Kinda crazy how the RUclips algorithm can throw up unexpected and wonderful surprises. I’d never come across your channel until now but I think we have a lot of overlap in our literary sensibilities! Your lucid articulation and boundless enthusiasm are invigorating! I’ll definitely be shouting you out on my channel. And I have subscribed! Wishing you a happy end to the year!
So incredibly grateful to have come across your channel. You're so articulate and it's an absolute blessing to listen to you talk genuinely about books you so strongly feel for. You radiate this authentic feel-good energy and I'm here for it.
dude, i’ve also been reading some Borges this year. he’s blowing my mind man haha. i feel like i wouldn’t be able to read two of his short stories in one day because my brain would literally explode hahaha. though i will respectfully disagree with conrad! heart of darkness is one of my favorites ever. glad you had a great year man, and happy to have found your channel this year!
I just finished the 4 Joseph Conrad books that are narrated by Marlow (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, Youth: A Narrative, and Chance). Youth: A Narrative is a crack-up and so true. It takes place on a ship, but the broader experience is so universal! After all, we have all been young. It's only 46 pages, so your commitment wouldn't be much. Lord Jim has a slow pace, but it has stuck with me for months. I agree that the Heart of Darkness was the least engaging of the four, and I even read that book twice, several months apart, to see if that second reading allowed me to get more out of it. Yes, that helped. Being so short, I read it too quickly the first time around, so the ideas and images didn't have time to stick, especially the ones that only took a sentence or two to convey. But maybe I've just been exposed to some of those ideas and images in other places.
I just read Fahrenheit 451 a couple of weeks ago and I enjoyed it, but I do agree with you. I liked the overall theme, but I think that the structure and writing came second to the idea. As you pointed out, it makes no sense that Montag starts the book as a dedicated fireman, meets the girl to begin his character arc, but then we find that he’s apparently already been on his journey? It could definitely be better, but I enjoyed it for what it was. I did recently pick up Stoner on your recommendation, so I’m eager to dig into that one! Edit: Now that I watched a bit more of the video, I see that you mentioned Heart of Darkness. I read it three times in college and didn't care for it the first two times, and I'm wondering if it's because we're products of our time, and we're not necessarily shocked by human savagery. The frame narrative of the story sort of reflects the fact that colonialism was taking place in far off lands and didn't feel real to a majority of civilians. Now, in our time, we have the internet and real-time updates from all over the world. We've witnessed wars, terrorism, and school shootings in our nation. We have a much more detailed view into human cruelty than Conrad's original audience, so maybe we're just a bit too calloused for the novel
Regarding "Heart of Darkness" I think it might gain greater weight as you learn more of what Conrad and Sir Roger Casement discovered in the Belgian Congo at the end of the 19th C (the non-fiction book "King Leopold's Ghost" is a strong recommendation if you're interested), and also because the river journey in "Apocalypse Now" is an updating of the book.
Nice! You can for sure read Life and Fate before Stalingrad, it's very, very good. My favourite short story was REM from Cartarescu out of Nostalgia. Looking forward to the book club btw!
The thing is that here in the UK at least, "Life and Fate" was published long before "Stalingrad", so it makes sense that far more people like myself have read that first. I don't think therefore that there's any reason why "Stalingrad" must be read first, and in fact it's still not as easily obtainable which is why I have yet to read it.
Great video, and I already ordered two books based on your list. Don't give up on Joseph Conrad, try other books like "The Secret Agent" or ""Lord Jim". Also - Life and Fate, despite being long, will not feel long, and you'll be happy you read it. It's a book that you can't put down, and it is one of those books that will stay with you for a long time.
I wish I had read _Stalingrad_ first (I still haven’t). But that said, _Life and Fate_ has a reputation on its own, and the word on the street is that it’s better than the first part. You start kinda _media res_ but it doesn’t detract, and the story is worthwhile, so I hope you manage to fit it in.
2. Book that surprised you. Flags in the Dust by William Faulkner. I am a huge Faulkner fan, but put off reading this one until this year. I think it’s a hidden gem. Beautiful writing!
