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Wallace Stegner's writing influenced Richard Ford's writing greatly it seems to me. It's the slapstick jokey narrative style of the main character. Stegner is always referencing famous authors and thinkers from Ancient Greece on. Flaunt your literariness why not, I like it.

I pretty much am the narrator.

"There are lots of perfectly pleasant people whom I like but I don't see them I don't miss them " I might have a lot in common with Joe!

Mary Shelley is a new favorite author! What an interesting mind that could create such a story, I can't believe it took me so long to read this. All of the philosophical questions it raises are interesting. Maybe the genesis of the story was her reaction to emerging tech at the time? Whatever that was then....early 1800s...steam engines? maybe hmmmmmm

LOL The monster has a greed to remove to South America where there aren't any people! There are only people in Europe!

Also to show compassion is to "compassionate"! I'm using this archaic language on someone today. I will SHEW them lol! Really love this book.

Somehow, Mr F can breathe life into things...we don't know how...that's fine. It's the philosophical and practical questions this poses that matter.
Also it's a fun read. Archaic language written with great ARDOUR and PASSION!
A fun read...

This book is deeply affecting but also somehow a dullish read hate to say it...

I would have been pissed at grandma for making me move to NK that is for sure.

"It's called a guitar...the instrument of choice for playing "the blues" which is a form of American music that chronicles the pain caused by poor decision making."

LOFL 🤣🤣🤣

Notions of identity being mottled and confused in this book remind me of Philip K Dicks writing. Jun Do not really being an orphan but called one and treated like one. Heroes are fabricated. Who's who? Then he becomes Commander Ga in a case of mistaken identity(?) created identity? We shall see.

Because this is modern popular fiction and is written with what I call a cinematic quality I thought it would be the kind of book that clubs you over the head with its themes. Not so! Great book thus far.

If one could transmit the general attitude of the average New Yorker into a majority of the North Korean population the revolution would be swift lol. The extent to which the wills and minds of the NK population have been subdued and rattled with propaganda is intense. Hard to believe a "society" as feudal can still exist.

truly enjoyable, the dialogue of the American soldiers aboard the "fishing" vessel is funny

There's a lot of dialogue that screams "THIS IS WHAT ITS LIKE IN NORTH KOREA!" a little overt but that's cool. I'm going to assume that the kidnappings and other horrors attributed to the regime are true as this book is supposed to tell me what living there is like? Written by a western professor? OK I'll buy it I guess.

So far so good. Wanted to learn more about NK.

I think that if anything in the world stands proven...(infill with MT exaggerative wit)... it is that Mrs. Eddy is not capable of thinking upon high planes, nor of reasoning clearly nor writing intelligently upon low ones.

Oh if only MT had known that MBE was a morphine addict! Then she really would've gotten shredded. As it is he makes her out to be a hyper ambitious, selfish, money grubbing tyrant...who is bad with words.

Mary Baker Eddy was an incredibly ANNOYING person it seems. Manipulative, selfish and driven. It makes sense that she was addicted to morphine. She needed to pay for it and CS certainly did that! But seriously intellects like MT will never convince anyone of faith in anything Christian related that their God isn't real, such is the nature of faith.

The initial pages of this remind me that MT is so funny and easy to read. I an also reminded that humans are really good at deluding themselves when they want to.

Totally sexist, racist and incredibly violent. Also very enjoyable however. Ah Hemingway pretty sure I would rather read you than have been your friend.

A quick and engaging read. Hard to read all the blatant racist or at least crudely racial stuff.

The only Hemingway novel I haven't read. Maybe not his "best" but I bet it'll be enjoyable.