Not exhaustive, but a few books that have lodged in my brain in the last few months...
Non-Fiction
"The Beautiful Struggle" by Te-Nehesi Coates is on my short list for books you have to read. I didn't know who Te-Nehesi was, ended up being introduced to him for a moment at the Aspen Ideas Festival and saw his book a few hours later in the on-campus book shop. I read the back cover and decided to pick it up, not sure when I'd get to it. Last week I had a cross country plane flight and ended up finishing the book. There were a few times that I was completely choked up, stopped to reread sections just to stare in wonder at what some kids have had to go through growing up, happened upon whole sections that seemed to have been written about my own childhood, realized (again) what a blessed life I had lived. I laughed, smiled, and dog-eared pages that were too beautifully written not to re-read to my wife when I landed (even if it meant waking her up). Coates tells the story of his coming of age in inner city Baltimore with an ex-black panther father/vegetarian/publisher, a flock of siblings across four mothers, a passion for comics and sword play, and a wealth of African American history.
"The Telltale Brain" by V Ramachandran is a fascinating walk through a scientist's thinking. V explains some of the most elegant experiments and some of the most cutting edge thinking about the brain. He is credited with performing the first amputation of a phantom limb and that story alone is worth the price of admission. If you're interested at all in the way our brain sees, in the way our brain works, or at least in what we think we know and how the scientific method works, read this book.
Fiction
"Who Fears Death?" by Nnedi Okorafor is a fantasy of genocide, power, myth, & sorcery set in an alternative post-apocalyptic Africa. It grabs you from the first page and weaves a stark, beautiful story. Definitely worth reading and watching for her next novel.
"EmbassyTown" is classic China Mieville. Read it. It takes on the basic idea of xenolinguistics with a culture that is truly alien. It poses the question of whether language itself, in all the ways that we understand it and live it everyday, is a rare innovation. Whether metaphor and simile are givens in a language, and what happens when we meet a truly alien intelligence. Easily one of the best science fiction novels I've read this year.
"The Magician King" by Lev Grossman is a return to the world he introduced to us in his first novel. Same cast of characters, new adventure. Something about both books strikes me as derivative. I don't mean that in a particularly bad way, just that I felt like I had read it all before. Cotton candy. Well written.
"The Quantum Thief" by Hannu Rajaniemi is the first glimpse of a new mind in science fiction. It's a classic space opera with enough ideas per page to make even the most battle weary reader sit up and take notice. My favorite? A privacy "sense." Gold.
"2030" is a dystopian take on the future by first time novelist but well known actor/director/writer Albert Brooks. If you like that sorta thing it's fun. Not particularly shocking since most of what he predicts sounds pretty much like what will actually happen. Earthquake, young revolt against old, china owns part of US, first Jewish president, you know the drill. Not bad.
"Rule 34" by Charles Stross is not for the faint of heart. Rule 34 is the Internet meme that states that any topic can be turned into porn by someone. At face value the book is a murder mystery procedural that gives Stross a chance to explore the near future world where printing things is as cheap as printing paper and the ramifications for "Rule 34" that result. Read it if you can take it.
"Hull Zero Three" by Greg Bear is your classic amnesiac wakes up to explore big dumb object story of a generation ship gone bad. I like Greg Bear's work so am inclined to give it a good grade. Though it didn't stick with me quite like some of his past work. Cotton Candy.
"7th Sigma" by Stephen Gould is a fun coming of age story of a kid with special talents in the metal free (because of some sort of swarming, evolving, metal eating outbreak) south west. Fun. Not particularly deep or meaningful or extremely well written but a welcome distraction.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Book reviews for the month of April 2011
Doing a bit of house cleaning and I thought I'd take a first pass at catching up on some book reviews. Not comprehensive since I don't seem to be able to remember half the stuff I read. But in any event, welcome to my memory palace. It's a bit threadbare and unkempt but the bookcase has a fine collection of ideas both old and new.
Let's start with fiction...
"Cryoburn" by Lois McMaster Bujold is like going home. I wish she'd write more Miles adventures, they remind me of my mom (who was an avid reader of Ms. Bujold's) and the family of readers she fostered who all clamor to this day to read the next one. If you haven't read any of her work just go buy any of them. This one is classic and caps the series to some extent. I won't review it any more than just say, buy it.
"The Passage" by Justin Cronin was a post-apocalyptic exploration of government research and vampires gone wrong and the thousand years it took to restore humanity. Worth reading if you're into that sort of thing.
"The Kingdom of Ohio" by Mathew Flaming is an alternate history of New York's and the country's gilded age. it's a fun novel about time jumping maidens and battling inventors and of course love.
"The Oracle of Stambul" by Michael David Lukas explored the town of Sophia and the city of Istanbul and what it would be like to be an oracle in the time of emperors. A nice alternate history lesson that fits well with the Kingdom of Ohio in some ways.
"Solo" by Rana Dasgupta was also partially set in Sophia and follows an old man's recollections of his life and memories and dreams. Poetic and sad and meditative and experimental. Rumination on different forms of government and what they meant to someone caught up in the moment and forced to live through it all. I will buy the next book by this author, I think he will be one to watch.
"Deep State" by Walter Jon Williams is spooky. I reviewed his previous book, "This is Not a Game" and this one takes up where that one left off. It would be curious to find out when he actually wrote this book because it basically outlines one way that the revolutions in the Middle East may have started in vivid detail. Not deep but prescient.
"Devil May Care" by Sebastian Faulks was not even cotton candy. Predictable and a bit of a chore. Read something from the "Atrocity Archives" instead if you need a Bond fix.
Like, "The Fuller Memorandum" by Charles Stross. Although always a favorite writer and if you haven't read any of his books this is as good as any to start, he seems to have worked out all his "IT guy who helps stave off cross-dimensional nazi-demons while looking for a good wi-fi signal" demons and hopefully is moving on to another universe.
While I'm on the subject of things that go bump in the night I might as well review "Kraken" by China Mieville. A classic tale of the secret underlying structure of London and the Universe at large as seen through the eyes of a giant squid god. He's got a new book coming soon so catch up!
"Surface Details" by Ian M. Banks is another walk down memory lane. I've been a longtime fan of Mr. Banks and his "Culture" universe. It follows the resurrected life of a sex slave killed before her time as she seeks revenge and the question of whether virtual hells should exist or not. If you need to get up to speed on the culture, read "Consider Phlebas."
Non-Fiction?