Many years ago I tried to heart of darkness but did not take to it; but in the last 2 years read lord jim, typhoon, youth, victory, the secret agent and now nostromo.I sense conrad is more a writer's author than a reader's if that makes sense. Life And Fate was superb and now on Stalingrad which is a goody too. All the best for '25.
How you felt about Fahrenheit 451 is exactly how I felt about another Bradbury book: Something Wicked This Way Comes. The characters were boring, the dialogue was stale, the pacing was awkward, and in my opinion the premise wasn't fully executed as well as it could've been. I have no idea how that book got so much hype. It reads like a really bad screenplay.
As part of your journey into exploring Russian literature, I recommend the book "Dictator" by Sergey Snegov. Unfortunately, the book hasn’t been translated into English (and in my opinion is criminally underrated), but the language used is fairly simple and could help with your Russian studies. Although it is categorized as sci-fi, that’s the last word I would use to describe it. I started reading it without any prior knowledge, and that’s how I recommend you approach it. Here are just a few quotes from the opening chapters to give you a sense of some of the themes explored in the book: 1. "Is that how people fight? You broke his arm, bit his face like a rabid dog… Are you human or not? You can't fight like this!" 2. - "This is not how wars are fought!" he said, his voice suddenly hoarse. "Latanya is a nation of warriors; it knows the art of noble warfare. You must be joking, Colonel!" - "I wage war to inspire disgust for war. Only such disgust can be truly noble!" 3. "The enemy is just as human as we are. Most of them were forced to fight and bear no responsibility for the war, even though they are terrifying when they fight. I increase the soldier’s reward for capturing an enemy alive, as they have preserved a human life." 4. "I declare a Holy Terror (It’s interesting to compare with Lenin’s declaration of the 'Red Terror'.) against all murderers and thieves. We will make villainy the most unprofitable enterprise, the most self-destructive act, the most degrading deed for a scoundrel!"
It sounds interesting! If you have a digital copy or pdf of it, please email it to me if you can. Otherwise, I'll see if I can find a copy in the future! Спасибо!
It sounds like a good reading year. Yes, reading Toni Morrison will stick with you. She's a master storyteller, and her use of language always grabs me. Her work is magical realism (think of Gabriel Garcia Marquez), and she constantly thinks about the community. Her stories are layered and challenge the reader to think outside of binaries. She's one of my favorite writers, and I go back to her work because there is another layer to explore. I'm looking forward to reading The Idiot and Anton Chekhov's plays in 2025. Happy New Year!
Since you mentioned Joseph Conrad, I've only read one of his short stories (or perhaps a novelette?) named Amy Foster. I don't know whether it's a thing with Conrad's writing style, but the story had a suffocating sense of isolation and hopelessness. Not to say it's a bad story, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked.
One book I thought I would love/ is also the biggest let down- Blood Meridian, I don’t know if it was over hyped and had such big expectations, it was cool for a little but in the end it was plotless and I had no connection with any of the characters!
The issue is that all of these modern dystopian novels are products of industrial society and mass consumption lol. It has to get vetted through the system. The best critiques of modern society are obscure or forbidden texts, which 1984 or Brave New World aren't. I will admit, they're good for introducing people to the ideas, but when you write it as fiction there will always be people who assume it is!
@@hanadiamin6914 Let's start with this: the 'right wing' is anything that disagrees with the vague concepts of 'progress' and social liberalism. As such, the majority of banned or suppressed ideologies are labeled 'alt-right,' when in reality they could be anywhere on the political spectrum. Even socialists are considered right-wingers by that definition. So that's where you should look first if you're interested in political texts-- a guy named Ted comes to mind. Other than that, there's the esoteric and occult texts. I treat these as more of a curiosity and I can't recommend any in good faith. C.S. Lewis is not obscure but certainly underappreciated, and that's who I would recommend for an all-encompassing view of spirituality and politics. He's not a run-of-the-mill Christian apologetic, he's borderline prophetic. Start with the Screwtape Letters, then the Space Trilogy, Mere Christianity, the Abolition of Man, the Great Divorce, etc.
