Books & Hamsters @booksandhamsters - Tumblr Blog

A Game of Thrones (ASOIAF #1) or how to rate a book?

I am torn between my love (addiction?) for this universe, the colourful maps, and the division into houses that are archetypes of characters. Some characters are unforgettable.

But it is too modern, and this guy (Ned) is sooooo naive. Why do you do what you do? What can lead to this decision?

But still I liked it. Which leads me to : how do I rate a book? Is it based on how much I enjoyed my reading? On how well-written it was? On the qualities of the writer? On the pace? On the thematics? On the character and their development? On the tropes and the actions?

I definitely rate books based on my enjoyment. Simply, was I transported by the story? Could I die or cry for the people in it? Did I forget my own (poor) existence while reading it?

But is it how I should rate? This way, of course, I will give a better rating to Fifty Shades than to the Brothers Karamazov. Actually, I did not. Because I have never read Fifty Shades. But TBH, The Brothers were not the most enjoyable story I ever encountered. Understood the whole idea about it, but it was boring. I could appreciate, recognise, acknowledge the qualities of the work, but never really rate it high.

And actually, it is not a matter of pace. My favourite book is Stoner by John Williams, and it is not the most adventurous story ever. It is rather slow, nothing really happens, and still, I was not in my body.

In the end, is it really important? Does it really matter whether a book is highly rated or not? I still trust the Goodreads rating before choosing a book, but will I really reject a book because it is not rated above 4? Nope. Below 3, well... Depends on my mood.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #george rr martin #a game of thrones #bookreview #fantasy #fantasyreview #bookish #book #book lover

#bruxelles #gloomyvibe #iamback #tree

#tree #nature #bruxelles #gloomy #greenery

#stopcorrida #animalabuse #killing #friendsnotfood #friendsnotprey #friendsnotgame #corridaismurder #meatismurder

My problem with feminism

I am a feminist, and I have been a feminist since I first understood what it was. Also, I have always wanted to fight injustice, so I already was a good customer for any kind of social movements since I am 10 or 12. I was born in the mid-1990s, and at that time, about 2007, I felt like almost all the girls were feminists or soon-to-be feminists and most of the boys were neutral about it, with a small part of the population still very reticent about it. This very schematic explanation to show how naïve or preserved I was. I had never experienced or realised wat sexism was in my own existence.

When I went to university, in about 2015, I realised that a very small percentage of my acquaintances was feminist. All my girl-friends were too afraid to call themselves feminist, because of the image it would give them, because they were no Femen, and they did not think any type of radicality would be something to turn to. I had almost no conversation with guys about that, like about any type of serious topics, by the way. This was a very upset conclusion: I never realised that people had no faith in feminism, and we were kind of backing down. The story of social movements was everything but linear.

I started observing why, in regards of all figures and statements about gender inequalities in private and public spaces, did not all women choose to be feminists? Is it the reflect of their refusal to have as many opportunities as men to become who they want to be? To have the same physical, mental and sexual security as men? To give themselves the same credit as men?

I have two hypotheses to explain the reject of feminism in the 2010s.

At first, “feminist groups” or sub-movements are way too important in the reflexion. Nowadays, if you want to take part in feminist events or thinking groups, you are immediately confronted in so many dissensions between sub-groups who keep on fighting about all possible subjects: so you support pornography or prostitution? Are trans women really part of the feminist movement? Are housewives anti-feminist? I have NO opinion about these questions: it depends on the contexts and I am concerned about none of these situations. But with this constant injunction to have definitive opinions aout everything, and to label our own feminist course, it is hard to find a place in this movement.

My other hypothesis is about the hard position to give men in feminism. A lot of people are embarrassed by the non-mixed spaces, where only women can enter a conversation or take part in an even. Are men a part of the women’s solution to get more credit or resources? To me, this obsession about how men are or should be allies is another symptom of our own lack of confidence as women. No, we do not need men to agree, because they probably will not. I do not think men can truly be feminists without being ready for some sacrifices.

I hear lots of confusion between feminism and humanism. No, feminism is not equal to humanism, even though there are common ideas in those two concepts. Feminism is about making sure women get the same opportunities and resources as men, and avoid some obstacle that only result in their gender. For instance, if we only hire women for 50% of the highly-paid jobs, this will not mean twice more highly-paid jobs, or higher-paid jobs in general. At home, the logic is the same: less housework time for women means more housework for men. Those socks will not get clean on their own.

