The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (John le Carre)
The top Amazon user review for this book starts by asking what is to be said about it; I don't know that I have much to say myself, partly because the book is quite short and partly because it's difficult to get in depth at all without spoiling the book's plot. (Cue 150 more words of book review)
What I can say is that for me the book doesn't live up to its reputation as a masterpiece. I think I put this down to a case of Seinfeld is Unfunny - I'm sure le Carre's extremely realistic, drab setting was a revelation when this book was first released to a public fed on Bond novels. Reading it now, though, after this style has become extremely popular, what's left is a well-written but not particularly engaging little story that didn't really make much of an impact on me. I also was not a fan of the ending, which makes perfect sense given what we'd seen of the characters up until that point, but still came off to me as a bit heavy-handed (I half expected the last sentance to be "It's GRIM, get it??? See what I did there??") Given how short the book is, it's pretty easy to recommend, but I wouldn't pick it up expecting the masterpiece its reputation suggests.
Grade: B+
Showing posts with label ubiquity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ubiquity. Show all posts
Friday, April 5, 2013
Thursday, November 15, 2012
"Agent Zigzag"
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal (Ben Macintyre)
It's weird to be calling a book subtitled "A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal" a fun read, but here we are. The book's subject matter - which I'm sure you can guess from the title - certainly doesn't sound like it would make for an enjoyably breezy book, but the titular Agent Zigzag is such a character that it works. (He's also ably assisted by the German intelligence organizations, who come off, if not quite as comic opera buffoons, at least a bunch of eccentric, weird hard-luck cases.) When I first started reading this book, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it - I've read enough World War II to choke a stable full of horses, and this looked like just another WW2 book crowding the new-release shelves at your local bookstore for a week before hitting the bargain bin. Instead, this is a very pleasant surprise and a book I whole-heartily recommend.
Grade: A
It's weird to be calling a book subtitled "A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal" a fun read, but here we are. The book's subject matter - which I'm sure you can guess from the title - certainly doesn't sound like it would make for an enjoyably breezy book, but the titular Agent Zigzag is such a character that it works. (He's also ably assisted by the German intelligence organizations, who come off, if not quite as comic opera buffoons, at least a bunch of eccentric, weird hard-luck cases.) When I first started reading this book, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it - I've read enough World War II to choke a stable full of horses, and this looked like just another WW2 book crowding the new-release shelves at your local bookstore for a week before hitting the bargain bin. Instead, this is a very pleasant surprise and a book I whole-heartily recommend.
Grade: A
Monday, August 20, 2012
"Ready Player One"
Ready Player One: A Novel (Ernest Cline)
Ready Player One is the worst kind of frustrating: A great first third that turns into a disaster. The book is about a reclusive billionaire who dies and wills that his heir will be the person who finds an easter egg hidden in the virtual reality that he's invented. The first third of the book is our hero, a poor kid with a dream of finding the easter egg, putting some clues together and getting started on his quest.
And it's good! At times the novel does threaten to become "Hey, Remember the 80's? The Book", but this first third is thrilling, and I was really rooting for our hero. So what happens? Well, all the chaercters in the book are one-dimensional, and this isn't much of a problem when it's our hero against the simulation. But when the author writes the dread sentence "I realized I was in love with Art3mis", well, that's where the book goes in the toilet, and while it does eventually recover somewhat, it never becomes as good as the first third. Honestly, I don't know that finishing the other 2/3rds is worth it to find out what happens, but I was interested enough to do so. The momentum from the premise and the first third was enough to drive me through the slog that is our hero, having made it in the virtual world, pining for his girlfriend. Sometimes less is more, and without the romantic subplot, I might have been able to recommend this as a classic. As it is, take my recommendation with a large grain of salt.
Grade:
First Third: A
Middle Third: D
Final Third: C
Overall: C+
Ready Player One is the worst kind of frustrating: A great first third that turns into a disaster. The book is about a reclusive billionaire who dies and wills that his heir will be the person who finds an easter egg hidden in the virtual reality that he's invented. The first third of the book is our hero, a poor kid with a dream of finding the easter egg, putting some clues together and getting started on his quest.
