Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire (David Remnick)
I've heard it said that "the plural of anecdote is not data", and this is what I kept thinking while reading this book. It's kind of a mess; Remnick's narrative history pieces aren't in order, and the 2 - 3 page anecdotes he keeps dropping in feel totally disconnected from the surrounding material. I could see this book working either as a straight narrative history or as a collection of essays, but the length of the anecdotes didn't really work for me, and between that and Remnick's jumping around, the book never really cohered into anything interesting. There's no thread or premise holding the book together, and I dumped it after fifty puzzling pages. Avoid.
Grade: D-
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
"Are You My Mother?"
Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama (Alison Bechdel)
This is a book where I felt the author got more out of getting it down on paper than I did reading the finished product. Instead of being about the author's mother, the book ends up being about Bechdel's struggles to write the book in the first place (both of her therapists appear on more pages than her mother does). This book was probably pretty cathartic to get finished, but unfortunately her mother becomes a supporting character in her own book, and I felt like most of the child psychology and dream analysis that replaces her as the main focus went right over my head. I wasn't ever that bored, but this is pretty tough to recommend; get it out of your local library.
Grade: C+
This is a book where I felt the author got more out of getting it down on paper than I did reading the finished product. Instead of being about the author's mother, the book ends up being about Bechdel's struggles to write the book in the first place (both of her therapists appear on more pages than her mother does). This book was probably pretty cathartic to get finished, but unfortunately her mother becomes a supporting character in her own book, and I felt like most of the child psychology and dream analysis that replaces her as the main focus went right over my head. I wasn't ever that bored, but this is pretty tough to recommend; get it out of your local library.
Grade: C+
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
"The Battle for the Falklands"
The Battle for the Falklands (Max Hastings & Simon Jenkins)
A chunky little hardcover about the brief dust-up between Argentina and the UK in 1982. I liked this book quite a bit, but I should mention that the first 100 pages or so are a bit of a slog; the authors set out to give the conflict context by going into the longstanding political wrangling that lead to the attack in the first place, and while I applaud the depth to which they cover this, they also assume far more intimacy with the politics of the late 70's/early 80's UK than I possess (which is basically none, to be fair). I freely confess I was totally lost for most of these pages, and I was a little bit relieved when the shooting started and it became much easier to keep everything straight. The other minor caveat is that since Hastings was embedded with the British forces, the book's point of view has much more detail about the English side, but this is hardly surprising since military juntas of the kind Argentina had at the time usually don't release the kind of information that would be necessary to make this a more balanced look. (The authors do quote a few Argentine soldiers - as many as they could find for interviews, I suspect.) Minor quibbles aside, this is as far as I can see the definitive history of the conflict - just feel free to flip a few pages towards the beginning.
Grade: B+
A chunky little hardcover about the brief dust-up between Argentina and the UK in 1982. I liked this book quite a bit, but I should mention that the first 100 pages or so are a bit of a slog; the authors set out to give the conflict context by going into the longstanding political wrangling that lead to the attack in the first place, and while I applaud the depth to which they cover this, they also assume far more intimacy with the politics of the late 70's/early 80's UK than I possess (which is basically none, to be fair). I freely confess I was totally lost for most of these pages, and I was a little bit relieved when the shooting started and it became much easier to keep everything straight. The other minor caveat is that since Hastings was embedded with the British forces, the book's point of view has much more detail about the English side, but this is hardly surprising since military juntas of the kind Argentina had at the time usually don't release the kind of information that would be necessary to make this a more balanced look. (The authors do quote a few Argentine soldiers - as many as they could find for interviews, I suspect.) Minor quibbles aside, this is as far as I can see the definitive history of the conflict - just feel free to flip a few pages towards the beginning.
Grade: B+
Friday, November 15, 2013
"Journey to the West"
Journey to the West (Wu Cheng'en, translation by WJF Jenner) [Second look!]
Second on my hit list of the four classics of Chinese literature. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get into this the way I became absorbed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I put this down to two factors: The first is that our hero, Sun Wukong, never really grew on me the way he apparently did with most readers. I just found him to honestly be kind of a dick and not very likable, and given that he's the star and main attraction of the story, this was a rather major impediment to my enjoyment. The second issue is that where Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical novel, Journey to the West is pure mythology, and a bit of a slog to someone like me who is not very familiar with Chinese religion and culture. It's tough to recommend this book for that reason; it's a classic story and a good translation, but I just couldn't make reading it feel like anything but a chore.
Grade: @_@
Second on my hit list of the four classics of Chinese literature. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get into this the way I became absorbed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I put this down to two factors: The first is that our hero, Sun Wukong, never really grew on me the way he apparently did with most readers. I just found him to honestly be kind of a dick and not very likable, and given that he's the star and main attraction of the story, this was a rather major impediment to my enjoyment. The second issue is that where Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical novel, Journey to the West is pure mythology, and a bit of a slog to someone like me who is not very familiar with Chinese religion and culture. It's tough to recommend this book for that reason; it's a classic story and a good translation, but I just couldn't make reading it feel like anything but a chore.