We cannot guarantee that better living conditions for women will not lead a loss of living conditions (or privileges in some aspects) for men. For this reason, men can be pro- or anti-feminist, but being a feminist does not make much sense for a man, except if he is ready to lose some of his advantages to be a man. Many women do not want to be feminist because they do not want to hurt men, which I totally understand. Hurting someone has never been a good plan. Sometimes, I lose faith in feminism and I wonder why I should ask for more. Especially in a world full of judgement of women by other women. I think I understand why other women are not feminist, and I hope they do understand why too. And I can’t help it: I’m still a feminist.

#feminism #radical feminism #thoughts #women #problem

Free Time Series (#1)

Being productive is a kind of obsession. A lot of conferences, tutorials and non-fiction books are all about time elasticity, making time and not taking time, how we’ve been wrong thinking we had to sleep 8 hours a night, and or how successful people never waste time chilling on their sofa. As a Gen Y lazy (not that) young woman, and as a French person (aka professional protestor), this paradigm always seems ridiculous to me. What’re you gonna do, if I spend the day chilling on the sofa?

All my dreams and projects will never be achieved. I’ll never become this best-sellers author, or this great humanitarian researcher, I’ll never change anyone’s life, and will not win a Nobel Prize.

But the chance that I win a Nobel Prize are pretty low. As productive as I can be, most of my dreams may never be fulfilled, because other very productive people have the same common dreams as mine, and they have more resources than me to achieve their goals.

My point is not to show how jealous and resentful I am with successful people. But, in my opinion, success has more to do with creativity than productivity. Giving a lot of effort in the minimum of time, or working a lot more for less money is, at first, a significant part of capitalism way of thinking.

But what is life without producing anything? Let’s imagine opposite of the sacrosanct productivity everybody longs for. If I choose to spend to whole day in my bed, doing the very least I can do and wasting as much time as possible doing nothing meaningful, my first reaction will probably be guilt. All those seconds of my limited life are, for ever, lost in the unstoppable race of time. If I choose to spend my whole life chilling and doing nothing at all, and if I die tomorrow, I’ll probably have regrets.

Because, even if you think capitalism is hell, and you’re minimalist AF, I’m sure that deep inside, you wish you were more motivated and more productive. What about this article you wanted to write? What about this bucket list you made three years ago and never had a look at again? Producing is like justifying our existence. What we create is a chance to leave a trace after we give our final breathe in this world. And no one wants to be forgotten. Humans are probably (maybe not?) the only species that master time that well. I never heard of History classes for Mice, but maybe I missed something. And because we are conscious of time, we don’t want it to disappear like sand between our fingers. We want to cherish it, to embrace this only universal resource.

Time is the only resource that makes us free. Mastering time and increasing the number of achieved tasks per hour give the illusion that we are in control of our own cosmos and we are in advance in the race of life.

#free time #thoughts #freetimeseries

Salina, Laurent Gaudé

A story of the desert. The sand below her feet. A relentless sun above her hair.

Her life starts with the salty tears that saved her life. Cursed child, she’s abandoned by a man in the middle of nowhere and left to her fate. A woman decides to adopt her and offer Salina an innocent and pure childhood.

Innocent and pure. Her destiny did not lead her towards innocence and purity.

Beaten, raped, humiliated, Salina will have to face her loneliness and her own cruelty. As a leader of her own tribe and of her own family, she’ll take revenge on those who rejected her, who cursed her, who did not root for her.

Laurent Gaudé imagines a tale about going out of childhood, about becoming a woman, about not trusting anyone after being betrayed. Because no one is born with anger. A baby’s tears are nothing but a call for love. Only monstrous actions create a monster, and only generous actions feed generosity.

#book #bookreview #bookish #bookshelves #laurentgaudé #bookblr

OWLs TBR 2020 edition

Ancient runes (heart on cover or title) : the mortgaged heart, Carson McCullers

Arithmancy (outside your comfort genre) : in cold blood, Truman Capote

Astronomy (read when it's dark outside) : Gold, Blaise Cendrars

Magical creatures (beak on cover) : the casual vacancy, JK Rowling, with tiny birds on the cover

Charms (white cover) : another country, James Baldwin

Defense (set at sea/coast) : the last kingdom, Bernard Cornwell

Divination (random pick) : Butcher's crossing, John Williams

Herbology (starts with M) : Marya, JC Oates

History of magic (wizards) : ?

Muggle studies (contemporary) : Bonfire, Krysten Ritter

Potions (under 150 pages) : Salina, Laurent Gaudé

Transfiguration (shapeshifting) : ?

