12 Books of the Year

I hate awards, but I love nominations. I love lists, but I hate rankings. So, instead of creating a list of my favorite books read this year, and burdening myself with putting them in some hierarchical order, I'll just pick out a book for every month.

I'm pleased to say I read 46 books this year, which is much higher than normal for me. Granted, about half a dozen of those I marked as "Did not finish" because they were either so bad or not what I was looking for that I didn't want to waste my time on them. Sadly, there were several bad ones I slogged all the way through anyway.

Of the 46, 15 were non-fiction. The topics ranged from silly to serious; some had a tone like a textbook, others like a very interesting conversation. I expect my trend towards non-fiction to continue for the coming years.

In a similar statistic, 14 of the 46 were from the library. As obvious as it sounds, I'm proud of myself for rediscovering this fantastic resource. Especially with the ability to reserve books online, it has become very easy to locate obscure books or pick up the hottest new releases. As much as I love books, I'm a cheapskate and I hate paying full price for them. What could be better than free? The library increased my access to non-fiction and new releases, but also freed me from the feeling of guilt if I chose to stop reading the book.

January

I don't know whether these books represent the year that was, or future months in which they'd be a good read. So, let's start with H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. I was a big sci-fi buff when I was a little kid, but I rarely read it now. I love the George Pal movie, so I thought I'd give this one a refresh. It was certainly worth it. A very short novel, but filled with great imagination. 4 stars.

February

A shorter, colder month, great for curling up with a book that you just can't put down. For me, Steinbeck's East of Eden was a revelation. I read The Grapes of Wrath last year, but mostly just thought it was okay. This one blew me away. Each chapter was like a well-crafted short story in and of itself. It was sweeping, literary, emotional, and beautiful. The kind of book where when you finish it, you just have to sit there for a while and bask. This was absolutely my favorite book of the year, and is very high (if not top) on my favorite books of all time. 5 stars.

March

The third month, how about a trilogy? Honestly, if I were going to make a recommendation, I would suggest only reading the first of the Millennium series. It's not that the other two are bad; they're pretty good. But I think, like many sequels, they offer diminishing returns. The main character of Lisbeth Sanders is a compelling (though difficult) heroine, and I enjoyed having a couple additional adventures with her. 4 stars.

April

On April 20, 1999, two students went on a killing spree that scared the nation, and became known as the Columbine High School Massacre. The book Columbine by Dave Cullen, is a very lucid and fascinating account of the events of that day. Not only does it dispel some of the myths that sprang up from misinformation, but it also paints a chilling picture of the two young men. A really fantastic book. 5 stars.

May

On May 25, 1977, one young filmmaker released a movie that cheered the world, and became known as Star Wars. Though it is impossible to go back to the days before mega-blockbusters laden with fantastic special effects, The Making of Star Wars does a great job of letting you feel what it was like. Nobody knew if it would be successful, many of the techniques had never been done, but everyone was young and idealistic. 4 stars.

June

Speaking of idealistic, and going back even further in time, we come to Thor Heyerdahl. In 1947, he and some equally loony friends recreated a raft out of native material and sailed from South America to the Polynesian islands to prove that earlier native peoples could have done the same. His book, Kon-Tiki, is a first person account of the struggles and adventures they went through along the way. Entertaining, educational, and inspiring. 4 stars.

July

Okay, okay, it's summer. You want to read something goofy and fun, not all of this fact-based stuff. Well, have I got the book for you. The Ruins is quite possibly one of the worst books I've ever read. The writing is fine, but the plot, characters, action, all of it is just enormously stupid. So why list it here? Because, if you were sitting out lounging on a beach somewhere, this would be perfect. It is awfsome. It is terrifible. It isn't "so bad it's good," it's "so bad that I'm having fun marveling at how it could possibly get any worse," and yet it does. 1 star.

August

So bad it's good? What kind of doublespeak is that? Continuing my re-exploration of some old sci-fi classics, I read George Orwell's 1984 again. If you like to think when you read (rather than check your brain at the door like that last one), then this is a great opportunity. It holds up remarkably well, although I am eager to read Brave New World for comparison.

