InstaRead Summaries

Yes, I Cheated
Review of the Instaread Summaries Kindle eBook (2016)

This is the first time that I've used one of the Instaread summaries in order to get an overview of a book that I'm reading. I am about halfway through The Pearl That Broke Its Shell (2015) [480 pages] but as I'm reading it for a bookclub in early November 2022 it is likely that I won't finish it in time for the discussion. So just in case, I took this cheater's route. The summary was actually quite excellent and the listing show more of characters & the discussion of themes were also well done.

Part of the reason for my slow progress through The Pearl... is that it is often grim reading about the treatment of women in Afghanistan. It toggles between two stories, that of Rahimi in 2007 who lives in a community under a warlord who is fighting the Taliban and that of her great-great-grandmother Shekiba who lived in the early 20th century during the time when Afghanistan was ruled by a King (or Emir). Both women do have times of relative freedom allowed them through custom. The young Rahimi is allowed to assume the character of a pasha boch, where a girl child is allowed to act as if she is a boy in a family which otherwise has no sons. This ends as she enters puberty though and is sold off as a child bride. The young Shekiba was disfigured in a childhood accident and lost her family in a cholera epidemic. She becomes a servant in the compound of her family but is gifted away in payment of a debt and then again gifted to the King. She then becomes a guard to the King's harem and is allowed to dress in masculine clothes for the role, as the King doesn't trust having male guards in that role. This relief is short-lived as both face various abuses and intrigues in their stories.

Knowing the ending of the book does at least let me know that both stories end on a relative note of hope. Admittedly the current situation in a newly Taliban run Afghanistan still makes for a depressing awareness that conditions have likely become even worse in the present day. show less

So different, so interesting and absolutely amazingly brilliant. It’s written as if it were music and the main character, the story is told mainly from the point of view of Music itself. There are highs, there are lows, and there are times it builds and builds as if it’s a beautiful symphony and then stops suddenly. Just SO different from anything I’ve ever read and I really truly enjoyed it.

Enjoyed this book tremendously. It's a classic story of survival and resolving a problem, told with humor and a lot of humanity. A breath of fresh air in some respects...the hero is charmingly positive and snarky. Not to mention likable, and real.

It's also a nice change of pace from the violent and negative science fiction novels that I've read. People bound together to resolve a problem. Absurd things happen, but realistically. And at times it seems impossible - that there is no way they show more can fix this. But they don't give up. It's quite an uplifting and inspiring little story. And rather character driven for classic hard sci-fi.

And this is hard sci-fi. Lots of techno-babble and science involved. Didn't bug me all that much, but then I like technobabble, I tend to interpret it for a living. And I found the science to be rather interesting and informative.

It's also quite funny in places. Witty. With absurd and somewhat quirky situations. I laughed, I teared up a bit, and I grumbled. You really do start to emphasize with and root for the protagonist, the astronaut who is stuck on Mars. And all the people attempting to figure out how to rescue him.

Highly recommend. show less

I like how this quick analysis conveyed the unpopular opinion that having money does not always equate to success. It breaks down the steps that entrepreneurs have to go through in order to be successful, citing that one must have a certain ‘hunger’ for said success.