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1sushidog
After a terrible attempt last year http://www.librarything.com/topic/149654 I'm redoubling my efforts this year. It will help if I avoid 800 page biographies.
2sushidog
1 - Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
An Orange Award winner, I have mixed feelings about this book.
In an unnamed South American country, a birthday party is being thrown for an important Japanese CEO. To intice him to this party, the country has arranged for his favourite opera singer to perform. Rebels storm the party and take everyone hostage. The novel is the story of this captivity, how the rebels and the hostages interact as we wait for the rebels to lose (as they always do).
There is plenty to like here as Patchett details the interactions and developing relationships between these characters with a sharp eye. We get to know many of the hsotages and a few key rebels, and we begin to hope for everything to turn out well, though we know it won't.
But where the novel fails for me is in how completely non-violent the hostage-takers are. It's all so lax. No killing one hostage right off the bat to let the country know they mean business. No real brutalizing the hostages at all. It has sort of a dream-like atmomstphere. The mood is more like a comedy than a drama, but without any real humour.
An Orange Award winner, I have mixed feelings about this book.
In an unnamed South American country, a birthday party is being thrown for an important Japanese CEO. To intice him to this party, the country has arranged for his favourite opera singer to perform. Rebels storm the party and take everyone hostage. The novel is the story of this captivity, how the rebels and the hostages interact as we wait for the rebels to lose (as they always do).
There is plenty to like here as Patchett details the interactions and developing relationships between these characters with a sharp eye. We get to know many of the hsotages and a few key rebels, and we begin to hope for everything to turn out well, though we know it won't.
But where the novel fails for me is in how completely non-violent the hostage-takers are. It's all so lax. No killing one hostage right off the bat to let the country know they mean business. No real brutalizing the hostages at all. It has sort of a dream-like atmomstphere. The mood is more like a comedy than a drama, but without any real humour.
3sushidog
2 - Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor
Strictly for hardcore WWII history nuts, a detailed look at the seige of Stalingrad.
Of wider interest, the case can be made that Russia won the war for the allies and this is the battle that turned the tide. As much as we depise totalitarian Russia, we owe them our gratitude.
A couple points of interest. Beevor makes Paulus (the General in command of the German 6th Army which was totally lost at Stalingrad) look a little less like an incompetent fool than some other historians. He's on a mission with little chance of success, and as his slim hopes dwindle, he is trapped between what he must know is the truth of the situation and his military upbringing that makes him continue to obey Hitler's insane orders.
Speaking of Hitler, another fascinating part of this battle is that it pits micromanaging Hitler against micromanaging Stalin. Both had bad plans, and the side that wins is the side whose Generals convince their leader to modify their plan. Stalin's Generals convince him that if they can continue to hold out at Stalingrad, they will be able to launch a massive counterattack that cuts off the entire German 6th Army. Hitler's Generals are never able to convince him that Stalingrad is hopeless.
Another thing that made this account gripping was the detailed look at conditions for both sides. By the end of the battle, more men were dying of starvation and disease than casualties of battle.
Strictly for hardcore WWII history nuts, a detailed look at the seige of Stalingrad.
Of wider interest, the case can be made that Russia won the war for the allies and this is the battle that turned the tide. As much as we depise totalitarian Russia, we owe them our gratitude.
A couple points of interest. Beevor makes Paulus (the General in command of the German 6th Army which was totally lost at Stalingrad) look a little less like an incompetent fool than some other historians. He's on a mission with little chance of success, and as his slim hopes dwindle, he is trapped between what he must know is the truth of the situation and his military upbringing that makes him continue to obey Hitler's insane orders.
Speaking of Hitler, another fascinating part of this battle is that it pits micromanaging Hitler against micromanaging Stalin. Both had bad plans, and the side that wins is the side whose Generals convince their leader to modify their plan. Stalin's Generals convince him that if they can continue to hold out at Stalingrad, they will be able to launch a massive counterattack that cuts off the entire German 6th Army. Hitler's Generals are never able to convince him that Stalingrad is hopeless.
Another thing that made this account gripping was the detailed look at conditions for both sides. By the end of the battle, more men were dying of starvation and disease than casualties of battle.
4sushidog
3 - The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee
I've never been a Motley Crue fan, but was convinced to read this by a friend. It's not just by drummer Tommy Lee. All Crue members get their say, as do managers and agents.
It's pretty much what you'd expect. They were disgusting and mind-numbingly self-centered. They trashed everything in path, had sex with everyone in their path, and took every drug in their path. Who cares?
What's interesting about the book is that it is written after the band has fallen. So all this is being written in hindsight. What's sad is that where a member writes about some debauchery from their early career and then says something like "we demeaned those girls, but worse, we demeaned ourselves:, you get the feeling that they still want to brag about how they demeaned the girls in question. I suppose they are in a tough spot here. The point of the book as the title suggests is to tell the true history. But sometimes the lack of comapassion or self-awareness, even in hindsight, is staggering. (A quick example. Vince Neil has an on again/off again relationship with a woman early on in their career. 15 years later, the woman shows up at one of their concerts with a teenage daughter. The mom is still fucked up, making the reader feel for the daughter. All Neil worries about is whether the girl is his.)
You do get a sense of who the 4 members are. Nikki Sixx is the most driven of the 4 and the one that keeps the whole thing together for the most part. Tommy Lee seems the most grounded (hard to believe as he was Mr. Pamela Anderson at one point and also never stopped loving her. Go figure). Mick Mars is a weirdo conspiracy theorist. And Vince Neil is just a giant asshole.
I've never been a Motley Crue fan, but was convinced to read this by a friend. It's not just by drummer Tommy Lee. All Crue members get their say, as do managers and agents.
It's pretty much what you'd expect. They were disgusting and mind-numbingly self-centered. They trashed everything in path, had sex with everyone in their path, and took every drug in their path. Who cares?
What's interesting about the book is that it is written after the band has fallen. So all this is being written in hindsight. What's sad is that where a member writes about some debauchery from their early career and then says something like "we demeaned those girls, but worse, we demeaned ourselves:, you get the feeling that they still want to brag about how they demeaned the girls in question. I suppose they are in a tough spot here. The point of the book as the title suggests is to tell the true history. But sometimes the lack of comapassion or self-awareness, even in hindsight, is staggering. (A quick example. Vince Neil has an on again/off again relationship with a woman early on in their career. 15 years later, the woman shows up at one of their concerts with a teenage daughter. The mom is still fucked up, making the reader feel for the daughter. All Neil worries about is whether the girl is his.)