"Reality is Broken" but luckily Jane McGonigal has some ideas about how to fix it. I encourage you to read this book. It feels important to me though you'll have to work through a bit of repetitiveness in places. It resonates well with my belief that gaming is an emergent and pervasive property of the trillion node network (aka the age of ubiquitous computing).
"Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer is a nice counterpoint to "The Information" in that it explores in a light-weight-hearted and playful way the history of memory and how humans handle information. My favorite line is where he notes that inventory and invention have the same root. His point is that it would be hard to invent if you didn't have raw materials in your inventory to recombine in new ways. Other great stat? He recounts a study where participants were asked to view 2500 images (pile of five dollar bills, red boxcar, etc.) and then had them later choose between those images and ones that were almost the same (pile of one dollar bills versus five dollar bills, blue boxcar versus red boxcar, etc.) and the participants were able to successfully pick out the ones they had seen before 90% of the time. Funes lives.
Let's start with fiction...
"Cryoburn" by Lois McMaster Bujold is like going home. I wish she'd write more Miles adventures, they remind me of my mom (who was an avid reader of Ms. Bujold's) and the family of readers she fostered who all clamor to this day to read the next one. If you haven't read any of her work just go buy any of them. This one is classic and caps the series to some extent. I won't review it any more than just say, buy it.
"The Passage" by Justin Cronin was a post-apocalyptic exploration of government research and vampires gone wrong and the thousand years it took to restore humanity. Worth reading if you're into that sort of thing.
"The Kingdom of Ohio" by Mathew Flaming is an alternate history of New York's and the country's gilded age. it's a fun novel about time jumping maidens and battling inventors and of course love.
"The Oracle of Stambul" by Michael David Lukas explored the town of Sophia and the city of Istanbul and what it would be like to be an oracle in the time of emperors. A nice alternate history lesson that fits well with the Kingdom of Ohio in some ways.
"Solo" by Rana Dasgupta was also partially set in Sophia and follows an old man's recollections of his life and memories and dreams. Poetic and sad and meditative and experimental. Rumination on different forms of government and what they meant to someone caught up in the moment and forced to live through it all. I will buy the next book by this author, I think he will be one to watch.
"Deep State" by Walter Jon Williams is spooky. I reviewed his previous book, "This is Not a Game" and this one takes up where that one left off. It would be curious to find out when he actually wrote this book because it basically outlines one way that the revolutions in the Middle East may have started in vivid detail. Not deep but prescient.
"Devil May Care" by Sebastian Faulks was not even cotton candy. Predictable and a bit of a chore. Read something from the "Atrocity Archives" instead if you need a Bond fix.
Like, "The Fuller Memorandum" by Charles Stross. Although always a favorite writer and if you haven't read any of his books this is as good as any to start, he seems to have worked out all his "IT guy who helps stave off cross-dimensional nazi-demons while looking for a good wi-fi signal" demons and hopefully is moving on to another universe.
While I'm on the subject of things that go bump in the night I might as well review "Kraken" by China Mieville. A classic tale of the secret underlying structure of London and the Universe at large as seen through the eyes of a giant squid god. He's got a new book coming soon so catch up!
"Surface Details" by Ian M. Banks is another walk down memory lane. I've been a longtime fan of Mr. Banks and his "Culture" universe. It follows the resurrected life of a sex slave killed before her time as she seeks revenge and the question of whether virtual hells should exist or not. If you need to get up to speed on the culture, read "Consider Phlebas."
Non-Fiction?
"Reality is Broken" but luckily Jane McGonigal has some ideas about how to fix it. I encourage you to read this book. It feels important to me though you'll have to work through a bit of repetitiveness in places. It resonates well with my belief that gaming is an emergent and pervasive property of the trillion node network (aka the age of ubiquitous computing).
Insights from the book?
At their most basic ALL games have a few key characteristics:
1. Goals (because we like to reach them)
2. Rules (think of these as Unnecessary Obstacles). Golf wouldn’t be so fun if the goal of getting a little white ball into a little hole was as simple as walking over and dropping it in the hole.
4. Feedback Loops, so you know if you’re reaching your goals (which is the obvious connection to a world where everything is connected, at least if it’s connected in the right way)
5. Voluntary Participation (because otherwise it feels like work… or survival)
"Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer is a nice counterpoint to "The Information" in that it explores in a light-weight-hearted and playful way the history of memory and how humans handle information. My favorite line is where he notes that inventory and invention have the same root. His point is that it would be hard to invent if you didn't have raw materials in your inventory to recombine in new ways. Other great stat? He recounts a study where participants were asked to view 2500 images (pile of five dollar bills, red boxcar, etc.) and then had them later choose between those images and ones that were almost the same (pile of one dollar bills versus five dollar bills, blue boxcar versus red boxcar, etc.) and the participants were able to successfully pick out the ones they had seen before 90% of the time. Funes lives.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Books and Such January 2011
My goodness I haven't posted in months. I'm not going to be exhaustive but I'll try to catch up a bit with what I've been reading. These are in no particular order and maybe part one of a two or three part act of catching up. I'm going to ignore the books I just couldn't read all the way through (I've hit that point where I just don't even try if the book can't hold my attention within the first fifty pages or so). Though at some point I think I will do a post that just lists them.
"The Thousand" by Kevin Guilfoile was kinda forgettable. If you want some Dan Brown style cotton candy it isn't bad. Nuff said.
"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen has been reviewed and recommended by many people so I basically resisted reading it. But I had some time over the holidays to read saw a trailer for the upcoming movie version and figured I'd give it a try. It is nothing Earth shattering but is a compact and nicely done love story/study of circus life during the depression.
"Version 43" by Philip Palmer is pretty classic sci-fi pulp. Pretty one dimensional characters and convoluted logic. Basically an intergalactic cop cyborg keeps getting killed and coming back while investigating a murder case. Every time he comes back the scale of intrigue shifts ever higher until the fate of the Universe is at stake. Playful candy. Quick read. Might be worth watching Palmer for future work.
Yes, I just got around to reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee (thanks to a good friend buying it for me on the spot when he heard I had never read it). It is a perfect book with lessons for all. I won't tire you with a shallow review. If you haven't picked it up, you should. It seems as fresh and relevant today as I'm sure it did fifty years ago.
Like historic fiction with a twist? Interlocking mysteries? Close encounters with financial collapse? Read Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears Keeps you guessing pretty deeply into the novel and creates an enjoyable ride through England in the 1900s.