Philologists wrote that Joyce had the greatest influence on Faulkner... I didn't believe it, but I believed people smarter than me. When I first read Conrad's novels: "Heart of Darkness", "Lord Jim"... then I realized who Faulkner's main teacher was. P. S. I was glad to see my comment in the video :) P.S. P. S. На каком уровне изучения русского языка вы находитесь? Вы уже читаете по-русски?
A few responses to your tags : the saddest book was "Confessions of a Mask". Even had I not known how his life ended, his eventual demise was spelled out on virtually every page. the longest book was "The Magic Mountain" the scene that stuck with me and was like a punch to the stomach was when Ikemefuna was ruthlessly killed in "Things Fall Apart". I just said "No!" and had to set the book aside until the following day. I rarely make plans but on your recommendation I will certainly read "Oblomov" and plan to read my copy of "To the Lighthouse" at the same time as you. I would like to do the same with "War and War", but if you have no plans to read it by mid-year I'll read it then.
I read Stalingrad last year and am about 20% through Life & Fate...not really necessary to read Stalingrad first, and Life & Fate I think is better (but both are good and worth reading!). If you're not already listening to it, the Slavic Literature Podcast did a read through of both of them that are really great
Let's see: 1. Red Rising by Pierce Brown; 2. The Testament by John Grisham; 3. Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille; 4. -; 5. Hector Lozano; 6. Rebecca Zahabi; 7. Bro and the Beast by L. C. Davis; 8. -; 9. Absolute friends by John LeCarre; 10. Cuando fuimos los peripatéticos by Hector Lozano; 11. The End of Yo, Pol Rubio by Hector Lozano; 12. The Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown; 13. Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff; 14. The Hawkling by Rebecca Zahabi; 15. Flawless by Elsie Sulver; 16. exactly what you said
_Heart of Darkness_ by Josef Conrad isn't a seafaring novel... I may guess quite well you will have to find _Moby Dick_ utterly profound and tremendous or words to that effect.
1. What was an overhyped book you read? One Hundred Years of Solitude-I honestly think this is a good book, and written by a genius. But it seems so overhyped to me. In general, people love this book. But I’m not sure it deserves its reputation as one of the greatest books ever written. I’m rereading it now to see if I change my mind.
14. Book you read this year that you would re-read. I re-read almost every book I ever read. I enjoy reading-reads tremendously, and I often like a book so much better upon a re-read. Maybe it also has something to do with my level of reading comprehension?
16. What will you prioritize in your 2025 reading year? Most, if not everything, on Brock’s book club list. 😎 And I made all my answers separately, thinking it might help Brock’s algorithm, whatever that is…
Not a huge fan of Fahrenheit 451, so much so that I haven't read anything else from Bradbury even though a lot of people love his horror and scifi stuff. I'm also reading Song of Solomon this year! Read Sula last year and really liked it
It's not the books, it's us. I found Beloved overrated, and 1984 is one of my favourite books. I tried to read Fahrenheit 451 but I agree with you, I found it boring.
You trashed two of my favourite books ever! I adore F452 and 1984. I think there is a lot of subtle profundity that you missed on your first readings, and I suggest you revisit them someday. Maybe not soon, but at least once again. There’s a lot of quiet brilliance to be found in each work.
I can agree that 1984 has brilliance, but it doesn't lie in the characters or rushed plot in my opinion. I think it lies in the dystopian elements, constructed world, and cultural takes embedded. F451 has an interesting concept, but seems rushed with poorly written characters. With that said, to each their own!
Honestly, sorry to sound like a snob but I think as a reader you only really love those books if you haven't engaged very much with other Dystopian/Social critique style works. 1984, although a good book which is a great reminder of the dangers of government control, is also a rather blatant rip-off of the Russian Dystopian book "WE". Orwell himself said he took huge inspiration from it. 1984 is just "WE" with worse writing. Fahrenheit 451 is a warning on erasing knowledge but done in a very surface level way which lacks much artistry. These books are popular because they are great surface level introductions into the topics they discuss, but in terms of great writing or depth of discussion they are found lacking.