You do get a sense of who the 4 members are. Nikki Sixx is the most driven of the 4 and the one that keeps the whole thing together for the most part. Tommy Lee seems the most grounded (hard to believe as he was Mr. Pamela Anderson at one point and also never stopped loving her. Go figure). Mick Mars is a weirdo conspiracy theorist. And Vince Neil is just a giant asshole.
5sushidog
4 - Secrecy by Rupert Thomson
A promising setting. Late 1600s, the dying days of the debauched Medici rule. Our protagonist, Zummo (or Zumbo) is a sculptor who works in wax. His specialy is figures of plague victims. Excellent so far. But the writing is as putrid as the figures our hero sculpts. Anachronisms like "muckraking" abound. When characters have sex, their bodies become one, they climax together, gag. Really bad writing. Thomson writes about sex like he's never had it.
Too bad. Zumbo is a real historical character and this could have been a great book.
A promising setting. Late 1600s, the dying days of the debauched Medici rule. Our protagonist, Zummo (or Zumbo) is a sculptor who works in wax. His specialy is figures of plague victims. Excellent so far. But the writing is as putrid as the figures our hero sculpts. Anachronisms like "muckraking" abound. When characters have sex, their bodies become one, they climax together, gag. Really bad writing. Thomson writes about sex like he's never had it.
Too bad. Zumbo is a real historical character and this could have been a great book.
6sushidog
5 - The Luminaries: A Novel by Eleanor Catton
Set in the New Zealand gold rush of the 1860s, Catton gives us a great set of characters, a great setting, and a mystery. And then she wrecks it.
First, the book is concerned with astrology. Each of the main characters represents one of the star signs. Each of the chapters has an incomprehensible zodiacal chart as it's frontispiece. If you're not interested with or knowledgeable about astrology, this will mean nothing to you, and nothing in the writing sheds any light.
The first section of the book is long, 360 pages. As the book goes along, the sections get shorter and shorter until by the end the sections are a page or less long. This would be a great device if the action was accelerating, but it's not. The book is more like an onion, with the story being retold again and again from different perspectives with more information being added along the way. As it turns out, the change in sizes of the sections is a formal contstraint: section 1 is 360 pages, section 2 is 180, 3 is 90, 4 is 45, etc. Each is exactly half the size of the previous. Bah. What's the use of this sort of formal device if it doesn't serve the story.
On top of this, it's a little hard to keep track of what's going on. An unsatisfying read because there was so much rich material to work with, ruined by a determination to shoehorn it into something to do with astrology.
Wouldn't have been my choice for the Booker.
Set in the New Zealand gold rush of the 1860s, Catton gives us a great set of characters, a great setting, and a mystery. And then she wrecks it.
First, the book is concerned with astrology. Each of the main characters represents one of the star signs. Each of the chapters has an incomprehensible zodiacal chart as it's frontispiece. If you're not interested with or knowledgeable about astrology, this will mean nothing to you, and nothing in the writing sheds any light.
The first section of the book is long, 360 pages. As the book goes along, the sections get shorter and shorter until by the end the sections are a page or less long. This would be a great device if the action was accelerating, but it's not. The book is more like an onion, with the story being retold again and again from different perspectives with more information being added along the way. As it turns out, the change in sizes of the sections is a formal contstraint: section 1 is 360 pages, section 2 is 180, 3 is 90, 4 is 45, etc. Each is exactly half the size of the previous. Bah. What's the use of this sort of formal device if it doesn't serve the story.
On top of this, it's a little hard to keep track of what's going on. An unsatisfying read because there was so much rich material to work with, ruined by a determination to shoehorn it into something to do with astrology.
Wouldn't have been my choice for the Booker.
7sushidog
6 - The Son of a Certain Woman by Wayne Johnston
One of my favourite authors shits bed. I'm not sure what Johnson was thinking here. Was this supposed to be funny? Sorry, like rape and pedophilia, incest is never funny. Too bad, as this was another book with a great set up. Our young hero, Percy Joyce, is born with a giant wine stain on his face, misshapen lips, and oversized hands and feet. His mother, on the other hand, is as beautiful and as sexy as Sophia Loren. Fantastic, let's talk about beauty and desire! Let's get past banalities about us all being beautiful on the inside! And this being Newfoundland, let's get the Catholic Church and their platitudes mixed in. Sounds good. Even better, turns out Percy's mom is secretly gay. Excellent! Even more tension in this extremely Catholic setting. But Johnson has young Percy lust after his mother like all the other boys on the street. OK, gross, obviously. But I could go there if there seemed to be some point to be made, some lesson to be learned. But if there was, I missed it. By the end, mom has almost agreed to consumate the relationship. And speaking of the end, this book ends with the climax, figuratively and literally. Young Percy comes in his pants when he's finally baptized (against his and his mother's wishes). The end, no denoument. Bah, bah, double bah.
One of my favourite authors shits bed. I'm not sure what Johnson was thinking here. Was this supposed to be funny? Sorry, like rape and pedophilia, incest is never funny. Too bad, as this was another book with a great set up. Our young hero, Percy Joyce, is born with a giant wine stain on his face, misshapen lips, and oversized hands and feet. His mother, on the other hand, is as beautiful and as sexy as Sophia Loren. Fantastic, let's talk about beauty and desire! Let's get past banalities about us all being beautiful on the inside! And this being Newfoundland, let's get the Catholic Church and their platitudes mixed in. Sounds good. Even better, turns out Percy's mom is secretly gay. Excellent! Even more tension in this extremely Catholic setting. But Johnson has young Percy lust after his mother like all the other boys on the street. OK, gross, obviously. But I could go there if there seemed to be some point to be made, some lesson to be learned. But if there was, I missed it. By the end, mom has almost agreed to consumate the relationship. And speaking of the end, this book ends with the climax, figuratively and literally. Young Percy comes in his pants when he's finally baptized (against his and his mother's wishes). The end, no denoument. Bah, bah, double bah.
8sushidog
7 - Stoner by John Williams
Though not much happens in this book, I couldn't put it down. Midwestern boy leaves the farm and goes to agricultural college. Switches to English, marries badly, becomes a professor. Loves literature, finally finds love with fellow lit-lover, but that ends abdly. IS thwarted in career path, but soldiers on. Gets sick, dies.
But the examination of all that is so careful, and so unsentimental, so sparing. A book I know I'll come back to down the line.
