Exherbo

Ready Player Two by Ernest ClineMy rating: 1 of 5 starsThis was the worst disappointment in years… I loved “Ready Player One” and was eagerly awaiting this second instalment. After all, a sequel to an instant classic? What could possibly go ... [More] wrong?!Turns out the answer is “everything”: Wade Watts was an underdog; orphaned, hunted but optimistic and positive with a great group of friends. In this book, though, he has turned into a vengeful spoiled brat:»I gleefully zeroed out hundreds of trolls in this fashion. If someone talked shit about me, I found them and killed their avatar.«And that’s not the only instance in which Wade is completely unrecognizable. Our young hero has turned into a complete idiot. Even his one-week-girlfriend Art3mis has understood what a douchebag Wade has become and left him.His friends are mostly avoiding him but Wade doesn’t really act upon any of that – apart from stalking (!) Art3mis, invading the others’ privacy, etc. etc.We get told all that during almost the entire first quarter of the book. There’s pretty much just Wade summing up how badly he messed up. Even that isn’t really well presented: This entire part is mostly just boring and partly disillusioning. Exactly the opposite of the light escapism of the first book.Even worse: It’s the exact same premise as in the first book. In “Ready Player Two” we get to read about yet another easter egg hunt – it even uses the same website… Not only does this feel lazy on the author’s part but very risky as well because you cannot simply use the same plot devices over and over – which is exactly what Cline tries, though.Plus: Whereas IOI was the big evil corporation, now Wade turned things around and…»GSS absorbed IOI and all of its assets, transforming us into an unstoppable megacorporation with a global monopoly on the world’s most popular entertainment, education, and communications platform.«… now GSS is not much better, “weed[ing] out” whatever they deem “unsavory”.I found my hope somewhat renewed when Cline introduced “L0hengrin” and her “L0w Five” as the spiritual successor of both Parzival and his “High Five” but apart from a few “guest appearances”, this entire (promising) angle remained unused.The entire book feels like a badly implemented game with tons of repeating “fetch item quests”: Wade and his entourage are running one errand after another. Due to the time-limit Cline has imposed upon our fallen heroes they basically have to rush through those quests as well and everything remains pretty bleak and bland.At no point was I ever excited or rooting for anyone at all. At some points, to use the author’s own words from the book, “I felt no sense of victory, because I had no idea what had just happened.”.Even Art3mis who was very critical of Wade for a long time, suddenly comes around and practically jumps back into his arms without any obvious motivation or reason…Worst of all is the ending, though… A certain device gives Wade the key to (virtual) immortality and he revels in his new-found abilities in a way that’s outright horrifying. Wade’s hybris in these final moments seems to reflect the author’s who probably wrote this book not as a labour of love (like the first book very obviously was) but as one of simple, basic greed.For an in-depth review of this book, read this one: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…View all my reviews Blog GoodReads LibraryThing Facebook Twitter Instagram I am and have been working on quite a few F/OSS projects: Exherbo (Nick: Philantrop), Bedrock Linux, Gentoo (Nick: Philantrop), Calibre plugin iOS reader applications, Calibre plugin Marvin XD, chroot-manager, stuff on github, lots of other projects. If you like my work, feel free to donate. [Less]

Forged by Benedict JackaMy rating: 5 of 5 starsIn this eleventh instalment of Benedict Jacka’s “Alex Verus” series, “Forged” (as aptly titled as ever!), Alex is back at fixing lots of problems. Let’s take a quick look back first, though.In ... [More] “Fallen” we saw how Alex had to harden and tackle things differently than he used to. He ‘fell’ away from trying to be the nice guy and concentrated on what he felt had to be done. He picked himself up and re-emerges ‘forged’ by the blows he received and the hits he delivered.“Forged” picks up right there: Alex is back in force and at the height of his game. He quickly realises he currently has three major issues: The Council of (Light) Mages Richard Drakh, his former master (and his (former) entourage) (Dark) Anne, his (ex-?)lover, recently possessed by a Jinn To be able to solve them, he has to solve them separately because he can’t deal with all three at the same time.We get to know this ‘forged’ Alex a lot better in this penultimate book of the series:»I was left crouching, surrounded by three dead men, alone once more.