How can someone consider a book bad base on its characters if the whole intention of the book was to not like them in the first place (Wuthering Heights)? I would consider it a success. It was told even at the first half of the book that all of the characters was unlikable, I don't get why it was considered a disappointment. Maybe I just liked the book so much because of it uniqueness and how bold Emily Bronte was in the time it was written compared to her sisters and contemporaries. It's just a thought. I liked your videos though.
The likability of the characters weren’t the reason I didn’t like the book, it was more so how they were used or their development, the narrative style, and her prose simply didn’t impress me. But I have no problem with anyone enjoying the work
Bro, you have to give up on the Instructions. If a book isn't for you, it just isn't for you. I gave up on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas yesterday. I know it is well-regarded and a "first of a kind" type book, but it just didn't vibe with me. Sometimes it's as simple as that!
Kinda crazy how the RUclips algorithm can throw up unexpected and wonderful surprises. I’d never come across your channel until now but I think we have a lot of overlap in our literary sensibilities! Your lucid articulation and boundless enthusiasm are invigorating! I’ll definitely be shouting you out on my channel. And I have subscribed! Wishing you a happy end to the year!
@@brenboothjones that means a lot! Glad you found me. I’m headed over to your channel now!
@ ah that’s so cool! I look forward to catching up on your previous videos. Keep up the fantastic work!
@ ps. Couldn’t agree more about Fahrenheit 451!
So incredibly grateful to have come across your channel. You're so articulate and it's an absolute blessing to listen to you talk genuinely about books you so strongly feel for. You radiate this authentic feel-good energy and I'm here for it.
Thank you! Grateful you found me!
dude, i’ve also been reading some Borges this year. he’s blowing my mind man haha. i feel like i wouldn’t be able to read two of his short stories in one day because my brain would literally explode hahaha. though i will respectfully disagree with conrad! heart of darkness is one of my favorites ever.
glad you had a great year man, and happy to have found your channel this year!
I suspect I’ll come back to it and will enjoy it more in the future!
I just finished the 4 Joseph Conrad books that are narrated by Marlow (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness, Youth: A Narrative, and Chance). Youth: A Narrative is a crack-up and so true. It takes place on a ship, but the broader experience is so universal! After all, we have all been young. It's only 46 pages, so your commitment wouldn't be much. Lord Jim has a slow pace, but it has stuck with me for months.
I agree that the Heart of Darkness was the least engaging of the four, and I even read that book twice, several months apart, to see if that second reading allowed me to get more out of it. Yes, that helped. Being so short, I read it too quickly the first time around, so the ideas and images didn't have time to stick, especially the ones that only took a sentence or two to convey. But maybe I've just been exposed to some of those ideas and images in other places.
Glad you're embracing a deep, steady pace of focused reading. Next year is gonna be big for you, for sure.
I just read Fahrenheit 451 a couple of weeks ago and I enjoyed it, but I do agree with you. I liked the overall theme, but I think that the structure and writing came second to the idea. As you pointed out, it makes no sense that Montag starts the book as a dedicated fireman, meets the girl to begin his character arc, but then we find that he’s apparently already been on his journey? It could definitely be better, but I enjoyed it for what it was.
I did recently pick up Stoner on your recommendation, so I’m eager to dig into that one!
Edit: Now that I watched a bit more of the video, I see that you mentioned Heart of Darkness. I read it three times in college and didn't care for it the first two times, and I'm wondering if it's because we're products of our time, and we're not necessarily shocked by human savagery. The frame narrative of the story sort of reflects the fact that colonialism was taking place in far off lands and didn't feel real to a majority of civilians. Now, in our time, we have the internet and real-time updates from all over the world. We've witnessed wars, terrorism, and school shootings in our nation. We have a much more detailed view into human cruelty than Conrad's original audience, so maybe we're just a bit too calloused for the novel
I suspect you're correct about Heart of Darkness
Regarding "Heart of Darkness" I think it might gain greater weight as you learn more of what Conrad and Sir Roger Casement discovered in the Belgian Congo at the end of the 19th C (the non-fiction book "King Leopold's Ghost" is a strong recommendation if you're interested), and also because the river journey in "Apocalypse Now" is an updating of the book.
