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CrustaceousCrab

CrustaceousCrab@bookwyrm.social

Joined 10 months, 2 weeks ago

Fantasy, sci-fi and non-fiction enthusiast. Commute is my reading time

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"It was Feynman's outrageous and scintillating method of teaching that earned him legendary status among …

Review of 'Six easy pieces' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I bought this book as a refresher on topics I learned years ago for a state exam on Physics. Unfortunately, I think videos would be much better than this book for learning physics or as 'refresher courses'.

My biggest problem with the book is that for me it just didn't work. The chapters are lessons Feynman taught as a professor but I think that's where the should have stayed at, being recorded as lectures. The explanations would probably work as a lecture, but in the book I felt like they were taking too long to get to the point. I get the point some of these explanations are trying to make, there is a lot of 'building up the logic behind the experiments.' For example, the final chapter Quantum Physics explains and builds the logic of the uncertainty principle through three double-slit experiments. First using bullets, then waves of water, …

Svetlana Aleksievich: Zinky Boys (Paperback, 1992, W. W. Norton & Company) 4 stars

Review of 'Zinky Boys' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A very interesting and oftentimes depressing read. What I love about the book (and Alexievich's other works) is how much of a human face to the individuals that were part of the Soviet-Afghan war. I also really liked that my particular edition (I don't know if others did as well) included letters and conversations for when Alexievich was brought to court because the book was considered libel by some. The outpour of reactions, both positive and negative, was really interesting to read. It shows how much of these stories don't just exist in a vacuum. The people that went to Afghanistan had very different lives before and after Afghanistan, and Boys in Zinc has also had some effect on the lives of these people. Definitely one of my 'favorites' of this year, as far as you could call a book like this a favorite.

Susanna Clarke: Piranesi (Paperback, 2021, Bloomsbury Publishing) 4 stars

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021

Review of 'Piranesi' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Wow, I did not expect the direction this book would take. It was a very interesting read, and initially I thought it would be something mythological rather than arcane. The mix of journal entries and in-person events always pulled me further into the story. What I really like about Piranesi is that it doesn't provide all the answers and it leaves a bit of a mystery behind. What is the House, and how large is it? Are there other worlds? Who exactly are some of the people we meet? It simply doesn't give an exact answer, which I really like because not everything needs an answer. Sometimes the mystery is more appealing than the answer.