Cutting for Stone is one of the best novels I’ve read this year. It is a novel that stretches from India to Ethiopia to the US and back tracing the lives of a family of care-givers. Hard to put down, I don’t think I’ve ever read such compelling writing focused on the art of medicine.If you like really big books (ala 1000 pages plus) about 3 days in the life of 10 year old Chicago Jewish kids who may or may not be the potential messiah and writes the book as if it might be his official scripture, well you really can’t go wrong with The Instructions.
William Gibson’s new novel, Zero History is pretty classic Gibson, though it feels oddly dated (novels of the near future are having a harder time seeming futuristic at this point). His mention of Festo brought back some wonderful memories of trying to figure out how to build instant and mildly insane architecture back in the day.
Non-Fiction...
Fordlandia is a scary but true story about the sorts of things that Henry Ford did after he perfected the production line and kick-started the American Century. It details the history of Ford’s attempt to build an American town in the Brazilian rain forest along the shores of the Amazon. Scary, cautionary tale about ego gone wild. Example? His son Edsel builds a building to house accountants and process people since Ford at that time didn’t have much in the way of business tracking. Henry waits til it’s built, and has it destroyed. And learn about his roving band of thugs who would beat up employees, do spot checks in their homes to make sure that the employees weren’t drinking and were hanging their laundry properly (and the thugs would do much worse). Or find out why Henry Ford got a special iron cross award from Hitler! I bought it thinking I’d get a tale of “against all odds” success or at least glorious failure by a brilliant man. Instead it was more like “hey this guy was increasingly erratic and became more and more crazy as he got older, and rich people that turn that way are usually the ones that are featured in James Bond films (so beware of Sergey when he turns 65!).” Also includes a sad post script about what sorts of things are still happening down there.
"The Case of the Disappearing Spoon" by Sam Kean is one of the best explorations of chemistry, the periodic table of the elements, and the delight of scientific discovery I've seen. It takes the reader on a wild ride across the table, explaining the underlying architecture and curious properties of over a hundred elements. It highlights the personalities, battles, and parlor tricks (gallium molded into a spoon is apparently great fun when placed in hot tea) to be found when atoms combine. If you are at all interested in how the world works, read this book.
"Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Childhood" by Oliver Sacks is the perfect companion piece to the disappearing spoon. It is a wonderful memoir detailing the discoveries of a boy growing up in London during wartime. Oliver's fascination with the physical world is encouraged by his family who are all either scientists, doctors, or inventors. I found it all fascinating as a time capsule from a definitive moment in our history. Read it.
I just finished The Emperor of all Maladies, A Biography of Cancer. It is a compelling story about the life of cancer. The author does a wonderful job of documenting the evolution of our understanding of the disease using personal stories about patients, doctors, and scientists. It weaves a story through history documenting tragedy, loss and discovery; illuminating the science and the politics of our ongoing fight against this pervasive disease. Worth reading.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Books and Such... May 2010
Ok, I've actually forgotten a bunch of the books that I've read since last we met. So I'll try to recreate at least my thoughts on the few I can remember (I need to write things down sooner).
"Under Heaven" by Guy Gavriel Kay is a rich, deep, quiet meditation on family, war, civilization, and political intrigue. All set in the times of the Tang dynasty in China. It begins with a man who is spending his year of mourning (for his father who was a great general) burying the bones of the dead along the silent shores of a high mountain lake, fighting off the ghosts of the warriors who died in battle. You don't quite know where the story is going until suddenly you are in the middle of epic changes. Guy knows how to tell a story and uses historic details to deepen the tale. Read everything he writes and you won't be disappointed. This is his newest edition and it is spellbinding.
"The Last Light of the Sun" by Guy Gavriel Kay is similar in that it deals in family and myth, but this time it is in the time of Vikings and the early northern European lands. A story of magic and empire building.
"The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi is set in a plausible future land of world-wide floods, genetic crop manipulations, Japanese bio-engineered "windup girls" and an economy where calories are king. I don't think it is quite as good as it thinks it is, repeating words and thoughts a bit too much for my taste, but it signals a writer to watch. If you like near-future fiction, crazed Bangkok streets, and mammoths as engines, you'll enjoy it.
"Black Hills" by Dan Simmons, is a history chasing, heart-breaking, must read. He takes the moment of General Custer's death as a starting point and doesn't end until the world is transformed by a President named Franklin D. Roosevelt. Seen by a Native American child who grows old with the ghost of Custer (among others) looking out of his eyes.
"Horns" by Joe Hill. It’s a playful story about a guy who loses his girlfriend (maybe kills her) and wakes up to discover that he’s got horns coming out of his head and seems to be a bit more devilish than usual. People also can’t seem to notice or remember he has them and everyone tells him their worst thoughts. A journey of discovery ensues. A diversion.
"One Amazing Thing" by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni is set in the basement office of a building that has just suffered an earthquake. The players were all there to sort out their travel paperwork and come from many different walks of life. As the water rises and hope fails, they each tell a story of one amazing thing that happened in their life. This was a short, simple book. Nicely done.
"The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet" by David Mitchell. I've read other books by David Mitchell and enjoyed them so I thought I'd give this a try. I think it may be his best work. It is set on an island off of Japan during the period where the Dutch were the only foreigners allowed even close to the country. Jacob is a young book keeper charged with documenting corruption at the trading post. But that is just an entry into the closed world and strange kingdom of Japan. The book covers lifetime of intrigues, possible child sacrifices, immortal samurais, and loves lost.
"The Girl Who..." For a long time I resisted this series because it seemed to be everywhere and a bit over-hyped. A friend passed her copy of the first book (Dragon Tattoo) on to me recently and I just finished it. It’s worth the read. The hype is mostly right. This is just plain murder mystery family dynasty journalistic detective work fun.
I just finished the other two in the series and they are equally good (though you get the impression that women have a particularly bad time of things in Sweden than I would have imagined). The ending is bang up good fun. Read all three. Now, of course, I'm in trouble (because the books were all published posthumously and aside from outlines for more they’re all he wrote). So uh, now what?
"The Kingdom Beyond the Waves" by Stephen Hunt is just plain good Victorian-punk alternate world, evil empire, partly underwater, partly far up in the sky, fun. This is the second book in the series (the first being "The Court of the Air.") A nice diversion.
