carolwu96
Vancouver Public Library
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Catherine the GreatCatherine the Great, BookPortrait of A Woman
by Massie, Robert K.Book - 2011 | First editionBook, 2011. First edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added May 24, 2020
carolwu96's rating:
Added May 17, 2020
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Jonas is looking forward to December, when he will be assigned a career. In a world that emphasizes uniformity and governmental control, there are no lies, no poverty, no surprises.
Except there is one for Jonas: while his friends become Nurses and Directors, he is selected to be the one and only Receiver, keeper of communal memories. As he explores the community’s obscure histories, Jonas begins to recognize a terrible truth beneath the facade of harmony.
Wow. This book really stands out even amongst dystopian novels. While Jonas’ young, ideological perspective softens its harshness, the community is shares many similarities with the worlds in other dystopian classics.
Governmental surveillance? Check out 1984. Bland, conforming happiness? Brave New World. Discouragement of critical thinking? Fahrenheit 451.
The book slowly peels away layers of orderly happiness to reveal the heavy (albeit predicable) truth. It doesn’t help that Jonas is an impeccable character — courageous, strong, compassionate, everything the society seeks in a Receiver — but whose very characteristics push him towards the opposite of their hopes and imaginations and into our own hearts.
The Giver may have been written as a warning against excessive governmental control, but to me, it echoes a question that has haunted me since I read Brave New World. Both books essentially give us a choice between living with both desires and dissatisfactions versus with ignorance and happiness. Without the “happy pill,” we experience life more fully but can find it tortuous. Taking the pill deprives us of some of the human experience, but just as we see hunger and exposure as unnecessary and its elimination beneficial, how do we know where the fine line between “unnecessary pain” and “excessive control” stands?
We can denounce their world as dystopian, but for some reason, I suspect that they would see ours as just the same.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead :)Jonas is looking forward to December, when he will be assigned a career. In a world that emphasizes uniformity and governmental control, there are no lies, no poverty, no surprises.
Except there is one for Jonas: while his friends become…
Fahrenheit 451Fahrenheit 451, Book
by Bradbury, RayBook - 2013 | Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition, 60th anniversary editionBook, 2013. Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition, 60th anniversary edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added May 14, 2020
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Once upon a time, the fireman’s job was to extinguish the fires. Now his job is to start them.
Guy Montag is a fireman who delights in burning books. Books are prohibited, after all: they speak of contradictory ideas and nonexistent people, unlike the ubiquitous TV’s that now rule the world.
After work, Montag usually goes home to his wife, Mildred, who is obsessed with the mass media. While awake, Mildred laughs with the TV, calling the fictional characters her “family.” At night, she falls asleep listening to music through her earbuds. Although she and Montag share the same bed, she might as well be in a whole other world.
Montag’s life changes when he meets Clarisse who, unlike others, prefers human interactions to TV’s and takes walks in the rain. Under her influence, Montag begins to see his work in a new light. What is it about books that made the government so insistent on burning them? And why are some people willing to burn with them?
I’m usually a sucker for dystopian novels, but unfortunately this one tries to crunch too many ideas into a single work. It initially reminded me of Amusing Ourselves to Death, especially with Mildred’s TV addiction, but then it turned into a discussion on government censorship and the consequences of political correctness, and eventually becomes an adventure. This is just too much for 256 pages, making the book both hurried and underdeveloped.
However, I still gave it 4 stars because it is unmistakably ahead of its time. Wall-spanning flat TV’s still only exist in shows like Black Mirror, and earbuds were unheard of when the book was written in the 1950’s. Even Amusing Ourselves to Death, the social critique I compared it to, was composed more than three decades later.
More importantly, one idea from the book still haunts me: it would not be the government that phased out reading and thinking. It was the people themselves, and the government merely used it to their advantage.
Oh, and in case you are wondering about the title, Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which books begin to burn.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead :)Once upon a time, the fireman’s job was to extinguish the fires. Now his job is to start them.
Guy Montag is a fireman who delights in burning books. Books are prohibited, after all: they speak of contradictory ideas and nonexistent people,…
The Whisper ManThe Whisper Man, BookA Novel
by North, AlexBook - 2019 | First editionBook, 2019. First edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added May 11, 2020
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Two decades ago, The Whisper Man abducted and murdered five boys. Only four bodies were found, haunting police officer Pete ever since. Two decades later, Tom and Jake Kennedy move to the area. But soon a little boy goes missing, and Jake begins to hear whispers outside his own window.
Although I did not find the book creepy, I did appreciate its commentaries on familial trauma and personal redemption as well as dissection of father-son relationships.
(❗️spoiler alert❗️) The Kennedy sons have been traumatized for at least three generations. Pete had an abusive father, leading to problems in his own family relationships. He has successfully combated his own abusiveness by the beginning of the book, but still frequently relapses into bouts of self-worthlessness.
Tom, luckily, grew up mostly under his mother’s influence, but the lack of father figures in his life means that he does not know how to interact with his own son.
Little Jake represents the future. Although he is traumatized by his mother’s death, he knows that Tom loves him and has the greatest chance of breaking this vicious cycle. But then he gets kidnapped by Francis.
Francis (not a Kennedy) ought to be the most extreme of our four narrators. He never outgrows the natural but childish admiration for his abusive father, and consequently becomes torn between this admiration and a conflicting disillusionment. Through taking other children and “caring” for them, he hopes to vicariously fix his own childhood trauma.
However, while he is consciously guided by redemption, he subconsciously seeks to legitimize his father’s abusiveness. Through terrorizing his victims and venting his anger on them, he simply becomes another copy of his father.
Rather than trying to escape from trauma (as Pete does), bury it (Tom) and fix it (Francis), the best way to recover from trauma seems to be to admit past mistakes and work through the consequences together. Healing is a often multigenerational effort, and unfortunately, in becoming obsessed with the past, some are also deprived of the present and the future.