September

The Ruins and 1984 on the same list? That doesn't make any sense. Welcome to my world. Actually, welcome to just about everybody's world. Predictably Irrational was a wonderful read in which the author shows how in many situations we humans don't always do what would logically be best for us. But the more interesting aspect is that this behavior can still be predicted, as he shows in several experiments. A very entertaining book on a subject I had never even thought about before. 5 stars.

October

I'm not a big Stephen King fan, but I have always enjoyed his earlier books. I had never read Salem's Lot, and I thought I was due. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it didn't have the problem ending like so many others. A good vampire story, and a refreshing change from the benevolent, glowing, dreamy teenagery kind. 4 stars.

November

Richard Stark's Parker #1: The Hunter is a graphic novel. I'm not one of those guys that's embarrassed to say "comic book," but I think this one deserves the bumped-up description. The art is simplistic yet subtle. The story is an old one often retold, but it works very well here. This one is numbered "1" but I haven't yet made the effort to see if others have been released. I will eagerly read them if and when they are. 5 stars.

December

Winter is coming. For those familiar with the Song of Ice and Fire series, that phrase says a lot. Here, it's just a cutesy intro for my December pick, A Game of Thrones. I have read all of the (existing) books already, and now this one twice. It is epic fantasy, which I normally stay pretty far away from, but it is done in a realistic style. The intrigues of the court take center stage far more than swordplay, and the magic is almost non-existent. It also doesn't hurt that it is currently being turned into a mini-series for HBO. Highly recommended to anyone just looking for a good tale well told. 5 stars.

Well, that does it for this year. Of course, there were many more good and great books that I didn't mention, and I hope the same is true for next year.

Thrifting: Books

I love going to thrift stores. This is a hobby I've had all of my life, starting with garage sales when I was a kid. I have a lot of thoughts about it; too much to put in one post, so I'll break it up into different topics that suit my fancy.

I also have a passion for reading. It astounds me that there are so many bookstores, since I rarely see a) anyone in them buying books and b) anyone out in the world reading books. I know there are readers out there, and perhaps they just do it in the privacy of their own home, but it still strikes me as odd that Barnes & Noble is able to stay in business.

Especially when you look at the cost of a new book! New paperbacks are $7.00! Here's where thrift stores are a godsend. I can't remember the last time I spent more than $3 on a book (and that was for illustrated hard-bound editions of Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hans Christian Andersen's Tales published in 1945). Of course, it's not just about the money. I could easily (and often do) pick up books from the local library. There's more to it than that.

The Thrill of the Chase

The best places to find cheap books are not necessarily the well-known places like Goodwill or Salvation Army (although they often have good selections). I much prefer the small, local church or community based thrift stores. They usually have many more books coming in, and often price books much less-- paperbacks for fifty cents, hardbacks for a dollar.

And that's where the fun comes in. If I want a particular book, I'll go to the library. But thrift stores are all about serendipity, patience, and the luck of the draw. You never know what you might find. I like to think I read a pretty wide variety of books, so I'm open to just about anything. Kon Tiki for 25 cents? I've heard of that, why not? Just yesterday I picked up The Magic Lantern, Ingmar Bergman's autobiography. Would I ever have thought to look for that in the library? Doubtful. Would I think to ask for it as a gift? Never. But to find it there for a buck was fantastic! I can't wait to read it. With it I also picked up Jude the Obscure, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and some goofy Star Wars book that I never would have paid more than 50 cents for.

The Mystery of Mysteries

The stores with the largest selections are usually very helpful and sort their books by subject: fiction, non-fiction, self-help, romance, and mysteries. Some have more categories, some have less, but all of them contain that last one. Those first few may seem self-explanatory, but let me explain what the thrift stores mean by "Mystery"-- everything else. Does it look serious or have the Oprah sticker on it? Fiction. Was it written by Tolkein or have "Star" in the title? Science Fiction. Other than that, it gets shelved in Mystery. Dan Brown? Mystery. Tom Clancy, Ken Follett? Mystery, mystery. Stephen King? Well, that's a tough one. Usually, it's in the "Stephen King" section, but if there isn't room, put it in Mystery. In order to overcome this Screwy Decimal System, you have to develop additional skills.