Grade: @_@
Sunday, November 10, 2013
"Deathwatch"
Deathwatch (Steve Parker)
In W40k, the Deathwatch are anti-alien specialists, the guys you call in when giant space bugs or depraved space elves come knocking. Unfortunately, the book named after them doesn't really have enough Deathwatch stuff in it; Our main character is from a chapter called the Death Specters, and they get almost as much ink as the Deathwatch itself does. The book is also split between the actual Deathwatch space marines and a set of Inquisition agents, and the agent storyline really drags; the book tries to set up a mystery about who the Deathwatch is going to be fighting, but if you know anything about W40k (and this isn't the book to start with if you don't), it's painfully obvious literally from the first page. This makes most of the Inquisitor pages rather pointless, and I can't help but feel that they would have been better spent spending more time with the (checks title) Deathwatch. The end result is not a bad book, but not really what I was hoping for, and unless you're desperate for a 40k novel, I can't recommend going too far out of your way to pick this one up.
Grade: C+
In W40k, the Deathwatch are anti-alien specialists, the guys you call in when giant space bugs or depraved space elves come knocking. Unfortunately, the book named after them doesn't really have enough Deathwatch stuff in it; Our main character is from a chapter called the Death Specters, and they get almost as much ink as the Deathwatch itself does. The book is also split between the actual Deathwatch space marines and a set of Inquisition agents, and the agent storyline really drags; the book tries to set up a mystery about who the Deathwatch is going to be fighting, but if you know anything about W40k (and this isn't the book to start with if you don't), it's painfully obvious literally from the first page. This makes most of the Inquisitor pages rather pointless, and I can't help but feel that they would have been better spent spending more time with the (checks title) Deathwatch. The end result is not a bad book, but not really what I was hoping for, and unless you're desperate for a 40k novel, I can't recommend going too far out of your way to pick this one up.
Grade: C+
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
"Tampa"
Tampa (Alissa Nutting)
I have to give this book a lot of credit; it's the most gross, inappropriate, squicky, skin-crawling novel I've ever read, starting with the unpleasant furry black dust jacket.
The main character, Celeste (I almost absentmindedly typed "our heroine"; never has that been more inappropriate) is the book's strongest element, a genuinely scary psychopathic predator with a taste for young teenage boys who sums herself up in one sentence on page 41: ""Why did anyone pretend human relationships had value?"
As unsettling and cringe-inducing as the book can be (and the author does not shy away from showing in graphic detail what Celeste is doing to her victims), it's quite gripping, and - I admit this doesn't sound right - entertaining. As horrible as the main character is, the book is capably leavened by a considerable amount of very dark humor, ably assisted by the book's other unforgettable character, Janet Feinlog, a trainwreck of a fellow teacher that Celeste has as much disdain for as I had for the main character herself. It's weird to find myself recommending a novel that's full of graphic sexual abuse, but what can I say? This is a weird book, and unless you're completely disgusted from just reading about it, I'd suggest at least getting it out of your local library.
Grade: A
I have to give this book a lot of credit; it's the most gross, inappropriate, squicky, skin-crawling novel I've ever read, starting with the unpleasant furry black dust jacket.
The main character, Celeste (I almost absentmindedly typed "our heroine"; never has that been more inappropriate) is the book's strongest element, a genuinely scary psychopathic predator with a taste for young teenage boys who sums herself up in one sentence on page 41: ""Why did anyone pretend human relationships had value?"
As unsettling and cringe-inducing as the book can be (and the author does not shy away from showing in graphic detail what Celeste is doing to her victims), it's quite gripping, and - I admit this doesn't sound right - entertaining. As horrible as the main character is, the book is capably leavened by a considerable amount of very dark humor, ably assisted by the book's other unforgettable character, Janet Feinlog, a trainwreck of a fellow teacher that Celeste has as much disdain for as I had for the main character herself. It's weird to find myself recommending a novel that's full of graphic sexual abuse, but what can I say? This is a weird book, and unless you're completely disgusted from just reading about it, I'd suggest at least getting it out of your local library.
Grade: A
Sunday, November 3, 2013
"A Thousand Sons" (Second Look)
A Thousand Sons (Graham McNeill) [Second Look!]
Finally! A Horus Hersey novel I really enjoyed. My biggest problem is that we already know who falls to Chaos in the present day of the WH40K universe. Watching Horus and his fellow fallen brothers turn from loyal sons of the Emperor to full blown daemon princes never held that much appeal. There's no tension for me of wondering who will fall or being surprised that the favored Warmaster betrays the Imperium because it already happened (the Horus Heresy series takes place in the past). It's like the Star Wars prequels... I just kept waiting for Anakin's fall.
All that aside, A Thousand Sons is great.It's a story of a son flying too high despite his father's warnings. Magnus' hubris is the downfall of the leigon he fought to save and the planet he called home.
A must-read for WH40K fans.
Grade: A
Finally! A Horus Hersey novel I really enjoyed. My biggest problem is that we already know who falls to Chaos in the present day of the WH40K universe. Watching Horus and his fellow fallen brothers turn from loyal sons of the Emperor to full blown daemon princes never held that much appeal. There's no tension for me of wondering who will fall or being surprised that the favored Warmaster betrays the Imperium because it already happened (the Horus Heresy series takes place in the past). It's like the Star Wars prequels... I just kept waiting for Anakin's fall.
All that aside, A Thousand Sons is great.It's a story of a son flying too high despite his father's warnings. Magnus' hubris is the downfall of the leigon he fought to save and the planet he called home.
A must-read for WH40K fans.
Grade: A
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