“A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I find the writing itself to be highly engaging. I don’t say this lightly, especially with a long and non-linear book such as this. Its vivid prose and flow definitely kept my attention throughout the two weeks I spent reading this.
Yet, on the other hand, I find the story to be unnecessarily violent at times. I do agree with the common criticism of this book, in that it seems to fetishize trauma and abuse. I say this because there are very dark parts of the book that appear crudely chucked in, just for the sake of torturing the protagonist.
All in all, it’s still worth giving this book a try. You might either love it or hate it. In my case, though, I’m still somewhere in between.
On a side note, the blurb for this book is somewhat misleading. The book is promoted as a story of a group of friends, when it’s really more about the protagonist, who has dealt with a ton of extreme (and probably unrealistic) abuse, and is struggling to navigate a normal and healthy adult life. Just thought I’d set a more accurate expectation.
“Red Dead’s History” by Tore C. Olsson
Red Dead Redemption II kind of ruined games for me. Especially when it comes to open-world and story-driven games, I find myself comparing them with the nearly impossible standard that Red Dead has set. Six years have passed since I first played the game — and I have replayed it at least five times since — yet I still haven’t found a game that is as finely crafted in terms of its storytelling, its world-building, and of course, its historical representation.
Set in a 19th century America, Red Dead takes place in land that is recently traumatized by the Civil War, where the old ways are fading, and outlaws are ruthlessly hunted to extinction.
This book wonderfully zooms into the historical elements in Red Dead, explaining the real “hows” and “whys” behind the events portrayed in the game. It also points out inevitable shortcomings in such portrayals, like the game’s liberties with historical timelines, and its occasional tendency to succumb to stereotypes.
This book is a nerd’s dream come true. If you love the game as much as I do, this is a must-read.
“One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission that Flew us to the Moon” by Charles Fishman
When John F. Kennedy announced that the United States were sending astronauts to the Moon, it truly seemed like a pipe dream. They had no idea on how to navigate the journey, let alone the technological resources and capabilities to do so.
It was interesting for me to learn about how the Space Race actually necessitated the invention of many of our staple technologies today, like GPS, weather forecasting, microchips and portable computers. But beyond that, I was actually bewildered by how pointless the US’s intentions for going to the Moon were.
At the time, the US was in a Cold War — or more precisely, a dick-measuring contest with the Soviet Union, to prove which side was more technologically advanced — and for the US to ultimately stop the influence of communism from spreading across the world.
With that being said, I was quite annoyed with how smug and masturbatory the author is in lauding the Moon landing as the US’s heroic mission to deliver the entire world from evil. Sure, the USSR was horrible. But can you really say that the US is all that different? At the end of the day, it’s the same degeneracy, only in different packaging.
Izzat Zailan 