For more book reviews, visit me at https://www.instagram.com/randomstuffiread/Two decades ago, The Whisper Man abducted and murdered five boys. Only four bodies were found, haunting police officer Pete ever since. Two decades later, Tom and Jake Kennedy move to the area. But soon a little boy goes missing, and Jake begins to…
Love in the Time of CholeraLove in the Time of Cholera, Book
by García Márquez, GabrielBook - 1988 | First American editionBook, 1988. First American edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added May 11, 2020
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Love, death and identity.
How did Gabriel García Márquez manage to simultaneously grapple with all three within a single work?
The most central is evidently love, which is shown in such variations that its very definition is explored. Many of us would agree that a publicly harmonious marriage is not sufficient to be called love, but what about decades of companionship? Last words before one’s death?
I have been describing the relationship between Dr.Juvenal Urbino and his wife, Fermina Daza, but Florentino Ariza’s love for the lady is even more ardent, albeit somewhat arbitrary and selfish.
Florentino Ariza “waits” for Fermina Daza for decades but has an incessant flow of affairs during this time. They include widows who open his eyes to sexual pleasure, wives and girls who die because of him, and even a coworker who is his mother, his nurse, and platonic love. Which of these can be called love? Or are all of them so to various degrees?
Love in the Time of Cholera is all about love, but love becomes visceral only with time and identity. Fermina Daza’s impression of her youth is bookmarked by her interactions with Florentino Ariza, just as his is with hers for the rest of his life. To her, their relationship is a distant and erased memory, but to him, it is his vigor and his protection from aging. Love is the soil for growth, the catalyst of maturity, and ultimately, the fuel for new adventures.
Gabriel García Márquez writes in both details and abstractions. With sensory information, especially the colors of houses and their furnitures, the smell of the sea, the heat and storms, he is incredibly detailed. Yet when it comes to mental and social interactions, he is always one step short of making them explicit, leaving the reader secure of the meaning but still longing for something more, the way we grasp at the trailing hemline of our lover’s shirt when they depart, feeling the fabric and willing our touch to accompany them just a little longer.
Some novels deliver a message, some focus on the characters, and some invite you into their world to simply leave you there.
So after holding your breath for some moments and realizing that no one is going to hold your hand and guide you through the predetermined sequence of events, you begin to wander, sifting through the characters’ joys and tears and unlocking doors at your own will.
The world around you is crisp; the minds are enshrouded. Their thoughts and motives are revealed, but so are their weakness, fickleness, and paradoxical desires. So you remain uncertain of your own path. Are you an onlooker, a part-time participant, or an undetected confidant? Are you meant to look, to remember, or merely to dip your toe into the water?
But the confusion does not stop you from enjoying it all. You wade among the giant heart-shaped leaves and the scattered shades, only to step into a clearing and see the flaming sunset darken. You know it is an illusion but are captivated nevertheless. The toothed clouds smoothen and unclasp, leaving a deep indigo in its place; the heat, which has pursued you all afternoon, abruptly slackens into a breeze.
Reading this book is like sailing on a river. Sometimes we anchor the ship for the night and sway with the day’s memories long into our dreams. Sometimes we ride the current, unable to predict our next stop. Sometimes we become stranded, a little scared but also mysteriously excited. Maybe this catastrophe would lead to our deaths; maybe it is only a minuscule misfortune in the grand scheme of life. But there is one thing we do know — we can sail on this way, forever.
And so we gingerly trail our fingers through the waters, full of love and aging and the stench of cholera, as we sail towards the sunset and into the unknown.
For more book reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead!Love, death and identity.
How did Gabriel García Márquez manage to simultaneously grapple with all three within a single work?
The most central is evidently love, which is shown in such variations that its very definition is explored.…
Creativity, IncCreativity, Inc, BookOvercoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
by Catmull, EdBook - 2014Book, 2014
carolwu96's rating:
Added May 01, 2020
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Semi-autobiography and semi-manual, Ed Catmull’s Creativity, Inc. follows his career as former president of Pixar and then Disney Animation, outlining his philosophy in helming a creative enterprise.
Catmull begins with his experiences with collaboration in graduate school. While people often think of great ideas as independent speckles floating through the air, they are more similar to blossoms that have to be curated. This is an idea Catmull will continue to believe in for the rest of his career.
The book then leads us through the lessons he learns as a manager, including his determination to ignore feelings of threat and hire people that are smarter than him, to guide and protect his team rather than to micromanage, and to balance hierarchy and frankness in the work place.
Catmull continues to grow with Pixar’s expansion and merge with Disney. He imagines ways to inspire his now-large teams and to weigh profits against innovation and risk-taking.
Several themes run throughout Catmull’s reflection. First, the very core of creativity lies in taking risks and resisting against the urge to plan and repeat previous successes. Second, assume the employees know their work and give them a say when making major decisions, which requires candor and transparency. Third, having a team in which it’s members complements one another is more important than gathering individual talent, just as an employee’s potential outweighs their current accomplishments.
I love the way Catmull acknowledges the limits of his perspective. While we often say that “Hindsight is 2020,” he believes that given the human tendency to recognize patterns out of everything, we greatly underestimate randomness and thus often miss/misinterpret correlations. So the utmost important rule is not anything in particular but to observe and revise the philosophy.
Let’s end with a quote:
🍓 “The future is not a destination; it’s a direction.” 🍓
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !Semi-autobiography and semi-manual, Ed Catmull’s Creativity, Inc. follows his career as former president of Pixar and then Disney Animation, outlining his philosophy in helming a creative enterprise.
Catmull begins with his experiences with…
The Grace YearThe Grace Year, Book
by Liggett, KimBook - 2019 | First editionBook, 2019. First edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added May 01, 2020
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The Grace Year, each girl’s sixteen year, marks her transition from child to seductress. Wary of the danger they pose to men and to strip them of this “magic,” the society exiles them to a deserted island for the year.
