I read this book in just five days. Definitely not as accessible as Into the Wild or Into Thin Air, but I would still highly recommend it to anyone. Especially those with a skeptical mind, and who love true crime or history.
I’ve read three of these: How to Say Babylon, Wifedom, and Doppelgänger. I would rank them in that order. Doppelgänger didn’t work for me. It felt very self-indulgent, but I really enjoyed the other two.
Love this review, completely agree. Glad you included Stephen Dobyns review - i have a lot of respect for him as an author. He is subtle and his books are life changing. I still loved Geek Love though no matter what my boy Dobyns says.
I agree 💯. This book isn't what it promised to be, and THAT'S why it gets a poor score from me. There was nothing to care about. I was interested in clones, sci-fi, dystopian world. But it just didn't build on that. It was a diary and a memoir of a person who did nothing significantly remarkable, even gir a f**king clone!!!! 😡
I just recently read this book and it was ok. It was better than the movie. Two things that was messed up were the story was rushed, and Ender Wiggan was six years old when he joined the space academy. Oh yes and another thing was that some characters were not very well developed. So I say just read the book and skip the movie.
Oh I really resonate with this video. I am currently around 150 pages in and it is soooo boring. I mostly see high praise for the book though and I really wanted to like this book but it's a drag to finish. It's enjoyable to see someone who dislikes the book too I always love a good rant about a book, show or movie.
Why does this Video Creator insist on calling this Innocent Sixty plus year old man, a person she has NEVER met, as "Anthony"? Is it because Mr Broadwater is a Black Person? It's worth noting, she doesn't refer to Ms Rowling as "Joanne" but ALWAYS as "J. K. Rowling". So, why disrespect the Black Man?
Why do you call me Video Creator when I say my name at the beginning of the video? I refer to JK Rowling as such because that's how I've referred to her since I first read one of her books in 2000. I refer to Anthony as such because in the texts and articles I read they used his first name or just Broadwater. Where I come from it's not disrespectful to call someone older/you've not met by their first name.
@@getbookish I referred to you as the "Video Creator because I do not know your name and because this is a comment on a video that was not recently uploaded and I did not expect a response from the creator. Further, I'm sorry but I did not catch your name at thee begining of the video. My objections to your using Mr Broadwater's first name when you do not know this Senior Citizen and have never met him are threefold. Firstly, Mr Broadwater is s Senior Citizen and has suffered greatly at the hands of, not only the Justice System but especiaally at the hands of a White Woman. Secondly, Mr Broadwater, because of the lies of the above mentioned White Woman, was subjected to over sixteen years in Prison and more than twenty two years on the Sex Offenders. I very much doubt it too many people ever referred to him with the dignity and respect that he, as a human being deserves. Thus, I choose to use a title of respect "Mister" when I refer to him. Thirdly, and most importantly, Mister Broadwater is a Black Man and for centuries, Black People have been treated with utter DISRESPECT by whole tranches of the White Population. One of the ways this occurred was by "infantilizing" them - ie referring to them as "Boy" (irrespective of their age). Or NEVER calling them "Mister" but only referring to them by their First name. In the 1960s movie, "in the Heat of the Night" Sydney Poitier's character, objecting to the way the overtly racist police chief is treating him, responds to the racist's sarcastic question as to what he is called in the city where he works, responds, "They call me Mister Tibbs". Mr Broadwater has suffered nothing but disrespect for most of his adult life and deserves utter respect from strangers wo will never meet him....
@@michaelodonnell824 Thanks for laying out your reasoning - I see where you're coming from. He has suffered greatly because of what Alice and the justice system did. Know that my using 'Anthony' was not intended with disrespect.
