Review: Happening

Happening by Annie Ernaux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Happening is a powerful book. It is a book that is brutal and visceral, and I did not realise quite how raw and intense Ernaux's writing can be. This is a memoirist at her best, with excerpts from diaries and subtle interjections from the present, the surreal nature of existence drawn out in a way that feels so sublime and fascinating.

Her experiences are, and will always be, foreign to me. My identity is too distinct from her. In this, I am uncertain how my responses compare to someone who relates to them more closely and fully.

I read this in one sitting. It is a short and arresting read. It hurts. It hurts and then it goes and it feels like life inked onto pages, tinged with a little bit of red.

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Review: Bluets

Bluets by Maggie Nelson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am often tempted to send quotes from books I read to friends and family, to share the beauty and to ascertain response. With Bluets, this becomes difficult for every line demands such sharing.

It is a book of condensed poetry, every verse encompassing something of weight, holding in it distilled essences of important things. Even so, they come together in an impossible tapestry that winds and bends and shakes and ripples in the wind.

It is, if nothing else, beautiful.

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Review: The Way of Kings

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Way of Kings is an interesting book. I wanted to love it more than I did, despite the fact that I did love it quite fiercely. Sanderson is a brilliant writer, and while I have complaints, they cannot take away from how fantastic this book was overall.

The Way of Kings is an epic book in the genre sense of the word. It is set in a world that is clearly vast and extremely interesting. The analytic of the world-building is indubitably incredible. The elements have been thought out well, so they fit in perfectly despite being foreign and unique. Every new piece of information is beautiful in a way, holding deeper mysteries that are yet to be unfurled. New words are juggled and lost, but they never feel out of place. Sanderson is at his best in this.

His characters are fine. They are flawed, interesting, with goals that drive the story, but they are not compelling. Their struggles are painful, and they get moments to shine, but I felt a distinct lack of attachment to them. The plot itself, driven by these interesting characters, is intriguing and keeps you reading. There are few moments of deep and complex emotion, instead the book relies on complex situations where you must draw out how you feel in a more subtle way.

Where the book is best is worldbuilding, but alas here is also its greatest flaw. Sanderson's worlds are like Chekov's guns, everything is explained and everything is useful, but that makes everything feel just a little bit shallow. Where there is incredible depth in the exploration of implications, there is little sense that the world is significantly wider than we see. In this, this is a weaker fantasy book than some classics.

At its core, however, Way of Kings is beautiful. It was moving, exciting, and fun to read. Highly recommended.

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