How fun to see people reading Doderer in translation. I enjoyed this video. Great channel :-)
Nice! You can for sure read Life and Fate before Stalingrad, it's very, very good. My favourite short story was REM from Cartarescu out of Nostalgia.
Looking forward to the book club btw!
The thing is that here in the UK at least, "Life and Fate" was published long before "Stalingrad", so it makes sense that far more people like myself have read that first. I don't think therefore that there's any reason why "Stalingrad" must be read first, and in fact it's still not as easily obtainable which is why I have yet to read it.
@@tonybennett4159 Same here in Belgium with the Dutch translation.
Great video, and I already ordered two books based on your list. Don't give up on Joseph Conrad, try other books like "The Secret Agent" or ""Lord Jim". Also - Life and Fate, despite being long, will not feel long, and you'll be happy you read it. It's a book that you can't put down, and it is one of those books that will stay with you for a long time.
I'll definitely give Conrad another try. I didn't have a negative experience, just a 'meh' one thus far
@@TheActiveMind1 Try Conrad's The Shadow Line.
Conrad is one of the greats. The Secret Agent, Lord Jim and Nostromo are wonderful. The Secret Sharer is another of my favourites.
I wish I had read _Stalingrad_ first (I still haven’t). But that said, _Life and Fate_ has a reputation on its own, and the word on the street is that it’s better than the first part. You start kinda _media res_ but it doesn’t detract, and the story is worthwhile, so I hope you manage to fit it in.
2. Book that surprised you.
Flags in the Dust by William Faulkner. I am a huge Faulkner fan, but put off reading this one until this year. I think it’s a hidden gem. Beautiful writing!
Good info-thanks!
Many years ago I tried to heart of darkness but did not take to it; but in the last 2 years read lord jim, typhoon, youth, victory, the secret agent and now nostromo.I sense conrad is more a writer's author than a reader's if that makes sense. Life And Fate was superb and now on Stalingrad which is a goody too. All the best for '25.
I've read both Beloved and Song of Solomon--as well as Sula and The Bluest Eye--I found that Song of Solomon is her best, and most uplifting, work.
Брок, с наступающим Новым годом! Будь здоров и счастлив вместе со своими близкими!
Спасибо! С Новым годом! Желаю вам радости, здоровья и счастья
How you felt about Fahrenheit 451 is exactly how I felt about another Bradbury book: Something Wicked This Way Comes.
The characters were boring, the dialogue was stale, the pacing was awkward, and in my opinion the premise wasn't fully executed as well as it could've been. I have no idea how that book got so much hype. It reads like a really bad screenplay.
As part of your journey into exploring Russian literature, I recommend the book "Dictator" by Sergey Snegov.
Unfortunately, the book hasn’t been translated into English (and in my opinion is criminally underrated), but the language used is fairly simple and could help with your Russian studies.
Although it is categorized as sci-fi, that’s the last word I would use to describe it. I started reading it without any prior knowledge, and that’s how I recommend you approach it.
Here are just a few quotes from the opening chapters to give you a sense of some of the themes explored in the book:
1. "Is that how people fight? You broke his arm, bit his face like a rabid dog… Are you human or not? You can't fight like this!"
2. - "This is not how wars are fought!" he said, his voice suddenly hoarse. "Latanya is a nation of warriors; it knows the art of noble warfare. You must be joking, Colonel!"
- "I wage war to inspire disgust for war. Only such disgust can be truly noble!"
3. "The enemy is just as human as we are. Most of them were forced to fight and bear no responsibility for the war, even though they are terrifying when they fight. I increase the soldier’s reward for capturing an enemy alive, as they have preserved a human life."
4. "I declare a Holy Terror (It’s interesting to compare with Lenin’s declaration of the 'Red Terror'.) against all murderers and thieves. We will make villainy the most unprofitable enterprise, the most self-destructive act, the most degrading deed for a scoundrel!"