Judging a Book by Its Cover

After a while, you start to recognize patterns in books. I bet I could tell you the type of book, genre, and year of publication (within five years) just by looking at the spine. Big block letters? That's pop fiction, some sort of thriller. Soft cursive against a soothing background? That's "women's fiction." It's easy, really.

There are also books that are staples of every thrift store I've been to. And I'm not talking about the easy ones like some huge mass-market paperback that was printed a billion times. For example, I have yet to visit a book section that didn't have Franzen's The Corrections (a good book, by the way). Nine out of ten of them have Gutterson's Snow Falling on Cedars. What's with that?

On a different note, I have frequently seen book buzzards. I don't know what else to call them. These people must be reselling the books online or something. They come to the book section armed with some sort of hand-held scanning device, then proceed to pull every book off the shelf and scan the barcode. After looking at the results, they either toss it back or into their cart. This bothers me for a number of reasons. Obviously, they're taking advantage of the system and profiting from a charitable organization. Clearly, they aren't really readers. But lastly, it's the thought that my knowledge and skill at finding good or valuable books has been reduced to some piece of electronic equipment.

Take and Give

One last benefit of buying books at thrift stores is the ease of disposal. My wife liked to check books out at the library. Every time, she racked up a few dollars-worth of late charges because she didn't return them on time. I kept telling her I could have bought it for her for less. She's finally taken me up on that, and is now a convert. She give me a list of authors/titles to look out for, and it usually isn't long before I find it. She almost bought Deep End of the Ocean one day when I was with her, but I told her I saw it all the time. Two days later and one buck lighter, it was hers.

But my point is, with a used book you bought for a buck, you don't worry about things. If you spill beer or coffee on it (one is far more likely for me than the other), who cares? You won't have to pay the library anything. Did you start reading it and decide you hate it? No problem. Donate it back. You're only out a buck, and you gave to charity twice. I love to give books to my friends if I think they'll like them, and this way I never expect them back. Sometimes if I have a big enough stack of better than average books, I'll sell them at the Half-Price Bookstore and feel like I either made back my investment or earned some extra change.

I buy a lot more books than I'll likely have time to read, but that's a good thing as well. I have a strange private library of books that caught my eye. It's nice to know that when I'm in the mood for something different, I have a lot to choose from at the tip of my fingers.

Digital Barbarism

Digital Barbarism by Mark Helprin

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Mark Helprin is a novelist who wrote this screed in defense of copyright. His style is excessively erudite and pompous, with almost as many commas as nouns. Unfortunately, I agree with him. It would be so much easier to be turned off by his style and simply dismiss him as an ass.

In arguing for copyright, he branches into other more philosophic ideas like individualism versus collectivism. I found the book to be very interesting, but his voice was off-putting.

Apparently, this book originated from an Op-Ed article he wrote not long ago. It drew such a firestorm of criticism from people from all over the internet that he felt compelled to respond. Sadly, he comes across as a bit of a troll, except instead of responding to his detractors on the internet, he wrote a book about it (so that he can be verbose and get the last word in, I suppose). It amused and somewhat saddened me that an author would bother to quote and reply to some anonymous posters from the web.

In the end, I think the battle for copyright is an important one, and Helprin is literate, intelligent, and stubborn enough to keep up the good fight. I'm just glad I don't have to be in the same room with him while he's doing it.

View all my reviews.

Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I had heard good things about this classic from various people, so I thought it was time for me to give it a shot. If nothing else, I could claim to be well-read in classic American literature. Unfortunately, although it begins and ends very strongly, the middle is filled with long, dry passages which brought the book down as a whole for me.

It may be part of the style of writing at the time, but there are many, many chapters of the book that are devoted to describing the facts around whaling. There were many detailed chapters about whales themselves, the process of chasing and killing a whale, the tools used, the value of different parts of the whale, and the process of extracting those parts. Some of these were very interesting, but all of them distracted me from the actual narrative. It was only the infrequent interspersion of chapters about the characters that kept me going. One could probably just read the first and last 100 pages and get all the pertinent information.

