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smtvash's reviews
498 reviews
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
4.0
A very funny, insightful meditation on grief and a myriad of other themes.
Sigrid Nunez has a knack for observations, and there's an honesty to her writing that lends itself for emotional surprises in between the snarky, clever laughs it evokes.
The Friend isn't just about moving on, it's about finding the reason to, the reasons of being.
Fantastic novel.
Sigrid Nunez has a knack for observations, and there's an honesty to her writing that lends itself for emotional surprises in between the snarky, clever laughs it evokes.
The Friend isn't just about moving on, it's about finding the reason to, the reasons of being.
Fantastic novel.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
5.0
What an incredible work of art.
A tale of the afterlife as colorful and dark as the world that inspired it, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a story that's in questions with the mysteries of life itself in the face of horrific atrocity.
The human capability to be the cruelest and kindness things in existence.
As we follow Maali shortly after his death the book tackles some of the heaviest themes imaginable, but Karunatilaka's writing allows us to take it all in, to ponder of it, to be horrified, to laugh, to shake our heads in disappointment, shame, and wonder.
I don't think I'm ever going to forget this book, not unless I end up with dementia in my old age, I feel in parts that it was written for me. Im going to sit with this one much longer. And end this review here.
A tale of the afterlife as colorful and dark as the world that inspired it, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a story that's in questions with the mysteries of life itself in the face of horrific atrocity.
The human capability to be the cruelest and kindness things in existence.
As we follow Maali shortly after his death the book tackles some of the heaviest themes imaginable, but Karunatilaka's writing allows us to take it all in, to ponder of it, to be horrified, to laugh, to shake our heads in disappointment, shame, and wonder.
I don't think I'm ever going to forget this book, not unless I end up with dementia in my old age, I feel in parts that it was written for me. Im going to sit with this one much longer. And end this review here.
Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons by Anthony Christian Ocampo
4.0
Much important documentation on the queer experience of first generation gay men.
As a first generation latine who grew up near MacArthur Park, a lot of this felt so familiar and I am grateful that this book exists and I hope more work goes into this experience.
As a first generation latine who grew up near MacArthur Park, a lot of this felt so familiar and I am grateful that this book exists and I hope more work goes into this experience.