Though not much happens in this book, I couldn't put it down. Midwestern boy leaves the farm and goes to agricultural college. Switches to English, marries badly, becomes a professor. Loves literature, finally finds love with fellow lit-lover, but that ends abdly. IS thwarted in career path, but soldiers on. Gets sick, dies.
But the examination of all that is so careful, and so unsentimental, so sparing. A book I know I'll come back to down the line.
9sushidog
8 - Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace
As a few of these deal with sports or pop-culture, this collection is a bit dated. Fun for the footnotes if your a DFW junkie (but then, you've already read this). Otherwise his reflections on tennis or a porn convention feel like a period piece. However, it might just be recommendable for the essay on the English Language Usage wars alone. If you're a declinist who feels we're going to hell in a LOL handcart or someone who insists everything is OK as English is a living language, or even if you're just a wonk who thinks about things like the Oxford (?) comma, this piece is good nerdy reading.
As a few of these deal with sports or pop-culture, this collection is a bit dated. Fun for the footnotes if your a DFW junkie (but then, you've already read this). Otherwise his reflections on tennis or a porn convention feel like a period piece. However, it might just be recommendable for the essay on the English Language Usage wars alone. If you're a declinist who feels we're going to hell in a LOL handcart or someone who insists everything is OK as English is a living language, or even if you're just a wonk who thinks about things like the Oxford (?) comma, this piece is good nerdy reading.
10sushidog
9 - Visiting Mrs. Nabokov: And Other Excursions by Martin Amis
Very similar to the DFW above. Pretty much a collection of magazine articles. But where Wallace has an open, optimistic POV, there is something small and pinched about Amis often. Even in articles about people he admires, he can't help telling a snippet that puts the subject in a bad light. He's a peevish egghead.
This collection is older that the DWF (1995) and feels just as dusty. From the pieces written in the early 80s, it's interesting to see how much anti-nuke and nuke-fear there is. Reagan was still rattling his sword. Most of those weapons (and worse) still exist, but it's now on the backburner of our minds. Or maybe not, with events in the Ukraine.
Very similar to the DFW above. Pretty much a collection of magazine articles. But where Wallace has an open, optimistic POV, there is something small and pinched about Amis often. Even in articles about people he admires, he can't help telling a snippet that puts the subject in a bad light. He's a peevish egghead.
This collection is older that the DWF (1995) and feels just as dusty. From the pieces written in the early 80s, it's interesting to see how much anti-nuke and nuke-fear there is. Reagan was still rattling his sword. Most of those weapons (and worse) still exist, but it's now on the backburner of our minds. Or maybe not, with events in the Ukraine.
11sushidog
10 - Other People by Martin Amis
A promising start: an amnesiac has to figure out everything about herself, how to do little things, even decide if she knows anything. Cool. Something bad has happened, but she doesn't know what. Some people are helping her. As she has no past, she has no frame of reference for saying no to anything, so she moves forward slowly piecing things together. She ends up with bad people and good people, but every once in a while a polceman shows up to get her back on track. All of this was gripping.
However, we get to the end and the end is just like the beginning. In fact, some people suggest that the end is the beginning. It's like the book is a mobius strip, an endless loop.
Arghhh! I hate this sort of shit. I'm sure there are many who will like love the book for exactly this reason. At this moment, I want the comfort of an ending.
A promising start: an amnesiac has to figure out everything about herself, how to do little things, even decide if she knows anything. Cool. Something bad has happened, but she doesn't know what. Some people are helping her. As she has no past, she has no frame of reference for saying no to anything, so she moves forward slowly piecing things together. She ends up with bad people and good people, but every once in a while a polceman shows up to get her back on track. All of this was gripping.
However, we get to the end and the end is just like the beginning. In fact, some people suggest that the end is the beginning. It's like the book is a mobius strip, an endless loop.
Arghhh! I hate this sort of shit. I'm sure there are many who will like love the book for exactly this reason. At this moment, I want the comfort of an ending.
12sushidog
11 - Animal Farm by George Orwell
A book I'd missed reading. It was exactly as I thought it would be. One of those cases where a work is so well-known and influential that the book held no surprises. But I'm glad it exists. Now if we could just get folks to understand the difference between communism/totalitarianism and socialism.
A book I'd missed reading. It was exactly as I thought it would be. One of those cases where a work is so well-known and influential that the book held no surprises. But I'm glad it exists. Now if we could just get folks to understand the difference between communism/totalitarianism and socialism.
13sushidog
12 - Burmese Days by George Orwell
"Seedy, sweaty & acerbic dissection of the contradictions and moral destitution of British colonial India."
Yup. Hard to like anyone in this novel.
"Seedy, sweaty & acerbic dissection of the contradictions and moral destitution of British colonial India."
Yup. Hard to like anyone in this novel.
14sushidog
13 - A Clergyman's Daughter by George Orwell
Another book where about an amnesiac woman. Orwell uses this to allow her a process of self-discovery and rebirth. But in the end, she more or less ends up back in her shitty life, under the thumb of her domineering father.
Not recommended.
Another book where about an amnesiac woman. Orwell uses this to allow her a process of self-discovery and rebirth. But in the end, she more or less ends up back in her shitty life, under the thumb of her domineering father.
Not recommended.
15sushidog
14 - Nostalgia: A Novel by Dennis McFarland
A young man and his sister are orphans, living in New York in the 1860s. The man has unnatural feelings for his sister, and so enlists in the Union army to escape his incestuous impulses. He ends up in the second battle of the Wilderness (I think, I'm no ACW expert), and is left for dead on the battlefield. He makes his way through no man's land and winds up in a Union hospital, unable to speak. He's not safe yet as he's a suspected deserter.
In the hospital, our hero meets Walt (turns out to be Whitman, of course, though our man has no idea) who helps nurse him back to health.
I won't say more about the plot as I encourage you to read this book. The incest thoughts (which so totally turn me off books) don't play a large enough part to diminish this book.
Examinations of the American Civil War invariably talk about how it ripped the nation apart, blah blah blah. This book looks at how it ripped one young man apart. As gripping a study of PTSD as you're likely to find in fiction.
A young man and his sister are orphans, living in New York in the 1860s. The man has unnatural feelings for his sister, and so enlists in the Union army to escape his incestuous impulses. He ends up in the second battle of the Wilderness (I think, I'm no ACW expert), and is left for dead on the battlefield. He makes his way through no man's land and winds up in a Union hospital, unable to speak. He's not safe yet as he's a suspected deserter.
In the hospital, our hero meets Walt (turns out to be Whitman, of course, though our man has no idea) who helps nurse him back to health.