«This Alex is harder than ever before. Most of the time, he doesn’t even consider how to deal with his enemies non-lethally – not because he’s turned to “evil” but because he’s running out of time and alternatives on many levels.Over the years, Alex has found (and lost) friends he cares for deeply. Even mortal enemies are given chance after chance to walk away. Only now under enormous duress does Alex resolve to the ultima ratio…Everything Alex does is to protect those he loves from harm. Most prominently Anne, Luna, Variam but others as well. That’s his cause for which Alex is willing to kill and, if necessary, die.It started showing in the previous book already but by now it’s crystal clear that Alex has developed the will to power, but not for the sake of power, but for the sake of his cause. Which, to me, is just.As a result, we’re confronted with more blood and gore but never unnecessarily or crossing the border beyond which it would become disgusting.Some loose threads are being picked up again, e. g. Shireen…»“Tomorrow, Shireen,” I said. “It’s time to end this.” I stepped out of Elsewhere, and back into my own dreams.«Or… others…»“Enough chances,” Cinder said. “I get it.”«Nothing in the narration is over the top but it’s mostly tense and suspenseful. There are some scenes of serene beauty, though, and they counter what otherwise might have become too bleak.Most importantly, we witness Alex neither being “light” nor “dark” – he’s somewhere in between and even former enemies can acknowledge and, in some cases, respect that. Those self-righteous zealots who reject Alex’ offer of safe conduct and might redeem themselves if it weren’t for their fanaticism, in turn fall – never to rise again.While Alex’ methods might seem extreme at times, when his enemies tempt his allies they choose to stand at his side based on their own free will.When I read “Fallen”, I wasn’t sure I liked the direction Jacka was taking. Now I know he was right and what’s coming was and is inevitable…“Forged” is on many levels the culmination of everything that came before it and does its author great honour. I can hardly wait for the final instalment, “Risen”, which is expected in December 2021.View all my reviews (Reminder to anyone not reading German: There’s a link to translate this (and every) page at the very bottom.) [Less]

Forged by Benedict JackaMy rating: 5 of 5 starsIn this eleventh instalment of Benedict Jacka’s “Alex Verus” series, “Forged” (as aptly titled as ever!), Alex is back at fixing lots of problems. Let’s take a quick look back first, though.In ... [More] “Fallen” we saw how Alex had to harden and tackle things differently than he used to. He ‘fell’ away from trying to be the nice guy and concentrated on what he felt had to be done. He picked himself up and re-emerges ‘forged’ by the blows he received and the hits he delivered.“Forged” picks up right there: Alex is back in force and at the height of his game. He quickly realises he currently has three major issues: The Council of (Light) Mages Richard Drakh, his former master (and his (former) entourage) (Dark) Anne, his (ex-?)lover, recently possessed by a Jinn To be able to solve them, he has to solve them separately because he can’t deal with all three at the same time.We get to know this ‘forged’ Alex a lot better in this penultimate book of the series:»I was left crouching, surrounded by three dead men, alone once more.«This Alex is harder than ever before. Most of the time, he doesn’t even consider how to deal with his enemies non-lethally – not because he’s turned to “evil” but because he’s running out of time and alternatives on many levels.Over the years, Alex has found (and lost) friends he cares for deeply. Even mortal enemies are given chance after chance to walk away. Only now under enormous duress does Alex resolve to the ultima ratio…Everything Alex does is to protect those he loves from harm. Most prominently Anne, Luna, Variam but others as well. That’s his cause for which Alex is willing to kill and, if necessary, die.It started showing in the previous book already but by now it’s crystal clear that Alex has developed the will to power, but not for the sake of power, but for the sake of his cause. Which, to me, is just.As a result, we’re confronted with more blood and gore but never unnecessarily or crossing the border beyond which it would become disgusting.Some loose threads are being picked up again, e. g. Shireen…»“Tomorrow, Shireen,” I said. “It’s time to end this.” I stepped out of Elsewhere, and back into my own dreams.«Or… others…»“Enough chances,” Cinder said. “I get it.”