celestesbookshelf's reviews
259 reviews

🔖 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list 

🗺️ The StoryGraph Reads the World 2023

     🇨🇴 Colombia pick

▪️short novella: ~120 pages

▪️Márquez considered this his best work, he said in an interview he wrote “100 Years of Solitude” so that people would read this one

▪️Plot is simple and linear. Retired colonel and his wife are starving to death in a small town of Colombia under martial law following the Thousand Days’ War. 

▪️Plot was inspired by Márquez’ grandfather, a retired colonel who never received his pension.

▪️Thoughts: Although this was a simple and fast read it was very depressing, especially knowing Márquez’ grandfather experienced political tensions, poverty, hunger, and humiliation. The colonel’s wife is constantly expressing her frustration and disappointment, she attempts to sell anything she can to have money to eat. When the colonel tells her now the whole town will know we’re starving to death she responds “you can’t eat dignity”. 😣

So in addition to political turmoil and poverty there’s also marital issues and parents living through grief. The overarching theme is a rooster that belonged to their late son. The colonel places all of his faith into this rooster winning a cockfight (animal cruelty) and bringing them riches. To some degree the colonel has been so severely beaten down by disappointments that he now lives in an alternate reality where he simply expects issues to work themselves out. This being the root of his wives consistent criticism. The book is unsettling, most of all because there’s no neat bow on top at the end. The story is left open to speculation on the outcome of the colonel, his wife, and the rooster 🐔 .


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Wow this book! right in the feels 💔 

I switched between print and audiobook, audiobook is narrated by Zamora himself so it made it so much more emotional.

I was born in Mexico but never had to endure what he did as an immigrant. Yet, the situations he described, the derogatory and racist terms directed at him, the food, the people he encountered during his trip were all too familiar.

What surprised me the most was how he as an El Salvadorian was insulted by Mexicans by being called “wetback” and “Indio” among other slurs. This is ironic since many Mexicans are called those same slurs when they migrate to USA. Reminded me of the The Stanford Prison Experiment, how easily people in positions of “power”become abusive and forget when they were in same position.

I couldn’t stop reading/listening,
I mean literally took my phone into shower and put audiobook on loud because I had to know what happened next. 

I don’t know how my feelings would’ve differed how I not been a mother when reading. This time around though I found myself consistently wondering what his parents, his grandparents and aunts were thinking through the 7 weeks they had no idea where he was. And I agree with Zamora’s mother, those strangers that cared for him were his guardian angels and they are proof that there’s good people on this earth. 

This should be a must read for everyone, if you’ve read it please let me know what you thought of it because I’d love to discuss!

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Agnes Grey - Anne Brontë 
🔖  1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006 edition)
Happy to have joined #thebigbrontereadalong2023 and finally gotten AG off my TBR, it was easy to remember why I’m such a loyal Brontë fan. Their writing is inimitable.

This novel contained some depictions of animal abuse which I found excruciating. More so because AG is known to be partly autobiographical and the thoughts of what Anne Brontë witnessed towards animals that inspired her writing torments me. I’m happy that she used the abuse to reflect a persons evil character because it must’ve influenced society’s view on animal welfare.

The romantic plot was excellent in that there’s subtle buildup, mutual admiration of their virtues, the attentions of Mr. Weston to all Agnes commented on. I adored Agnes’ insight into her pupils behavior, the double standards imparted on her by her mistress, and the dignity with which she faced all undeserved criticism.

There’s enough similarities in all the Brontë works to deduct that the sisters  were raised to realize that character and virtue is more valuable than riches and superficial beauty. 

Convinced Murdoch had a lot of mansplaining sort of men near her and she made sure to exploit their insecurities in her works! 

Also, the three novels of hers I've read all feature marital conflict, a woman feeling trapped, a man attempting to nail down the woman etc. This makes me wonder if Murdoch experienced this scenario herself or if she was lucky enough to simply observe it in others. 