I won't say more about the plot as I encourage you to read this book. The incest thoughts (which so totally turn me off books) don't play a large enough part to diminish this book.
Examinations of the American Civil War invariably talk about how it ripped the nation apart, blah blah blah. This book looks at how it ripped one young man apart. As gripping a study of PTSD as you're likely to find in fiction.
16jfetting
Just found your thread... I really liked Stoner too. Such a sad book but not in a way that is a turnoff.
17sushidog
Jen- Yeah, Stoner was a great find. One of those books I'd never heard of. Someone mentioned it in a blog or something and I found a reissue at my local library. Fantastic.
18sushidog
15 - You Disappear: A Novel by Christian Jungersen
A family is torn apart as a marriage slowly unravels. The wife finds out along the way that her husband has a slow degenerative brain disease that is changing his personality. Most heart-breaking is her realization that the one point in her marriage where she was actually happy, was after the disease had changed her husband. Totally absorbing watching Mia (the wife) deal with each change in her husband and his disease. The writer is Danish- I've got to read more Scandanavian fiction as everything I've read from there in the past few years has been fantastic.
A family is torn apart as a marriage slowly unravels. The wife finds out along the way that her husband has a slow degenerative brain disease that is changing his personality. Most heart-breaking is her realization that the one point in her marriage where she was actually happy, was after the disease had changed her husband. Totally absorbing watching Mia (the wife) deal with each change in her husband and his disease. The writer is Danish- I've got to read more Scandanavian fiction as everything I've read from there in the past few years has been fantastic.
19sushidog
16 - Coming Up for Air by George Orwell
A middle-aged man in an unhappy marriage wins a bit of money on a bet. He takes a trip back to the village he grew up in (telling his wife he's going away on a business trip). On the way to the village, he remembers his childhood, going fishing, the shops he bought candy in, etc. Of course, when he gets there, the village has grown so much it's also unrecognizable, nothing is where he remembered. He's searching for a past that doesn't exist anymore.
The book is set in 1939, so there's a tension between what he's looking back at and what is just around the corner.
The writing in this book is more straightforward than the previous Orwell novels. I recommend it, though it somehow doesn't fit in with the rest of his novels. It's not as much a social commentary or a political observation. It's subtler.
A middle-aged man in an unhappy marriage wins a bit of money on a bet. He takes a trip back to the village he grew up in (telling his wife he's going away on a business trip). On the way to the village, he remembers his childhood, going fishing, the shops he bought candy in, etc. Of course, when he gets there, the village has grown so much it's also unrecognizable, nothing is where he remembered. He's searching for a past that doesn't exist anymore.
The book is set in 1939, so there's a tension between what he's looking back at and what is just around the corner.
The writing in this book is more straightforward than the previous Orwell novels. I recommend it, though it somehow doesn't fit in with the rest of his novels. It's not as much a social commentary or a political observation. It's subtler.
20sushidog
17 - The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
A dying man looks back on his life which begins to look more and more superficial and shallow. Bleak and remorseful, sort of what you expect from 19th century Russian novelists. I read this as I wanted to tip a toe into the Tolstoy waters, and a novella seemed an easier entry than one of his doorstopper novels.
A dying man looks back on his life which begins to look more and more superficial and shallow. Bleak and remorseful, sort of what you expect from 19th century Russian novelists. I read this as I wanted to tip a toe into the Tolstoy waters, and a novella seemed an easier entry than one of his doorstopper novels.
21sushidog
18 - The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
A reread. This is a detailed, imaginative look at the battle of Gettysburg. The chapters alternate POV from Union to Confederate side, picking different generals on each side. I love this book, even though so much of it is obviously speculative. But the feeling of being there and the feeling of knowing what the generals on the ground were thinking is exhilarating. The book is a bit contentious as it posits that Longstreet had a better handle on the battle than Lee, and the South would have had a better result had Lee followed Longstreet's advice.
A reread. This is a detailed, imaginative look at the battle of Gettysburg. The chapters alternate POV from Union to Confederate side, picking different generals on each side. I love this book, even though so much of it is obviously speculative. But the feeling of being there and the feeling of knowing what the generals on the ground were thinking is exhilarating. The book is a bit contentious as it posits that Longstreet had a better handle on the battle than Lee, and the South would have had a better result had Lee followed Longstreet's advice.
22sushidog
19 - A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel by Haruki Murakami
In A Wild Sheep Chase, the protagonist and his girlfriend with extraordinarily charismatic ears embark on a quest to find a mysterious sheep with a star on its back. Yup, it's weird and gets weirder. And like other Murakami, it's hard to describe, doesn't totally resolve itself, and I couldn't put it down.
In A Wild Sheep Chase, the protagonist and his girlfriend with extraordinarily charismatic ears embark on a quest to find a mysterious sheep with a star on its back. Yup, it's weird and gets weirder. And like other Murakami, it's hard to describe, doesn't totally resolve itself, and I couldn't put it down.
23sushidog
20 - Frog Music: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
Set in San Francisco after the gold rush, this is based on the bare bones of the murder of Jenny Bonnet. Our heroine is Blanche, a burlesque dancer/prostitute. A frustrating book in that the story is gripping, but some of the writing is lazy or anachronistic. On the plus side, the structure places us near the end of the story. Chapters alternate with looking back at what got us to this point, and inching forward from our starting place. The real murder was never solved, but Donoghue gives us a taut story of how it might have happened. Too bad the character of the murdered girl is so poorly drawn. As well, this is one of those books where the author has done a great deal of research into the period, and taken pains to show that research. Our murdered Jenny (in the flashback chapters) is always providing explanations for why the city works the way it does. Such explanations don't feel in line with her character and come off as clumsy exposition. As well, our heroine Blanche is in love with a horrible man who treats her about as badly as can be imagined. We can see from the get go that he's horrible. It's fine that Blanche can't see it, but what is missing is a reason _why_ Blanche can't see it. Love is blind only goes so far. Still, the plot is gripping and if you're a Donoghue fan, give it a read.