"Under Heaven" by Guy Gavriel Kay is a rich, deep, quiet meditation on family, war, civilization, and political intrigue. All set in the times of the Tang dynasty in China. It begins with a man who is spending his year of mourning (for his father who was a great general) burying the bones of the dead along the silent shores of a high mountain lake, fighting off the ghosts of the warriors who died in battle. You don't quite know where the story is going until suddenly you are in the middle of epic changes. Guy knows how to tell a story and uses historic details to deepen the tale. Read everything he writes and you won't be disappointed. This is his newest edition and it is spellbinding.
"The Last Light of the Sun" by Guy Gavriel Kay is similar in that it deals in family and myth, but this time it is in the time of Vikings and the early northern European lands. A story of magic and empire building.
"The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi is set in a plausible future land of world-wide floods, genetic crop manipulations, Japanese bio-engineered "windup girls" and an economy where calories are king. I don't think it is quite as good as it thinks it is, repeating words and thoughts a bit too much for my taste, but it signals a writer to watch. If you like near-future fiction, crazed Bangkok streets, and mammoths as engines, you'll enjoy it.
"Black Hills" by Dan Simmons, is a history chasing, heart-breaking, must read. He takes the moment of General Custer's death as a starting point and doesn't end until the world is transformed by a President named Franklin D. Roosevelt. Seen by a Native American child who grows old with the ghost of Custer (among others) looking out of his eyes.
"Horns" by Joe Hill. It’s a playful story about a guy who loses his girlfriend (maybe kills her) and wakes up to discover that he’s got horns coming out of his head and seems to be a bit more devilish than usual. People also can’t seem to notice or remember he has them and everyone tells him their worst thoughts. A journey of discovery ensues. A diversion.
"One Amazing Thing" by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni is set in the basement office of a building that has just suffered an earthquake. The players were all there to sort out their travel paperwork and come from many different walks of life. As the water rises and hope fails, they each tell a story of one amazing thing that happened in their life. This was a short, simple book. Nicely done.
"The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet" by David Mitchell. I've read other books by David Mitchell and enjoyed them so I thought I'd give this a try. I think it may be his best work. It is set on an island off of Japan during the period where the Dutch were the only foreigners allowed even close to the country. Jacob is a young book keeper charged with documenting corruption at the trading post. But that is just an entry into the closed world and strange kingdom of Japan. The book covers lifetime of intrigues, possible child sacrifices, immortal samurais, and loves lost.
"The Girl Who..." For a long time I resisted this series because it seemed to be everywhere and a bit over-hyped. A friend passed her copy of the first book (Dragon Tattoo) on to me recently and I just finished it. It’s worth the read. The hype is mostly right. This is just plain murder mystery family dynasty journalistic detective work fun.
I just finished the other two in the series and they are equally good (though you get the impression that women have a particularly bad time of things in Sweden than I would have imagined). The ending is bang up good fun. Read all three. Now, of course, I'm in trouble (because the books were all published posthumously and aside from outlines for more they’re all he wrote). So uh, now what?
"The Kingdom Beyond the Waves" by Stephen Hunt is just plain good Victorian-punk alternate world, evil empire, partly underwater, partly far up in the sky, fun. This is the second book in the series (the first being "The Court of the Air.") A nice diversion.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Books, February 2010
Ok, I've got a few books to get through (and a few more that I'll have to post later)
We'll start with Fiction...
"Juliet, Naked" by Nick Hornby is a quick little shot at exploring wasted time, reclusive rock stars, fanatic internet conspiracy theorists followers, and the search for meaning among the aftermath of alcohol infused bed hopping. Classic and very readable Hornby of "High Fidelity" fame.
"The Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks is book one of a trilogy (the others are: "Shadow's Edge" and cleverly enough, "Beyond the Shadows"). I rarely like fantasy books, but I have to give Mr. Weeks credit, these books are unputdownable and completely diverting. If you'd like to read a dark and brooding adventure in a land where assassins are king, blades speak, battles rage and ancient mysteries slowly unravel, get the trilogy.
"The Sheriff of Yrnameer" by Michael Rubens was a cute (he's a writer for the Daily Show) experiment in sci-fi storytelling. About a future time when Earth is pretty much blown to bits and rogue spacers roam the galaxy. If you want to read a light and playful little romp, go for it, just know I bought it for the cover illustration and am proud to say that I'll keep it for the cover illustration.
"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami is considered a classic. He's a good writer and this was a very readable and absorbing exploration of Japanese culture and a bit of magical realism.
"Wireless" by Charles Stross was a collection of short stories that were pretty uneven but certainly engaging and exploratory. Nowhere near as good as his novels but I could see how one or two of these stories could easily become a major new work. I think it'd be worth reading to see how his mind works as it crunches through thoughts and dreams and ideas on the way to becoming stories.
"Huge" by James Fuerst is about a little kid that is the reincarnation of Mickey Spillane. Totally a fun book about growing up (a little) and solving mysteries (or at least thinking you're solving mysteries).
"Transition" by Ian Banks looks like a new universe in the making. Typical Banks malevolent and dark humor peppered throughout a story about alternate universes and the enforcement officers who live across worlds holding back catastrophic badness. Love it.
"The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown is another one by Dan Brown. Do I have to say more? Think of it as cotton candy. This time instead of the church he takes on the founding fathers. A good read if you like the same story told over and over again (though it gets a bit strained and was certainly not as good as The DaVinci Code).
"This is Not a Game" by Walter Jon Williams wasn't as good as other musings on the topic (or other Williams books) but it does paint a credible future world and plays with the potential of crowdsourced augmented reality good guys, bad guys, and game designers. Worth reading if you like that sort of thing.
If you like the smell of paint, walking along the Seine and a touch of impressionist mystery, read The Swan Thieves Though not The Historian in terms of scope or vampire fun, she can definitely write. The book explores what it means and meant to be an artist both today and in the early 1900s. It also paints the picture of a man who is single mindedly obsessed and the doctor detective trying to discover the meaning of his patient's paintings. My only reservation is that there isn't much mystery and I was waiting for some kind of twist or turn that never really came (or if it did it was so predictable that I didn't notice).
"Mariposa" by Greg Bear was worth reading if you like slightly futuristic thrillers about insolvent America, overeaching corporations as military replacements, and a sprinkling of smart dust.
"The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers" by Thomas Mullen is pure gold. It is set in the 1930's in the midwest during a time of fast cars, bank robbers, and the newly emerging FBI. The story revolves around the oddly magical ability of two swashbuckling brothers to evade (mostly) death while they try to stay one step ahead of the law and maybe a half a step away from the breadlines.
