I may be half black myself, but I never really explored that part of my biological identity. I never knew my dad or his side of the family until I was a teenager, and I had lived in an all white family growing up. I can't really say why I have never been motivated to examine that side of my heritage too closely. To be honest the experiences that I had with my dad and his parents were often unpleasant, and that might have had something to do with it. That being said, I found this book enabled me to explore all that a bit.
The whole time I was reading this book I never knew where the story was going. It was certainly well written. I remember feeling at times betrayed by the direction the story was headed, only to be shown that I was a fool for doubting.
I can't remember the last time, or if at all, that I have read a book that made me look at myself as introspectively. I really felt called out on a lot of my own bullshit that I have done in life through Milkman's internal journey. I know that like him I have been a fool many times, and have not been grateful enough for those that have given me much in life. One of my moments of doubt in this story was that Milkman would just end up as a fool at the end and not develop a lot. I was certainly wrong in a fun way. And that ending! He took off flying didn't he?! How is that for character development.

There were a lot of depressing things that happened in this book, but there was also a kind of humor in it that kept it from defeating you as the reader. There is even a line in the book that talks about how one needs that kind of humor to get through life as a strong person. I have myself been trying to develop not exactly a sense of humor about suffering, but certainly a better attitude towards it than the one a lot of modern westerns seem to have. I feel like i am too soft and I don't like that one bit. I have been through a lot more than most people have in life, and I made it through it back then, but now I just feel fragile. And that is no way to go about life.

There were so many human moments that the characters had that I was able to find in my own experience with life. The unrequited love of Hagar, The loneliness of lack of intimacy of Pilate and Ruth, and the foolishness of Milkman. I had a pretty bad unrequited crush when I was young and I kinda went a bit crazy about it. Not as bad as Hagar did though, thank God. I did end up getting over it too after a while.
There was a line that Milkman thought in this book, along the lines of how much going 20 years without any intimacy can hurt someone, and that is certainly true. That is exactly what I have experienced after all. I really felt heard by that. A lot of people are complete assholes when people talk about going through that kind of suffering. No compassion at all. This book had a lot of humanity that the world needs right now. And compassion. I have been talking about compassion a lot in these last few reviews I have done on my blog site, and it is certainly a theme in this book. Milkman has a kind of moment of enlightenment where he truly understands why the people in his life did what they did, and sees the pain behind their actions. That is what this world needs right now. I will definitely be checking out other works by this author, even though the one I have in mind sounds a bit more depressing than this book.

While reading this I had to "get over it". I usually avoid books that show no love to one specific gender/sex or another; the men in The Bell Jar are pretty much entirely written to be useless stupids. There is also much racism and general bigotry from our main character. However, I am always preaching that people should not take the ignorance of others personally (not that this excuses anything, but it allows one to look at things with greater wisdom), so I reminded myself that I should not take this personally, and step out of my own bubble in reading this book. Once I did, I found a startlingly relatable story that touched on many personal issues of my own. Another thing to always remember when reading a book is to ask: is this the character's perception or a fault of the author or writing? Sometimes I see people find fault with an author for something a character does or says, and I do not want to make this mistake.

I too live in a bell jar. I am a diagnosed schizophrenic and I often feel like I am trapped in a stagnant and poisoned space. I do not think the actual world contains this poison, but the space of my personal experience of the world certainly seems to. I am very glad to have read this book and hear this experience put into words like that. Now I have those words for myself too.

The main character's whole journey reminded me a lot of my own. I found her to be relatable on a deep level, even if she is the kind of person who I would never mix with socially in life. I too had a whole life ahead of me as a 20 year old. I was going to college and had optimism about my future and love life. Yet when mental illness set in all of that fell away. It was like someone had put a heavy blanket over my life, and lifting it up to function was too much work for me. I also tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide and thought about it more than once during that time.
I mentioned that men were written to be stupid and useless in this book. Certainly they were, and perhaps that was the unique experience of the main character. A lot of the women were useless as well to be honest. That is also something I relate to with my own experience of mental health. That complete feeling that everyone is completely useless in helping you. Another line that stuck with me is the idea that the main character would rather have something wrong with her body than her mind. This is something I often find myself thinking. I feel like if it was something wrong with my body instead, then I could find peace easier regardless, than if the torment is my mind itself. I think that the only thing I can do is not lose faith or hope.