It sounds interesting! If you have a digital copy or pdf of it, please email it to me if you can. Otherwise, I'll see if I can find a copy in the future! Спасибо!
Im reading The Tunnel at the minute, its quite good and funny plus insightful
4. Best short story you read this year.
The Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro. Wow. What a writer!
It sounds like a good reading year. Yes, reading Toni Morrison will stick with you. She's a master storyteller, and her use of language always grabs me. Her work is magical realism (think of Gabriel Garcia Marquez), and she constantly thinks about the community. Her stories are layered and challenge the reader to think outside of binaries. She's one of my favorite writers, and I go back to her work because there is another layer to explore.
I'm looking forward to reading The Idiot and Anton Chekhov's plays in 2025. Happy New Year!
Since you mentioned Joseph Conrad, I've only read one of his short stories (or perhaps a novelette?) named Amy Foster. I don't know whether it's a thing with Conrad's writing style, but the story had a suffocating sense of isolation and hopelessness. Not to say it's a bad story, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked.
One book I thought I would love/ is also the biggest let down- Blood Meridian, I don’t know if it was over hyped and had such big expectations, it was cool for a little but in the end it was plotless and I had no connection with any of the characters!
I felt Blood Meridian was underwhelming as well
The issue is that all of these modern dystopian novels are products of industrial society and mass consumption lol. It has to get vetted through the system. The best critiques of modern society are obscure or forbidden texts, which 1984 or Brave New World aren't. I will admit, they're good for introducing people to the ideas, but when you write it as fiction there will always be people who assume it is!
Any obscure texts you’d recommend? Thanks in advance!!
@@hanadiamin6914 Let's start with this: the 'right wing' is anything that disagrees with the vague concepts of 'progress' and social liberalism. As such, the majority of banned or suppressed ideologies are labeled 'alt-right,' when in reality they could be anywhere on the political spectrum. Even socialists are considered right-wingers by that definition. So that's where you should look first if you're interested in political texts-- a guy named Ted comes to mind. Other than that, there's the esoteric and occult texts. I treat these as more of a curiosity and I can't recommend any in good faith.
C.S. Lewis is not obscure but certainly underappreciated, and that's who I would recommend for an all-encompassing view of spirituality and politics. He's not a run-of-the-mill Christian apologetic, he's borderline prophetic. Start with the Screwtape Letters, then the Space Trilogy, Mere Christianity, the Abolition of Man, the Great Divorce, etc.
Borges is unbelievable, you should dive back in soon. I've been reading through Ficciones this week and have genuinely been mind blown at his genius.
The influence he has is exemplified by the fact that like Rabelais and Kafka his name is now used as a literary adjective.
Philologists wrote that Joyce had the greatest influence on Faulkner... I didn't believe it, but I believed people smarter than me. When I first read Conrad's novels: "Heart of Darkness", "Lord Jim"... then I realized who Faulkner's main teacher was.
P. S. I was glad to see my comment in the video :)
P.S. P. S. На каком уровне изучения русского языка вы находитесь? Вы уже читаете по-русски?
Вероятно А2, и я пока не читаю на русском языке - только короткие тексты
A few responses to your tags :
the saddest book was "Confessions of a Mask". Even had I not known how his life ended, his eventual demise was spelled out on virtually every page.
the longest book was "The Magic Mountain"
the scene that stuck with me and was like a punch to the stomach was when Ikemefuna was ruthlessly killed in "Things Fall Apart". I just said "No!" and had to set the book aside until the following day.
I rarely make plans but on your recommendation I will certainly read "Oblomov" and plan to read my copy of "To the Lighthouse" at the same time as you. I would like to do the same with "War and War", but if you have no plans to read it by mid-year I'll read it then.
Oblomov won’t disappoint!
I read Stalingrad last year and am about 20% through Life & Fate...not really necessary to read Stalingrad first, and Life & Fate I think is better (but both are good and worth reading!). If you're not already listening to it, the Slavic Literature Podcast did a read through of both of them that are really great
I’ll check it out!