"Six Suspects" by Vikas Swarup (author of the book that was made into the Slumdog Millionaire movie) is ok, but not great. Basically it starts with the murder of a playboy millionaire spoiled brat and then explores the six people who were all at the party who may have reason to kill him. It isn't a bad conceit but it didn't really feel like there was much mystery or tension.
"Galileo's Dream" wasn’t bad, a mish mash of history (pretty vivid depiction of Galileo’s place and time) and world spanning future hopping many dimensional time traveling trouble making. Kinda confused and anticlimactic but Kim Stanley Robinson is always a good writer and this might have just been a bit of the “reach exceeds grasp” sorta experiment that all good authors have to try. If you like history and sci-fi and ruminations on the nature of human nature, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you want something much deeper in the “history of scientific thinking with a touch of swashbuckling adventure genre” and something that is a bit more finely wrought (though wacky at times because of the author’s playful anachronisms), read the The Baroque Cycle.
If you’ve never read Jess Walters, now would be a good time to start. His new book, The Financial Lives of the Poets is a compact little story about one man’s descent into hell during the financial meltdown. It is funny, sad and hopeful.
Non-Fiction
"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller is a short exploration of the elements of a good story and how you can think about your life as a story (and how to edit it along the way to guide it to be a better one). There is one particular story about a family who, among other things, decides to invite world leaders over to their house for a sleepover and the richness that springs from that one inciting incident (oh yeah, a good story has a character who wants something (even better if its something good for his life, his family, his community, or the world) and has to overcome obstacles (if you don't fail you aren't really aiming high enough and the best characters know there will be stumbles and falls along the way) to get it, but usually the character is comfortable and like most of us does not want to rock the boat... (so they need an inciting incident to get them moving). Read the book.
"Whatever it Takes" by Paul Tough is a book about Geoffrey Canada's efforts to build the Harlem Children's Zone. If you care at all about education read this book. If you like reading about doing the impossible, read this book. It has heartbreaking passages and inspirational ideas. I saw Geoffrey speak not that long ago and was pleasantly shocked by some of the things he said.
While we don’t burn scientists at the stake quite as often anymore there still is a surplus of Denialism. This book is an interesting screed on the widespread distrust of science and fact. It’s not a perfect book and seems a bit too arrogant at times (the people who should read it would never get past the first chapter), but overall it has some startling and disturbing examples of denial in the face of overwhelming evidence. While finding the link for this book I found another book about truthiness that sounds intriguing. True Enough.
"Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea" by Gary Kinder is the true story of the recovery of a ship filled with gold and other historic artifacts dating back to the American gold rush. Great story of the perils of going to sea, the origins of the gold rush, the amazing efforts of one man and his team to establish a working scientific presence 8-10,000 feet below the surface of the ocean, and the ensuing legal wrangling that followed when they discovered the most gold ever found in a shipwreck. A completely wonderful adventure even more fun because it really happened. One of the best elements of the book (and really the core of the story) is the main character. Tommy (Harvey) Thompson is a template for the idea of creativity, invention, perseverance, and the scientific method. This is a story about doing what all the experts thought was impossible. A must read.
Movies...
"ZombieLand" rocks.
Music...
Massive Attack's new album is deep and wonderful. Buy Heligoland now.
We'll start with Fiction...
"Juliet, Naked" by Nick Hornby is a quick little shot at exploring wasted time, reclusive rock stars, fanatic internet conspiracy theorists followers, and the search for meaning among the aftermath of alcohol infused bed hopping. Classic and very readable Hornby of "High Fidelity" fame.
"The Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks is book one of a trilogy (the others are: "Shadow's Edge" and cleverly enough, "Beyond the Shadows"). I rarely like fantasy books, but I have to give Mr. Weeks credit, these books are unputdownable and completely diverting. If you'd like to read a dark and brooding adventure in a land where assassins are king, blades speak, battles rage and ancient mysteries slowly unravel, get the trilogy.
"The Sheriff of Yrnameer" by Michael Rubens was a cute (he's a writer for the Daily Show) experiment in sci-fi storytelling. About a future time when Earth is pretty much blown to bits and rogue spacers roam the galaxy. If you want to read a light and playful little romp, go for it, just know I bought it for the cover illustration and am proud to say that I'll keep it for the cover illustration.
"Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami is considered a classic. He's a good writer and this was a very readable and absorbing exploration of Japanese culture and a bit of magical realism.
"Wireless" by Charles Stross was a collection of short stories that were pretty uneven but certainly engaging and exploratory. Nowhere near as good as his novels but I could see how one or two of these stories could easily become a major new work. I think it'd be worth reading to see how his mind works as it crunches through thoughts and dreams and ideas on the way to becoming stories.
"Huge" by James Fuerst is about a little kid that is the reincarnation of Mickey Spillane. Totally a fun book about growing up (a little) and solving mysteries (or at least thinking you're solving mysteries).
"Transition" by Ian Banks looks like a new universe in the making. Typical Banks malevolent and dark humor peppered throughout a story about alternate universes and the enforcement officers who live across worlds holding back catastrophic badness. Love it.
"The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown is another one by Dan Brown. Do I have to say more? Think of it as cotton candy. This time instead of the church he takes on the founding fathers. A good read if you like the same story told over and over again (though it gets a bit strained and was certainly not as good as The DaVinci Code).
"This is Not a Game" by Walter Jon Williams wasn't as good as other musings on the topic (or other Williams books) but it does paint a credible future world and plays with the potential of crowdsourced augmented reality good guys, bad guys, and game designers. Worth reading if you like that sort of thing.
If you like the smell of paint, walking along the Seine and a touch of impressionist mystery, read The Swan Thieves Though not The Historian in terms of scope or vampire fun, she can definitely write. The book explores what it means and meant to be an artist both today and in the early 1900s. It also paints the picture of a man who is single mindedly obsessed and the doctor detective trying to discover the meaning of his patient's paintings. My only reservation is that there isn't much mystery and I was waiting for some kind of twist or turn that never really came (or if it did it was so predictable that I didn't notice).
I’m afraid I wasn’t all that wrapped up in Let The Great World Spin. I expected something as powerful as the Man on Wire film which was stunning. It was well written but didn’t drag me in like others in the “New York as character in the story” genre. Again, bought it for the cover and the promise of some connection between the early days of the twin towers and their later demise.