«Nothing in the narration is over the top but it’s mostly tense and suspenseful. There are some scenes of serene beauty, though, and they counter what otherwise might have become too bleak.Most importantly, we witness Alex neither being “light” nor “dark” – he’s somewhere in between and even former enemies can acknowledge and, in some cases, respect that. Those self-righteous zealots who reject Alex’ offer of safe conduct and might redeem themselves if it weren’t for their fanaticism, in turn fall – never to rise again.While Alex’ methods might seem extreme at times, when his enemies tempt his allies they choose to stand at his side based on their own free will.When I read “Fallen”, I wasn’t sure I liked the direction Jacka was taking. Now I know he was right and what’s coming was and is inevitable…“Forged” is on many levels the culmination of everything that came before it and does its author great honour. I can hardly wait for the final instalment, “Risen”, which is expected in December 2021.View all my reviews Blog GoodReads LibraryThing Facebook Twitter Instagram I am and have been working on quite a few F/OSS projects: Exherbo (Nick: Philantrop), Bedrock Linux, Gentoo (Nick: Philantrop), Calibre plugin iOS reader applications, Calibre plugin Marvin XD, chroot-manager, stuff on github, lots of other projects. If you like my work, feel free to donate. [Less]

Forged by Benedict JackaMy rating: 5 of 5 starsIn this eleventh instalment of Benedict Jacka’s “Alex Verus” series, “Forged” (as aptly titled as ever!), Alex is back at fixing lots of problems. Let’s take a quick look back first, though.In ... [More] “Fallen” we saw how Alex had to harden and tackle things differently than he used to. He ‘fell’ away from trying to be the nice guy and concentrated on what he felt had to be done. He picked himself up and re-emerges ‘forged’ by the blows he received and the hits he delivered.“Forged” picks up right there: Alex is back in force and at the height of his game. He quickly realises he currently has three major issues: The Council of (Light) Mages Richard Drakh, his former master (and his (former) entourage) (Dark) Anne, his (ex-?)lover, recently possessed by a Jinn To be able to solve them, he has to solve them separately because he can’t deal with all three at the same time.We get to know this ‘forged’ Alex a lot better in this penultimate book of the series:»I was left crouching, surrounded by three dead men, alone once more.«This Alex is harder than ever before. Most of the time, he doesn’t even consider how to deal with his enemies non-lethally – not because he’s turned to “evil” but because he’s running out of time and alternatives on many levels.Over the years, Alex has found (and lost) friends he cares for deeply. Even mortal enemies are given chance after chance to walk away. Only now under enormous duress does Alex resolve to the ultima ratio…Everything Alex does is to protect those he loves from harm. Most prominently Anne, Luna, Variam but others as well. That’s his cause for which Alex is willing to kill and, if necessary, die.It started showing in the previous book already but by now it’s crystal clear that Alex has developed the will to power, but not for the sake of power, but for the sake of his cause. Which, to me, is just.As a result, we’re confronted with more blood and gore but never unnecessarily or crossing the border beyond which it would become disgusting.Some loose threads are being picked up again, e. g. Shireen…»“Tomorrow, Shireen,” I said. “It’s time to end this.” I stepped out of Elsewhere, and back into my own dreams.«Or… others…»“Enough chances,” Cinder said. “I get it.”«Nothing in the narration is over the top but it’s mostly tense and suspenseful. There are some scenes of serene beauty, though, and they counter what otherwise might have become too bleak.Most importantly, we witness Alex neither being “light” nor “dark” – he’s somewhere in between and even former enemies can acknowledge and, in some cases, respect that. Those self-righteous zealots who reject Alex’ offer of safe conduct and might redeem themselves if it weren’t for their fanaticism, in turn fall – never to rise again.While Alex’ methods might seem extreme at times, when his enemies tempt his allies they choose to stand at his side based on their own free will.When I read “Fallen”, I wasn’t sure I liked the direction Jacka was taking. Now I know he was right and what’s coming was and is inevitable…“Forged” is on many levels the culmination of everything that came before it and does its author great honour. I can hardly wait for the final instalment, “Risen”, which is expected in December 2021.View all my reviews Blog GoodReads LibraryThing Facebook Twitter Instagram I am and have been working on quite a few F/OSS projects: Exherbo (Nick: Philantrop), Bedrock Linux, Gentoo (Nick: Philantrop), Calibre plugin iOS reader applications, Calibre plugin Marvin XD, chroot-manager, stuff on github, lots of other projects. If you like my work, feel free to donate. [Less]