Tierney, a doctor’s daughter and a tomboy, has been obsessed with the Grace Year since she was a child. A feminist and believer of science, she tries to prevent the deaths that have haunted the past Grace Years upon arrival at the island. But as time goes on, she begins to doubt even her own sanity.
I initially had so many problems with this book. Why does it feel like a combination of Lord of the Flies and The Handmaid’s Tale? Why is Tierney, who grew up in a oppressively patriarchal society, so transcendentally feminist? Why is she so kind that she almost seems weak, helping her enemies even after they tried to murder her?
But then I became impressed. Tierney’s kindness IS incredible, but only because she refuses to be pitted against her fellow victims of patriarchy. She IS incredibly progressive, but her instincts are not unaccounted for. As the mysteries of her memories unravel, we not only come to admire her, but also to understand the soft but versatile strength of the silent majority of which she is born.
Tierney once complains that society deprives the Grace Year girls of everything so that they would forget all the past horrors out of gratitude upon receiving again. The book works in a similar way. It confuses, enrages and shatters us, so that the series of twists at the end of the book become the flames of our rebirth.
Only when we feel the bone-numbing winters of oppression do we breathe upon the embers of solidarity. Only after we scream into the silent abyss does rebelliousness ablaze and thaw the fortresses over our hearts.
I was wrong. The Grace Year is so different from Lord of the Flies. The latter is about the disintegration of civilization, the fragility of the human will. The Grace Year, on the other hand, is about human solidarity, secretly yet steadily nurtured, in sickness, violence, isolation, and even in death.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead :)The Grace Year, each girl’s sixteen year, marks her transition from child to seductress. Wary of the danger they pose to men and to strip them of this “magic,” the society exiles them to a deserted island for the year.
Tierney, a doctor’s…
Made to StickMade to Stick, BookWhy Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
by Heath, ChipBook - 2007 | First editionBook, 2007. First edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added Apr 25, 2020
Comment:
Brothers and business school professors, Chip and Dan Heath combined decades of theoretical and experimental knowledge in marketing to unveil the secret to impactful ideas. The six characteristics are compacted into the acronym SUCCES.
🍇Simplicity
Complex ideas are difficult to remember. However, to simplify does not mean to dumb ideas down, but rather to make them concise. This requires finding the very essence of the idea and delivering that essence.
Another way to achieve simplicity is to use the target audience’s existing knowledge. If we call a pomelo a “large grapefruit,” it would be easier to understand than “the largest citrus fruit from the family Rutaceae” (Wikipedia) just because the former is based on an idea we already know.
🍇Unexpectedness
Unexpectedness acts like the “hook” of high school essays, making the audience more attentive to our messages.
Unexpectedness can come from previously unknown facts. However, we have to realize that not everyone already has the same background, so before giving new information, we might have to fill some gaps first. The more people know about something, the more they will want to learn!
🍇Concreteness
Nothing arouses our emotions more than sensory images.
Think of the famous urban legend of the traveler who accepted a drink from a stranger and woke up in a bathtub full of cubes and a kidney missing. In this story, the bathtub, the ice, the hole in the back are all visceral, which contribute to its notability.
Messages from experts are often abstract. This is because while laymen, who often happen to be on the receiving end of the interaction, can only see the phenomena, while the experts see the underlying principles. Given this difference in perspective, experts often discuss the principles, but presenting the phenomena sensorily creates a much more immersive experience.
🍇Credibility
Credibility not only comes from external sources of authority, such as scientists, organizations, friends, but also inside the messages themselves, through more implicit factors such as vivid details and statistics.
Internal sources of credibility, the type that require the audiences to make their own judgement, are also powerful. This is the reason that great magic tricks often involve interactions and customers tastings are so common — if our own eyes and tastebuds tell us something, isn’t that more convincing than all the statistics and experts?
🍇Emotions
We tend to feel more emotional attachment to individuals than to groups. This is the reason organizations such as the UNICEF encourage donors to assist individuals and form long-term emotional bonds.
Despite the human interest in others, none is more powerful than self-interest. This is the reason that “what Harry Potter character are you” and “Five ways to become charismatic” posts are so popular — they invoke both the human interest to learn more about and improve themselves.
🍇Stories
Besides making cases more interesting, stories also serve as mental simulations. When surgeons discuss their most recent operations, the other surgeons listening are living through the same process.
Successful stories have templates. The most common are “the challenge plot,” “the connection plot,” and “the creativity plot,” involving overcoming difficulties, forming relationships, and making mental breakthroughs, respectively. Think superhero stories, Romeo and Juliet, and Newton’s apple.
Made to Stick brings a healthy mixture of anecdotes and theories, with questions and clinics for the reader. It also has definitely taken a lesson out of its own book, using all six of SUCCES throughout to convince the reader of its theories. A book that I might come back to later.
For more book reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !Brothers and business school professors, Chip and Dan Heath combined decades of theoretical and experimental knowledge in marketing to unveil the secret to impactful ideas. The six characteristics are compacted into the acronym…
Leonardo Da VinciLeonardo Da Vinci, Book
by Isaacson, WalterBook - 2017 | First Simon & Schuster hardcover editionBook, 2017. First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added Apr 21, 2020
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Have you ever encountered a book that you enjoyed while actually reading but balked at the thought of continuing?
Well, this is that kind of book.
It is well researched and carefully compiled. Its sources span from the 16th-century art historian Giorgio Vasari to current academics and museum curators, from Leonardo’s private notebooks to official records such as wills and archives.
The book follows a roughly chronological order as it tracks Leonardo’s artistic, military, engineering and scientific endeavors. We all knew that he had tried to make flying machines and dissected cadavers, but did we know that he also discovered the way the aortic valve worked and invented a needle-grinding machine? Me neither.
