Sweet fruit, sour land is a dystopian tale of two friends as they meet at lavish parties in London. Both of them are poor, living on food rations and have only been invited due to their skills; Jaminder plays the piano and Mathilde is a skilled seamstress. Both of them are strangers as immigrants to England, but also to this high society. At these parties they are exposed not just to unfamiliar foods and lifestyles, but to a much more sinister realization that the rich […]
At usual hilarious book by Atwood (Spoiler: not at all hilarious. But definitely awesome)
(Probably) uncontroversial opinion: Margaret Atwood is an outstanding female author. I intentionally said “female author” instead of just author because I think that in this specific instance, being a woman gives Atwood an edge to make her characters, especially the female ones, incredibly realistic. She digs into topics and issues with such clarity that you find yourself better understanding moments that have happened in your own life. I adore her, and everything I have ever read by her, and this is no different. In this […]
Not Quite As Dramatic As The Title Suggests
This book is the story of Ellen, a hypnotist living in Sydney. She meets a man named Patrick and starts dating him. But Patrick has a past! On their fourth date, Patrick tells Ellen that he has a stalker from a past relationship. We are introduced slowly to Saskia, the stalker, and there are chapters from her point of view, as well as the point of view from Ellen. As Ellen and Patrick grow closer, Saskia seems to grow more desperate and does more crazy […]
Glad I’m Not In Gilead
The odds are good that you’ve already read this book, so I don’t really need to tell you what it’s about. But on the off-chance that you haven’t even heard of it, let’s just say that it’s a page from a future nightmare, a dystopian society where a woman’s role is either a housekeeper, a wife, or a handmaid. Women in this world don’t have jobs outside the house, and have no money of their own. If the woman is the wife of a wealthy man, […]
Never forget your humanity, or that of other people.
Kindred is a first-person narrative of a woman, Dana, and her husband, Kevin, being pulled back in time to save the life of her ancestor, Rufus, who seems perpetually prone to disaster. The catch is that she’s African American and Rufus is white, and lives in Antebellum Maryland. I loved this book so hard. The germ of this book occurred to Octavia Butler after she heard the anger of a young black consciousness activist targeting the subservience in older generations towards oppressive white culture. Paired […]