Let's see: 1. Red Rising by Pierce Brown; 2. The Testament by John Grisham; 3. Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille; 4. -; 5. Hector Lozano; 6. Rebecca Zahabi; 7. Bro and the Beast by L. C. Davis; 8. -; 9. Absolute friends by John LeCarre; 10. Cuando fuimos los peripatéticos by Hector Lozano; 11. The End of Yo, Pol Rubio by Hector Lozano; 12. The Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown; 13. Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff; 14. The Hawkling by Rebecca Zahabi; 15. Flawless by Elsie Sulver; 16. exactly what you said
_Heart of Darkness_ by Josef Conrad isn't a seafaring novel... I may guess quite well you will have to find _Moby Dick_ utterly profound and tremendous or words to that effect.
1. What was an overhyped book you read?
One Hundred Years of Solitude-I honestly think this is a good book, and written by a genius. But it seems so overhyped to me. In general, people love this book. But I’m not sure it deserves its reputation as one of the greatest books ever written. I’m rereading it now to see if I change my mind.
14. Book you read this year that you would re-read.
I re-read almost every book I ever read. I enjoy reading-reads tremendously, and I often like a book so much better upon a re-read. Maybe it also has something to do with my level of reading comprehension?
I’m excited for a few re-reads next year myself!
Song of Solomon is brilliant!
16. What will you prioritize in your 2025 reading year?
Most, if not everything, on Brock’s book club list. 😎
And I made all my answers separately, thinking it might help Brock’s algorithm, whatever that is…
7. What is the happiest book you read this year?
I tend to avoid happy books. 😅
Not a huge fan of Fahrenheit 451, so much so that I haven't read anything else from Bradbury even though a lot of people love his horror and scifi stuff. I'm also reading Song of Solomon this year! Read Sula last year and really liked it
Like he said I like the idea but it’s easily the worst of the dystopian novels that always get mentioned like 1984 or Brave New World
It's not the books, it's us. I found Beloved overrated, and 1984 is one of my favourite books. I tried to read Fahrenheit 451 but I agree with you, I found it boring.
You trashed two of my favourite books ever! I adore F452 and 1984. I think there is a lot of subtle profundity that you missed on your first readings, and I suggest you revisit them someday. Maybe not soon, but at least once again. There’s a lot of quiet brilliance to be found in each work.
I can agree that 1984 has brilliance, but it doesn't lie in the characters or rushed plot in my opinion. I think it lies in the dystopian elements, constructed world, and cultural takes embedded. F451 has an interesting concept, but seems rushed with poorly written characters. With that said, to each their own!
Orwell himself said he was a pamphleteer. I also think he wasn't an artist, he was a "pamphleteer"...
Honestly, sorry to sound like a snob but I think as a reader you only really love those books if you haven't engaged very much with other Dystopian/Social critique style works.
1984, although a good book which is a great reminder of the dangers of government control, is also a rather blatant rip-off of the Russian Dystopian book "WE". Orwell himself said he took huge inspiration from it. 1984 is just "WE" with worse writing.
Fahrenheit 451 is a warning on erasing knowledge but done in a very surface level way which lacks much artistry.
These books are popular because they are great surface level introductions into the topics they discuss, but in terms of great writing or depth of discussion they are found lacking.
How can someone consider a book bad base on its characters if the whole intention of the book was to not like them in the first place (Wuthering Heights)? I would consider it a success. It was told even at the first half of the book that all of the characters was unlikable, I don't get why it was considered a disappointment.
Maybe I just liked the book so much because of it uniqueness and how bold Emily Bronte was in the time it was written compared to her sisters and contemporaries.
It's just a thought. I liked your videos though.
The likability of the characters weren’t the reason I didn’t like the book, it was more so how they were used or their development, the narrative style, and her prose simply didn’t impress me. But I have no problem with anyone enjoying the work
Bro, you have to give up on the Instructions. If a book isn't for you, it just isn't for you. I gave up on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas yesterday. I know it is well-regarded and a "first of a kind" type book, but it just didn't vibe with me. Sometimes it's as simple as that!
I feel no rush or obligation, but I'll give it another lax try in the future