Jose Thankachan từ Vis, Bulgaria

josethanka9c98

12/22/2024

Dữ liệu người dùng, đánh giá và đề xuất cho sách

Jose Thankachan Sách lại (10)

2018-03-06 18:30

Luyện Tốc Độ Giải Nhanh Trắc Nghiệm Hình Học Không Gian - Tọa Độ OXYZ Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Mẫn Ngọc Quang

This book about traveling to American cities was recommended to me just in time for my trip to D.C. I opened the book on my train ride to the airport, leaving Chicago, and finished the last page of the book upon landing in Chicago on my return. Poetic! I think impressions would be the best way to describe what Cadrescu writes. With some exceptions, he's writing about cities that he only spends a brief time in; cities in which acquaintances host him, give him a tour, take him for walks. That doesn't sound interesting, but it really is! The book is actually extremely funny, something that my review probably won't reveal, because I'm interested in what his experiences add up to—what they tell us about the future of American cities. But first, highlights from the different places: His deepest and most passionate account by far is New Orleans, where he calls home (he's originally from Romania, something which flavors his reflections). He convinces us that he's an authority on the place, referencing everything from menus of favorite restaurants to crime statistics. It gets a bit cheesy when he dwells on the thick swampy climate as a metaphor for all things New Orleans. But what's most striking about this chapter is the fact that it was written before Hurricane Katrina. There's a number of passages that read as downright eerie: “If we are doomed—by the river or by something else—then so be it. This is how nature becomes natural” (7); “New Orleans is...a collection of graves surrounding the city” (5); Describing the Mississippi River, voodoo, jazz, crime, and Mardi Gras, New Orleans becomes at once melancholy, spiritual, romantic, terrifying, and absurd. Oxford, Mississippi's chapter is intriguing because Codrescu really digs in and brings out local culture. He brings tremendous insight to the racist legacy of the south and how it is implicitly communicated today, including an amazing metaphor in which an old money white mansion owner shows him a closet full of mammy dolls. In one of the funnier moments, he sums up the place with: “'Faulkner Elvis Catfish Sharpei Twirling Kudzu,' pronounced as a single word” (70). Describing the south more generally, Codrescu makes the astute observation of the parallel between the architectural restoration craze (or religion, as he calls it!) of old buildings and the “social restoration” ideology of white supremacy. Little Rock is the most boring chapter, but his description of the Ozarks outside the city really do justice to their beauty. I learned a lot from the San Antonio chapter and was surprised by his characterization of it as rather literary, comfortable, and culturally synchretic. Albuquerque is the most fun, in which our traveller becomes obsessed with the magical powers of chiles, experiences the Chicano low-rider phenomenon, and gets drunk enough to dance to latin music. The New York City chapter is great, because it was conveying a singular, specific experience, instead of trying to grapple with the immense task of describing that quintessential city. Indeed, NYC is usually seen as THE city (although one of my urban planning professors argued that Chicago really is the most American city, whatever that means). Codrescu does not write an ode to NYC, but focuses on a single afternoon in which he cleverly captures a glimpse of the city's spirit and form. His other east coast chapter, an account of Baltimore, is touching, wherein he tells us about how his life began to come together, both for his family and for his work. The title “In Search of the American City at the End of the Millennium” is brilliant. Codrescu shows us, in the astonishing variety of these places, that there is no singular American city. Or if something can be said to be “American,” it is something that is plural. Then again, maybe there is a common feature among the cities, creating a an archetype: in many of Cordescu's descriptions there lies a tension between urbanism and Americanism, in which the latter threatens the former. The former being an engine of culture, of diversity, where lives can be created; the latter representing unfettered capitalism, homogenization, in which culture is parodied, masqueraded, made ironic, acted, or purchased. He bases his understanding and love of the urban in the great Jane Jacobs: “Cities, she argues, are where human beings, those complex, paradoxical creatures live; they make a world according to their measure, not the plans of utopia-sick bureaucrats” (xiv). Here, I think he's championing the micro; the idiosyncratic; the authentic; the lived; the everyday, while at the same time establishing credibility for his own narrative of the city. Cordescu wrote this during the late 90s, at at time when there was a trend of cities “coming back:” people returning from the suburbs, new post-industrial development, tourism, gentrification, etc. Cordescu knows that cities have soul, and are to be defended: “I believe that we are at a crossroads of America. The dying city is being rethought, but it is still being attacked and destroyed (though at a slower pace)” (xix). Cordescu is ready to fight for cities, and gives us hope for them, by indicating we're winning.

2018-03-06 19:30

The Black Widow Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Daniel Silva

I read this book and this book is really good.