This is one of those book lover's books. You know the kind, full of the love of books and the written word. Reading this book, I was surprised that it was published in 2005, as it felt like an older classic while reading it. Certainly it is one of those timeless, all-ages stories that I have always loved. I never got around to reading this one when I was younger, so it was nice that this was available to read for the first time as an adult. There has to be some good things left for later in life after all!
This was one of those books that while very sad, still had much human beauty in it. This story was told from the perspective of the german people in WWII, and while it never tried to excuse the wrongs that were done by many germans during that time, it still allowed the reader to move beyond the swinging pendulum of hatred and have some basic compassion for them, even if they were on the very wrong side of history. Watching their suffering I never thought for a moment, "HA! you deserve that, you horrible people!", as mothers clutched the dead bodies of their children, or as body parts hung from trees after being blown to bits by the falling bombs. I think one of the most profound moments I had while reading this book was toward the end when, through all of the suffering, I began to see a kind of sun rising. Liesel seemed to move beyond fear and gain a courage that only those who have walked through the darkest of places can gain. Liesel became the kind of person who would take the whip of a Nazi soldier just to see someone that she loved again. I noticed many characters to the end, after being in the grip of fear, begin to stand up and act as though the threats they faced had grown smaller. Perhaps this observation was entirely something happening to me personally, and not exactly something written in the book. But it is something I tasted while reading the story. Where the sun seems to rise even despite everything. shining through all of the horrible deeds being done as if it is still dark. Yet there are some who are starting to see the light.

Yes, the end of this book is very sad. I was very happy to see Max survive to see freedom after all that he went through, but others like Rudy had their whole life taken away. Who can put it better, the feeling of the tragedy, than the narrator Death itself: that there is beauty and ugliness in such things, and that sometimes they are one and the same.
There were many very human moments throughout this whole book; Little things to shine a comforting candle-flame in the dark of war. They may be germans, they may have participated in horrible acts during that time, but they are still beings.
Another very mean thing in this book were the parades they did with the Jewish people. I am sure this was something that happened in real life. To put such cruelty on display and not have the public react in horror really goes to show the depths of ignorance and hatred that gripped everyone. Let the treatment of the Jewish in WWII always be a stark reminder of the results of hatred. And don't fool yourself for a moment in thinking that hatred ever results in anything else just because you think someone may "deserve it", or that they are on the other side of the fight than you. The descriptions of the Jewish people in the holocaust match completely to the atrocities being carried out in Palestine by the Israeli government. This too is the result of hatred. The Buddha said, "hatred does not yield to further hatred, but only to love". This is the truth.
On a final note, I did seem to pick up a few colorful german vocabulary words, mostly to do with pigs, and a few other swear words. I cracked a smile every time someone said saumensch or Saukerl. People probably called each other those words more than their actual names in this book!

I had read another book by this author in high school, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and I did not realize going into this book that the book I read then was by the same author. That book was certainly beautiful, but it was full of so much suffering that perhaps if I had known The Kite Runner was by the same author, I would not have read it. I am thankful that I did not know though, so I could not be held back by ignorant bias. The Kite runner was a very beautiful story, well written for sure, and also a "riveting" read. It was engaging enough that I was able to keep reading despite all the cruel things that happened to the characters.
From the beginning of the book I had already guessed that something terrible would happen to Hassan. I had heard the book was sad and he seemed like the perfect target for something sad to happen. One thing I realized while reading this book was that I found myself unable to pass judgment on any of the characters, and instead look upon the events unfolding with compassion. Perhaps this even extended to Assef, the story's worst villain, even though the things he did turned my stomach on multiple occasions.
Hassan is an interesting character. The world needs more people like Hassan. He is pure of heart and possesses a rare and inherent wisdom to be content with however his life is. He certainly looks to find the love and understanding in this world, or maybe it is something even more simple than that. People like that often change the lives of those around them. Those that are simple and true. I can see though how there are those in this world with hearts that do not know how to love, that would hurt people like Hassan. In the end when we find out Hassan's final fate, of course it is sad, yet I had to be happy for him, himself being happy and grateful for the life that he had; Being able to become a good father and husband even if that was cut short all to soon.

I look upon the actions of our main character Amir with nothing but compassion. Who would have acted differently in his place? At twelve years old most of us would not face the brass knuckles of an older teen and his two companions to save our closest friend. Why did he not tell anyone then? Consider his relationship with his father. Always living in the shadow of his disappointment for all of his so called weaknesses. How could he, a twelve year old, tell such a father that he stood by and watched something so horrible happen to his friend? He then became consumed with guilt and lied about the money and the watch to make Hassan go away and free him from his guilty conscious. No, what Amir did was not correct, but it was understandable.