Something better but not quite easy on the brain is "Chronic City" by Jonathan Lethem. He's crafted another loopy lyrical lounging lay-about classic. It is laced with lunacy (or at least out of this world orbits) and lost loves. It has all the typical things you'd expect in a novel about a slightly alternate world New York City, like a roaming tiger, a run amok tunneling machine, a grown up blank slate but lovable or at least affable child actor with a girlfriend astronaut trapped in a decaying orbit in the sky, and a lazy eyed rock critic-conspiracy theorist named Perkus Tooth who is pretty certain that Marlon Brando is still alive waiting on another island to be called forth to save the city from the cynical billionaire mayor.
The Hunger Games was a quick read (warning it is book one of three and only two are out so far). Aimed at young readers, it can be a bit basic at times, but it’s worth a read if you like “dystopian death race boy meets girl and they both have to kill each other to survive” stories.
"Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger is your basic story about twin girls who have girls who maybe die and haunt and sometimes body hop. Worth reading just for the pleasure of how she writes."Mariposa" by Greg Bear was worth reading if you like slightly futuristic thrillers about insolvent America, overeaching corporations as military replacements, and a sprinkling of smart dust.
"The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers" by Thomas Mullen is pure gold. It is set in the 1930's in the midwest during a time of fast cars, bank robbers, and the newly emerging FBI. The story revolves around the oddly magical ability of two swashbuckling brothers to evade (mostly) death while they try to stay one step ahead of the law and maybe a half a step away from the breadlines.
"Six Suspects" by Vikas Swarup (author of the book that was made into the Slumdog Millionaire movie) is ok, but not great. Basically it starts with the murder of a playboy millionaire spoiled brat and then explores the six people who were all at the party who may have reason to kill him. It isn't a bad conceit but it didn't really feel like there was much mystery or tension.
"Galileo's Dream" wasn’t bad, a mish mash of history (pretty vivid depiction of Galileo’s place and time) and world spanning future hopping many dimensional time traveling trouble making. Kinda confused and anticlimactic but Kim Stanley Robinson is always a good writer and this might have just been a bit of the “reach exceeds grasp” sorta experiment that all good authors have to try. If you like history and sci-fi and ruminations on the nature of human nature, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you want something much deeper in the “history of scientific thinking with a touch of swashbuckling adventure genre” and something that is a bit more finely wrought (though wacky at times because of the author’s playful anachronisms), read the The Baroque Cycle.
If you’ve never read Jess Walters, now would be a good time to start. His new book, The Financial Lives of the Poets is a compact little story about one man’s descent into hell during the financial meltdown. It is funny, sad and hopeful.
Non-Fiction
"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller is a short exploration of the elements of a good story and how you can think about your life as a story (and how to edit it along the way to guide it to be a better one). There is one particular story about a family who, among other things, decides to invite world leaders over to their house for a sleepover and the richness that springs from that one inciting incident (oh yeah, a good story has a character who wants something (even better if its something good for his life, his family, his community, or the world) and has to overcome obstacles (if you don't fail you aren't really aiming high enough and the best characters know there will be stumbles and falls along the way) to get it, but usually the character is comfortable and like most of us does not want to rock the boat... (so they need an inciting incident to get them moving). Read the book.
"Whatever it Takes" by Paul Tough is a book about Geoffrey Canada's efforts to build the Harlem Children's Zone. If you care at all about education read this book. If you like reading about doing the impossible, read this book. It has heartbreaking passages and inspirational ideas. I saw Geoffrey speak not that long ago and was pleasantly shocked by some of the things he said.
While we don’t burn scientists at the stake quite as often anymore there still is a surplus of Denialism. This book is an interesting screed on the widespread distrust of science and fact. It’s not a perfect book and seems a bit too arrogant at times (the people who should read it would never get past the first chapter), but overall it has some startling and disturbing examples of denial in the face of overwhelming evidence. While finding the link for this book I found another book about truthiness that sounds intriguing. True Enough.
"Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea" by Gary Kinder is the true story of the recovery of a ship filled with gold and other historic artifacts dating back to the American gold rush. Great story of the perils of going to sea, the origins of the gold rush, the amazing efforts of one man and his team to establish a working scientific presence 8-10,000 feet below the surface of the ocean, and the ensuing legal wrangling that followed when they discovered the most gold ever found in a shipwreck. A completely wonderful adventure even more fun because it really happened. One of the best elements of the book (and really the core of the story) is the main character. Tommy (Harvey) Thompson is a template for the idea of creativity, invention, perseverance, and the scientific method. This is a story about doing what all the experts thought was impossible. A must read.
Movies...
"ZombieLand" rocks.
Music...
Massive Attack's new album is deep and wonderful. Buy Heligoland now.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Ebb and Flow
“I guess this is what it feels like to know you might die,” he says and the immortality granted to him courtesy of his youth ebbs away just a little bit. A smile in his words even as he delivers the news, determined to protect us but needing shelter from the coming storm.
Sleeping, trying to sleep, not sleeping. Not fooling myself.
Listening to him breath, listening to her breath, looking at the time, three more minutes have passed, almost time, last supper over, no more food for fear of the reaction, waiting, sleep comes and a moment later the alarm sounds.
Wake up, quietly, rub the sleep out of your eyes, don’t wake your mother yet, not yet, let her sleep for a few more minutes, let her hold onto the time before her precious baby faces the knife, maybe this will all be a memory soon.
Maybe it will be worse, maybe we won’t know for a long time which way to think, what is happening, why, silently screaming, pleading, rationalizing, staying calm; stop it; he needs your strength not your over thought, overwrought, overblown circular, looping, spirals of what might be, better not be, can’t be. Drama.
Late. Move. Move. Move.
Splash of water in the face, drive to the hospital, get him admitted, he’s so calm, I think he’s trying to make sure I’m okay when all I care about is that he is, follow the paths that don’t really make sense, stumble through the families with haunted eyes, waiting with you but not for what you care about, lost in their own thoughts, waiting and hurrying, and waiting, comparing obvious and not so obvious ailments in the hope, some morbid hope that you can find someone who is far worse off, what the hell are you thinking, why do our minds play this game of relatives, and strangers, and relativity?
Finally see the doctor, what am I not asking, what had I better ask, what could happen, don’t sugar coat it, sugar coat it, confidence glows around him, percentages sound good, wait not good, how to even think about these things, keep him calm, it’ll be ok, no real time to think. Thirty percent chance of mortality seems much higher than I remember hearing as this whole nightmare began.