In the introduction, Isaacson called Leonardo a “mortal” as well as a genius. His genius lay in his persistent pursuit of knowledge, not only for the sake of creating but also for knowledge itself. Leonardo was also able to combine his understandings in both the arts and the sciences to create a holistic philosophical system on the world. Intellectually, he was simply brilliant.
However, Leonardo was also a mortal in that he was easily distracted and left most of his works unfinished and discoveries unpublished. I greatly appreciated this take, but Isaacson’s structuring of the biography made this theme (and all the aforementioned themes) so repetitive that I felt like he was just proving the same points over and over again.
Another downside of the book (which Isaacson himself acknowledged) is Isaacson’s vulnerability to the Leonardo Effect, the phenomenon that, due to Leonardo’s intelligence, even potential mistakes are analyzed as if they were intentionally executed. This really bothers me because Isaacson is not making strong arguments for the artistic decisions here and, rather than leaving them as potential mistakes, insists on praising Leonardo all over again.
Overall, this book is detailed and meticulously researched but, as you can see, one I should have borrowed instead of bought.
For more books and reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !Have you ever encountered a book that you enjoyed while actually reading but balked at the thought of continuing?
Well, this is that kind of book.
It is well researched and carefully compiled. Its sources span from the 16th-century…
The MosquitoThe Mosquito, BookA Human History of Our Deadliest Predator
by Winegard, Timothy C.Book - 2019Book, 2019
carolwu96's rating:
Added Apr 16, 2020
Comment:
Microhistory, or the history of the minute, is becoming increasingly popular. Oxford-trained historian Timothy C. Winegard has joined in the fun and, in this book, traces the impact mosquitos have had on western civilizations and the world.
From the Peloponnesian War to the American Civil War, from Starbucks’ success to the GDP of malaria-inflicted countries, mosquitos have influenced our conflicts, economies and landscapes.
Despite the plethora of statistics and quotes Winegard garners, what struck me most about this book is its snapshot of human nature. Lots of people are now blaming inequality on capitalism, but this book shows that the privileged have always readily dispensed of their less fortunate counterparts for gains. Generals ordered their subordinates into swamps swarming with mosquitos; tycoons ushered servants and slaves into their midst, basing wealth and status on others’ demises.
While slavery had existed for millennia, it first became racially based when the colonists recognized the Africans’ stronger resistance (now known as immunity) to malaria, making the latter more cost-efficient than other populations on sugar plantations. And when slavery contradicted the whole idea of human equality? Well, guess some humans were not completely human, after all.
Don’t blame it on the social system. It’s the people.
It’s the greed.
The book is long and, at times, sounds like a military history. Sometimes Winegard also pushes his points too far, making one question the soundness of his argument. Yet the book kept my attention throughout, sometimes surprising due to the the apparent arbitrariness of world events, at other times disgusting for the baseness of the human avarice. It is witty, painstakingly-researched and thought-provoking.
And well deserves its four stars.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !Microhistory, or the history of the minute, is becoming increasingly popular. Oxford-trained historian Timothy C. Winegard has joined in the fun and, in this book, traces the impact mosquitos have had on western civilizations and the world.…
carolwu96's rating:
Added Apr 12, 2020
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Lily Bart is the object of desire for men and envy for women. Beautiful, elegant and always impeccably dressed, she waltzes through the New York upperclass, seemingly free from all cares.
But of course that is only an illusion. Now 29 and only having a small income, Lily desperately needs a wealthy husband to secure her future. The candidate does appear, but a moment of unexpected whim distracts her, setting off a chain of events that ultimately lead to her fall from grace.
Lily Bart’s name is only too appropriate for her circumstances and Edith Wharton made sure we knew it. Like a waterlily in a pond, Lily is admired for her beauty and etiquette to the extent that she is almost objectified, resulting in a surprising lack of people who appreciate her beyond her aesthetic value. Rather than loving her as she needs to be loved, they only wish to pluck and possess.
Moreover, like a waterlily, Lily’s life is only calm on the surface. Her lack of practical skills and unstable financial resources make her subject to the muddy, turbulent waters of society. Unfortunately, turbulent from hierarchal struggles and dirty from social backstabs, the waters eventually succeed in toppling her.
While Lily does have the means to retaliate against her enemies, rather than being guided by hatred, she reveals an unexpected purity and obeys love. As a Chinese proverb goes, waterlilies “stem from the mud and yet are untainted.” Lily, true to her name, carries herself the same way, choosing martyrdom instead of triumph.
Like The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth is a snapshot of the ugly side of New York upperclass society, except while Newland Archer from the former eventually decides to adhere to social norms, our girl follows her own principles. In both novels, social success is only granted to those who play along the rules, and it is difficult to tell whether anyone who has ever recognized their environment for what it is has eventually been able to obtain genuine peace.
Perhaps not. Perhaps there are too few of them to make a difference.
Or perhaps they are all lonely together.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !Lily Bart is the object of desire for men and envy for women. Beautiful, elegant and always impeccably dressed, she waltzes through the New York upperclass, seemingly free from all cares.
But of course that is only an illusion. Now 29 and only…
Nineteen Eighty-fourNineteen Eighty-four, BookA Novel
by Orwell, GeorgeBook - 1949 | first American editionBook, 1949. first American edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added Apr 07, 2020
Comment:
According to Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, two chilling predictions forebode the future. One, the boisterous blindness described in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World; the other, the governmental oppression in George Orwell’s 1984.
I had read Brave New World last summer, touring a world in which everyone forsook critical thinking and followed assigned roles. 1984 was written in a similar manner: rather than the plot, the book focused on the functioning of the system. Yet they were also different: while Brave New World depicted blissful ignorance, 1984 was all about forced compliance.
1984 took its components from history. Constant monitoring and the Thought Police, for example, were reminiscent of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, during which the family unit collapsed and children-turned-spies sent dissenting parents to the government.