2020 on Goodreads by VariousMy rating: 4 of 5 starsIf you consider the fact that I usually don’t read books that have an average rating below 4.00 on GoodReads, you’ll find when looking at my year in books that I actually awarded 3.5 stars on ... [More] average.That makes a lot of sense to me as 2020 has been a difficult year on many levels for me.I read the amazing “Herkunft” by Saša Stanišić, though, and that was definitely one of the highlights of my reading year.Looking things over, I remember how travel-memoir writer Tony James Slater rekindled my interest in science fiction by writing his series “The Ancient Guardians” of which I read the final instalments in 2020, e. g. Warden’s Fate.Those led me to the unforgettable “Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells which I’ve practically devoured!Encouraged by these reading experiences, I decided to move on to “Leviathan Wakes” of the “The Expanse” series by James S.A. Corey. I was struggling with it as you can read in my review but I came to love the characters, the world and the way Corey injects a tiny ray of hope into the bleakest of situations.I’ve also re-read “Homo Faber” by Max Frisch after about 30 years. When I first read it at the age of 15/16, I was immediately taken by it. It struck chords I didn’t even know about. This time it were completely different aspects of the book that struck new chords again.I’m not going to let another 30 years pass but I’ll surely re-read it again.Another book from last year that keeps haunting me is “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng. I hadn’t read anything by Ng before but this book was an instant classic for me.The last two books of 2020 were Alice Schwarzer’s biography of one of Germany’s most important publicists, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff.Dönhoff was part of the resistance against Hitler in her “first life” and went on to become a journalist and the head of one of Germany’s most prestigious newspapers, “Die Zeit”.The second of those two books was by Dönhoff herself: “Um der Ehre willen. Erinnerungen an die Freunde vom 20. Juli”. It expands on her work from 1945 (!) in which she remembers her friends from the resistance – most of all Heinrich “Heini” Graf Lehndorff.No review of my year in books could ever be complete, though, if I neglected to mention Michael J. Sullivan. Michael and his fantasy series have been recommended to me by Ingmar to whom I remain indebted for that.Be it Royce and Hadrian from “Riyria” or “The Legends of the First Empire” – whatever Michael writes is so wonderful that it keeps amazing me. It’s probably because – in Michael’s own words:“The stories I write might be fantasy, but the depiction of the feelings people share for each other is real.”What more could I ask from a work of fiction than to let me experience their characters’ feelings? Or, in my own words, “I don’t know Michael personally but after having read thousands of pages he wrote, I’ve come to see him as a bright beacon of hope, empathy and love.”Speaking of personal heroes: The greatest literary surprise of 2020 was Allie Brosh resurfacing and getting her unforgettable, hauntingly beautiful and breathtakingly sad “Solutions and Other Problems” published.Reading its “serious part” made me cry over a comic for the first time ever.There were lots of let-downs as well but if you really want, discover them yourselves!Reflecting on all this and realising that I’m a wet-eyed snivelling mess again, the year 2020 wasn’t so bad after all and I’m looking forward to 2021.Happy new year, everyone!View all my reviews (Reminder to anyone not reading German: There’s a link to translate this (and every) page at the very bottom.) [Less]

2020 on Goodreads by VariousMy rating: 4 of 5 starsIf you consider the fact that I usually don’t read books that have an average rating below 4.00 on GoodReads, you’ll find when looking at my year in books that I actually awarded 3.5 stars on ... [More] average.That makes a lot of sense to me as 2020 has been a difficult year on many levels for me.I read the amazing “Herkunft” by Saša Stanišić, though, and that was definitely one of the highlights of my reading year.Looking things over, I remember how travel-memoir writer Tony James Slater rekindled my interest in science fiction by writing his series “The Ancient Guardians” of which I read the final instalments in 2020, e. g. Warden’s Fate.Those led me to the unforgettable “Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells which I’ve practically devoured!Encouraged by these reading experiences, I decided to move on to “Leviathan Wakes” of the “The Expanse” series by James S.A. Corey. I was struggling with it as you can read in my review but I came to love the characters, the world and the way Corey injects a tiny ray of hope into the bleakest of situations.I’ve also re-read “Homo Faber” by Max Frisch after about 30 years. When I first read it at the age of 15/16, I was immediately taken by it. It struck chords I didn’t even know about. This time it were completely different aspects of the book that struck new chords again.I’m not going to let another 30 years pass but I’ll surely re-read it again.Another book from last year that keeps haunting me is “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng. I hadn’t read anything by Ng before but this book was an instant classic for me.The last two books of 2020 were Alice Schwarzer’s biography of one of Germany’s most important publicists, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff.Dönhoff was part of the resistance against Hitler in her “first life” and went on to become a journalist and the head of one of Germany’s most prestigious newspapers, “Die Zeit”.The second of those two books was by Dönhoff herself: “Um der Ehre willen. Erinnerungen an die Freunde vom 20. Juli”. It expands on her work from 1945 (!) in which she remembers her friends from the resistance – most of all Heinrich “Heini” Graf Lehndorff.No review of my year in books could ever be complete, though, if I neglected to mention Michael J. Sullivan. Michael and his fantasy series have been recommended to me by Ingmar to whom I remain indebted for that.Be it Royce and Hadrian from “Riyria” or “The Legends of the First Empire” – whatever Michael writes is so wonderful that it keeps amazing me. It’s probably because – in Michael’s own words:“The stories I write might be fantasy, but the depiction of the feelings people share for each other is real.”What more could I ask from a work of fiction than to let me experience their characters’ feelings? Or, in my own words, “I don’t know Michael personally but after having read thousands of pages he wrote, I’ve come to see him as a bright beacon of hope, empathy and love.”Speaking of personal heroes: The greatest literary surprise of 2020 was Allie Brosh resurfacing and getting her unforgettable, hauntingly beautiful and breathtakingly sad “Solutions and Other Problems” published.Reading its “serious part” made me cry over a comic for the first time ever.There were lots of let-downs as well but if you really want, discover them yourselves!Reflecting on all this and realising that I’m a wet-eyed snivelling mess again, the year 2020 wasn’t so bad after all and I’m looking forward to 2021.Happy new year, everyone!View all my reviews Blog GoodReads LibraryThing Facebook Twitter Instagram I am and have been working on quite a few F/OSS projects: Exherbo (Nick: Philantrop), Bedrock Linux, Gentoo (Nick: Philantrop), Calibre plugin iOS reader applications, Calibre plugin Marvin XD, chroot-manager, stuff on github, lots of other projects. If you like my work, feel free to donate. [Less]

2020 on Goodreads by VariousMy rating: 4 of 5 starsIf you consider the fact that I usually don’t read books that have an average rating below 4.00 on GoodReads, you’ll find when looking at my year in books that I actually awarded 3.5 stars on ... [More] average.That makes a lot of sense to me as 2020 has been a difficult year on many levels for me.I read the amazing “Herkunft” by Saša Stanišić, though, and that was definitely one of the highlights of my reading year.Looking things over, I remember how travel-memoir writer Tony James Slater rekindled my interest in science fiction by writing his series “The Ancient Guardians” of which I read the final instalments in 2020, e. g. Warden’s Fate.Those led me to the unforgettable “Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells which I’ve practically devoured!Encouraged by these reading experiences, I decided to move on to “Leviathan Wakes” of the “The Expanse” series by James S.A. Corey. I was struggling with it as you can read in my review but I came to love the characters, the world and the way Corey injects a tiny ray of hope into the bleakest of situations.I’ve also re-read “Homo Faber” by Max Frisch after about 30 years. When I first read it at the age of 15/16, I was immediately taken by it. It struck chords I didn’t even know about. This time it were completely different aspects of the book that struck new chords again.I’m not going to let another 30 years pass but I’ll surely re-read it again.Another book from last year that keeps haunting me is “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng. I