|
Corrode posted:Post history: 10,000 posts in the Malazan thread lmao To be fair it looks like the smallest Malazan book is 600 pages and several are over 1000! So definitely not for those lazy rear end reviewers who just want to read some short book and get paid cash money.
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2016 16:36
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Dec 6, 2024 06:57 |
|
|
I do declare I have been overcome with a touch of the 'tism
|
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2016 18:10
|
|
|
Nanomashoes posted:There's also a touch of the 'tism in calling your literature thread mates to make fun of the guy who doesn't like the book you like. It maybe looks like I came running when Mel called "avenger's assemble" or whatever but I was actually reading the thread, i just haven't started the book yet since I am finishing one due at the library this week honest 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2016 19:29
|
|
|
Started this today finally. Not too far in yet, but I'm enjoying it. One thing that struck me immediately was the husbands decadent descriptions of all the meaty foods that she used to cook or when they are out with clients (in contrast to how he describes the vegan diet she eats). It reminded me a lot of the food descriptions in Mo Yan's Republic of Wine; gluttony and people's relationship with food is a big theme of that novel, so I am interested to see how that ties in here as well.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 17, 2016 22:10
|
|
|
Finished this last night. Don't know if I can write a full analysis beyond what Mel already discussed, so just a few observations to expand upon the points he and others have made: - I noticed the POV shift (from first person to third person) after the first part and was mulling over what it was about. Now I have an idea: it's reflective of the perspective character in that section. The first section's narrator is almost cartoonishly self-centered, so of course his POV is all first person (I even think there's some unreliability there: he talks about how his wife's family is immediately on his side, but later in In-hye's section she talks about how she never trusted him and should have stepped in sooner). The brother-in-law in the second section shifts to a cold third person perspective. Even more important here are a lot of the dehumanizing elements used: several characters aren't even given full names (P and J, "the lady in 709") and he talks about the initial sketches of his sister-in-law don't even have a face (and later he has a dream where her face is obscured by a bright light). In the last section In-hye also has a third person perspective but with her it slightly more open; she is obviously more empathetic and cares about her sister, her son, and even the other patients in her sister's ward. She remembers stories about her sister and their childhood etc, she actually takes on her sister's pain where the others didn't. - In addition to the imagery of consumption and parasitism that others have brought up, there is also recurring imagery of marking others. The brother-in-law compares the spot of blood that was left on him by Yeong-hye's suicide attempt to her Mongolian mark, there's also obviously the flower painting, there's probably more I'm missing. - Speaking of the woman in 709, she gets used by the sister and brother-in-law too, basically babysitting overnight multiple times during the paint incident and In-hye's hospital visits (also to my point earlier, the brother-in-law refers to his wife as "Jin-woo's mom" when talking to this lady) I'm going to skim back over it over the next few days and see if anything else jumps out at me. It was very good though, an excellent pick (short and full of interesting themes to discuss)
|
|
#
¿
Jun 23, 2016 01:43
|
|
|
Mel Mudkiper posted:Fair enough, not sure I would really recommend either book for August though as the zeitgeist would have passed by then. Really? I feel like we won't even be seeing some of the actual consequences for another few months. If you are talking about the 24-hour news cycle it will probably have moved on unless literally nothing happens in that time (which seems unlikely with Trump running for president) I'm cool reading either tho
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2016 20:42
|
|
|
ah yea word
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2016 00:21
|
|
|
Lunchmeat Larry posted:It won't have, trust me, the fun's just getting started. I was thinking 3 possibilities: 1) the husband is the one mostly calling her plain and he is an unreliable narrator (also the only first person narrator) and just sees her that way because she doesn't fit his skewed desires 2) the catch-22 of everyone wanting her to eat meat but also having an unrealistic idea of what a woman's body should look like (basically she gets skinnier when she stops eating meat) 3) a lot of it also seems to do with the taboo. I believe both the husband and brother-in-law describe each other's wives as attractive; they basically are getting off on cheating, they don't care about how traditionally attractive anyone is I guess 1 and 3 are sort've the same idea
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2016 02:08
|
|
|
Abalieno posted:That's the difference between just riffing on "literary" themes with the purpose of getting attention and gratify certain circles, and actually having something meaningful to say. What is? Your post is literally "there's a part that's more meaningful in my thing, therefor it's more meaningful". Can you maybe explain why it's more meaningful? I also don't see how people aren't engaging with the themes by discussing them, but I'm not great at analysis so I won't deny if I ummm did it bad
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 17:33
|
|
|
I also think it's weird to assume a South Korean author is writing for a Western audience hoping they would pat themselves on their backs and then give her awards. The likely intended audience for this was South Koreans, who would have a very different reaction to the challenges presented in this book.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 21:54
|
|
|
Abalieno posted:It's a disservice to feminism if the message is that a woman can only die if she doesn't want to be instrument to a man. It's a sick message. That is not the message of this story
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 22:33
|
|
|
Abalieno posted:The metaphor kills her. Yeah I mean you have the basic story down: in a normal metaphor the woman would become the tree but instead we pan out and see it's mental illness instead. I don't see how this is bad, or how a metaphor is bad if the characters within the story don't understand or explain it. You edited this in: Abalieno posted:And the reader is supposed to cheer the metaphor, and her death. I have no idea why the reader is expected to cheer?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 23:57
|
|
|
Abalieno posted:Oh okay, so the whole feminist angle was just a transitory stop toward a much broader stance? You seem to think a feminist message can only have one message: a woman triumphing over the patriarchy. Since that didn't happen it's bad feminism. quote:So, even working from this angle I'm not sure what kind of positive message the book wants to send. Jesus. Why do you think this book was trying to have a positive message. Or that any book requires a positive message.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2016 01:28
|
|
|
Mel Mudkiper posted:Yeah, one of my favorite recent feminist novels "An Untamed State" by Roxane Gay ends with explicit message "It's never going to be ok" Oh poo poo I like Gay, I read her book of essays but hadn't checked out her novel yet. Glad to hear it is good. Also I disagree with abalieno thoroughly but let's put a lid on the "spergy" stuff.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2016 14:16
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Dec 6, 2024 06:57 |
|
|
Abalieno posted:Dismissing an argument not on its merit but on the premise of gender and color of skin is both sexist and racist. Not if you're a white man, dingus lmao This guy's very first post in this thread was "this book won a prize because it is short and reviewers are lazy but want to look smart". Which is the most pretentious and loony thing anyone has said about a book iit, even the people mocking fantasy. I don't know why anyone is even humoring this poo poo at this point, the guy admitted he didn't even read the book right out of the gate.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 9, 2016 23:16
|
|