1984 also had surprising foresight into the future. President of the supposed beacon of the democratic world, Donald Trump displays an obsession with omniscience eerily similar to that of the Oceania government. Just like the Big Brother, “nobody knows more” about anything than Donald Trump!
Another similarity lies in the two government’s manner in purging public anger. Trump blames his failures on China, just as Oceania’s government targets indifferent rival countries to divert attention from the real problem — hierarchal inequality. Ironically, it was Trump’s own recent response to the unequal distribution of coronavirus testing kits that betrayed the real problem; according to him, inequality is just “the story of life.”
Amidst all the horror, it was the concept of Newspeak, an evolving language specifically created to limit the human thought, that gave the most shivers. It is also here that I think, contrary to Postman’s belief, Brave New World and 1984 converge. Although one appears to assert control through distraction and the other suppression, both are just ways to regulate minds to the profit of the ruling class.
Ignorance is Strength, but whose ignorance, and to whose strength?
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead :)According to Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, two chilling predictions forebode the future. One, the boisterous blindness described in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World; the other, the governmental oppression in George Orwell’s…
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 31, 2020
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New Yorker Newland Archer has just become engaged to the innocent May Welland when he meets her cousin, the exotic Countess Ellen Olenska. Tired of social conventions, he falls in love with her unorthodox ways and begins to regret his marriage.
One question I repeatedly asked myself was the usage of “innocence” in the title. Does it refer to May’s apparent artlessness during her husband’s obsession with another woman? Is it a gentle mocking of the social traditions of the New York society, which allows for anything but innocence? Or is it Newland Archer’s own naivety in a world he thinks he despises, but in which he is also deeply embedded?
It might have been all three and more, but to me, the last is the most significant.
Throughout the novel, I had difficulty understanding the “love” between Newland and Ellen, which seemed arbitrary and unsubstantiated.
And my opinion? Because it is not love. Newland is not choosing between two women, but rather between the New York upperclass life, represented by the traditional May, and the freedom embodied by Ellen. He becomes bored of the New York life just before he meets the latter, whose very social identity is that of a woman scandalously separated from her husband— so is Newland in love with her, or in love with what she represents?
And would he have been happier with Ellen instead? I think not. Despite Newland’s scorn for May’s old-fashioned ways, he is also often disturbed by Ellen’s oblivion to them. Moreover, regardless of the identity of his wife, the root of the problem — the stifling New York atmosphere — would remain the same.
Unfortunately, Newland does not recognize this issue until after May’s death, by which time both his rebelliousness and societal restrictions have waned. When presented with the opportunity to see Ellen again after holding her close to his heart for decades, he realizes that the Ellen he loves is one of his imagination.
Yet it is too late undo his mistake — his misconceptions have lasted decades too long, and the age of innocence is now forever long gone.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !New Yorker Newland Archer has just become engaged to the innocent May Welland when he meets her cousin, the exotic Countess Ellen Olenska. Tired of social conventions, he falls in love with her unorthodox ways and begins to regret his marriage.…
天龍八部天龍八部, BookTian long ba buTian long ba bu[1] Yi
by 金庸 • Jin, YongBook - 2002 | Di 1 ban | ChineseBook, 2002. Di 1 ban. Language: Chinese
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 31, 2020
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A five-volume classic, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils follows three sworn brothers as they adventure in the Wuxia (heroic martial arts) world. One is a polyamorous prince who becomes obsessed with one girl. Another is a hero caught between his birth and adoptive countries. The third is a monk who fortuitously becomes a martial arts master.
The author creates a complex world of conflict. The dynamic amongst hundreds of people, including those of different martial arts clans, ethnicities and nationalities, is depicted with vividness, and the characters are so multifaceted so that even the worst antagonists become pitiable.
The original title, according to my research online, means “eight types of people” (from Buddhism). Apparently the characters could be categorized into eight types, developing differently depending on nurture, which means that many of the characters, while aware of the mistakes and tragedies their parents had made, could not help but tread the same paths.
Another theme is the ultimate unattainability of desire. The polyamorous brother eventually realizes that he is not actually in love with the girl for whom he has risked everything. The hero caught between nations tries in vain to prevent warfare. The monk who seemingly gains earthly contentment is deprived of his one true wish. Although the book is filled with battles, relationships and luxuries, at the end of the boisterousness there remain a ringing hollowness and a deep desolation that compel the reader to reflect upon the empty struggle that we call life.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !A five-volume classic, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils follows three sworn brothers as they adventure in the Wuxia (heroic martial arts) world. One is a polyamorous prince who becomes obsessed with one girl. Another is a hero caught between his birth and…
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 31, 2020
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In the scenic town of Crystal, Colorado reside our characters. Four friends. Five families. Six children. Life is as peaceful as it has ever been.
Until there is news of a new public school for gifted children.
All of a sudden everyone is scrambling to secure a coveted seat for their precious child. As decade-old relationships unravel, the gifted school seems to be the last straw for these middle-aged social climbers and their crumbling dignities.
I know that some readers might have a difficult time liking and resonating with these characters. However, as an education consultant and aficionado, I have only seen too much craziness in this rat race. Intensive helicopter parenting for children do not even know what to pick for their own lunch? Check. Parental competitiveness turning siblings against one another? Check. Outright bribing school officials? What, don’t you recall the college admissions bribery scandals involving Yale, Stanford and USC last year?
Thus while the parents may seem hysterical, they are only too real. Even more realistic are the other problems constituting their middle age crises — chilling marriages, financial pressures and rebellious children, to name a few. Although the book is titled The Gifted School, the school itself is only a catalyst to the explosion of their piling skeletons.
I took half a star off because the final twist was simply too unreasonable, but I do like the ending and the way everything eventually seemingly returns to normal. Life goes on, despite the arguing, fighting, and back-stabbing. At the end of the day, people move on, not because they forgive, but because changes are simply unthinkable.