#owls #magicalreadathon #toberead #book tbr #tbr list #reader #books #bookish #bookreview #bookshelf #bookstagram #bookblr #booknerd

The Mandibles, Lionel Shriver

Anticipation (or speculation, hopefully) fiction of a not-so-futuristic Northern America, The Mandibles describes a wealthy family and their social downgrading through a geopolitical and economic crisis focused on the USA. Full of economic premonitions and a deadpan humour, The Mandibles is a cruel depiction of a country that lost everything they cared for. After a dollar devaluation and some communism-oriented politics of money confiscation, The Mandibles go from a comfortable and ostensible lifestyle to a deep depression, including a gathering of the whole family in one place. That place is Florence’s house, in which she lives with her son, Willing and her partner. Florence was seen as the loser of the family. Contrary to her siblings and parents, she got a poorly-paid yet extremely crucial job as a social worker. She showed her generosity and impulsivity, in sheltering a homeless young man in her basement, and in raising a son she had after a one-night love affair. The family lived with very little resources contrary to Avery, her sister, married a university professor of Economics, with whom she had three spoiled children.

After Avery and her husband lost their well-paid yet not-that-necessary job during a deep and durable crisis, they also lost their house and had to give up their old comfort. This was the same for their parents and disabled grand-parents. In a world where people live longer and longer, daily care of the elderly is a central objective, but it is depending on the possibility to pay, in a decent way, care-takers.

This book is particularly relevant in our situation. Because of COVID-19, some choices had to be made by authorities. Suddenly, we realise that the badly-paid jobs are the most necessary. After considering deliverymen or women, cashiers, nurses as a negligible labour force, as a replaceable commodity, as uneducated manual workers, people start to consider them as human being with an unbelievable resilience and strength. The thing is that we spend our days taking the problem in all different angles and we want to think ourselves as useful. But we are not. I am not.

In such a crisis, and in a possible upcoming economic crisis, other choices will have to be made. We can go on like before, and catch up with the production delays. This implies opportunities to consume more, in a context of technical unemployment. This also implies getting our old life back, with its comfort, with its freedom. On the other hand, a change of system is highly wanted by a good chunk of the population, me included. But what does this imply? As a useless part of the working population, will I have to change my professional activity? Should I give up my freedom and all my privileges? Should we now be confined or almost confined for the rest of our days? This calls for a long reflexion, and for steps towards change. This is a part of our life, now.

As a conclusion, this book offers a good reflexion about the fragility of our systems, and gives another angle to look at our current issue. If I don’t especially affiliate with all political views presented in this book, it had an upsetting effect on my vision of the short-term future.

#books #bookreview #bookshelf #literature #bookish

A Woman in Berlin

A Woman in Berlin is a journal written by an anonymous 30-year-old reporter who lived in Berlin at the exact time the Russian army invaded the capital. From April to June 1945, the Berlin people has to live under the Russian occupation, and pay the price of the Nazis’ defeat.

I am not a huge fan of WWII literature, as I think there is too much of it, and it mainly deals with clichés and nothing to learn. History is written by the “winners”, isn’t it?

In this diary, everything is seen from a new point of view. War is over, or almost, and Germany has to be punished. The woman we follow does not give any of her views about the Nazis. Like most people, she just went with the flow, following some leaders, hoping she will not suffer too much from it. There is no hate, no love, no regrets, no adoration. Only life that has to go on, even though it means losing humanity along the way.

The writer of this diary is a fascinating human being. She is strong, lucid. She takes risks for life, for History, for sharing her story. She uses humour and sarcasm as ways to survive, and to keep breathing, while being turned to some kind of sexual slave for the invaders. Again, no hate, no love, no regrets, no adoration. She’ll describe how women will be – we’re not surprised anymore – the first victims of the revenge. Men are just bothered by their wives and daughters being stolen. Our diarist will accept, will charm, in order to take advantage of the situation. Only her body will be raped, many times, but her mind will be looking for the way out, the way to survive.

The end and the reception of this book go hand in hand for me. Men and most readers do not want to hear anymore about the rapes, about the crimes. Women are dirty from their rape, but showers after showers, everything will be normal again. Men wanted the silence. She gave us this masterpiece. I prefer the latter.

#book #bookish #readblr #worldwartwo #bookreview #awomaninberlin

MAKING SENSE

I can't control my communication

My requests don't get attention

Inefficient sentences

Like bottles in the ocean

All eyes on me,

For bad reasons,

I lose my speech.

Quand j'ouvre la bouche, ma loi n'est pas rendue,

Mes sentences n'ont aucun sens.

Charisme, résonnance, éloquence auraient pu m'aider,