2018-03-06 20:30

Quân Vương Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Niccolo Machiavelli

From my book blog: Book Crook Liza There were many things that I loved about The Catastrophic History of You and Me and a few things that I didn't love so much. - I loved that each new chapter was labelled with lyrics. It was fun getting to each new chapter and seeing if I could guess the song. - I loved that the sections of the book were broken down with stages of emotional healing that the main character Brie was going through. - I loved Brie's family dog Hamloaf. I'm a sucker for animals, especially dogs and some of the scenes with Hamloaf even brought tears to my eyes, even though I wouldn't say I was particularly feeling very emotional in that way towards the story. - I really enjoyed the base of what the story was about. A girl who dies unexpectedly and then dealing with the after effects of getting past it. But there were a few things I didn't like as much about the book. Like, sometimes the humour seemed a little immature and could be too repetitive. The love interest of the book Patrick went a little too far for my taste with cheese nicknames for Brie. And Brie went too far with the "Your Mom" jokes. They're really only funny the first few times or on occasion, not as much as they were used in the book. The ending held a lot of surprises that I didn't see coming, so it explained a lot about little hints throughout the book, but I really wasn't feeling the relationship between Brie and Patrick. It lacked the spark that I was looking for. Towards the end though it improved, but even so, it felt too rushed slash quickly explained. Overall though, it was a good read. I was definitely kept interested and despite my love of series, it was nice to read something that ENDED and was wrapped up without having to wait another year to figure out what happens next.

2018-03-06 21:30

360 Truyện Cổ Tích Chọn Lọc Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Hồng Mai

I was both charmed and moved by this poetic memoir by Mexican filmmaker and writer Claudio Isaac about his friendship with his mentor, the Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel, who died in Mexico City in 1983.

2018-03-06 22:30

Thương Được Cứ Thương Đi Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Hồng Hải

It's pretty engaging and no, I haven't seen the movie. Ok, I'm done reading this, and I have to say it kinda let me down at the end. The build up was good, but the insanity of the reasoning behind the plot was a bit overboard and the lack of closure was just disappointing.

2018-03-06 23:30

Chỉ Có Thể Là Yêu - Tái bản 02/07/2014 Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Hân Như

Not my favorite guilty pleasure.

2018-03-07 00:30

Dị Bản Của Mỗi Nhà Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Nguyên Hương

This is the second book in the "Maze Runner" trilogy. It continues from the end of the first book. Thomas, Teresa, and the other Gladers escape the Maze and think that was the end but more dangerous obstacles await them outside. I think the overall message of this book was to be courageous and have hope because based from the past two books, Thomas and the Gladers had to fight for their lives. And they did that by gaining courage and hope because without it, they wouldn't have gone anywhere. Reading this novel gave me excitement and suspense, just like the first book. I felt like this book was just as exciting and suspenseful as the first although I thought the first book was a little better. I guess I could relate a bit to the characters in the book because I think most people faces a time where they need to just stand up and help themselves with bravery and optimism.

2018-03-07 01:30

Đồi Gió Hú - Bìa Cứng (Tái Bản 2015) Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Emily Bronte

A fascinating re-examination of one of history's most despised and misunderstood political/military leaders. It's well written and sheds loads of light on the rise of the Mongols, popular representations of the Mongol military campaigns and Mongolo political prowess and commercial participation that created the first world wars hundreds of years before WWI. How many of us truly understand the legacy of the Mongols whose empire stretched from East to West bringing together disparate cultures and ideas that harnessed the collective power of humanity while wreaking mass havoc on the grandest empires and societies of the age? You'll get a better picture after reading this clearly constructed account.

2018-03-07 02:30

Funny Stories for 6 Year Olds Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Helen Paiba

Interesting topic, but it's a tough book to get through. Definitely not a beach read.

2018-03-07 03:30

Truyền Kỳ Mạn Lục Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn

Sách được viết bởi Bởi: Nguyễn Dữ

** spoiler alert ** Wow I dont even know where to start with this book. It was by far the most terrifying thing I have ever read. The whole idea of someone taking you apart piece by piece to give to someone else and claiming that you are still going to be alive just not as a whole is horrifying. and then to find out that you are awake for the whole procedure is plain disturbing. After reading that chapter I seriously had to put the book down and just breath. I had such a mix of raw emotions. Even though I did not care about Roland I was traumatized to experience that moment with him and just started crying. The fact that these people do not think this is murder is sickening. On a lighter note however I felt that the graveyard was an excellent twist to the plot especially after finding out that cops the knew about it and felt that the admiral was actually helping them. I really enjoyed the ending and how everything wrapped up for the charters. Even though they might not be in the best health or situation they are all alive and more insightful to the world. They are taking what they have been given and trying to make the world better. This book explored so many ideas about the world and how it is and what it could become. I think everyone should read this at some point and really think about it and what it is saying. I will definitely be buying this book and reading it again.

Người đọc Jose Thankachan từ Vis, Bulgaria

Người dùng coi những cuốn sách này là thú vị nhất trong năm 2017-2018, ban biên tập của cổng thông tin "Thư viện Sách hướng dẫn" khuyến cáo rằng tất cả các độc giả sẽ làm quen với văn học này.