Overall, this is a well-written, juicy work and, despite its vulgarness, can even be poetic at times. It is a Gossip Mothers of Crystal of sorts, a combination of Gossip Girls and Primates of Park Ave.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !In the scenic town of Crystal, Colorado reside our characters. Four friends. Five families. Six children. Life is as peaceful as it has ever been.
Until there is news of a new public school for gifted children.
All of a sudden everyone…
Primates of Park AvenuePrimates of Park Avenue, BookA Memoir
by Martin, WednesdayBook - 2015 | First Simon & Schuster hardcover editionBook, 2015. First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 31, 2020
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Primates of Park Avenue gives us an insider and academic’s look on the most privileged mothers in the world.
Moving to the opulent Manhattan Upper East Side with her husband and young child, Wednesday Martin is initially shocked by the lifestyles of her new neighbors. From trips on private jets to Hamptons getaways, from hazing newcomers to the relentless pursuit of youth and beauty, life in the UES seems to be that of another species.
A trained anthropologist, Martin quickly begins to rationalize these women’s behavior through comparisons with other primate species. Aggressive charging at others on the street is an assertion of dominance. Turning their backs to outsiders prevents the latter from threatening the established hierarchy. Maintenance of beauty flaunts fertility.
Despite her initial repulse, Martin realizes that these privileged women are still human. Their sorrows stem from complete dependence on often unfaithful husbands, the loss of personal identity, and extra competition with other women. Despite their facades of contentment, there is a deeper aching that, as Martin learns through her own loss during her time at the UES, resonates with our very human condition.
I am actually slightly disappointed with the book, as Martin could have been either more revealing or more academic. More revealing and this will be a juicy tell-all, the real life version of The Gifted School (review coming next). More academic and this will be an interesting informal paper analyzing the behavior of this mysterious tribe. Unfortunately, Martin tries to include some of both while also covering a range of topics, including motherhood, gender equality and social hierarchies. All within 300 pages. In providing such a mixture, the book underwhelms and succeeds in neither storytelling nor analyzing.
For more reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead :)Primates of Park Avenue gives us an insider and academic’s look on the most privileged mothers in the world.
Moving to the opulent Manhattan Upper East Side with her husband and young child, Wednesday Martin is initially shocked by the…
When Breath Becomes AirWhen Breath Becomes Air, Book
by Kalanithi, PaulBook - 2016 | First editionBook, 2016. First edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 10, 2020
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Paul Kalanithi was successful by every societal standard. He had graduated from Stanford with double majors in English and Biology and earned advanced degrees in both fields before becoming a Chief Resident at the Stanford Hospital. He was a talented academic, diligent neurosurgeon and loving husband, with the world at hand and the brightest future one could possibly imagine.
But when he was diagnosed with lung cancer, everything came crashing down.
When Breath Becomes Air is divided into two sections — one that relates Paul’s journey of discovering his calling as a neurosurgeon after a lengthy but indirect grapple with death, and the other as he is granted the wish of experiencing death more directly, but not in the manner he wished he would.
Paul’s writing is concise but intimate. Despite his countless encounters with death and suffering during his career, the book still unveils his bewilderment and fragility in face of cancer. Yet it is precisely this vulnerability that reveals another side of him — beneath the enviably glossy resume is only a human, whose fears and hopes are the same as those of any other.
I’m really glad I read this book immediately after finishing Love, Money & Parenting. After thinking about people as rational, informed, resource-allocating creatures who could be categorized by sociological variables, it is easy to forget that these statistics are individuals, each of whom lives among us, as doctors, patients, friends, and family.
In a global mentality that continues to think in “us vs. them,” it is easy to be blinded by socially constructed barriers.
But our lives on Earth are only finite, and despite all our differences throughout these journeys, at the end we are only the same.
One moment it is breath in, breath out, and in the next, breath has become air.
For more book reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIReadPaul Kalanithi was successful by every societal standard. He had graduated from Stanford with double majors in English and Biology and earned advanced degrees in both fields before becoming a Chief Resident at the Stanford Hospital. He was a…
The Song of AchillesThe Song of Achilles, Book[a Novel]
by Miller, MadelineBook - 2012 | First editionBook, 2012. First edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 10, 2020
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If Achilles had a song, of what would it sing?
Is it the heroes who succumbed to his hand in the Trojan War? Is it the extraordinary fate dictated before even his birth? Or is it his love with Patroclus, whose death threw him into such a rage that even the gods could not escape from it unscathed?
Patroclus’ tender eyes shows us another side of the demigod. A golden boy rather than an irritable militant. A reluctant hero rather than a killing machine. A faithful lover even in death. While the epic bellows of his rage and physique, Miller’s song is one of love and mortality.
Rather than simply contextualizing the epic, Miller also wrestles with the eternal mysteries of Greek mythology which are, in another way of speaking, those of life: the relationship between free will and predetermination, friendship and romance, identity and power. In short, The Song of Achilles is one of struggles and growth, of the fragility beneath the mask of invulnerability, of humanity in suppression and conflict.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIReadIf Achilles had a song, of what would it sing?
Is it the heroes who succumbed to his hand in the Trojan War? Is it the extraordinary fate dictated before even his birth? Or is it his love with Patroclus, whose death threw him into such a…
Love, Money & ParentingLove, Money & Parenting, BookHow Economics Explains the Way We Raise Our Kids
by Doepke, MatthiasBook - 2019Book, 2019
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 10, 2020
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Did you know that in countries with widespread polygyny, people tend to have less investments and savings? Did you know that boycotting products made with child labor can actually delay the banning of the practice?
Penned by two professors, Love, Money & Parenting analyzes parenting choices economically.
Although the authors organize their analysis using a more complex structure, I will be dividing their findings using two simpler (and somewhat overlapping and correlative) factors: individualistic and societal.
