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another fake cover

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ring - koji suzuki

3/5

i think this is a fair rating. i dont know, i wish i had finished this book in one go because it probably would have made the book more interesting. it's also awful to read something that was published a decade before you were born, which then became part of 'mainstream' pop culture, because ive kinda known the gist of the ring and sadako this whole time, so the suspense wasnt fully there, but thats not necessarily suzukis fault, moreso mine for not being born earlier. and then i read it in the most dipshitty way imaginable, in which i started it in march, got busy with my thesis and dnfed it, and then started rereading now. my bad mr suzuki, it wont happen again. i hope.

anywho it was still an enjoyable read. its hard to come to a definite understanding of the prose's quality when you are reading in translation though, just because english is a lot different from japanese. nevertheless, it was well written, i guess. (well translated?? i dont really know.) i did enjoy the tone of the narrator though.

i really did like the mystery of it all. i do like stories where someone has to spend time familiarizing themself with 'evil' in order to defeat it, and they end up having this attachment to it. like, asakawa keeping sadako's picture on his desk was cute to me. i just enjoy spirits being put to rest i guess.

i thought the idea at the end, about sadako reproducing and that being how the curse is broken was interesting. im not going to say more though until i get my hands on the rest of the trilogy. i am hooked.

i also really do enjoy the chainmail horror haha. i grew up in the deviantart comment section chainmail era, and i probably have around 20 curses on me currently because my parents wouldnt let me make a deviantart account to avoid all the malicious entities. so, im simotaneously not very afraid of chainmail curses and also very scared of sadako. i think every time ive seen the clip from any of the movies of the tape ive turned it off because ive gotten scared. protecting my peace. was ring the first time that trope had been used?

anyways, i did enjoy it. i didnt find it particularly terrifying or haunting, but its midday and i said the same thing about longlegs just to immediately have a nightmare that night. i am mostly excited now to watch the movie and read the rest of the trilogy.

[sonyechka]

Nina Mclaughlin, from "Wake, Siren," originally published in November 2019

[sonyechka]

Happy birthday Mary Shelley!

Mary was born on August 30th, 1797. She is best known for pioneering the sci-fi genre when she wrote Frankenstein at just 19.

Mary was married to Percy Shelley from 1816 until his death six years later - she also described herself as “apt to get tousy-mousy for women” - in particular, her friend Jane Williams. Mary was also provided support for other queer people in her life - in 1827, she obtained a false passport for her friend Doddy, who was assigned female at birth, to leave England and start a new life as a married man in France.

Learn more

[Image: Mary painted by Richard Rothwell c.1840]

[sonyechka]

Bowl with bat, made in Japan, 1870

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beautiful world, where are you - sally rooney

5/5

it feels bold to start my book reviewing blog with a perfect score, but i think i should be brave, and i also dont think i had much of a choice in happening upon such a good book in the thrift store. sally rooney is well mentioned enough, so when i saw i could get her book for like, 2 bucks, i did.

i digress.

do you ever read a book so good it rattles you a little bit? like you can feel its hands reaching into you and shaking you around? thats what this book feels like. i was initially a little dumbfounded by the stylistic choices rooney makes, but once i understood i felt it helped me pay attention to the book lots more (im a hopeless skim reader, straying from grammatical norms helps force me to pay attention [when done well]).

i would say i found these characters likeable, but i dont think i did. sometimes its just nice to follow people around. i love books that meander about the story, and gets there when it gets there. do you understand what i mean? its the same reason i enjoyed david copperfield. sometimes i dont think whats important to a story is the themes and symbolism and motifs. i love stories that just follows a group of people. or one person. like a biography. like david copperfield.

that being said i think there was a narrative throughout beautiful world. i enjoyed all of the commentary that the women exchanged through their emails. it was philosophical and interesting, and really felt like peeking into two peoples intimate arguments. im using the word argument on purpose. i love arguments and discourse. im probably particularly soft on this book because i think discourse is one of the only ways to build a loving relationship, and its especially heartwarming when its done with love, too, like how eileen and alice do.

the progression of the story itself was also done really well. and i guess this is more of the narrative. or maybe actually the most important part. is the idea that all of us are only ever experiencing the moment of our life that we are stuck in. and we have no choice but to believe in every moment that we will be stuck there, in that millisecond of our life, that we cant always see the rest of the world coming at us when it does. its only once were weeks or months or years removed that we realize that were somewhere new and that this is what our life is, at least for now. and the book takes you, as the reader through that process. sometimes you feel just as stuck with the character, and sometimes you can see past what they cannot, and youre just waiting for them to take another step.

i think i should probably find a better way to write book reviews. anyways. i enjoyed it, i think it was well written aswell as thought provoking and interesting. i want to read more sally rooney

[sonyechka]

i wish there were a letterboxd for books

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Sally Rooney, Beautiful World, Where Are You

[Text ID: And I want that—to prove that the most ordinary thing about human beings is not violence or greed but love and care. To prove it to whom, I wonder. Myself, maybe.]

[sonyechka]

so true sally rooney. church IS romantic

[sonyechka]

let the right one in was good. shld reread n start writing

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Let the Right One In (Låt den Rätte Komma In), 2008, dir. Tomas Alfredson

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currently reading: tell me how long the train's been gone - james baldwin

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If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin

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Mary Shelley’s Mathilda

summer semester art project, acrylic on canvas

more pictures and text under the cut

Short novelette Mathilda written by Mary Shelley, the mother of Frankenstein herself, touched me in a certain way since the very moment I read it. Is it the authors writing style? The autobiographical elements snuck into it? The book not being shy portraying taboo elements and feminist ideas, unlike great majority of other books written in the early 19th century? Perhaps all of it.

I really wanted to pay homage to this piece of literature, moments in the plot that struck with me, and to Mary Shelley herself. Correct me if i’m mistaken, but to this day I don’t think there’s any collection of illustrations nor paintings inspired by this written piece, and I’m very proud and honoured to be the first one!

Here! Despite disagreements on my vision between me and my art professors, initial frustration with the poses (incredible thanks to my friend @the-gay-sailor for helping and mental support), months of work when i felt like what I’m doing is pointless, I am ready and satisfied with the result.

I hope you enjoy it as equally as I do :]

[sonyechka]

nothing, my lord