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
Showing posts with label autobiography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autobiography. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Monday, September 30, 2013
"Blankets"
Blankets (Craig Thompson)
I was a little tough on the first Thompson book I read, a graphic novel called Habibi that reached for greatness and couldn't quite grasp it. Weirdly enough, his previous work - this book - is everything I could have asked for and more. I don't want to gush too much, but this book is beautifully written and drawn, at turns hilarious and heartbreaking (mostly heartbreaking) as it follows our hero Craig and his struggles growing up.
I guess if I'm looking for some criticism, the art in Blankets isn't as breathtaking as it is in Habibi, both because this is earlier in Thompson's career and because the setting is more stark and less fantastical - and come to think of it, that's more of an observation; the stark art in Blankets perfectly fits the tone of frozen Midwestern lost despair. Huh. Well, I guess for once I can't think of a single thing to complain about. Um, highly recommended.
Grade: A+
I was a little tough on the first Thompson book I read, a graphic novel called Habibi that reached for greatness and couldn't quite grasp it. Weirdly enough, his previous work - this book - is everything I could have asked for and more. I don't want to gush too much, but this book is beautifully written and drawn, at turns hilarious and heartbreaking (mostly heartbreaking) as it follows our hero Craig and his struggles growing up.
I guess if I'm looking for some criticism, the art in Blankets isn't as breathtaking as it is in Habibi, both because this is earlier in Thompson's career and because the setting is more stark and less fantastical - and come to think of it, that's more of an observation; the stark art in Blankets perfectly fits the tone of frozen Midwestern lost despair. Huh. Well, I guess for once I can't think of a single thing to complain about. Um, highly recommended.
Grade: A+
Saturday, September 21, 2013
"Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths"
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (Shigeru Mizuki)
This is a "90% autobiographical" retelling of the author's WW2 experience. As you can probably guess from the title, it's quite grim - early on our group of heroes is detailed to go on a suicide charge, but commit the crime of coming back alive after news of their noble deaths has already been spread to the rest of the army as a morale-booster, and it only gets worse from there.
Despite the sheer hopelessness of the material presented within, the author's style is so gripping that it's almost impossible to put down. Mizuki combines very realistic backgrounds (and tanks, planes, and ships) with cartoon-styled people, and this technique gives each person a lot of personality; it's impossible not to feel for these guys getting slapped around, not getting enough to eat, and worrying about getting eaten by alligators. The grimness of the material is the only caveat I'd apply, and I would hasten to add that while you'll feel horrible after finishing the book, this is a story that deserves to be told.
(Discussion question: Is it tasteless to apply the "didn't like the end" tag to the ending of a book titled Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths?)
Grade: A
This is a "90% autobiographical" retelling of the author's WW2 experience. As you can probably guess from the title, it's quite grim - early on our group of heroes is detailed to go on a suicide charge, but commit the crime of coming back alive after news of their noble deaths has already been spread to the rest of the army as a morale-booster, and it only gets worse from there.
Despite the sheer hopelessness of the material presented within, the author's style is so gripping that it's almost impossible to put down. Mizuki combines very realistic backgrounds (and tanks, planes, and ships) with cartoon-styled people, and this technique gives each person a lot of personality; it's impossible not to feel for these guys getting slapped around, not getting enough to eat, and worrying about getting eaten by alligators. The grimness of the material is the only caveat I'd apply, and I would hasten to add that while you'll feel horrible after finishing the book, this is a story that deserves to be told.
(Discussion question: Is it tasteless to apply the "didn't like the end" tag to the ending of a book titled Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths?)
Grade: A
Saturday, June 1, 2013
"Full Body Burden"
Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats (Kristen Iversen)
You can probably tell what the book is about from the title - Iversen packs both her own autobiography and a history of the Rocky Flats nuclear facility into this book. This technique could go disastrously awry as the two aren't exactly intricately intertwined (Iversen getting a temp job at Rocky Flats near the book's end is a blase anticlimax), but it mostly works. I say mostly because at times it can be annoying when Iversen is in a groove either detailing Rocky Flats or her own life and cuts away to pick up the other narrative. Now to be fair, complaining that you're enjoying the book so much that you're annoyed that you're not immediately getting more of it isn't really much of a negative, and Iversen is wise enough to omit what must have been boring material (the stretch of her life where she goes to Germany basically boils down to "I went to Germany and came back"). In fact, I guess my only caveat is that this is another depressing book, but I suppose nobody picks up something with a title like this looking for a breezy read.