Set in San Francisco after the gold rush, this is based on the bare bones of the murder of Jenny Bonnet. Our heroine is Blanche, a burlesque dancer/prostitute. A frustrating book in that the story is gripping, but some of the writing is lazy or anachronistic. On the plus side, the structure places us near the end of the story. Chapters alternate with looking back at what got us to this point, and inching forward from our starting place. The real murder was never solved, but Donoghue gives us a taut story of how it might have happened. Too bad the character of the murdered girl is so poorly drawn. As well, this is one of those books where the author has done a great deal of research into the period, and taken pains to show that research. Our murdered Jenny (in the flashback chapters) is always providing explanations for why the city works the way it does. Such explanations don't feel in line with her character and come off as clumsy exposition. As well, our heroine Blanche is in love with a horrible man who treats her about as badly as can be imagined. We can see from the get go that he's horrible. It's fine that Blanche can't see it, but what is missing is a reason _why_ Blanche can't see it. Love is blind only goes so far. Still, the plot is gripping and if you're a Donoghue fan, give it a read.
24sushidog
21 - The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
A novel I could get behind. Set in the 70s, Reno travels from her home in Nevada to NYC to make her way in the art world. She falls in with Sandro Valera, exiled artist heir to the Valera motorcycle fortune and his friend Ronnie, a fast living and fast talking pop artist who rarely produces much actual work. Along the way, she sets the land-speed record for women, and gets involved in protest politics in Italy. There's also her friend Giddle (?) who lives her life as a waitress as a performance art project, Burdman the ex-60s radical, her new friends at the film lab where she works as a model for colour-tests, and all the art promoters, agents, and hangers-on. There's a lot going on here.
The structure here is not a straightforward narrative, but it's not as fractured as many new post-modern novels. Still, it doesn't tie up in the end, and you're left wondering exactly what happened as she drove from Italy to France near the end of the book. No matter, the writing is fresh and forceful (even though many complain the book moves slowly). I liked this book very much, even though the main character made me uncomfortable. She is someone who lets things happen to her, she rarely makes choices. A very different protagonist from most of the female authors I've been reading (where a usual trope is the heroine dresses as a man just so she can have more opportunity to direct her life). Here you are waiting for Reno to make a choice, to push herself towards or away from the men around her. That said, I recommend it.
A novel I could get behind. Set in the 70s, Reno travels from her home in Nevada to NYC to make her way in the art world. She falls in with Sandro Valera, exiled artist heir to the Valera motorcycle fortune and his friend Ronnie, a fast living and fast talking pop artist who rarely produces much actual work. Along the way, she sets the land-speed record for women, and gets involved in protest politics in Italy. There's also her friend Giddle (?) who lives her life as a waitress as a performance art project, Burdman the ex-60s radical, her new friends at the film lab where she works as a model for colour-tests, and all the art promoters, agents, and hangers-on. There's a lot going on here.
The structure here is not a straightforward narrative, but it's not as fractured as many new post-modern novels. Still, it doesn't tie up in the end, and you're left wondering exactly what happened as she drove from Italy to France near the end of the book. No matter, the writing is fresh and forceful (even though many complain the book moves slowly). I liked this book very much, even though the main character made me uncomfortable. She is someone who lets things happen to her, she rarely makes choices. A very different protagonist from most of the female authors I've been reading (where a usual trope is the heroine dresses as a man just so she can have more opportunity to direct her life). Here you are waiting for Reno to make a choice, to push herself towards or away from the men around her. That said, I recommend it.
25sushidog
22 - Mr. Mercedes: A Novel by Stephen King
I'm not a huge King fan (though I really liked his book on writing). But I remember reading books like The Stand and the book of four novellas and enjoying them back in my school days. I'm not into supernatural stuff so much, so that rules out a lot of classic King, but this was about a mass murderer, so what the hell.
Not good. Formulaic. Rote. No surprises, no revelations, no insights into a killer's mind. An episode of Law and Order would be more suspenseful. I guess when you're as big as Stephen King, no editor says "no".
I'm not a huge King fan (though I really liked his book on writing). But I remember reading books like The Stand and the book of four novellas and enjoying them back in my school days. I'm not into supernatural stuff so much, so that rules out a lot of classic King, but this was about a mass murderer, so what the hell.
Not good. Formulaic. Rote. No surprises, no revelations, no insights into a killer's mind. An episode of Law and Order would be more suspenseful. I guess when you're as big as Stephen King, no editor says "no".
26jfetting
I can't wait to read A Wild Sheep Chase.
27sushidog
23 - The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down by Colin Woodard
As advertised, a detailed history of the golden age of pirates. The interesting thing here was to read how the pirates tried to create their own little republic in the Caribbean. Rebelling against British Naval Impressment and British law in general (as you'd think, pirates are a libertarian bunch), they nonetheless created their own laws that were remarkably democratic (the captain could be voted out of his position at any time other than in the middle of battle, for example).
As well, the book is an interesting history of the great pirates. The Blackbeard we've seen in movies is pretty historical- he had a wild beard that he tied ribbons in. When about to engage another vessel, he'd tie firecrackers into the beard as well. As the came along side the other vessel, sometimes just the image of this wild man with fire in his beard would frighten the other captain into submission.
And finally, a history of a couple of female pirates. Screenwriters, take note. Here's an exciting story not based on a comic book. Get on it.
As advertised, a detailed history of the golden age of pirates. The interesting thing here was to read how the pirates tried to create their own little republic in the Caribbean. Rebelling against British Naval Impressment and British law in general (as you'd think, pirates are a libertarian bunch), they nonetheless created their own laws that were remarkably democratic (the captain could be voted out of his position at any time other than in the middle of battle, for example).
As well, the book is an interesting history of the great pirates. The Blackbeard we've seen in movies is pretty historical- he had a wild beard that he tied ribbons in. When about to engage another vessel, he'd tie firecrackers into the beard as well. As the came along side the other vessel, sometimes just the image of this wild man with fire in his beard would frighten the other captain into submission.
And finally, a history of a couple of female pirates. Screenwriters, take note. Here's an exciting story not based on a comic book. Get on it.
28sushidog
24 - The Making of Billy Bishop: The First World War Exploits of Billy Bishop, VC by Brereton Greenhous
Interesting. Greenhous (and others) have gone through and looked at the records for each of Bishop's reported kills. He finds the record is grossly overstated, especially compared to German aces. It's hard to argue with his findings.
First, as most of the air battles took place on the German side of the lines, German kills were confirmed on the ground by the presence of the downed plane. British and French kills were awarded for planes driven from the sky. Usually these were confirmed but fellow pilots, but not always. In general, this allows for inflated Allied kill totals across the board.
But it was even more muddy in Bishop's case. Normally pilots would go up in flights of several aircraft at a time. After some initial success, Bishop was allowed to go up on his own and hunt as a lone wolf. This means that he is the only witness for any claimed kills on these sorties. The farther into the war he goes, he stops getting any kills while flying with squadron mates, and only has kills while alone. The author goes to great lengths to try confirm these from German records, but often can't.