However, I will say that the narrative passages were quite good. There were many interestingly drawn characters, vivid imagery, and beautiful, haunting dialog. I would most likely not recommend this book to most people, but I wouldn't dissuade someone from reading it either.

View all my reviews.

The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Yet another light non-fiction book basically centered around making new observation from gathered data.

I actually enjoyed the book, but there wasn't much meat to it. The anecdotes and conclusions were very interesting, and I can see how these observations could be helpful in future situations.

Unfortunately, I found several parts of the book were deliberately repetitive. Like the other Gladwell book I've read, Outliers, the whole book read more like a padded out magazine article rather than a serious book.

Still, it was informative and entertaining, and I would recommend it as a casual weekend read.

View all my reviews.

Oh My Stars

What's in a rating? I use three different sites regularly that give me the opportunity to rate different things: Goodreads for books, Netflix for movies, and Boardgamegeek for games. I like rating things. The problem is that I always feel compelled to use the guidelines for these ratings, and that's where I have a problem.

Let's start with Goodreads. It's a great online community for book readers. It has a good interface, an extensive database, and a lot of active reviewers. I repost all of my reviews here on my blog. But when it comes to rating a book, their star system bothers me.

Here's the mouse-over text for each level of rating:

1. Didn't like it
2. It was ok
3. Liked it
4. Really liked it
5. It was amazing

First off, what if I absolutely hated the book? No option available. Secondly, there are three positive, one neutral, and only one negative option. In my mind, zero stars should be available for something you really hated. That wouldn't balance it out completely, but it would help. Also, how does one distinguish between a four- and a five-star book?

Here's Netflix:

1. Hated it
2. Didn't like it
3. Liked it
4. Really liked it
5. Loved it

This list is better because it offers two degrees of dislike. But the three star rating right in the middle is still positive rather than neutral. However, I like that the top rating is "loved it" rather than "amazing." Amazing just seems like a really high bar to meet, whereas "loved it" feels perfectly subjective.

Since neither of these offer "half stars," they're both scales of five. To me, ideally they should be two negative, one neutral, and one positive. But I can see how no one would see three stars as a neutral review.

But onto Boardgamegeek. Here, it's a scale of 10, using numbers instead of stars.

1. Defies description of a game. You won't catch me dead playing it. Clearly broken.
2. Extremely annoying game, won't play this ever again.
3. Likely won't play this game again although could be convinced. Bad.
4. Not so good, it doesn't get me but could be talked into it on occasion.
5. Average game. Slightly boring. Take it or leave it.
6. Ok game, some fun or challenge at least, will play sporadically if in the right mood.
7. Good game, usually willing to play.
8. Very good game. I like to play. Probably I will suggest it and will never turn down a game.
9. Excellent game. Always want to play it.
10. Outstanding. Always want to play and expect this will never change.

The main problem with all of these descriptions is the inclusions of absolute words like "always" and "never." How could anyone know what their tastes would be in a few years, or on a particular day?

In comparison with the other rating systems, this one is interesting because it seems to have three positives, three neutrals, and three negatives. That's pretty balanced, but the problem becomes choosing between similar pairs, like 3/4, 5/6, or 9/10. I have a friend who only uses even numbers to rate, thus reducing this to a scale of five. There are many others (myself included, I'm sad to say), who actually enter numbers like 7.5, turning this into a 20-point scale. I need to go through and fix all of those, though. No more fence sitting; if I like a game, I should say so!

Anyway, what was the point of this whole exercise? I'm not sure. I just find it interesting that something subjective like a rating has been given restrictive objective guidelines. This wouldn't be a problem at all if I could bring myself to just ignore the text and rate things how I want. Unfortunately, that would render my rating less meaningful for those who saw it and didn't know my personal scale. So I guess the lesson is: always read the actual review and not just the number of stars.

The Victorian Internet

The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers by Tom Standage

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Another shallow, quick, interesting read. I enjoyed this light history of the telegraph, and there certainly were interesting parallels with the Internet. However, there also seemed to be several gaps in the narrative.