I thought the whole final showdown with Assef was a cool scene. Sohrab got him right in the eye just as his father said he would all those years ago, and Amir was able to finally stand up for what was right in his life. One of the most cruel things to happen in this book was that Assef was able to do to Sohrab what he did to his father. This seemed a particular insult to Hassan's memory and suffering. In the end I was happy to see that Sohrab was starting to heal little by little.
I think that Hassan, through all of what him and his family experienced, would still not loose faith. That is just the kind of person that he is. And blessed is he for it. It was cool to see Amir find a faith in his own way in the end as well. I will definitely recommend this book to others, and check out the third book by the author, And the Mountains Echoed.

Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia is one of the most unique anime that I have seen come out in a while, and one of the best. From the first episode I was entranced by the beautiful art style and presentation of culture. In fact, I think it is the presentation of culture that makes this anime so good. In a time where there is much intolerance towards Islam, it showed the culture and beliefs of Islam during that time period in an unbiased way. I can't speak well to the accuracy of what was shown because I have not personally studied Islam, but I am sure it was done well. For whatever fault their culture may have had, the beauty of humanity still came through. Because human culture is indeed beautiful for all of its faults. And so is the religion of Islam. Later on in the series, there is much of the Mongolian culture that is displayed. I am now curious what their traditional beliefs were or are, as what I saw I also thought was beautiful and full of spirit.

The series introduces us to a family that owns slaves, yet treats them well. Our main character is in fact one of their slaves. The show makes you feel conflicted in wanting to like the family that takes Sitara in. On one side they are slave owners, which is something that hopefully humanity knows now to be inexcusable. Yet on the other side, I was drawn as the viewer to actually like this family for their pursuit of genuine wisdom and how they treated the slaves so well, almost as a part of the family.
I think that it is to be understood that it was also just the time they were living in. This family would certainly have been considered radically progressive by the standards of their time.

One of my favorite scenes of this show was the scene where Muhammad dropped the metal pot. His teaching to Sitara had a ring of truth to it. With wisdom comes true power after all. This is a recurring message throughout the show, that knowledge and wisdom are the most important things to seek. After all by the end of the season the characters that still remain in power are the ones that used their intellect to triumph. I wonder going forward, just who will be the "witch of Mongolia"? I am not entirely convinced that it is the main character Sitara, although I think that is the highest likelihood. I really hope there will be a season two, or I will have to riot.

Anyway I highly recommend this show if you like a more intellectual anime with beautiful animation and a love for human cultures.

Klara and the Sun is one of those rare stories that manages to get me more in touch with my self. The main character is not a human, but some kind of android. Yet I felt myself relating to her on a very deep level. I was particularly fascinated by how Klara perceived reality. This was something that was never explained from a 3rd person perspective, yet what klara described from her experience of her surroundings is reminiscent of my own experience of schizophrenia, and how it effects my perception of the world. I am assuming that some of what the reader or an outside observer would find bizarre about her experience can be explained by the fact that she is so fresh to the world. I wonder if we could give a newborn baby the ability to verbally communicate its experience of reality, it would not be similarly strange. She has not had a chance to ground her experience in a cultural/social context like humans probably do over time, leading to humans mostly communicating about reality in a very similar way. Even considering this though, there still seemed to be some ways she saw the world that were strange in an unaccounted way. This was never fully explained to the reader and one can only use their imagination as to what it meant.

I cannot honestly say if I thought this book was a happy or a sad book. In the end Josie seemed to have her miracle, seemingly brought about by Klara's faith, but what can be said for Klara? I found myself anxious a lot in the book that something bad would happen to Klara. She had feelings after all: fear, sadness, etc. Yet in the end she did not seem to be unhappy even though she was alone, fading slowly in a scrapyard. In the course of her life she understood love, and even had some experience of receiving affection. But in the end, I wished that Klara had been loved more in her life. One of the questions that I feel this book touches on are the ethics of creating a conscious android-like machine. In my opinion, an actual being has to experience being this created "tool". How could we, having any kind of heart, subject something to that kind of life?

Another big philosophical topic that this book touched on was the existence of a heart in a more spiritual context. In this book science seems to have come to some kind of final conclusion as to the nature of consciousness, so it is deemed to be irrational to believe in such a thing as a heart. It seems to me that nothing blinds humans more than being sure they know how things work. A good example of this is the man who was making the "portrait". What a miserable way to see the world, if you thing that someone can be replaced and duplicated so easily, all because he was convinced he knew how the world worked based on scientific evidence that will probably be replaced by a new discovery in so many years. Josie's father and Klara, however, kept faith in the heart.