Finally, Bishop won his Victoria Cross for a daring solo raid on a German airfield (again, with no witnesses). There is no record of such a raid in the German archives.
There were people during the war who doubted Bishop's claims (including some fellow pilots). But there was an acute need for heroes. Bishop filled the bill.
Interesting. Greenhous (and others) have gone through and looked at the records for each of Bishop's reported kills. He finds the record is grossly overstated, especially compared to German aces. It's hard to argue with his findings.
First, as most of the air battles took place on the German side of the lines, German kills were confirmed on the ground by the presence of the downed plane. British and French kills were awarded for planes driven from the sky. Usually these were confirmed but fellow pilots, but not always. In general, this allows for inflated Allied kill totals across the board.
But it was even more muddy in Bishop's case. Normally pilots would go up in flights of several aircraft at a time. After some initial success, Bishop was allowed to go up on his own and hunt as a lone wolf. This means that he is the only witness for any claimed kills on these sorties. The farther into the war he goes, he stops getting any kills while flying with squadron mates, and only has kills while alone. The author goes to great lengths to try confirm these from German records, but often can't.
Finally, Bishop won his Victoria Cross for a daring solo raid on a German airfield (again, with no witnesses). There is no record of such a raid in the German archives.
There were people during the war who doubted Bishop's claims (including some fellow pilots). But there was an acute need for heroes. Bishop filled the bill.
29sushidog
25 - Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
Our protagonist is a young man who rejects the "money god" and tries to live without concern for income. He leaves a good job in advertising as a copywriter (where he has real talent) and instead works part-time in a bookshop. He has a girlfriend, Rosemary, from his time at the ad agency, but their relationship is strained as he is always suspicious that she expects him to earn more (she doesn't, but his war on money is blinding him). Each time he does get a little money, he wastes it. Eventually even his relationship sours and he ends up in worse and worse lodgings, seemingly wanting to waste away. His girlfriend visits him one last time and they finally have sex (they hadn't before due to lack of funds for a condom, but this time she relents). It is more like a surrender by Rosemary, and completely passionless. They don't see each other for a couple months when she returns pregnant. Rejecting abortion, Gordon has to decide between abandoning Rosemary to social shame and being sent back to her family (at this time it's not possible for an unmarried mother to continue working), or marrying her and taking his advertising job back. He is surprised at how easily he chooses the latter and the relief he feels at abandoning his war on money.
A bit of a bleak novel of youthful idealism lost, it's apparently very autobiographical. His railing against income as the ultimate barometer of worth resonates today with our railing against the 1%. What would Orwell make of us today?
Our protagonist is a young man who rejects the "money god" and tries to live without concern for income. He leaves a good job in advertising as a copywriter (where he has real talent) and instead works part-time in a bookshop. He has a girlfriend, Rosemary, from his time at the ad agency, but their relationship is strained as he is always suspicious that she expects him to earn more (she doesn't, but his war on money is blinding him). Each time he does get a little money, he wastes it. Eventually even his relationship sours and he ends up in worse and worse lodgings, seemingly wanting to waste away. His girlfriend visits him one last time and they finally have sex (they hadn't before due to lack of funds for a condom, but this time she relents). It is more like a surrender by Rosemary, and completely passionless. They don't see each other for a couple months when she returns pregnant. Rejecting abortion, Gordon has to decide between abandoning Rosemary to social shame and being sent back to her family (at this time it's not possible for an unmarried mother to continue working), or marrying her and taking his advertising job back. He is surprised at how easily he chooses the latter and the relief he feels at abandoning his war on money.
A bit of a bleak novel of youthful idealism lost, it's apparently very autobiographical. His railing against income as the ultimate barometer of worth resonates today with our railing against the 1%. What would Orwell make of us today?
31sushidog
27 - Success by Martin Amis
A tale of two foster brothers, one confident and successful, the other shy and neurotic. As the novel progresses one moves up while the other falls, a classic role reversal story but with the added benefit of Amis' acid wit. In these early novels, Amis is especially mean.
Written in the late 70s, it comes at some of the same issues as Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
Occupy Literature.
A tale of two foster brothers, one confident and successful, the other shy and neurotic. As the novel progresses one moves up while the other falls, a classic role reversal story but with the added benefit of Amis' acid wit. In these early novels, Amis is especially mean.
Written in the late 70s, it comes at some of the same issues as Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
Occupy Literature.
32sushidog
28 - Yellow Dog by Martin Amis
A more frustrating read in some ways that Success, but also more rewarding. There is a lot more going on here: an English movie star actor, son of a gangland boss, is beaten for mentioning the name of current gangland leader in the press, and his beating rewires his brain; a tabloid writer works on a story involving a sexually abusive soccer star and at the same time tries to work out his own sexual dysfunction by arranging a meeting with a submissive woman he meets online (who turns out to be a transexual); a pornstar set on revenge for something that happened to her abusive father. Whew. It's not the clearest plot (there's also a comet and an airliner that is having trouble landing, giving a sense of impending doom).
A lot of stories about male violence. Again, it seems particularly relevant today.
Oh, and as per so much Amis, it's often darkly funny.
A more frustrating read in some ways that Success, but also more rewarding. There is a lot more going on here: an English movie star actor, son of a gangland boss, is beaten for mentioning the name of current gangland leader in the press, and his beating rewires his brain; a tabloid writer works on a story involving a sexually abusive soccer star and at the same time tries to work out his own sexual dysfunction by arranging a meeting with a submissive woman he meets online (who turns out to be a transexual); a pornstar set on revenge for something that happened to her abusive father. Whew. It's not the clearest plot (there's also a comet and an airliner that is having trouble landing, giving a sense of impending doom).
A lot of stories about male violence. Again, it seems particularly relevant today.
Oh, and as per so much Amis, it's often darkly funny.
33sushidog
29 - The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson
Bryson's memoir of growing up in Des Moines, Iowa in the 50s and 60s. A book that looks back at small city life before everything became homogenized. I know it sounds sort of Andy Rooney curmudgeony, but it's not. It is a vivid picture of town life that's long gone.
Listened to this read by Bryson on a car trip. He's a terrific reader of his own work.
Maybe a little too gentle for some, I've always liked Bryson and this one is no different.
Bryson's memoir of growing up in Des Moines, Iowa in the 50s and 60s. A book that looks back at small city life before everything became homogenized. I know it sounds sort of Andy Rooney curmudgeony, but it's not. It is a vivid picture of town life that's long gone.
