Fall of Giants (Ken Follett)
I made it 300 pages into this before giving up. This is a historical novel about a bunch of different families starting just before World War I, and it turned into a real slog rather quickly. I couldn't put down a different Follett book, The Pillars of the Earth, and I really feel the difference is a simple one: Pillars of the Earth has one, single overarching narrative thread that may touch many people and subplots, but keeps everything tied together; Fall of Giants is missing this, and is instead very, very loosely woven from five or six threads that barely rub up against each other. Almost every character's thread is interesting, but jumping away from them to dive into another, almost totally unrelated one kills all the momentum, and eventually makes the book a chore to read. I'd recommend taking a pass on this one.
Grade: C-
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
"Commie Girl in the O.C."
Commie Girl in the O.C. (Rebecca Schoenkopf)
Commie Girl in the O.C. begs many questions: Why am I reading Commie Girl in the O.C.? Why do I own Commie Girl in the O.C.? I wish I could answer these questions, but I can't. The mystery surrounding Commie Girl in the O.C. is, I'm afraid, more interesting than the book itself, which mostly reads like a series of newspaper columns or short blog posts from somewhere in the 2000s, and which I quickly found myself putting down to read The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America (review possibly forthcoming). I don't recommend Commie Girl in the O.C.; even at under $7 from Amazon, it's just not worth the extensional crisis.
Grade: D
Commie Girl in the O.C. begs many questions: Why am I reading Commie Girl in the O.C.? Why do I own Commie Girl in the O.C.? I wish I could answer these questions, but I can't. The mystery surrounding Commie Girl in the O.C. is, I'm afraid, more interesting than the book itself, which mostly reads like a series of newspaper columns or short blog posts from somewhere in the 2000s, and which I quickly found myself putting down to read The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America (review possibly forthcoming). I don't recommend Commie Girl in the O.C.; even at under $7 from Amazon, it's just not worth the extensional crisis.
Grade: D
Sunday, November 15, 2015
"The Secret Ministry of Ag. & Fish"
The Secret Ministry of Ag. & Fish: My Life in Churchill's School of Spies (Noreen Riols)
I'm really torn about this book; the author's story working in SOE during World War II is very interesting, but the book really seems to need a good editor. The raw material of the author's story is fascinating and she has a great voice, but it reads like a tape recorder was put in front of her and she told a bunch of interesting stories; I think the book could be vastly improved if it was set in chronological order, or at least had a stronger main narrative. As it is it's like spending an afternoon hearing the author reminisce, and while that's no bad thing, in its current form I ended up reading it in an afternoon and then forgetting most of it.
Grade: B
I'm really torn about this book; the author's story working in SOE during World War II is very interesting, but the book really seems to need a good editor. The raw material of the author's story is fascinating and she has a great voice, but it reads like a tape recorder was put in front of her and she told a bunch of interesting stories; I think the book could be vastly improved if it was set in chronological order, or at least had a stronger main narrative. As it is it's like spending an afternoon hearing the author reminisce, and while that's no bad thing, in its current form I ended up reading it in an afternoon and then forgetting most of it.
Grade: B
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