For the most part, I liked how Standage simplified his description of the development and evolution of telegraphy. The early pre-electric history and problem-solving stories were particularly interesting. But with all the detail put into explaining some solutions, it was frustrating when he didn't do the same with others. For example, there were only a couple of sentences briefly mentioning how the problem of sending over great distances was resolved.

Overall, I'd still recommend it for anyone interested in communication in this time period. Like the other Standage book I've read, A History of the World in 6 Glasses, it is a great starting place likely to whet your appetite for a more in-depth book.

View all my reviews.

Outliers

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
While it was definitely an interesting book with some unique ideas, overall I wasn't that impressed. Yes, there are some patterns that emerge from looking at previously ignored data, but what else can you tell me?

A friend of mine's father had a saying that "luck is nothing but preparation meets opportunity." I feel like that sums up this whole book pretty well. Gladwell takes care to explain why some people seemed to be in the right place at the right time, but other than observing these patterns, he doesn't seem to have much of a point.

The book is light and easy reading, however, and it probably sparks some good conversations. It probably would have been better suited to a long magazine article rather than a book.

View all my reviews.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A really fascinating look at how six different drinks have influenced the course of history.

The book is organized roughly chronologically based on when these beverages (beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca Cola) had the most influence. So as you read about the history of beer, you learn about early civilization and cultivation; wine teaches about ancient Greece and Rome and emerging trade; spirits, the exploration and expansion of the western world, etc.

Throughout the book there are wonderful little tidbits such as how grog (a mixture of rum, water, sugar, and lime juice) contributed to the strength of the British Navy due to the sailors' daily ration. Not only did the grog satisfy more men while taking up less space, the lime juice helped fight scurvy and made them stronger. This in turn led to the nickname "Limey."

The book is filled with anecdotes and theories and connections. In fact, I was often reminded of the BBC series "Connections" with James Burke, although the threads were not quite as far-reaching. However, I have to say that this was also a slight failing with the book. As much as I loved reading about all these interesting ways drinks were tied to movements in history, it was frustrating when the author didn't go into more depth. But this is hardly a flaw, it has just whet my appetite for more about this subject.

I was also a little disappointed by some of the omissions (vodka and tequila, for example), but it is understandable. The scope of this book is wide and shallow, which makes it light reading. This is the main reason I'm giving it 4 instead of 5 stars. It was really an excellent book, but it left me feeling unsatisfied and wanting more.


View all my reviews.

Making Comics

Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
An interesting analysis of creating comics. It's a good starting point for discussing the theory behind comics, but in the end it was just sort of okay.

I am a big fan of McCloud's earlier work, Understanding Comics, and I would enthusiastically recommend that one to everyone, not just comic book readers. This new one, Making Comics, is more of a primer on the creative process behind comics. It doesn't delve as deep and is less thought-provoking. It is also riddled with references to that earlier work, so why not just stick with that one?

I do enjoy his informal writing style, which makes the book feel like an active discussion. I also like that it is written as a comic book, so that concepts are immediately and clearly illustrated as they are mentioned. But even the author admits that these are just his musings on comics, and they don't feel as deeply thought out as they did in the first book.

I'm glad I read it, and I don't mean to dismiss it entirely, but this book just didn't have the magic of his first one.

View all my reviews.

Your Money or Your Life

Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Joe Dominguez

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A pretty good book about changing the way you look at money, with the focus on being more conscious of where your money goes.

The book is a little dated (my edition was revised in the 90s), but the underlying principles still apply. Most of them are just common sense, really: avoid credit, don't buy what you can't afford, keep track of all your income and expenses, etc. However, reading the steps and accompanying anecdotes made it more accessible.

I did have a problem with the repetitive style used throughout the book, though. I realize it is a trope often used by self-help books to help get their points across, but it is still annoying. Consistently using five or six examples in a list when three would suffice just got old.

Overall, I'd still recommend it to anyone trying to take charge of their finances.

View all my reviews.

Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Although it had a lot of interesting aspects to it, the book overall left me flat.

Vonnegut tries to relate his experience of surviving the bombing of Dresden during World War II. He uses the character of Billy Pilgrim as a sort of surrogate, while still interjecting his voice as author from time to time throughout the book.

