literarychronicles's reviews
690 reviews

 This debut novel was thought-provoking, intriguing, & left me thinking about it for days. I was mind-blown by how thorough the author was. All aspects of society that'd be affected were discussed.

I was hooked from the very first page. It started off as a dystopian novel with magical realism elements. However, as the story developed, it became more of a social commentary/ character study.

One fine day, every person over 22 years old woke up to find a box with a string outside their doors. This string told how many years each person has left to live. This book studies how each person reacts to the string & how society changes as a result.

I found this book to be fascinating. The interesting and thought-provoking things that I liked were;

* The behaviour of long stringers towards short stringers
* How people made this just another way to divide themselves & discriminate
* How strings affected relationships (Break-ups, how new ones were formed, love, loss)
* Effortless inclusivity (Different races, LGBTQIA+, Disabilities, etc.)
* Did they die because of the short string or did they have a short string because they chose death?

Negatives;

* The thought that our actions have no impact on our lives was disheartening. An almighty figure deciding the date of death & us having no control of it was a concept that was difficult to accept

* Few illogical incidents like 12year olds riding slides in the children’s park

* No one was interested in where the strings came from. I know this wasn’t the focus of the story, but the story felt incomplete without it

To summarise, I think this was a brilliant study of human behaviour with just minor issues. I recommend this to anyone looking for a thought-provoking read. 

 I knew Stanley Tucci from Devil Wears Prada. However, I didn't know about his passion for food until I read this book. That's a me problem, and I know that.

Stanley Tucci is a Hollywood actor with Italian origins. In this book, he discusses his life through food. Tucci's journey from childhood, family, work, friends, his battle with cancer, etc. is told through the food he loves.

What I loved about the book is the food, his passion for food, and his wry humour. I loved listening to it in Tucci's voice. I think this is one of those books where the reading experience is elevated when you listen to the author narrating the book. However, I wished for a physical copy the whole time I was listening to the book. There were so many great recipes that I wanted to bookmark and make later.

Have you read this book? If not, and if you are passionate about food, I think you should pick this book immediately. 

 “Writing is the ultimate recourse for those who have betrayed.” – Jean Genet

Annie Ernaux usually writes short memoirs about a certain period in her life or about a member of her family. A Man’s Place is about her father. She starts the book with the above epigraph. Ernaux thinks that she betrayed her father by rising to another social class.

Ernaux’s father was a simple, hard-working man who came from the working class. He was able to buy a café and a store and was able to have a glimpse of the middle-class world. Still, he never belonged there and never stopped feeling inferior. However, he was able to educate his daughter, our author, and she entered the middle class he so craved to belong to. She, in turn, stripped everything she learnt of their world, every mannerism upon entering the new world. The author writes this short memoir after his death out of the guilt she feels for rising above her father’s class & for stripping herself of everything that class instilled in her.

Towards the end of the book, she says, “Now I have finished taking possession of the legacy with which I had to part when I entered the educated, bourgeois world.” This book was her apology to her father. It was her therapy.

Ernaux's writing style is straightforward and unadorned. Her clear, staccato sentences pack a punch, delivering raw emotions and personal reflections with a matter-of-fact tone. Her detached tone makes us think that she’s repeating someone else’s story. What surprised me most was how relatable it was. Our experiences are different, but I couldn’t help but feel for her. Any child who leaves home and enters the wider world is bound to feel the same. Although it was a tiny book, I took my sweet time finishing it and had to call my parents several times during the exercise.

I highly recommend "A Man's Place" to anyone seeking a relatable & thought-provoking read. 

I enjoyed reading this, but I didn't like the behaviour of female MC. I don't agree with painting her behaviour as correct and acceptable.

 I thought this was brilliant.

When you read the story of these three women, you think you know what's happening. The feeling of dread is in the air, and you hear yourself saying, "Oh no!". You read the majority of the book disliking Joseph Carter, and then at one point, your eyes go wide, and you realise what has actually been happening.

I did not guess the twist until the ladies were talking about the New Year's Eve parties. That's why I think this book was brilliantly written. This was fun and heart-breaking at the same time. This was definitely not a light-hearted romcom.

In addition to the romance, several other issues like sexual harrasment, self-harm, depression, overworking, and stress were also discussed.

All in all, I loved this book. I am recommending this to anyone looking for a romance with a twist. This was not just another romcom.