Listened to this read by Bryson on a car trip. He's a terrific reader of his own work.
Maybe a little too gentle for some, I've always liked Bryson and this one is no different.
34sushidog
30 - Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres
A disclaimer. I think this is the Ellen book we listened to on a car trip this summer, but I can't remember the title. Looking through her bibilography online, they all look the same. I think this is the one, but as I'll never read or listen to another, who cares.
I like Ellen just fine but this book is a steaming pile of poop.
Not really a memoir, we get no insight into her life. It's more like a watery self-help book with this kind up mushy bullshit:
“Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It's about knowing and accepting who you are.”
Ugh. That's it, that's the depth of this stinker.
A few gentle jokes here and there (kept my 12 year old interested) but not near enough to qualify as worthwhile.
Crap.
A disclaimer. I think this is the Ellen book we listened to on a car trip this summer, but I can't remember the title. Looking through her bibilography online, they all look the same. I think this is the one, but as I'll never read or listen to another, who cares.
I like Ellen just fine but this book is a steaming pile of poop.
Not really a memoir, we get no insight into her life. It's more like a watery self-help book with this kind up mushy bullshit:
“Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It's about knowing and accepting who you are.”
Ugh. That's it, that's the depth of this stinker.
A few gentle jokes here and there (kept my 12 year old interested) but not near enough to qualify as worthwhile.
Crap.
35sushidog
31 - Rommel: The End of a Legend by Ralf Georg Reuth
Reuth's point is that Rommel wasn't quite the great man history remembers him to be.
His thinking takes two main directions. He debunks the idea that Rommel was connected to the Staufeenberg plot to kill Hitler. He asserts that Rommel was a great tactician, but not a great strategist.
On the first point, I don't think there's much disagreement. Rommel was an admirer of Hitler and very grateful to Hitler for allowing him to rise on merit (as opposed to the old Prussian military heritage of rising according to social class). While the plotters of the attack on Hitler in 44 certainly wanted to get Rommel onside, there is no evidence they did.
As to the second point, that's a little more debatable. Rommel was certainly a fantastic battlefield commander and tactician. Unflinching, he was always driving his forces forward at a blinding pace, keeping the British off-balance. But in Africa, he often got out in front of his supply line, leaving his troops exposed. Then in 44, he was given defense of France. Here he misjudged both the location of the expected Allied DDay landings, and also the timing (he wasn't even at HQ on June 6th as he was sure the landings wouldn't take place in bad weather.
So why has he gone down as one of the greatest generals of WWII? Reuth's contention is that much of it relies on propaganda, both in Germany and Britain. In Germany, things weren't going well on the Eastern Front, and they needed a hero. Rommel was having success in Africa and fit the bill. A similar story in England. These were the darkest of days for Britain. France was out of the war, America had only just come in, but had yet to make an impact. Nothing was going right for the Allies. Monty was (initially) losing in Africa. In order to put a positive spin on things, the English papers built Rommel up as a superhero, a genius who confounded a plucky Tommies at every turn.
I don't totally buy the second part of the argument (figuring out the landing site for DDay was a mugs game and give the Allies credit for some fantastic deceptions). But the early part of the book that paints a picture of Rommel fawning on Hitler is revealing and disgusting.
Reuth's point is that Rommel wasn't quite the great man history remembers him to be.
His thinking takes two main directions. He debunks the idea that Rommel was connected to the Staufeenberg plot to kill Hitler. He asserts that Rommel was a great tactician, but not a great strategist.
On the first point, I don't think there's much disagreement. Rommel was an admirer of Hitler and very grateful to Hitler for allowing him to rise on merit (as opposed to the old Prussian military heritage of rising according to social class). While the plotters of the attack on Hitler in 44 certainly wanted to get Rommel onside, there is no evidence they did.
As to the second point, that's a little more debatable. Rommel was certainly a fantastic battlefield commander and tactician. Unflinching, he was always driving his forces forward at a blinding pace, keeping the British off-balance. But in Africa, he often got out in front of his supply line, leaving his troops exposed. Then in 44, he was given defense of France. Here he misjudged both the location of the expected Allied DDay landings, and also the timing (he wasn't even at HQ on June 6th as he was sure the landings wouldn't take place in bad weather.
So why has he gone down as one of the greatest generals of WWII? Reuth's contention is that much of it relies on propaganda, both in Germany and Britain. In Germany, things weren't going well on the Eastern Front, and they needed a hero. Rommel was having success in Africa and fit the bill. A similar story in England. These were the darkest of days for Britain. France was out of the war, America had only just come in, but had yet to make an impact. Nothing was going right for the Allies. Monty was (initially) losing in Africa. In order to put a positive spin on things, the English papers built Rommel up as a superhero, a genius who confounded a plucky Tommies at every turn.
I don't totally buy the second part of the argument (figuring out the landing site for DDay was a mugs game and give the Allies credit for some fantastic deceptions). But the early part of the book that paints a picture of Rommel fawning on Hitler is revealing and disgusting.
36sushidog
32 - Flash Boys by Michael Lewis
If you ever wanted a clear picture about how Wall Street is a rigged game and you're the patsy, this is it. As always, Michael Lewis is easy to read and lays things out fairly dispassionately.
Interesting to note that in fighting the battle against HFT (high frequency trading), the main actor is a Canadian, formerly of Bank of Nova Scotia.
You know there is no interest in fixing the system when something as simple as adding a random 1-3 second delay into every submitted trade order would completely ruin the advantage the HFT users enjoy, but the SEC sits on it's hands.
If you ever wanted a clear picture about how Wall Street is a rigged game and you're the patsy, this is it. As always, Michael Lewis is easy to read and lays things out fairly dispassionately.
Interesting to note that in fighting the battle against HFT (high frequency trading), the main actor is a Canadian, formerly of Bank of Nova Scotia.
You know there is no interest in fixing the system when something as simple as adding a random 1-3 second delay into every submitted trade order would completely ruin the advantage the HFT users enjoy, but the SEC sits on it's hands.
37sushidog
33 - Crimes Against My Brother by David Adams Richards
Richards traces the lives of three boys, blood brothers, following them through the bad choices they make and digging into the ways they betray and fail each other. Given this is the man who wrote Mercy Among the Children, it's often pretty grim stuff. Frustrating to watch them make mistakes and turn against each other, frustrating to watch them misunderstand each other. But other than the setting, achingly familiar.