Billy has become "unstuck" in time, and he flashes forward and backwards through time to different experiences in his life, including a period where he was abducted by aliens to live in a zoo on their planet.

I liked the jumping around of the narrative and the simple writing style. The little anecdotes loosely strung together effectively portrayed how difficult it must be to relate something of this magnitude. Little absurdities throughout the book reinforced how absurd the whole situation was.

I've heard that this is Vonnegut's "anti-war" book, and I think it works okay in that regard. However, the recurring mantra "So it goes" implies more that war, death, and cruelty are all just inevitable parts of life.

I enjoyed it, but not as much as I was expecting to.

View all my reviews.

The Shining

The Shining by Stephen King

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I've never been a fan of horror as a genre, but I found this one while cleaning my house and thought I should give it a try. It really didn't do anything for me. Even though it had some interesting ideas, I didn't find any of the imagery particularly frightening or disturbing.

It has been many years since I've seen the movie adaptation, so my memory of it isn't very strong. However, the differences between the two are significant and apparent. I can see how fans of the book would be disappointed.

The book tells the story of a family of three: Jack Torrence, a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic, his wife Wendy, and their son Danny who has a strong, ESP-like intuition referred to as a "Shine" (hence the title). They'll be spending months as caretakers of the Overlook hotel, which gets snowbound every winter. Unfortunately, the Overlook has a history, or will, or demonic possession of its own, and does whatever it takes to claim the family for itself.

I liked how the narrative shifted perspective among the major characters throughout the story, and I liked how not everything was explained completely. But the story never really engaged me. There seemed to be a missed opportunity to explore whether Jack was going insane, suffering DTs from alcohol withdrawal, or being possessed. The book instead made it clear that the hotel was in fact to blame and all the terrifying things were really happening. This made it less interesting to me.

I still enjoy the early Stephen King books I've read (The Dead Zone is quite good), but I'm in no hurry to look into others.

View all my reviews.

Don't Sleep; There are Snakes

Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel L. Everett

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
There were some interesting ideas in this book regarding linguistics being tied to anthropology, but overall it just wasn't very engaging. It wasn't a bad book by any means, but it didn't compel me.

I did find it fascinating to see another culture that thinks and speaks in a completely foreign way, and the process the author went through to decipher it all.

View all my reviews.

The Lives of Rocks

The Lives of Rocks by Rick Bass

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A very nice collection of short stories, several set in or near Houston, Texas.

It's a little hard to review a collection of short stories, since they can be very different. However, they do all reflect the writer's style, which I found very enjoyable.

Almost all of the tales in this book dealt with nature, and had a romantic, nostalgic feel. The writing was clear and often used imaginative metaphors or descriptions. Of the ten stories in the collection, my favorites were Pagans, Her First Elk, The Canoeists, and Titan. The title story, The Lives of Rocks, was also the longest. It was quite good with beautiful imagery, but it didn't grab me as much as the others.

I think it would be a great book to have along on a camping trip, or any time when you were able to curl up next to a fire in cold weather.

View all my reviews.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A self-confessed "stickler" takes a light-hearted look at the history and future of punctuation.

Overall, I found the book amusing but not great. It read very quickly due to the conversational tone, which is a positive. It was interesting to read the origins of some forms of punctuation, but it was never too scholarly or dry.

Some of the other reviewers have complained about the author being too pedantic about grammar, but I couldn't help but wonder if they read the introduction or first chapter. She admits at the very beginning that she's a "stickler" and realizes that most of her points are rather inconsequential. Yes, some people do get bent out of shape when commas or apostrophes are misplaced; at least she can laugh at herself about it.

View all my reviews.

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
An excellent book that was followed very faithfully (although not exactly) by the movie.

I've really come to love McCarthy's writing style. I've only read one other, The Road, which I read last year and loved. The language he uses is very sparse and direct. This makes it very fast and easy to read. Some might be put off by that sparseness, but it made me pay more attention to what was there. In this case, it often forced the reader to connect dots in the narrative that weren't always explicitly stated.