Individualistic determinants include factors such as the parents’ education, socioeconomic status, marital status, gender bias, etc. They mostly function the way we think they would: as the parents’ circumstances become “better” (highly educated, wealthier, married, etc) the parents are more likely to incline towards the authoritative teaching method (teaching and guiding children instead of forcing/ overly permitting/ neglecting them).
Societal factors are more complex. While the economy, policies, inequity and others matter greatly, culture actually matters less than we think. Unfortunately, the increase in helicopter/intensive parenting in countries such as the U.S. is a reaction to the widening socioeconomic gap.
I really appreciate this book’s scientific rigor. For instance, when it mentioned a survey that studied the relationship between a child’s academic performance and parental strictness by asking the child to rank the latter on a scale, I wondered how it was going to eliminate inaccuracy of subjectivity. However, the authors immediately addressed this problem and even discussed a few other potential objections I had not thought of. Gotta love authors who recognize the limitations of their own conclusions!
Overall, this is a book that intersects economics and education. Recommended for people interested in these fields.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIReadDid you know that in countries with widespread polygyny, people tend to have less investments and savings? Did you know that boycotting products made with child labor can actually delay the banning of the practice?
Penned by two…
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 01, 2020
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When sixteen-year-old Griet joins Johannes Vermeer’s household as a maid, she has no idea that she will be the subject of one of the most celebrated portraits in history.
Tracy Chevalier elegantly interweaves art, history and fiction in this novel. Our protagonist, Griet, is an Anne Eliot type of heroine, self-possessed and quietly determined. She understands her responsibilities and has a natural eye for art and human nature. Through her lens, the reader sees not only the blue and green and yellow in clouds, but also the red and pink and decay within the human heart.
And the themes! Idealism versus reality: how can she marry a butcher with blood in his nails when in love with the idealistic, even naive Vermeer? Power and desire: she is under the power of those who desire her and yet is struggling against her own feelings, which threaten to ruin her all. As the two trap her within their web, her tale seems to be both a coming-of-age-story and a despaired cry from the gutter of civilization.
Girl With A Pearl Earring is a visual and emotional feast, with both artworks and the human condition intimately delineated. Layers of meaning hide beneath seemingly banal descriptions, just as the girl in the painting has mystified viewers for generations.
If you look at the painting as a whole, you will see our subject gazing out while her lips are half-parted as if in a small smile. Yet if you inspect the lips only, she might not be smiling after all. What is she thinking? What was Vermeer creating? Chevalier has offered her interpretation, and it is both heartbreaking and poignant.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @RandomStuffIReadWhen sixteen-year-old Griet joins Johannes Vermeer’s household as a maid, she has no idea that she will be the subject of one of the most celebrated portraits in history.
Tracy Chevalier elegantly interweaves art, history and fiction in this…
Girl With A Pearl EarringGirl With A Pearl Earring, DVD
DVD - 2004 | WidescreenDVD, 2004. Widescreen
carolwu96's rating:
Added Mar 01, 2020
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I really enjoyed the book and especially loved its lyricality. However, due to the book’s heavy reliance on Griet’s internal narrative, I was skeptical of the movie’s ability to adapt such a perspective onto the screen.
But it does not disappoint!
I loved its aesthetic! Every scene in the movie is a painting of Vermeer’s own style, and the music only adds to its allure. It also acknowledges details from the book without disturbing the overall flow of the film. For instance, Griet pauses at the star beside the pier twice just as she does in the book, but the star is so faded that people who have not read the original probably would not notice.
The movie also emphasizes the multiplicity of our characters, such as Vermeer’s talent and cowardice, his wife’s hostility and love for her husband, and Griet’s own quietness with her masters and freedom with others from her class. This aspect of the movie is actually clearer than the depiction in the book. Because the reader reads Griet’s consciousness in the original, it is easy to have overlooked her unusual silence.
One deviance I did notice is the depiction of Vermeer. While he is only naive and cowardly in the book, here he is also lustful. If Vermeer and Griet’s original relationship can be understood as two artistic souls in an unromantic world, “grinding” paint and “piercing” ears in the name of art, here he is abandoning whatever restraint he displays in the book and is openly sexual with Griet, who is young and only a maid. Normally I would condemn the movie for making such a change but for some reason, I don’t think it is incompatible with the novel.
Overall, this film is pretty successful. Having read this book does not ruin the movie-watching experience for once, and it is worth the time even if just for the aesthetics!
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @RandomStuffIReadI really enjoyed the book and especially loved its lyricality. However, due to the book’s heavy reliance on Griet’s internal narrative, I was skeptical of the movie’s ability to adapt such a perspective onto the screen.
But it does not…
Rich Dad Poor DadRich Dad Poor Dad, BookWith Updates for Today's World--and 9 New Study Session Sections
by Kiyosaki, Robert T.Book - 2017 | 20th anniversary editionBook, 2017. 20th anniversary edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added Feb 21, 2020
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Apparently this book had revolutionized personal finances. It makes sense — being told that working will not bring financial freedom and hearing about something called “financial literacy” must have been groundbreaking. However, 20 years later, the book is just 40% chicken soup, 20% bragging and self-plugging, 20% helpful information, and 20% repetition.
Kiyosaki spends much of the book describing his success to bolster ambiguous suggestions. For instance, he reasonably suggests lifelong learning, but then supports it by saying that he had spent a few hundred dollars to take a course on investing and consequent garnered millions of dollars.
Another problem with this book is its impracticality. I kept waiting for him to actually discuss his theories on investing, only to read near the end something along the lines of, “some of you must be disappointed by the lack of practical advice, but this book is more about changing your mindset.” Well if this was the case, you could have said so earlier.
That said, I did find interesting and even helpful tips. One concerns the definition of “active assets,” which many people believe would include their home. However, the home is actually a passive because it is not something you can sell to counter a crisis. This is also true from personal observations. For instance, although the house prices in Vancouver have skyrocketed in recent years, many people who own valuable homes cannot actually sell them without leaving the area, so owning a more expensive home might not actually give more financial freedom. I also learned about the cash flow diagram, which explained the importance of maintaining actives, owning a company, and paying oneself first.