I also wanted to comment on the way faith was portrayed in this story, because it lead to some interesting insights. To others, what Klara believed in could have been reduced to "AF superstition". To them the Sun is just a ball of gas way out in space. Yet to Klara, the Sun in something much more. And in the end, didn't that so called ball of gas bring about a miracle? Perhaps, perhaps not. But it is another point how being convinced of the way things are through some kind of proof or evidence can blind you to truth. The humans would never have thought to put their faith in something that they were convinced to be mere material. And if not for Klara, there might have been no hope. This also ties back again into the belief in the "heart" that was presented in the story as well. Those that saw nothing there did not open a door to something greater.

I am glad that I read this book, and somehow it helped me gain greater compassion for myself. The more compassion I have for myself, the more I am able to give and receive love. What more could I ask from a book? I will definitely be checking out the other works by this author.

while I was ultimately left unsatisfied by this book, I would still strongly suggest reading it. There is much wisdom present in these pages and it is still a fun story. Why was i unsatisfied? well I guess I wish there was more story here. It was rather short, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but mainly I felt like some of the story itself was sacrificed for the sake of presenting philosophy. I was just left wanting more from it even though it said what it wanted to say. The philosophy presented is a bit of a unique spin on the general essence of classic spiritual teachings, although I am not familiar with alchemy so it may be more accurate to that interpretation of truth. It was certainly inspiring to me to not give up searching for my own journey in life, and to take opportunities when they come. I can't ever let myself think that I am unable to live life to the fullest, or go on an adventure. We all can pursue our "personal legends". All in all it was still a good book, and I would love to read more fiction that incorporates some kind of spiritual teaching into it. I just wish there had been more to the story itself.

This review is from season 1 to knapsack girl. I had seen season 1 and the first movie, Dreaming girl, some years ago when they first came out. In the last few days I decided to binge the whole series again so i could watch the new content.

Where should i start with the review? Probably with the little sister character. This series is, in my opinion, a very good and compassionate portrayal of mental illness. As someone who has really struggled with mental illness for most of my life, I feel like there are different parts of each main character that I can relate to. Mostly though, and most recently in my life, I feel like i can relate to the little sister character. Her struggle to get back into life made me feel very seen. Sometimes it is indeed almost too much to do something basic like talking to others or stepping out the door. Most days i feel like I am carrying around a crushing weight on my chest that prevents me from doing basic things in life, not to mention even having relationships with others. Seeing how the sister tried so hard to not remain trapped in her current place reminded me that I don't need to be trapped either. Other characters like Sakuta's mom are also relatable. I am fortunate enough to not have been in and out of a mental hospital often, but her struggle is very real. All of the character's struggles with mental health are not shown in a way that makes them look bad, or tells the viewer to judge them. Their suffering is shown in a very compassionate and human way and I hope that it helps raise awareness about mental illness in general.

Besides the good coverage of serious topics, this show is also just fun. There is quite a few tropes and anime in-culture, but it is well written and does not detract from the show, in my opinion as a seasoned otaku. I would probably be hesitant to suggest this show to a complete normie, but if you are a well cultured fan this is a must watch. I also love the characters. They all feel like real people. I can't stand shows where the main character is just a "loser" or a "studly stud" stereotype, I like characters with real depth, like how real people are anyway. Sakuta is not exactly Mr. popular, but he has a good heart and treats people well, and he also has a fun sense of humor. He's not one layered and I appreciate that.

Finally, I want to touch on the romance. It is super romantic!! I am a sucker for good romance. I do just wish that Sakuta and Mai would hurry up and kiss already though! But I appreciate the mature slow progress. The way that Sakuta kept himself up for days so he would not forget Mai, and then following his remembrance of her with his yelled confession to the whole school, was one of the most romantic scenes i have ever seen in anime. When I just watched the Knapsack Girl movie, I thought it was super cute when their roles were reversed. I also have to salute Sakuta in being a person of culture and liking being bullied by Mai (He's just like me for real). One thing i really wanted to see was Sakuta introducing Mai to his parents for the first time. I hope they actually show that at some point and don't gloss over it. I am excited to see where their relationship goes. I mean there was practically a marriage proposal in Knapsack Girl with Mai telling Sakuta they should become a family, but they haven't even kissed on screen! Well i hope it all pays off in the end!!!

Anyway I highly recommend this show to any long time anime fans and those that appreciate a good romance. It feels like it should be masochistic for me, as someone who is getting into their 30's without ever having had a relationship, to love romance anime, but somehow it actually helps heal my hurt heart?