he has chosen is right. But in other ways, the 61-year-old president I encountered in May 2008 was a different man entirely. … Seven years of war have taken a visible toll. His hair is much grayer, and the line in his face deeper and more pronounced. … “During the first years of the Iraq War, the president always spoke about ‘winning’ or ‘victory.’ By 2008, he seemed to have tempered his expectations. Twice in the interview when he mentioned ‘win,’ he immediately corrected himself and said ‘succeed,’ a subtle but definite scaling back of his one fiery rhetoric. …

While hard to believe, the Politico also reports from the book that:

“Bush later acknowledged in interviews with me that he did not seek recommendations [on Iraq] from four key people: his father, former President George H.W. Bush, who had overseen the first Gulf War in 1991; Secretary of State Colin Powell; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; and CIA Director George Tenet.”

The Bloomberg review delivers an excellent one-liner:

"The War Within,'' the fourth volume of Bob Woodward's Bush administration chronicles, radiating certainty, strength and presidentialness. It must have been a challenge for him to walk so confidently with Woodward's lips attached to his backside.

Best review of worst book ever

odasaku — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:39:41 -0800

"The lamp's glow was very weak compared to the blue glow emancipating from the basement." And while the award for best book review ever certainly goes to young Chaz Moore, the contest for worst book ever written presents some competition. And so as not to offend anyone, here's the obligatory honorable mention.

"Orientalism" and its Discontents

ibmcginty — Sat, 24 May 2008 11:38:53 -0800

Historian Robert Irwin reviews two books critical of Edward Said's Orientalism. Irwin's own critique received positive and mixed reviews. In this brief interview, Said explains what he was trying to do in Orientalism.

Who is Grady Harp?

farishta — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:11:35 -0800

The murky demimonde of Amazon's Top Reviewers. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, but I had imagined Amazon's customer reviews as a refuge from the machinations of the publishing industry: "an intelligent and articulate conversation ... conducted by a group of disinterested, disembodied spirits..."

Chicago Center for Literature and Photography

stbalbach — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:06:47 -0800

Chicago Center for Literature and Photography has some excellent book and film reviews, written by author and artist Jason Pettus. He mostly reviews contemporary fiction but has a few classics like The House of the Seven Gables, which is part of a two-year project to read 100 "classics" to see if they are really classic or not.

Harriet Klausner, Amazon reviewer #1

stbalbach — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 08:56:47 -0800

Harriet Klausner, 55, is Amazon's #1 book reviewer, with almost 15,000 book reviews in the past 8 years or slightly over 5 per day. Her coveted position in the highly competitive world of Amazon review rankings has earned her accolades from Time Magazine, a write-up in Wired Magazine, and more than a little snarky skepticism from other reviewers. If you like her taste in books, she keeps an archive of reviews.

Newt Gingrich's Amazon book reviews.

Prospero — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 10:55:09 -0800

Newt Gingrich's Amazon book reviews. "Speaker Gingrich is an avid reader. He does not review all of the books he reads. You will not find any bad reviews here, just the books he thinks you might enjoy."

Book Reviews by Kids

taz — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 01:20:13 -0800

The Spaghetti Book Club offers book reviews by kids for kids, searchable in a variety of ways. (And most of the reviews are also illustrated by the kid-authors!). One of my favorites begins: "Do you like bad ideas or thinking about them? Well, if you like bad ideas then you should read The Book of Bad Ideas. The Book of Bad Ideas is a book that has bad ideas you really shouldn't try at home. If you try them you'll be soooorrrrryyyyy! If you want to learn more about it, I'll suggest a website but I don't know any. Maybe you should read the book."

My Pet Goat: instant classic

XQUZYPHYR — Sat, 17 Jul 2004 07:07:06 -0800

"I was stunned by its lyrical beauty and easy cadence. The tempo, the choice of words, and the layout on each page captured my imagination so much that it took me about seven minutes to recover my bearings." Amazon users review My Pet Goat. (via Sadly, No!)

Oops

drezdn — Tue, 17 Feb 2004 10:26:18 -0800

A concerned reader in St. Louis just might be Dave Eggers. A weekend glitch on Amazon Canada allowed people to see the true secret identities behind reviews on the site. [NYT Link]