hadn’t read anything by Ng before but this book was an instant classic for me.The last two books of 2020 were Alice Schwarzer’s biography of one of Germany’s most important publicists, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff.Dönhoff was part of the resistance against Hitler in her “first life” and went on to become a journalist and the head of one of Germany’s most prestigious newspapers, “Die Zeit”.The second of those two books was by Dönhoff herself: “Um der Ehre willen. Erinnerungen an die Freunde vom 20. Juli”. It expands on her work from 1945 (!) in which she remembers her friends from the resistance – most of all Heinrich “Heini” Graf Lehndorff.No review of my year in books could ever be complete, though, if I neglected to mention Michael J. Sullivan. Michael and his fantasy series have been recommended to me by Ingmar to whom I remain indebted for that.Be it Royce and Hadrian from “Riyria” or “The Legends of the First Empire” – whatever Michael writes is so wonderful that it keeps amazing me. It’s probably because – in Michael’s own words:“The stories I write might be fantasy, but the depiction of the feelings people share for each other is real.”What more could I ask from a work of fiction than to let me experience their characters’ feelings? Or, in my own words, “I don’t know Michael personally but after having read thousands of pages he wrote, I’ve come to see him as a bright beacon of hope, empathy and love.”Speaking of personal heroes: The greatest literary surprise of 2020 was Allie Brosh resurfacing and getting her unforgettable, hauntingly beautiful and breathtakingly sad “Solutions and Other Problems” published.Reading its “serious part” made me cry over a comic for the first time ever.There were lots of let-downs as well but if you really want, discover them yourselves!Reflecting on all this and realising that I’m a wet-eyed snivelling mess again, the year 2020 wasn’t so bad after all and I’m looking forward to 2021.Happy new year, everyone!View all my reviews Blog GoodReads LibraryThing Facebook Twitter Instagram I am and have been working on quite a few F/OSS projects: Exherbo (Nick: Philantrop), Bedrock Linux, Gentoo (Nick: Philantrop), Calibre plugin iOS reader applications, Calibre plugin Marvin XD, chroot-manager, stuff on github, lots of other projects. If you like my work, feel free to donate. [Less]

2020 on Goodreads by VariousMy rating: 4 of 5 starsIf you consider the fact that I usually don’t read books that have an average rating below 4.00 on GoodReads, you’ll find when looking at my year in books that I actually awarded 3.5 stars on ... [More] average.That makes a lot of sense to me as 2020 has been a difficult year on many levels for me.I read the amazing “Herkunft” by Saša Stanišić, though, and that was definitely one of the highlights of my reading year.Looking things over, I remember how travel-memoir writer Tony James Slater rekindled my interest in science fiction by writing his series “The Ancient Guardians” of which I read the final instalments in 2020, e. g. Warden’s Fate.Those led me to the unforgettable “Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells which I’ve practically devoured!Encouraged by these reading experiences, I decided to move on to “Leviathan Wakes” of the “The Expanse” series by James S.A. Corey. I was struggling with it as you can read in my review but I came to love the characters, the world and the way Corey injects a tiny ray of hope into the bleakest of situations.I’ve also re-read “Homo Faber” by Max Frisch after about 30 years. When I first read it at the age of 15/16, I was immediately taken by it. It struck chords I didn’t even know about. This time it were completely different aspects of the book that struck new chords again.I’m not going to let another 30 years pass but I’ll surely re-read it again.Another book from last year that keeps haunting me is “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng. I hadn’t read anything by Ng before but this book was an instant classic for me.The last two books of 2020 were Alice Schwarzer’s biography of one of Germany’s most important publicists, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff.Dönhoff was part of the resistance against Hitler in her “first life” and went on to become a journalist and the head of one of Germany’s most prestigious newspapers, “Die Zeit”.The second of those two books was by Dönhoff herself: “Um der Ehre willen. Erinnerungen an die Freunde vom 20. Juli”. It expands on her work from 1945 (!) in which she remembers her friends from the resistance – most of all Heinrich “Heini” Graf Lehndorff.No review of my year in books could ever be complete, though, if I neglected to mention Michael