Pierre stopped reading How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm
Property will cost us the earth.
The science on climate change has been clear for …
Did not finish the book
Reviews and Comments
I’m trying to read more, Sci Fi is my go to genre.
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Pierre reviewed Arrête avec tes mensonges by Philippe Besson
"Quand j'étais enfant, ma mère ne cessait de me répéter : "Arrête avec tes mensonges." …
Beautiful and devastating
5 stars
Content warning Spoiler
In his book translated as “Lie with Me”, (I read it in French) Philippe Besson takes part in an autobiography focusing on his high school crush, a man called Thomas Andrieu. With a very elegant prose, he describes how they came to be in a sexual relationship that had to come to an end as many do at the end of high school. Philippe was led to wonder if this was love, if Thomas, always mysteriously quiet, ever had feelings for him. In the second half of the book, by chance, the author runs into Lucas, a younger version of Thomas who happened to be his son. Despite having the possibility, Thomas and Philippe never reach out to one another. Through Lucas, it is found that Thomas had always stayed quiet and remained mysterious, to the point of assuming that he was tormented, suffering. We learn that he hung himself in 2016. The book ends with the heart breaking letter Thomas had written for Philippe after the last day they spent together, letter he never sent. It was found by Lucas. In it, Thomas said that “of course” it was love, that he had never been happier, that he never will be.
Philippe Besson has an incredible talent at describing setting, expectations and emotions with a lot of sensitivity and a lot of the use of the verb “advenir” (to happen), only to shatter the reader by relaying the action, the events and developments bluntly, with immediacy.
Another sad gay story that I recommend. Beautiful prose. A reminder that we all have a beautiful life ahead of us if we so dare to help ourselves.
Pierre started reading Arrête avec tes mensonges by Philippe Besson
"Quand j'étais enfant, ma mère ne cessait de me répéter : "Arrête avec tes mensonges." …
Reading “Lie with Me” in French for my book club.
Still lost in the Spice Trance
3 stars
I read the first three Dune books in a row.
I think the best summary of my review is that I had to read a recap of the book when I finished it as I got really lost in the plot this time. This book, as seen in the previous volume, expands on the struggle for power over the galactic empire between the main characters I didn’t get lost in the different plot points, but I was just very confused in understanding what each character was plotting for and why they were taking the actions they were taking. I couldn’t break that wall to understand the character’s psyche and in a way could not identify with them in any way. Once again, it felt to me like the main characters had very similar personalities though I can note the development of Alia and Paul/The Preacher. To me those character developments …
I read the first three Dune books in a row.
I think the best summary of my review is that I had to read a recap of the book when I finished it as I got really lost in the plot this time. This book, as seen in the previous volume, expands on the struggle for power over the galactic empire between the main characters I didn’t get lost in the different plot points, but I was just very confused in understanding what each character was plotting for and why they were taking the actions they were taking. I couldn’t break that wall to understand the character’s psyche and in a way could not identify with them in any way. Once again, it felt to me like the main characters had very similar personalities though I can note the development of Alia and Paul/The Preacher. To me those character developments came in too strong and in too stark contrast with the previous books which, once again left me at a loss of understanding them and their motives. This was particularly true when Herbert was describing Leto’s spice trance. I could feel what the character was going through, but I couldn’t understand anything else, especially what he saw in the future and why it made him change course or keep the course he had planned for himself. Him meeting with his father made Paul seem like a token character placed for fan service as I assume a lot were upset with his death at the end of the second book.
Overall, I still praise the world building by Frank Herbert and the way he expands on it but despite the depth it still felt to me like this book fell a little flat.
Pierre reviewed Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (Dune Chronicles, #2)
The extraordinary sequel to Dune, the greatest science fiction novel of all time. Twelve years …
Lost in the Spice Trance
3 stars
Content warning Plot Spoilers
I read dune Messiah a few months back and am taking time to reflect as I just finished Children of Dune (the third book in the series). Overall, I was pretty disappointed in Dune Messiah. To me, the plot and characters marked a stark departure from the first book and I was pretty much lost the whole time. Herbert’s prose even though aesthetically pleasing, especially to me since he tends to borrow a lot of french words to describe the etiquette or customs related to the emperor and empire, gets really confusing especially in passages describing the spice melange and spice trance. I was taken aback by seeing a character, Paul Atreides, stuck in his progression. Maybe that’s what Herbert wanted to convey in Dune Messiah, but I felt like the character had phenomenal power and super powers yet the story failed to show how he was using them and to which end he wanted to use them. It also felt to me like the characters lacked individual personality. They seem to all speak in the same way and interact in similar fashion.
I’m rating 3/5 for the world building and the lore but overall was not pleased by the general plot.
Pierre wants to read Dune by Frank Herbert
Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, …
Need to read again after seeing the movie. I'm curious how I will see this book given that some of the Arab and Islamic appropriations in the movie made me feel a little uncomfortable.
Pierre wants to read A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (Teixcalaan, #2)
Sequel to A Memory Called Empire.
An alien armada lurks on the edges of …
I'm adding this one to my reading list since the first opus was amazing!
Pierre finished reading Death's End by Cixin Liu (Remembrance of Earth's Past, #3)
Sequel to The Dark Forest. Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance …
Amazing beginning with makes you wonder about mutually assured destruction and nuclear deterrence. The second half of the book remains very imaginative but the story line loses its cohesion and reads as a filler. Still one of the best science fiction series I have read recently.
Pierre finished reading The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (Hyperion Cantos, #2)
On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits …
Honestly amazed by this Sci Fi book. It’s the sequel to Hyperion which won the Hugo award way back. The author broke away from the first person narration rotating through the main characters to very interesting prose where one character was narrating in the present while the others were narrated in the past. A lot of the sci fi concepts are very well thought through and still hold true to this day so I would say the book has aged well. I recommend this sequel to Hyperion.