The book tells the story of three different men: Llewellyn, a man who stumbles across a fortune in drug money; Chigurh, a nearly supernatural killer chasing him; and Sheriff Bell, an aging lawman trying to put the pieces together. Throughout the story, the reader gets a good idea of how each of these men view the world. It has many thrilling and frightening moments, but in essence the book is more of a philosophical character study at heart.

I really enjoyed it. If you liked the movie, I would recommend it so you can appreciate how well it was adapted. If you haven't seen the movie, I would recommend it still as a very interesting read.

View all my reviews.

Anathem

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Fun in parts, but overall disappointing.

I've read several of the other reviews, and they've captured my thoughts much better than I could (or even feel like trying). I loved Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, but everything I've read since then has been a let down.

The book is set on another world where science has sort of taken the role of religion. What we would call scientists live like monks, sealed off from the rest of the world. That concept was pretty interesting. The story is told from the perspective from one of these "avout," as he experiences radical events and changes.

This brings me to one of the first criticisms made about the book: it's extensive made-up vocabulary. I found it very distracting at first, but eventually became used to it. It just seemed very unnecessary. I can believe I'm reading about another culture on another planet without there having to be a different word for everything.

Stephenson also spent a great deal of time discussing scientific and philosophical ideas. At times these were interesting, but they almost always detracted from the narrative.

Lastly, the end of the story just didn't work for me. Without giving anything away, I'll just say it was anti-climactic and somewhat predictable.


View all my reviews.

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

My review

Rating: 3 of 5 stars
The first 100 pages and the last 100 pages were quite good. Unfortunately, there were 300 pages in between those.

I discovered in the introduction that this novel was written as a serial, with chapters appearing in the newspaper over a period of time. This really shows. Like A Tale of Two Cities, the story starts to drag and lose focus. Too many characters are introduced and the plot seems to wander.

The very end also seemed a little too neat, with an almost tacked on "Hollywood ending," complete with the door open for a sequel.

I'm glad I read it, but overall I wouldn't recommend it. The story itself has been distilled to a much more entertaining yarn in the various movie adaptations.

View all my reviews.

Into the Wild x2

When I first read Into the Wild, by John Krakauer, I was fascinated by the story of Christopher McCandless. A young man who left everything behind to commune with nature, with tragic results.

However, I actually hated the book. Krakauer comes across as an ass when he inserts himself into the story and tries to equate his experiences with those of McCandless. And no matter how much the author lionizes him, McCandless was still very clearly an idiot. Idealistic, poetic, determined, but still an idiot. Anyone who would go into such dangerous wilderness as he did with so little preparation, well, the results are not very surprising.

But still, I was fascinated. Why? Because that easily could have been me. McCandless was born just eleven days after I was. I bet we read a lot of the same books, falling for the romanticism and shallow philosophy of Walden, On the Road, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I often fantasized about abandoning everything and hopping on a train to who knows where. I wanted adventure, excitement, and most of all new experiences that couldn't be planned. Had I hopped one of those night trains that I longingly watched pass me by, I would most likely be just as dead as Chris. So I feel comfortable calling him an idiot, since I know I was one, too. I understand him.

All that being said, I expected to hate the movie as much or more than the book. A dreamy individualist going against all odds to follow his spirit to the end. Blecch. But in spite of myself, I actually liked it.

The acting is pretty mediocre, but Emile Hirsch does well as Chris McCandless. It also has the always wonderful Catherine Keener, the always conspicuous Vince Vaughn, and the increasingly wooden William Hurt. The directing by Sean Penn is uneven, but mostly effective. There are times when it seems as though he doesn't know how to tell his story. Of course the story glosses over the foolish decisions he made, even more than the book, but that was to be expected. In some ways, the ending of the movie makes it appear as though Chris didn't even try to avoid his fate.

The key for me came early on, and I'm not really sure what triggered it. As long as I looked at it as a fictional story trying to appear real, I liked it. Whenever I looked at it as a true story trying to have a narrative, I hated it. Yes, they beatified him. Yes, the ignored, omitted, and changed facts. But it was an interesting journey to watch.

For another story of an idealistic fool who tragically met his end in nature, I highly recommend the Werner Herzog's fantastic documentary Grizzly Man.