brendamn's reviews
363 reviews

Absolutely phenomenal. Why did I not read this sooner?

The first-person narration in this book is incredible, and I admittedly don't really pay much mind to that as a quality factor in most that I read (well, unless when it is unavoidably atrocious. Kawakami is undeniably a gifted narrator, which in turn is what made Natsu such a compelling character.

I am not a woman of course, many of the issues that Breasts and Eggs touches on are issues I can not understand and relate to on a inherent and the most personal level. Despite that though, I'd like to say this book has gotten me a considerable distance closer towards minimizing that gap. I believe it fair to say it has allowed me a more genuine and defined empathy.

It is worth noting that my observation above does not factor into my opinion that this is an excellent book. My personal perspective is not something the majority of readers will have, or even need to have, and including those considerations when it comes to determining quality would be unfair. Breasts and Eggs succeeds based on its own merits, because Kawakami is an wonderful writer.

The ethical debate Kawakami facilitates in the book over childbirth was quite compelling and also posed arguments I hadn't thought of or been exposed to before. It did weigh more heavily on the pessimistic side of things, though I felt there was merit there nonetheless.

Quite a tired cliché, but the book was better. I am not enthused to provoke it, but I make the exception because Stephen Spielberg's adaptation is so deserving of its cult classic status. That this book gave way to a movie of that caliber I think provides credibility to the excellence of the source. It might not be totally fair to give more credit to the book due to the movie it inspired, but I am going to do it anyway.

It is a gripping, suspenseful, and fun from beginning to end. The kind of read where it is frustrating to have to put it down when you have to finally put it down and do whatever life requires of you in that moment. Throughout the book you are lead from one crises to another, it felt a bit manufactured at times but ultimately worth the suspension of disbelief.

Interspersed within the excitement Crichton explores the theory of crisis theory, which provided a philosophical and existential layer throughout. It brought a pleasant balance to the non stop action unfolding in the surrounding pages.

The Three-Body Problem was fantastic, and somehow The Dark Forest surpassed even that. Remembrance of Earth's Past is shaping up to find a place among some of the greatest science fiction in history. Given the short amount of time that it has been out it may be no more than overexcited hype, but I have faith it will find its place among the ranks of those more established such as Dune, Foundation, and others.

This could just be hyperbolic rambling, but I am hopeful time will prove otherwise. Regardless, this is an amazing series all the same. Onward to Death's End.

I would be hard pressed to think of someone who I pity more than Yozo. My main struggle while reading was the decision of whether this was a worthy of pity or general disdain. He is his own worst enemy, perhaps we all are, but for him it is staggering how much he sabotaged himself throughout his life.

Whatever the fault is though, this is a person whose psyche is damaged far beyond repair. While the decisions he made were his own, this was never a person of sound mind to begin with. A fantastic look into the mind of someone suffering so much that they convince themselves they are no longer worthy of being human, but it is incredibly tragic that a book like this could ever be written in first place.