addystape's reviews
290 reviews

Had a little trouble getting started, but picked up on the rhythm (the starts and stops, the repetitive paraphrasing in order to couch the idea just right). I love it. In Mrs. Darroway, Virginia Woolf explores the lives of various people living in London in the 1920s. The book attacks the elite class who absorb themselves in their superficial lives of parties, clothes, and mingling with other members of the elite. Even so, something seems missing as they gloss over the horrors in their lives (the war, the working class, etc). Septimus, a symbol for all the elite is not, acts an expression of the insanity and dissatisfaction felt by all the world. This book is a whirlwind of words and phrases that captures the moment just perfectly. Also, enjoyed Woolf's focus on details (like verisimulitude) that reminded me of Garcia Marquez. A landmark novel that explored a completely new style (stream of consciousness) and uncovered new feminine and modern perspective on the world.

Bicoastal, biracial, and bisexual Rebecca Walker, through her memoir, demonstrates the difficulties of traversing/existing in a world where she doesn't wholly fit in anywhere. Walker is open and honest and persuasively communicates the impact of stigma on her life.

I was not able to put down this short memoir of Wiesel's experiences in the concentration camps. From the very beginning, this book gripped me. As horrifying as it was to imagine the shock of being quarantined, I couldn't tear myself away. The book, of course, left me in tears. At once, a despairing tale of inhumanity on a terrifying scale and a triumph for Wiesel, who through the use his wits and the advice of his father, managed to escape death in the concentration camps.

I love the beginning chapters, particularly the discussions of the Tao, Wu-Wei, and Mu. I have returned to this book repeatedly to reread and think about the nature of Tao, the Absolute Tao, and Wu-Wei.