This book was published 1958 so I was pleasantly surprised on finding one of the main characters ponder his homosexuality. 

More so, the narration switching from characters and then being omnipotent really highlights Murdoch's ability to explain both sides of a story. That's what I found most intriguing in this novel, her thoroughness in describing how each character perceives a situation and how wrong characters are of others. 

This may sound controversial but Murdoch seemed to make a statement on sexual abuse committed by clergy members. However, we get an insight into the pure love said clergy member feels on a person who later blames him for abuse.

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These stories will leave you feeling unsettled, like you’ve entered the twilight zone and are unsure if or when you made it out. 

Eight unconnected stories without ~true~ resolutions, all of them will leave you wanting more. The excitement comes from the buildup and Ma leaves you expecting some explanation but then suddenly you’re kicked out of that whimsical zone and lunged into another. 

I want to reread this at least one more time after a few months just to see what I discover a second time around and if I experience the same unsettling feelings! 

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Woman Without Shame is NSFW! She is utterly raw and honest about her youth, her past and present, and most important her comfort in her own skin. 

She doesn't shy away from describing the effects of gravity and age on her body, in fact she embraces them and applauds the life she's lived. 

I saw her at the Texas Book Festival where she read a poem, she talked about the inspiration for this collection, the story behind the book cover, (she initially wanted it to be a nude woman), and much more. Javier Zamora, author of Solito, was the moderator and the translator, Liliana Valenzuela. 

The collection is made up of desire for peace, reminiscing of simpler days having ICEE's, and most boldly her sexual experiences and expression. 

My favorite poems: 

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Black Water is based on the 1969 incident in Chappaquiddick where US Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a narrow bridge and caused the drowning of his 28-year old passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. 

Kennedy insisted he intended to rescue Kopechne from the car but was unable to do so. Yet he didn't report the accident until almost 10 hours later, in a televised statement he said his actions were "indefensible" and 

"made no sense to me". 

The incident made national news and is the reason Kennedy didn't run for President in 1972 and 1976 but tried in 1980 yet lost the nomination to Jimmy Carter. 

After all the damage he caused he received a slap on the wrist, had his drivers license suspended for 2 months and probation an additional 14 months. Seems disproportionate punishment for the life he took. 

This novella focuses on the above events from the POV of a fictional Kopechne. It's extremely interesting and painful to imagine this young woman's would-be future. 

The novella was a 1993 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for fiction.

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-S. Africa pick for @the.storygraph Reads the World 2023 

-1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list 
- The "Empire" in the novel has been recognized by readers and critics alike that it is Coetzee's native S. Africa. He is criticizing colonialism, treatment of native people and has a battle with himself on the justification of the "Empire's" brutality.
 
Trigger warning: sexual assault, torture
 
Really fantastic short novel, author is exceptional at describing the narrators internal struggle, his self-image, his awareness of how his age must seem to the women he takes to bed. Just raw and emotional.

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WOW! This BOOK. I cannot believe I hadn't heard of this book until I saw previews for the Hulu adaptation!
This should be a must read for everyone - Butler is an artist.
This book gave me all the feels, anger, pity, rage, tenderness, shock...you name it! Butler's stark contrast of her main characters real life vs. her time traveling present felt like I was there with Dana. I felt anger and indignation for her. The flogging scenes against slaves made my blood boil. Now I want to go and read every single Butler book.
If you've read Butler before let me know your favorite!

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Novel by Amélie Nothomb, fictional but seems to be loosely based on authors own experiences which made that much more anxiety-inducing!

🔖 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list

Main character, Amélie, begins working at a cutthroat Japanese corporation. She’s bottom rung of the ladder and her immediate supervisor seems intent on finding fault with her work no matter the effort.

She faces discrimination faces for being Belgian, for being a woman, for being too young, etc etc etc. 

Yet Amélie faces all of it with her head held high. She is determined to finish out her contract and not break under the pressure to give her superiors the satisfaction of proving their assumptions correct.

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