Despite these redemptions, I cannot help but feel that this was $25 thrown away. I am also perplexed by the fact that Kiyosaki published numerous other books after offering so little in his masterpiece. However, he did say that one way to earn passive income was to write. So I guess he just took a page out of his own book.
And is definitely having success with it.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !Apparently this book had revolutionized personal finances. It makes sense — being told that working will not bring financial freedom and hearing about something called “financial literacy” must have been groundbreaking. However, 20 years later, the…
carolwu96's rating:
Added Feb 14, 2020
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Harari divides world history into four sections: the Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, the Unification of Humankind, and the Scientific Revolution. These are roughly arranged in chronological order, but their effects overlap and still heavily influence us today.
This is a horrendous oversimplification of his ideas but:
🍍The Cognitive Revolution allowed humans to believe in things that do not physically exist (myths, religions, government, money, etc) which encouraged us to work in bigger groups. Although humans are physically weak, we can hunt bigger animals and increase our population because we collaborate more.
🍍The Agricultural Revolution changed our diet for the worse but tied us to our lands, which further allowed social systems to evolve. We also began to heavily alter the surrounding environment to our benefit.
🍍 The Unification of Humankind through global trade systems, colonization and capitalism assimilated the lifestyles of distinct communities.
🍍 The Scientific Revolution started with a curious mindset that admitted ignorance and believed in progress. It was such a one that pushed European sailors to go “explore” and one that still powers our experiments today. Since capitalism pushes science to spur technological advances, our lives are also guided by such changes.
Harari not only delineates these revolutions but also consistently returns to two questions:
🐋 Where does the future of humankind lie?
🐋 Did we actually increase human happiness through these revolutions?
Unfortunately, these questions are very difficult to answer, and after evaluating both sides of the argument I just want to say that prospering as a species does not mean increased happiness for individuals, and vice versa.
Since the book’s publication, many of the ideas in this book have seeped into our daily thoughts and conversations, but it is still enlightening to read and understand the context behind them. An eloquent writer, Harari makes reading this book both an inspiration and a pleasure.
Highly recommended.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead !Harari divides world history into four sections: the Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, the Unification of Humankind, and the Scientific Revolution. These are roughly arranged in chronological order, but their effects overlap and…
To All the Boys I've Loved BeforeTo All the Boys I've Loved Before, Book
by Han, JennyBook - 2014 | First editionBook, 2014. First edition
carolwu96's rating:
Added Feb 13, 2020
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I have not read YA fiction in forever and have never been a big fan of romance, but I did appreciate how realistic the narrative was. Lara Jean’s daily life as an Asian, big sister, and someone caught between cultures really resonated with me. Her mental activity concerning her crushes also hit me in the feels! Although I did feel that the book lacked depth, if it was just meant to be a quick fun read, who cares about depth anyway? 🤷🏻♀️
As for the movie...
I managed to sit through the movie but was disappointed given the hype. It not only glossed over the heavier elements, such as moral conflicts and bullying, but also took out other plots to focus on the romance. Just when I thought the movie was going to explore the way two people managed to truly understand each other despite differences in social status, the movie deviated from that too.
My biggest problem with the movie lies in the way it downplayed the whole Korean identity issue and the importance of family. While the girls in the book referred to themselves as “the Song sisters,” in the movie they referred to themselves as the Covey Sisters. Actually, very little was mentioned about the Asian identity besides the Korean smoothie and burnt cuisine, which was superficial and underlined their whiteness instead.
Similarly, while the book put a lot of emphasis on Lara Jean’s ability to self-reflect and the support system within her family, in the movie their main function seemed to be to contribute to the romance. In other words, the filmmakers took a fairly wholesome about high school life and turned it into one about a social Cinderella who managed to catch the eye of the “it” boy.
For more book and movie reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead :)I have not read YA fiction in forever and have never been a big fan of romance, but I did appreciate how realistic the narrative was. Lara Jean’s daily life as an Asian, big sister, and someone caught between cultures really resonated with me. Her…
The Jane Austen Book ClubThe Jane Austen Book Club, DVD
DVD - 2008DVD, 2008
carolwu96's rating:
Added Feb 06, 2020
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I did not enjoy the novel as much as I had hoped, but the movie was a pleasant surprise. It adapted the good parts (concept of modernizing Austenian characters and making them read Austenian novels together) and eliminated the bad parts (long-winded internal narratives) to create a compact, wholesome drama.
This movie actually revealed another Austenian theme — “second chances.” It is somewhat related to “pride and prejudice” (to which I had dedicated an entire post on December 29) but plays a much bigger role in this movie.
The theme of giving second chances is already evident in 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 (giving each other + love a second chance) and 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘦 (give each other a second chance rather than relying on first impressions — pun intended).
But the movie helped me realize that such a theme is also central in 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 (giving personal development a second chance) and 𝘌𝘮𝘮𝘢 (giving yourself a second chance). This interconnection makes the movie a lot more powerful because now it not only has a characteristic that brings the characters together, but also one that ties up the ending.
However, there is one change in the movie that actually defies rather than conforms to the theme. Allegra, the young, beautiful lesbian that represents Marianne from 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 does not return to her concept-stealing writer ex-girlfriend (as she does in the novel) but rather opens herself to another relationship. Obviously I personally approve of the change because concept-stealers do not deserve girlfriends, but this change does defy the theme, which raises a question: when it comes to movie adaptions, should directors/ screenwriters adapt according to their own interpretations, or entirely to the intentions of the original writers? Or is it some proportion in between?
For more book reviews, visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIReadI did not enjoy the novel as much as I had hoped, but the movie was a pleasant surprise. It adapted the good parts (concept of modernizing Austenian characters and making them read Austenian novels together) and eliminated the bad parts (long-winded…
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