I'm addicted to east coast writers, but Richards is an odd case. In interviews (and maybe essays) he seems to have a chip on his shoulder. I'm not sure why, but it's a little off-putting. Still, I really recommend this book if you don't need a happy ending.
Richards traces the lives of three boys, blood brothers, following them through the bad choices they make and digging into the ways they betray and fail each other. Given this is the man who wrote Mercy Among the Children, it's often pretty grim stuff. Frustrating to watch them make mistakes and turn against each other, frustrating to watch them misunderstand each other. But other than the setting, achingly familiar.
I'm addicted to east coast writers, but Richards is an odd case. In interviews (and maybe essays) he seems to have a chip on his shoulder. I'm not sure why, but it's a little off-putting. Still, I really recommend this book if you don't need a happy ending.
38sushidog
34 - Shotgun Lovesongs: A Novel by Nickolas Butler
A famous musician lives in the mid-west where he keeps in touch with the friends he grew up with, blah, blah, barf. I could only make it through 100 pages.
A famous musician lives in the mid-west where he keeps in touch with the friends he grew up with, blah, blah, barf. I could only make it through 100 pages.
39sushidog
35 - The Dog: A Novel by Joseph O'Neill
A New Yorker who's relationship has just broken up ditches his job in finance and moves to Dubai to work as, well, it's hard to describe exactly, for a slightly shady family run business. Dubai feels like the wild west for the extremely wealthy, and while our hero does his best, things don't work out here any better than they did in New York.
While getting a glimpse of modern Dubai is interesting, our protagonist is a shallow narcissist. I suppose dropping this sort of person into a strange place like Dubai is possibly interesting, I just found him so unlikable.
I know everyone loved O'Neill's previous book, Netherland, but I wasn't knocked out by it. As well, this new book was on the Booker list this year. I'm just missing something about O'Neill.
A New Yorker who's relationship has just broken up ditches his job in finance and moves to Dubai to work as, well, it's hard to describe exactly, for a slightly shady family run business. Dubai feels like the wild west for the extremely wealthy, and while our hero does his best, things don't work out here any better than they did in New York.
While getting a glimpse of modern Dubai is interesting, our protagonist is a shallow narcissist. I suppose dropping this sort of person into a strange place like Dubai is possibly interesting, I just found him so unlikable.
I know everyone loved O'Neill's previous book, Netherland, but I wasn't knocked out by it. As well, this new book was on the Booker list this year. I'm just missing something about O'Neill.
40sushidog
36 - Absolom Absolom! by William Faulkner
I was really struggling with this book. Could not keep up with who is who and what is happening. The writing is dense, the sentences endless. Finally resorted to wikipedia just to try get a handle on it. Found out that at one point it held the record for the longest sentence in fiction. That did me in.
I appreciate modernists in theory, but in practice often not as much. My rule of thumb is that a sentence is only readable if it's speakable. I know that's pretty limiting and I can certainly think of some long passages in Shakespeare where you don't speak it all on one breath, but with little catch breaths you still make it through the whole thing as one thought. Still, these long sentences didn't have Shakespeare's drive to the end. Not for me.
I was really struggling with this book. Could not keep up with who is who and what is happening. The writing is dense, the sentences endless. Finally resorted to wikipedia just to try get a handle on it. Found out that at one point it held the record for the longest sentence in fiction. That did me in.
I appreciate modernists in theory, but in practice often not as much. My rule of thumb is that a sentence is only readable if it's speakable. I know that's pretty limiting and I can certainly think of some long passages in Shakespeare where you don't speak it all on one breath, but with little catch breaths you still make it through the whole thing as one thought. Still, these long sentences didn't have Shakespeare's drive to the end. Not for me.
41sushidog
37 - As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Not wanting to give up on Faulkner, I tried again and struck gold.
The family matriarch is dying and dies. The family builds a coffin, and then tries to travel take in a wagon to bury her. Rains wash out a couple bridges and it's a longer trip it ought to be.
The story is told in first person, with each chapter coming from a different character's POV. It's a big family and there's a bundle of secrets that spill out along the way. And it doesn't end happily. While the shifting POV is similar to Absolom, Absolom!, the writing is much more straightforward.
Couldn't put it down. Must have just been in the mood.
Not wanting to give up on Faulkner, I tried again and struck gold.
The family matriarch is dying and dies. The family builds a coffin, and then tries to travel take in a wagon to bury her. Rains wash out a couple bridges and it's a longer trip it ought to be.
The story is told in first person, with each chapter coming from a different character's POV. It's a big family and there's a bundle of secrets that spill out along the way. And it doesn't end happily. While the shifting POV is similar to Absolom, Absolom!, the writing is much more straightforward.
Couldn't put it down. Must have just been in the mood.
42sushidog
38 - Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? by Billy Crystal
Listened to this in the car this summer. If you like Billy Crystal, give this a pass. Everything you like about him as a performer is missing as a writer. It's laboured, it's long, the jokes are clunky and obvious.
Listened to this in the car this summer. If you like Billy Crystal, give this a pass. Everything you like about him as a performer is missing as a writer. It's laboured, it's long, the jokes are clunky and obvious.
43sushidog
39 - Adult Onset by Ann-Marie MacDonald
This is not another Fall On Your Knees. It's much smaller in scope: a family that sounds much like MacDonald's own (she's married to a theatre director), the work of raising a young family while your spouse is on the road.
The main theme is parenting. Our hero is constantly trying to figure out what happened in her childhood that is affecting how she raises her kids. Interesting stuff, but as always I found the challenges of caring for kids overblown. If you don't want your 4 yr old running around with scissors, don't leave them out. MacDonald makes caring for children sound impossible.
That's a small gripe. It's a pretty good book, just not the book I want from her. I want another big sweeping book.
This is not another Fall On Your Knees. It's much smaller in scope: a family that sounds much like MacDonald's own (she's married to a theatre director), the work of raising a young family while your spouse is on the road.
The main theme is parenting. Our hero is constantly trying to figure out what happened in her childhood that is affecting how she raises her kids. Interesting stuff, but as always I found the challenges of caring for kids overblown. If you don't want your 4 yr old running around with scissors, don't leave them out. MacDonald makes caring for children sound impossible.
That's a small gripe. It's a pretty good book, just not the book I want from her. I want another big sweeping book.
44sushidog
That's it for 2014. Another year where I didn't make 50. But given the deaths in the family and the rest of the upheaval my household went through this year, I'll give myself a break.
On to next year:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/186229
On to next year:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/186229