Grade: A-
You can probably tell what the book is about from the title - Iversen packs both her own autobiography and a history of the Rocky Flats nuclear facility into this book. This technique could go disastrously awry as the two aren't exactly intricately intertwined (Iversen getting a temp job at Rocky Flats near the book's end is a blase anticlimax), but it mostly works. I say mostly because at times it can be annoying when Iversen is in a groove either detailing Rocky Flats or her own life and cuts away to pick up the other narrative. Now to be fair, complaining that you're enjoying the book so much that you're annoyed that you're not immediately getting more of it isn't really much of a negative, and Iversen is wise enough to omit what must have been boring material (the stretch of her life where she goes to Germany basically boils down to "I went to Germany and came back"). In fact, I guess my only caveat is that this is another depressing book, but I suppose nobody picks up something with a title like this looking for a breezy read.
Grade: A-
Thursday, April 19, 2012
"Ghost in the Wires"
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker (Kevin "Free Kevin Mitnick" Mitnick)
If you grew up at a certain time, you may have witnessed the at-times ubiquitous Free Kevin movement of the late 90's and early 2000s. Mitnick had - has? - a reputation as a famous evil computer mastermind wizard, but reading his book, I was struck at how more times than not, he got the information that he needed by practicing social engineering instead of any computer skills. In fact, by the second half of the book, you'll be reading "I social engineered" easily double the amount of times he's actually hacking in anywhere.
That's not to say the book is any less interesting - Mitnick's titular adventures, which include time on the lamb after the FBI gets wise to him, is gripping stuff. Since this is Mitnick's own book, he of course comes off as the hero, but I have a lot of sympathy for him regardless, since his hacking is presented as a form of curiosity (he's not using stolen credit card numbers or anything). My only caveat is that the book is a little bit technical - Kevin and his co-author usually stop to explain the more in-depth concepts, but if you don't know what a BBS or a phone phreaker is, you may find yourself a little lost. With that said, I really enjoyed this book, and I'm confident it's a great read for fellow nerds, if maybe not this author's mom.
Grade: A
If you grew up at a certain time, you may have witnessed the at-times ubiquitous Free Kevin movement of the late 90's and early 2000s. Mitnick had - has? - a reputation as a famous evil computer mastermind wizard, but reading his book, I was struck at how more times than not, he got the information that he needed by practicing social engineering instead of any computer skills. In fact, by the second half of the book, you'll be reading "I social engineered" easily double the amount of times he's actually hacking in anywhere.
That's not to say the book is any less interesting - Mitnick's titular adventures, which include time on the lamb after the FBI gets wise to him, is gripping stuff. Since this is Mitnick's own book, he of course comes off as the hero, but I have a lot of sympathy for him regardless, since his hacking is presented as a form of curiosity (he's not using stolen credit card numbers or anything). My only caveat is that the book is a little bit technical - Kevin and his co-author usually stop to explain the more in-depth concepts, but if you don't know what a BBS or a phone phreaker is, you may find yourself a little lost. With that said, I really enjoyed this book, and I'm confident it's a great read for fellow nerds, if maybe not this author's mom.
Grade: A
Monday, February 20, 2012
"If Chins Could Kill"
If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor (Bruce Campbell)
When reading autobiographies, I find it's important to know what you're getting into - are you getting a book the author actually wrote themselves, or a lazy cash grab where they talked into a tape recorder? Luckily, this is the genuine article, an entertainingly conversational, breezy autobiography about the actor's life and career. Bruce is a good stoyteller, and even his childhood - a subject in autobiographies which I have complained about before and I'm sure I will again - is never boring to read, although I did find myself shaking my head and some of the pranks he pulled with his brother.
Once Bruce gets to college and starts making horrible Super-8 movies with Sam Raimi the book really picks up, with the most ink given to his best known roles in the (let's be honest) absolutely terrible movies "Evil Dead" and "Evil Dead 2". This book was published in 2002, so if you're a huge Bruce Campbell fan you might want to be aware that it's not exactly up to date, but then again if you're a huge Bruce Campbell fan you probably own this already instead of parousing obscure book review blogs to see if it's something you're interested in.
Grade: B+
When reading autobiographies, I find it's important to know what you're getting into - are you getting a book the author actually wrote themselves, or a lazy cash grab where they talked into a tape recorder? Luckily, this is the genuine article, an entertainingly conversational, breezy autobiography about the actor's life and career. Bruce is a good stoyteller, and even his childhood - a subject in autobiographies which I have complained about before and I'm sure I will again - is never boring to read, although I did find myself shaking my head and some of the pranks he pulled with his brother.
Once Bruce gets to college and starts making horrible Super-8 movies with Sam Raimi the book really picks up, with the most ink given to his best known roles in the (let's be honest) absolutely terrible movies "Evil Dead" and "Evil Dead 2". This book was published in 2002, so if you're a huge Bruce Campbell fan you might want to be aware that it's not exactly up to date, but then again if you're a huge Bruce Campbell fan you probably own this already instead of parousing obscure book review blogs to see if it's something you're interested in.
Grade: B+
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