J. Sullivan. Michael and his fantasy series have been recommended to me by Ingmar to whom I remain indebted for that.Be it Royce and Hadrian from “Riyria” or “The Legends of the First Empire” – whatever Michael writes is so wonderful that it keeps amazing me. It’s probably because – in Michael’s own words:“The stories I write might be fantasy, but the depiction of the feelings people share for each other is real.”What more could I ask from a work of fiction than to let me experience their characters’ feelings? Or, in my own words, “I don’t know Michael personally but after having read thousands of pages he wrote, I’ve come to see him as a bright beacon of hope, empathy and love.”Speaking of personal heroes: The greatest literary surprise of 2020 was Allie Brosh resurfacing and getting her unforgettable, hauntingly beautiful and breathtakingly sad “Solutions and Other Problems” published.Reading its “serious part” made me cry over a comic for the first time ever.There were lots of let-downs as well but if you really want, discover them yourselves!Reflecting on all this and realising that I’m a wet-eyed snivelling mess again, the year 2020 wasn’t so bad after all and I’m looking forward to 2021.Happy new year, everyone!View all my reviews Blog GoodReads LibraryThing Facebook Twitter Instagram I am and have been working on quite a few F/OSS projects: Exherbo (Nick: Philantrop), Bedrock Linux, Gentoo (Nick: Philantrop), Calibre plugin iOS reader applications, Calibre plugin Marvin XD, chroot-manager, stuff on github, lots of other projects. If you like my work, feel free to donate. [Less]

Marion Dönhoff: Ein Widerständiges Leben by Alice SchwarzerMy rating: 5 of 5 starsIch kam mit Marion Gräfin Dönhoff zum ersten Mal bewußt in Berührung als ich über den 20. Juli 1944 las. Denn bereits zum ersten Jahrestag 1945 schrieb Dönhoff »In ... [More] Memoriam 20. Juli 1944. Den Freunden zum Gedächtnis« über ihre Freunde aus dem Widerstand gegen Hitler, die von den Nazis ermordet worden waren.Daraus entstand ihr 1994 veröffentlichtes Buch “Um der Ehre willen. Erinnerungen an die Freunde vom 20. Juli”, das ich als überaus beachtlich empfand und dessen lebendige Schilderungen einen kleinen Einblick jenseits der Geschichtsbücher in diese Persönlichkeiten erlaubt.Die Namen – allen voran Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg – sind mir wohlbekannt und doch gewinnen sie im Rahmen der behutsamen Aufarbeitung der Dönhoff’schen Erinnerungen an sie durch eine großartige Alice Schwarzer neues Profil. Ganz besonders Dönhoffs Gefährte aus Kinder- und Jugendtagen, Heinrich Graf Lehndorff.Wenn es um “Heini Lehndorff” geht, ist es das eine, um diesen Mann aus Wikipedia zu wissen. Etwas völlig anderes aber, wenn Dönhoff sich an diesen Jungen erinnert, mit dem sie auf Bäume geklettert ist, den sie im Eiskeller vergessen hat und dem sie “Kräheneier direkt ins Gesicht geprustet” hat. Die Unmittelbarkeit dieser Erinnerungen, die zumindest eine blasse Ahnung von dem Menschen ergibt, ist mir sehr tief unter die Haut gegangen.Ob aber als einziges Mädchen ihrer Klasse auf dem Jungengymnasium, als Teils des “harten Kern des Widerstandes gegen Hitler” oder – nicht schön, aber doch für die Zeit beachtlich, “mit dem von ihr in Kenia erlegten Leoparden”; Dönhoff tat, was ihrer Meinung nach zu tun war. Vor, während und nach dem Krieg; unbeirrbar und unbeugsam.Auch das “zweite Leben” als Journalistin für “Die Zeit” (und zeitweise auch andere Zeitungen) wird von Alice Schwarzer ruhig und in wohltuend gediegener Sprache dargestellt.Mehr als 50 Jahre lang hat Dönhoff “Die Zeit” maßgeblich in verschiedenen Rollen geprägt.Ein bißchen kurz kommen die einzelnen Stationen zum Teil schon, aber dafür ist das durch Alice Schwarzer von Marion Gräfin Dönhoff gezeichnete Bild doch klar: Es muß sich um eine Frau gehandelt haben, die ihren Weg auch gegen alle Widerstände gegangen ist und die sich einerseits gegen Hitler verschworen hat, sich aber Jahrzehnte später “über Pumuckl halb tot lachen kann”.Trotz dieser Nähe gelingt es Schwarzer dennoch, eine gewisse Distanz aufrecht zu erhalten und ihr Sujet ehrlich und manchmal auch ein wenig kritisch zu beleuchten. Es ist diese Mischung von Distanz und Nähe, von offensichtlicher Bewunderung und kritischem Hinterfragen, die aber das große Verdienst Alice Schwarzers ausmachen.Die ersten zwei Drittel des Buches bestehen also einer guten Biographie Schwarzers über Gräfin Dönhoff, die danach noch in Interviews mit Schwarzer sozusagen selbst zu Wort kommt. Auch diese Gespräche sind überaus lesenswert.Zum Schluß finden sich noch eine Sammlung von Auszügen wichtiger Artikel Dönhoffs aus der “Zeit”, so z. B. “Was heißt Widerstand” von 1989 und viele weitere. Beim Schreiben dieser Rezension habe ich