All stops.
Hold his hand and wait. Lame jokes. Just wait.
Silence feels okay, he is strong.
Other hospital visits flash back; a few years old and he can’t breath, blue is the color of my baby’s lips; eleven or twelve and he just can’t stop throwing up; call from my wife as she returns with him from a cutting dance down a wet hill with an angry lawnmower, a pair of blossoming gym shoes attest to the spinning pirouettes, count the toes, still all there, mostly.
They ask me to leave, they take him in, shave his head (he asks for the whole Mr. Clean treatment but it turns out to be too complicated, too messy… clean will come later as we sponge the blood and clots from his head and soak away stains of antibacterial joy), wait, find a signal, find a pattern in all the noise, call home which at the moment is a hotel on the outskirts of town, arms that carried him in her heart, eyes that glisten and well up through the phone, “Is he alright? He’s strong, isn’t he? Has it started yet? Is it over? Did the surgeon know what he was doing? Did you ask all of our questions? How much longer?”
We sit and hold each other’s attention, feeling together, alone.
Waiting.
Plumbers reroute the flow, reduce the pressure, trample through the pathways of the garden we have spent 26 years growing, why, what is going on, deep sense of dread that this is not a dream, that this will not be as easy as the mechanics think, knowing that beyond the logical maps, and body of knowledge lies a landscape of the mind that is still just a mystery, a universe in a few pounds of matter, strange loops far from known.
Prayer comes. Hope, and after hope, pressure to do something to help, to make sure this time you don’t forget something, you ask the right things, you protect him from his own body trying to crush his mind, what else can we do? What have I completely forgotten? How have I stumbled in my wobbly dance with fatherhood?
Wait. Pray.
Run through all the scenarios.
Why is he still in there?
What is taking them so long?
Doctor arrives all smiles, “you can see him in 30 minutes,” time passes.
Hours pass. Ask, wait, pace. Eat. Call. Wake up. What. Now? What. Now? What now?
What now?
Walk in. He is so wasted. Blown apart and wired up, and blanketed and drifting in and out, I hold his hand and he cracks wise with the cute young nurse, breath relief, get kicked out, “Is mom coming soon?” he croaks.
Fight the parking garage, DC traffic, fears that it’s not over, knowledge that this whole thing is new territory, way too much time alone with my head.
Find her, hold her, don’t move and it won’t change; the news is good, stop this moment, freeze it in time. But it won’t stop. We just keep moving metronome ticking and tocking us through the motions, drive on.
Wander the maze, wait for permission, tears edge her eyes when she sees him but she’s always been the strong one, the defiant one in the face of the world, fighter when we just want to hide away. He’s ok… what is all that stuff, all those tubes, the machines, why are they alarming, hello is anybody watching out for our baby?
Sit, stand, squeeze, hold him, room designed for bacteria more than families, reminder that the longer he’s in the hospital the more likely the single cells will win, the history of the world is written in these battles and I’m pretty sure that by any count they are winning. But he looks good all things considered, he’ll have more character. He comments that he’s on his way to becoming a Borg, sci-fi shorthand for assimilation into the singularity.
Can we not grin? We grin. We look away, lump in throat, eyes blurring.
Too soon…
Trying to get him to eat solid foods, get up and out, your fine, until late that night it all comes back up and fever pulls him under, his skin is burning up, pressure in his skull escalates while those damn alarms keep begging for someone to notice.
Welcome to the best healthcare money can buy. Nurses wander in and out, nothing amiss. How could you even know? Numb to the screams of the machines that call, “Wolf!”
Please (please, please, oh just forget the pleases and) FIND the doctor.
We start to wonder anew. We doubt and don’t sleep that night.
She tosses and turns and we just squeeze his arm, pat his leg, pushing our thoughts and prayers deep into his soul. Pressing down the darkness, imagining some invisible flow of something, power, safety, love, infusion of time. Take ours, use us, pick him up and hold him in the light, breath.
Wait.
“What can go wrong? Well there is a nicely annotated list of hypochondriatical dimensions.”
In fact each doctor, researcher, Intertube search can handily, silently, waitingly, wonderingly, fill long hours of delight uncovering byte size tidbits of unfiltered dread.
The litany of clinical voices echoes in our heads, to wit: diminished capacity, infection, hemorrhaging, mood shifts, and return of the crushing pressure (of course these things happen). Could be weeks or months or years later, closing of the new pathways, endocrinal variations. Might need to re-open it, shunt it (which is destined to fail and medically closer to last century’s stumbling than this new, shiny and clean approach). Oh, yeah, death, and taxes, and that wonderful, maddening so full of hopes and dreams, playful light, fading to something a little closer to a newborn puppy.
The waiting and not knowing and over thinking and senseless fear are all too much, too real, too sapping of strength, and we are left to wonder why we can’t fix it, why this rare and unexplained tragedy has placed its ghostly hands on his head.
Sure that five, ten, twenty years from now we’ll find out how foolish we were, how blunt the instruments of his cure have turned out to be, hoping it doesn’t turn out to be so, that he’s not one of the statistics, that somehow someway the ebbing tide just begins to flow and the dollar coin size stamp of approval embossed on his head fades from memory.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day breaks.
Dappled light strobes through cheery blossoms as moments flicker through the days.
He begins to return. He gains strength.
His friends are legion. They try to make us smile. They reminisce about childhood Zen. They come to sit and cheer him on.
Friday he calls and asks for escape and there is an epic fight with the never-ending traffic to pry him loose from his crushing maw of clinical sterility.
We wait and live and wonder as we hold him tight. Now we find a new hotel, closer to his apartment. Sleeping with us so we can doctor him and nurse him and hold him still as he fights his need to move. The doctor has prohibited any exertion, beyond hauling a gallon of milk, for the next six weeks. He battles a ringing rushing rising torrent of something bubbly that he only hears in the quiet of the night. Cushioning crushing streams settle into new pathways, braiding a tapestry through his head.
“Will I always hear this, is this my fate, I’m trapped in my own head with an angry river?”
His body aches, his hands oddly chilled, his life on hold.
She makes things happen. Reminds us of all the little things we’ve lost track of, holds us together as we orbit this strange new world, starts to cheer him up by getting royally pissed off at him as his senses return and he turns into a smartass, twenty-something, the world revolves around me, baby again.
