Eighth Post!

[hoisinsauce]

It's one thing if mankind is hunted to extinction by ChatGPT, but I really do object to being executed by Bing.

(https://secretfanspace.dreamwidth.org/2511.html?thread=3169743#cmt3169743 )

Welcome back! Fandom chat, misc creativity, internet weirdness, books, films, anything! Tell meme about it so we can get to the next post title!

(start a comment thread by replying to this post)

Comments

Re: Books - Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

[(Anonymous)]

Just reached pg 290. Ha, I knew it. :) Not sure what that says about me.

I find aspects of the book tip too far into melodrama, but I don't mind. Still can't get over the fact she was only 26 when she wrote it.

Re: Books - Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

[(Anonymous)]

Finished! I didn't cry, but did tear up a few times. And got annoyed all over again at people who don't know how lucky they are and are doing everything they can to ruin their luck and bring down everyone else with them.

(I am also feeling more annoyance at all the people who read this and thought it was a nonfiction autobiographical work. Come on, people, this is practically a gothic novel!)

Ifeoma's arc is the one that hit me hardest; this is one of those stories where you can see where everyone is headed, but you still hope there are more options. Jaja's remark that Ade Coker's daughter would never heal also hit hard; I read it as him talking as much about himself and Kambili, and a comment on Nigeria itself. I kind of wish I'd read this book more slowly, because Adichie says so many things at the same time, and I definitely could have taken more time to sort through the layers. But then you miss something else if you read that way, and you can do that on a reread.

Also cackled with laughter at the fact that everyone outside the family just assumed Eugene had been assassinated, no questions asked. I wonder if whoever had been potentially tasked with that job was left scratching their head.

Re: Books - Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

[(Anonymous)]

Also was so nice to read this after boring pomo blah. An actual book by an actual person about actual people!

Re: Books - Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

[(Anonymous)]

As is customary, I visited goodreads after finishing to see if anyone was saying anything interesting. Behold, an idiot:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3372414352

Re: Books - Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

[(Anonymous)]

I did have some fun reading the 1 star reviews, though. They all go something like this:

"I had to read this for GCSE English. It was boring and I didn't like the dad. The blurb said there was a coup but there was no fighting in the book. The author is a TERF."

Re: Books - Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

[(Anonymous)]

The review seemed stupid, but not unusually so for Goodreads. Then I scrolled down to the first comment.

Oh. I see what you mean now.

Re: Books - Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)

[(Anonymous)]

Dyrt

Honestly I was just amazed the reviewer could read that book and think the plot hadn't started. THEIR ABUSIVE DAD IS DEFYING A VIOLENT AUTHORITARIAN REGIME. How much plot do these people need??? Did Adichie need to insert a Narnia wardrobe to make this reviewer happy???

"It's not like it was character-driven."

Wtf book did they read??? Surely not the one where a family that has grown up with abuse learn that there's an alternative way to live, while threats loom on all sides, fhfkghshfjd

I know I shouldn't be *surprised* at the stupid, but I wonder what these people actually read when they look at the page, because it's clearly not the words.