mich immer wieder in diesen Artikeln “fest gelesen” und festgestellt, wie modern und progressiv Marion Gräfin Dönhoff gewesen sein muß.Immer wieder “angereichert” wird diese wunderbare Biographie noch durch zahlreiche Fotos von den verschiedensten Stationen des Lebens von Dönhoff.Insofern ist “Marion Dönhoff: Ein widerständiges Leben” ein überaus lesenswertes Werk, das Geschichte lebendig und beinahe erlebbar werden läßt.View all my reviews Blog GoodReads LibraryThing Facebook Twitter Instagram I am and have been working on quite a few F/OSS projects: Exherbo (Nick: Philantrop), Bedrock Linux, Gentoo (Nick: Philantrop), Calibre plugin iOS reader applications, Calibre plugin Marvin XD, chroot-manager, stuff on github, lots of other projects. If you like my work, feel free to donate. [Less]

Marion Dönhoff: Ein Widerständiges Leben by Alice SchwarzerMy rating: 5 of 5 starsIch kam mit Marion Gräfin Dönhoff zum ersten Mal bewußt in Berührung als ich über den 20. Juli 1944 las. Denn bereits zum ersten Jahrestag 1945 schrieb Dönhoff »In ... [More] Memoriam 20. Juli 1944. Den Freunden zum Gedächtnis« über ihre Freunde aus dem Widerstand gegen Hitler, die von den Nazis ermordet worden waren.Daraus entstand ihr 1994 veröffentlichtes Buch “Um der Ehre willen. Erinnerungen an die Freunde vom 20. Juli”, das ich als überaus beachtlich empfand und dessen lebendige Schilderungen einen kleinen Einblick jenseits der Geschichtsbücher in diese Persönlichkeiten erlaubt.Die Namen – allen voran Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg – sind mir wohlbekannt und doch gewinnen sie im Rahmen der behutsamen Aufarbeitung der Dönhoff’schen Erinnerungen an sie durch eine großartige Alice Schwarzer neues Profil. Ganz besonders Dönhoffs Gefährte aus Kinder- und Jugendtagen, Heinrich Graf Lehndorff.Wenn es um “Heini Lehndorff” geht, ist es das eine, um diesen Mann aus Wikipedia zu wissen. Etwas völlig anderes aber, wenn Dönhoff sich an diesen Jungen erinnert, mit dem sie auf Bäume geklettert ist, den sie im Eiskeller vergessen hat und dem sie “Kräheneier direkt ins Gesicht geprustet” hat. Die Unmittelbarkeit dieser Erinnerungen, die zumindest eine blasse Ahnung von dem Menschen ergibt, ist mir sehr tief unter die Haut gegangen.Ob aber als einziges Mädchen ihrer Klasse auf dem Jungengymnasium, als Teils des “harten Kern des Widerstandes gegen Hitler” oder – nicht schön, aber doch für die Zeit beachtlich, “mit dem von ihr in Kenia erlegten Leoparden”; Dönhoff tat, was ihrer Meinung nach zu tun war. Vor, während und nach dem Krieg; unbeirrbar und unbeugsam.Auch das “zweite Leben” als Journalistin für “Die Zeit” (und zeitweise auch andere Zeitungen) wird von Alice Schwarzer ruhig und in wohltuend gediegener Sprache dargestellt.Mehr als 50 Jahre lang hat Dönhoff “Die Zeit” maßgeblich in verschiedenen Rollen geprägt.Ein bißchen kurz kommen die einzelnen Stationen zum Teil schon, aber dafür ist das durch Alice Schwarzer von Marion Gräfin Dönhoff gezeichnete Bild doch klar: Es muß sich um eine Frau gehandelt haben, die ihren Weg auch gegen alle Widerstände gegangen ist und die sich einerseits gegen Hitler verschworen hat, sich aber Jahrzehnte später “über Pumuckl halb tot lachen kann”.Trotz dieser Nähe gelingt es Schwarzer dennoch, eine gewisse Distanz aufrecht zu erhalten und ihr Sujet ehrlich und manchmal auch ein wenig kritisch zu beleuchten. Es ist diese Mischung von Distanz und Nähe, von offensichtlicher Bewunderung und kritischem Hinterfragen, die aber das große Verdienst Alice Schwarzers ausmachen.Die ersten zwei Drittel des Buches bestehen also einer guten Biographie Schwarzers über Gräfin Dönhoff, die danach noch in Interviews mit Schwarzer sozusagen selbst zu Wort kommt. Auch diese Gespräche sind überaus lesenswert.Zum Schluß finden sich noch eine Sammlung von Auszügen wichtiger Artikel Dönhoffs aus der “Zeit”, so z. B. “Was heißt Widerstand” von 1989 und viele weitere. Beim Schreiben dieser Rezension habe ich mich immer wieder in diesen Artikeln “fest gelesen” und festgestellt, wie modern und progressiv Marion Gräfin Dönhoff gewesen sein muß.Immer wieder “angereichert” wird diese wunderbare Biographie noch durch zahlreiche Fotos von den verschiedensten Stationen des Lebens von Dönhoff.Insofern ist “Marion Dönhoff: Ein widerständiges Leben” ein überaus lesenswertes Werk, das Geschichte lebendig und beinahe erlebbar werden läßt.View all my reviews Blog GoodReads LibraryThing Facebook Twitter Instagram I am and have been working on quite a few F/OSS projects: Exherbo (Nick: Philantrop), Bedrock Linux, Gentoo (Nick: Philantrop), Calibre plugin iOS reader applications, Calibre plugin Marvin XD, chroot-manager, stuff on github, lots of other projects. If you like my work, feel free to donate. [Less]