And it's good! At times the novel does threaten to become "Hey, Remember the 80's? The Book", but this first third is thrilling, and I was really rooting for our hero. So what happens? Well, all the chaercters in the book are one-dimensional, and this isn't much of a problem when it's our hero against the simulation. But when the author writes the dread sentence "I realized I was in love with Art3mis", well, that's where the book goes in the toilet, and while it does eventually recover somewhat, it never becomes as good as the first third. Honestly, I don't know that finishing the other 2/3rds is worth it to find out what happens, but I was interested enough to do so. The momentum from the premise and the first third was enough to drive me through the slog that is our hero, having made it in the virtual world, pining for his girlfriend. Sometimes less is more, and without the romantic subplot, I might have been able to recommend this as a classic. As it is, take my recommendation with a large grain of salt.
Grade:
First Third: A
Middle Third: D
Final Third: C
Overall: C+
Monday, July 16, 2012
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin
I had a hairdresser ask me how I could have possibly put this book down and start reading other books when I had trouble getting into it at first. Apparently your mileage may vary with this, was the lesson I got.
So, yes, obviously, I had trouble getting into this book. It doesn't help that it has slightly fewer characters than a Suikoden game. I have to say, watching an episode or two of the TV series helped. I've only seen one or two episodes of the TV series, though. It helped put a face to the at first endless parade of new characters being introduced, and afterwards I was ready to give the book another go (and apparently putting aside all hope of ever finishing the Iron Warriors omnibus.)
There's a dramatis personae at the back of the book, which I didn't notice was there until I was done with the book. It would have helped immensely to know it was there. Or if it had been printed at the front, so I could have known whom the Westeros equivalent of Hetman of Genome Brigade 321 Gilead was.
I've already finished the second book, which addresses at least some of my complaints about the first book, which is largely the lack of characterization or character development. It's much improved in A Clash of Kings, but throughout Game of Thrones, I felt confined by some of the characters, especially since the whole story is divided into chapters as seen by specific characters. I can't say how many times I skipped ahead in a Sansa chapter to see who would be next out of frustration with Sansa being frustrated. The only characters that actually seem to grow throughout the book are Arya Stark and Jon Snow, both of whom only seem to grow when they resign themselves to being stuck with life having dealt them a shitty hand and can't mulligan it.
Another frustration is some major characters never have a "chapter," and spend a lot of time "off camera," leaving me, two books in, wondering just what kind of character some people actually are, since we only see them through other characters reporting far-away actions and reminiscing about how great/terrible they are.
Overall, once you get over the initial hump, the book glides along on all cylinders, and the court intrigue and medieval combat actually becomes gripping and compelling, in spite of the oft too archetypal heroes and villains. (Most of whom eventually improve anyway.)
Grade: B+
George R. R. Martin
I had a hairdresser ask me how I could have possibly put this book down and start reading other books when I had trouble getting into it at first. Apparently your mileage may vary with this, was the lesson I got.
So, yes, obviously, I had trouble getting into this book. It doesn't help that it has slightly fewer characters than a Suikoden game. I have to say, watching an episode or two of the TV series helped. I've only seen one or two episodes of the TV series, though. It helped put a face to the at first endless parade of new characters being introduced, and afterwards I was ready to give the book another go (and apparently putting aside all hope of ever finishing the Iron Warriors omnibus.)
There's a dramatis personae at the back of the book, which I didn't notice was there until I was done with the book. It would have helped immensely to know it was there. Or if it had been printed at the front, so I could have known whom the Westeros equivalent of Hetman of Genome Brigade 321 Gilead was.
I've already finished the second book, which addresses at least some of my complaints about the first book, which is largely the lack of characterization or character development. It's much improved in A Clash of Kings, but throughout Game of Thrones, I felt confined by some of the characters, especially since the whole story is divided into chapters as seen by specific characters. I can't say how many times I skipped ahead in a Sansa chapter to see who would be next out of frustration with Sansa being frustrated. The only characters that actually seem to grow throughout the book are Arya Stark and Jon Snow, both of whom only seem to grow when they resign themselves to being stuck with life having dealt them a shitty hand and can't mulligan it.
Another frustration is some major characters never have a "chapter," and spend a lot of time "off camera," leaving me, two books in, wondering just what kind of character some people actually are, since we only see them through other characters reporting far-away actions and reminiscing about how great/terrible they are.
Overall, once you get over the initial hump, the book glides along on all cylinders, and the court intrigue and medieval combat actually becomes gripping and compelling, in spite of the oft too archetypal heroes and villains. (Most of whom eventually improve anyway.)
Grade: B+
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