Don't get me wrong here. I have no doubt that the police back in the early eighties were at least as racist as they are today - and they are. BUT Anthony Broadwater was a person with NO Police Record. If the police wanted to fit up an innocent, surely they would have picked a career criminal, or at least someone with SOME criminal record (given the Racist nature of ALL US policing, finding a Black man with "history" would not have been difficult) but, at least according to a woman who (and let's be honest here) didn't seem to care which Black Man was jailed, the local police heavily suggested she choose this Black Man without a Criminal past. This "explanation/"/ "excuse" defies credibility, especially given Ms Sebold's proven record of being able to invent stories.... Further given that in "Lucky" Sebold proves her fantasist credentials by suggesting that Mr Broadwater had "put a contract out on her", clearly demonstrates that like many supposed "Liberal Feminist" was a racist from the get go. It's worth noting Ms Sebold's reaction to Mr Broadwater's exoneration. Firstly, the exoneration was signalled weeks before the official court appearance. Ms Sebold and her publishers were made completely aware, at that stage that Mr Broadwater was considered by the State as utterly innocent of all crimes. Yet, up until the day of Mr Broadwater's official exoneration, both Ms Sebold and Scribner, the publishers of "Lucky" maintained that they stood by every word written in the "Memoir". After the official exoneration, Scribner indicated that they were "Consulting" with Ms Sebold. Ms Sebold, meanwhile, refused to admit that she had lied under oath. Even after being confronted by a reporter, Ms Sebold REFUSED to apologize to Mr Broadwater. More than a week after Mr Broadwater was officially exonerated, Ms Sebold's AGENT scheduled a Press Conference at which a STATEMENT from Ms Sebold was read. While this statement "CLAIMED" it was an apology to Mr Broadwater, it did NOT do so. Instead it made TWO UNPROVEN statements. Firstly, it blamed EVERYONE else, Cops, Lawyers, DA, Legal System, Society for the DELIBERATE Harm done, on Ms Sebold's say so, to Mr Broadwater. Secondly, despite the reality that Anthony Broadwater spent SIXTEEN YEARS in Prison and TWENTY TWO YEARS on the Sex Offender's Register for a crime he didn't commit, Ms Sebold's statement INSISTED that SHE was "the REAL Victim" (her own words). To this day (June 2024), more than two and a half years after Mr Broadwater's exoneration, Ms Sebold REFUSES to Personally Publicly apologise to Mr Broadwater, a Man whose life, she Destroyed.... Moreover, Feminists STILL defend Sebold and REFUSE to condemn her... Is that because Mr Broadwater is "just another" Lynched Black Man?
This story sounds like it would make for a great Ghibli adaption. Read Howl’s Moving Castle (Dianna Wynn Jones) & seen the film. Both were captivating. Great review.
Your comments are very intelligently stated - great summary of the book. My two cents: The author was obviously well-intentioned, but I can’t help but wonder if a young, white woman was the best person to tell this story. I wonder if the voice of Deborah would have seemed less pathetic (although Deborah did seem to be a kind soul). I also push back on your contention that the doctors were all mercenary. Many were; but the original doctor was not. He sent HeLa cells for free to everyone who requested them. That made the initial decision to take her cells less conflicted, at least for me. I hope you keep at this - you’re good!
I read it many years ago right after it came out. It was a a slow burn at the beginning, however ever I really enjoyed reading the book. I also felt like I was watching a movie.
How is this book satisfying in the end if the wrong man paid the price? She was so consumed with hate and anger that even now she won’t apologize to his face. She issued a statement.
I don't think of it in terms of sin because to me that sounds religious and this extends beyond religious leanings. If someone's idea of not recognizing the "validity" of trans people is to actively share inaccurate information and amplify voices who are wishing harm upon them, that's not okay.
THANK YOU! I agree with everything you've said. I was so frustrated finishing the book. If Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize with this quality of literature, the committee should send prizes to more competent authors like Oprah gifting cars. 🙃It just doesn't make any sense for Kathy to casually read War and Peace or The Odyssey as a pastime while being completely oblivious and unreflective of their absurd situation as clones. Rather than discussing how the characters perceive their shortness of life or how love and mortality affect humans as the author claimed in interviews, the book instead focuses on petty relationships and teenage jealousy. Such a waste of material!
I also read On Immunity around the same time as you and enjoyed it but didn’t love it like I hoped. Thankfully I read it from the library otherwise I think it would be lingering as part of my science nonfiction collection 😅 I have Bryson’s A Short History on my shelves but have heard mixed things about him for sure! Idk if I’ll be reading it anytime soon. I’ve tried reading On Beauty a few times but have never felt in the mood to continue. The only book I’ve loved is her debut (I’ve read NW and tried 2 others) so I’m wondering now if that was a one-off…
I also want a huge bookshelf full to the brim: but my living situation doesn't really work with that, so most of my books are at my parents' house too XD. Eventually the home-library dream will come true...in the meantime I really appreciate seeing content that is less consumerism-based and more about reading mindfully and recycling books back into the reader circuit!
I've loved so many of Bill Bryson's books but in some of them, especially his more recent books, he's just so crotchety and mean for no reason. I also found The Lost Continent very persnickety and boring.
I am just starting this book. I did see that Caitlin wrote at least one more book.. Will my cat eat my eyeballs or something like that.. i wonder if it is just more stories? I have really started liking memoirs and plan to read several this year. Thanks.
