Wednesday Reading Meme
Feb. 23rd, 2022 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snowynightRecently Finished:
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis: A dystopian novel written in 1930s, it is about the rise of a populist dictator. Besides how it became relevant with the rise of Trump, the disparity between the protagonist's self perception and what he actually does makes him very real. It's a heavy read in view of current politics, so it takes a lot of time for me to finish.
The Spy in the Elevator by Donald E. Westlake: After a nuclear fallout, the remnants of humanity live in 200-stories-high towers, each independent of the other. The surface was now inhabitable wasteland. The everyman protagonist is waiting for the elevator so he can propose to his girlfriend on the 140th floor, Linda, to enter into Non-P marriage – "Non-Permanent, No Progeny". Unfortunately the elevator is out of order because a spy is here. When the protagonist takes the stairs he meets the spy, who tells him that life has already returned to the surface.
It's a short story written in 1961, so it contains a lot of cold war imagery, but the world building details and dark humour makes it a compelling read.
Currently Reading
The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett: Currently in the middle of the book. The Rat's hero worship of Marco's father continues to be intense after he sets out with Marco for the mission. It's tragic that there are no fics that explore that. I wish FHB didn't put her Christian Science religious belief in a Buddhist monk's mouth, and I shudder when Marco said his father was going to push this to his homeland. Poor Samavia didn't deserve this.
It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis: A dystopian novel written in 1930s, it is about the rise of a populist dictator. Besides how it became relevant with the rise of Trump, the disparity between the protagonist's self perception and what he actually does makes him very real. It's a heavy read in view of current politics, so it takes a lot of time for me to finish.
The Spy in the Elevator by Donald E. Westlake: After a nuclear fallout, the remnants of humanity live in 200-stories-high towers, each independent of the other. The surface was now inhabitable wasteland. The everyman protagonist is waiting for the elevator so he can propose to his girlfriend on the 140th floor, Linda, to enter into Non-P marriage – "Non-Permanent, No Progeny". Unfortunately the elevator is out of order because a spy is here. When the protagonist takes the stairs he meets the spy, who tells him that life has already returned to the surface.
It's a short story written in 1961, so it contains a lot of cold war imagery, but the world building details and dark humour makes it a compelling read.
Currently Reading
The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett: Currently in the middle of the book. The Rat's hero worship of Marco's father continues to be intense after he sets out with Marco for the mission. It's tragic that there are no fics that explore that. I wish FHB didn't put her Christian Science religious belief in a Buddhist monk's mouth, and I shudder when Marco said his father was going to push this to his homeland. Poor Samavia didn't deserve this.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 05:21 pm (UTC)