Reviews and Comments

DavidB

David@ramblingreaders.org

Joined 1 year, 10 months ago

Frenchman in Japan. I used to be a graduate student in literature, but now I'm happy when I find the time to open a book (currently working on doing that more often, though).

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Neil Gaiman: The Sandman - Overture (2015, DC Vertigo) 4 stars

Presents the Sandman's origin story from the birth of a galaxy to the moment that …

Uneven

4 stars

Let's start with the good: The art. Probably the best art of all of the Sandman series. The writing. Some parts are Neil Gaiman at his best.

The not-so-good: I was quite disappointed by the ending. It's way too abrupt. It feels like one episode or two are missing. In the many notes written by the different people involved in the making of the book (that can be found at the end of the book), Gaiman mentioned that he had to trim some ideas in order to fit the story into six episodes, and unfortunately, you can feel it. The end of episode 5 almost feels like the midway point of the story, even halfway through episode six, it feels far from being over. Then, a couple of pages later, everything is solved and resolved, somehow.

Romain Pigeaud: Lascaux (Paperback, français language, CNRS Éditions) 4 stars

Très instructif and aussi complet que possible.

4 stars

J'ai beaucoup aimé la lecture de cet ouvrage dédié à la grotte ornée la plus célèbre de monde. L'auteur essaie d'être le plus exhaustif possible. On commence par l'historique de la grotte depuis sa découverte, une description très complète et détaillée des oeuvres que l'on y trouve, ainsi qu'un aperçu d'un état actuel des connaissances archéologiques à son sujet.

L'auteur est le plus objectif possible, surtout quand il s'agit de s'aventurer dans les interprétations liées à la grotte. (En gros : on ne sait pas grand chose, mais parfois les auteurs et chercheurs n'aiment pas trop admettre cela et se laissent aller à des interprétations un peu hasardeuses). Les rares fois où il donne son avis, il le fait en précisant bien qu'il s'agit de son avis et pas de la "vérité."

Bref, un livre d'une grande utilité pour qui veut mieux connaître et mieux comprendre Lascaux.

Petit bémol : …

Emily St. John Mandel: Sea of Tranquility (Hardcover, 2022, Knopf) 4 stars

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled …

Beautiful

4 stars

I didn't think I'd love this book as much as I did. It was a fascinating story, with very compelling characters. I love the references to Station Eleven (and I'm hearing that there's even more with Glass Hotel that I haven't read yet). The pandemic is woven into the story in a very sensible way that really spoke to me. My only criticism is that it's too short. Some characters and storylines really should have been more developed. Maybe in future books, as it seems that the author is slowly building a more or less shared universe.

reviewed Salade César by Josselin Duparcmeur

Josselin Duparcmeur, Karibou: Salade César (Paperback, 2020, DELCOURT) 5 stars

De l'humour con comme je l'adore.

5 stars

César est pénible, de plus en plus de monde a envie de se débarrasser de lui, surtout Brutus (même si ses motivations sont douteuses selon ses co-comploteurs). Ça c'est l'histoire (spoilers: César meurt à la fin). Tout le reste est une série de gags parfois (souvent?) absurdes, et toujours hilarants. Je recommande chaudement.

René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo, Jean-Yves Ferri, Didier Conrad: Astérix et le Griffon (Hardcover, French language, 2021, ALBERT RENE) 4 stars

Pas si mal

3 stars

Bon, les Astérix post-Goscinny c'est pas trop ça. Je ne les ai pas tous lus, mais certains étaient vraiment pitoyables. Quand ma mère a offert celui-ci à mes enfants, je ne savais pas trop qu'en faire. Je me suis finalement décidé à le leur lire ces jours-ci, et finalement, il n'est pas si mal. Pas un chef d'oeuvre, pas du niveau de Goscinny (mais personne ne l'égalera jamais), mais ça se laisse lire.

reviewed Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman (Sandman library -- 7)

Neil Gaiman: Brief Lives (Hardcover, 1999, DC Comics) 5 stars

A comic saga that chronicles the efforts of Delirium and her brother, Dream, to journey …

A masterpiece

5 stars

Rereading Sandman for the first time in 20 years, it is so far my favorite volume, probably because it's one narrative unit centering around Dream and his family.

Previous volumes had amazing stories too, but there was a lack of unity in some of them (not to mention a lack of the main character). Yet, a lot of these previous stories were necessary to establish a lot of the things that make this one story as well as the following ones the masterpieces that they are. As, if I remember well, each volume gets better than the previous one at this point.

Can't wait to read volume 8 again. Probably in a few days.

finished reading Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman (Sandman library -- 7)

Neil Gaiman: Brief Lives (Hardcover, 1999, DC Comics) 5 stars

A comic saga that chronicles the efforts of Delirium and her brother, Dream, to journey …

Rereading Sandman for the first time in 20 years, it is so far my favorite volume, probably because it's one narrative unit centering around Dream and his family, not sure. What I think I remember, though is that it only gets better and better from then on. Can't wait to read volume 8 again. Probably in a few days.