the-library-of-odessa

[the-library-of-odessa]

- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (7.5/10)

I have a soft spot for intergenerational timelines, I feel that learning the history and future of a character gives them infinitely more depth, and Diaz manages to construct a story around multiple timelines with cohesiveness and a consistent level of intrigue. Oscar is a character you can’t help but root for, even though he is an active participant in his own downfall, you just want him to succeed. Lola and Beli are both strong (and headstrong) women (despite claims that Diaz’s novel is inherently sexist) who felt problematic in a very real and likeable sense. Honestly, I got some Wuthering Heights vibes from this novel with the intergenerational plot, the superstitious undertones and the hopeless romantic protagonist.

- The Woman Who Would be King: Hatshepsut’s Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt by Dr. Kara Cooney (6/10)

I gave this book a higher rating than I would if the subject topic was anyone other than Hatshepsut because I absolutely adore Hatshepsut and I also feel that Cooney did an amazing job synthesizing the little information we have on Hatshepsut into a readable and interesting book. I took notes upon notes of all the incredible (yet unincredible in the way history usually pitches incredible feats) accomplishments that Hatshepsut was able to achieve at the young age of 20 and how she managed to manipulate (though less conniving than that word usually connotes) a patriarchal monarchy to her favour. Cooney delivers largely speculative information without assigning a certain agenda to Hatshepsut’s motivations, I see this very often when talking about Hatshepsut’s rise to power and her supposed betrayal of Thutmose II and III. It’s refreshing to see a woman who came to power through such strategic and intelligent means revered in a way that doesn’t sensationalize her as nothing more than a jealous wife or a power-hungry emotional wreck and for that I like this book a lot.

- My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh (7/10)

This one was hard to give a number rating to because I simultaneously enjoyed and hated it at the same time, though I get the feeling this is what Moshfegh specializes in. The nameless protagonist (though that’s a loose categorization for the main character since she does absolutely nothing throughout the novel) is both incredibly relatable but also completely unrelatable at the same time. Her goal to disconnect from the banalities of mundane life is something we can all understand yet the manipulative methods of which she goes about doing so and the internal monologuing of self-assurement we are treated to make this main character hard to appreciate. After finishing the novel and thinking about it a little more though, I realize that the reason she’s so hard to relate to is because we all have these narcissistic and selfish internal monologues that we choose to ignore in order to preserve our own interpretations of ourselves as decent humans. Moshfegh’s characters highlights the selfish tendencies in all of us and forces us to confront her by watching the protagonist of her novel live out her trainwreck life.

[the-library-of-odessa]

Took a trip today to the secondhand bookstore a few blocks down today to not-so surreptitiously break my self-imposed book ban. In the interest of convenience and saving money, I’ve been doing most of my reading on my kindle and through audible in the past year. I feel this, as well as the hectic last year of my undergrad, took away that special feeling holding and reading a physical book brings. That’s not to say I don’t love the kindle and other forms of digital reading, I find them endlessly convenient, but it’s been a while since I’ve allowed myself to really experience and enjoy books in their physical glory. It feels good.