We catch a glint in her eye that is so obviously love it stops us in our footsteps. We are both, in our way, sure that we don’t deserve it.
She holds us so tightly in her caring gaze that it hurts with bittersweet pressure and we squeak and scream.
We are, he is, alive to fight another day. Together we roam on this meandering, stomach dropping, sunrising, journey into tomorrow and life starts again.
Sleeping, trying to sleep, not sleeping. Not fooling myself.
Listening to him breath, listening to her breath, looking at the time, three more minutes have passed, almost time, last supper over, no more food for fear of the reaction, waiting, sleep comes and a moment later the alarm sounds.
Wake up, quietly, rub the sleep out of your eyes, don’t wake your mother yet, not yet, let her sleep for a few more minutes, let her hold onto the time before her precious baby faces the knife, maybe this will all be a memory soon.
Maybe it will be worse, maybe we won’t know for a long time which way to think, what is happening, why, silently screaming, pleading, rationalizing, staying calm; stop it; he needs your strength not your over thought, overwrought, overblown circular, looping, spirals of what might be, better not be, can’t be. Drama.
Late. Move. Move. Move.
Splash of water in the face, drive to the hospital, get him admitted, he’s so calm, I think he’s trying to make sure I’m okay when all I care about is that he is, follow the paths that don’t really make sense, stumble through the families with haunted eyes, waiting with you but not for what you care about, lost in their own thoughts, waiting and hurrying, and waiting, comparing obvious and not so obvious ailments in the hope, some morbid hope that you can find someone who is far worse off, what the hell are you thinking, why do our minds play this game of relatives, and strangers, and relativity?
Finally see the doctor, what am I not asking, what had I better ask, what could happen, don’t sugar coat it, sugar coat it, confidence glows around him, percentages sound good, wait not good, how to even think about these things, keep him calm, it’ll be ok, no real time to think. Thirty percent chance of mortality seems much higher than I remember hearing as this whole nightmare began.
All stops.
Hold his hand and wait. Lame jokes. Just wait.
Silence feels okay, he is strong.
Other hospital visits flash back; a few years old and he can’t breath, blue is the color of my baby’s lips; eleven or twelve and he just can’t stop throwing up; call from my wife as she returns with him from a cutting dance down a wet hill with an angry lawnmower, a pair of blossoming gym shoes attest to the spinning pirouettes, count the toes, still all there, mostly.
They ask me to leave, they take him in, shave his head (he asks for the whole Mr. Clean treatment but it turns out to be too complicated, too messy… clean will come later as we sponge the blood and clots from his head and soak away stains of antibacterial joy), wait, find a signal, find a pattern in all the noise, call home which at the moment is a hotel on the outskirts of town, arms that carried him in her heart, eyes that glisten and well up through the phone, “Is he alright? He’s strong, isn’t he? Has it started yet? Is it over? Did the surgeon know what he was doing? Did you ask all of our questions? How much longer?”
We sit and hold each other’s attention, feeling together, alone.
Waiting.
Plumbers reroute the flow, reduce the pressure, trample through the pathways of the garden we have spent 26 years growing, why, what is going on, deep sense of dread that this is not a dream, that this will not be as easy as the mechanics think, knowing that beyond the logical maps, and body of knowledge lies a landscape of the mind that is still just a mystery, a universe in a few pounds of matter, strange loops far from known.
Prayer comes. Hope, and after hope, pressure to do something to help, to make sure this time you don’t forget something, you ask the right things, you protect him from his own body trying to crush his mind, what else can we do? What have I completely forgotten? How have I stumbled in my wobbly dance with fatherhood?
Wait. Pray.
Run through all the scenarios.
Why is he still in there?
What is taking them so long?
Doctor arrives all smiles, “you can see him in 30 minutes,” time passes.
Hours pass. Ask, wait, pace. Eat. Call. Wake up. What. Now? What. Now? What now?
What now?
Walk in. He is so wasted. Blown apart and wired up, and blanketed and drifting in and out, I hold his hand and he cracks wise with the cute young nurse, breath relief, get kicked out, “Is mom coming soon?” he croaks.
Fight the parking garage, DC traffic, fears that it’s not over, knowledge that this whole thing is new territory, way too much time alone with my head.
Find her, hold her, don’t move and it won’t change; the news is good, stop this moment, freeze it in time. But it won’t stop. We just keep moving metronome ticking and tocking us through the motions, drive on.
Wander the maze, wait for permission, tears edge her eyes when she sees him but she’s always been the strong one, the defiant one in the face of the world, fighter when we just want to hide away. He’s ok… what is all that stuff, all those tubes, the machines, why are they alarming, hello is anybody watching out for our baby?
Sit, stand, squeeze, hold him, room designed for bacteria more than families, reminder that the longer he’s in the hospital the more likely the single cells will win, the history of the world is written in these battles and I’m pretty sure that by any count they are winning. But he looks good all things considered, he’ll have more character. He comments that he’s on his way to becoming a Borg, sci-fi shorthand for assimilation into the singularity.
Can we not grin? We grin. We look away, lump in throat, eyes blurring.
Too soon…
Trying to get him to eat solid foods, get up and out, your fine, until late that night it all comes back up and fever pulls him under, his skin is burning up, pressure in his skull escalates while those damn alarms keep begging for someone to notice.
Welcome to the best healthcare money can buy. Nurses wander in and out, nothing amiss. How could you even know? Numb to the screams of the machines that call, “Wolf!”
Please (please, please, oh just forget the pleases and) FIND the doctor.
We start to wonder anew. We doubt and don’t sleep that night.
She tosses and turns and we just squeeze his arm, pat his leg, pushing our thoughts and prayers deep into his soul. Pressing down the darkness, imagining some invisible flow of something, power, safety, love, infusion of time. Take ours, use us, pick him up and hold him in the light, breath.
Wait.
“What can go wrong? Well there is a nicely annotated list of hypochondriatical dimensions.”
In fact each doctor, researcher, Intertube search can handily, silently, waitingly, wonderingly, fill long hours of delight uncovering byte size tidbits of unfiltered dread.
The litany of clinical voices echoes in our heads, to wit: diminished capacity, infection, hemorrhaging, mood shifts, and return of the crushing pressure (of course these things happen). Could be weeks or months or years later, closing of the new pathways, endocrinal variations. Might need to re-open it, shunt it (which is destined to fail and medically closer to last century’s stumbling than this new, shiny and clean approach). Oh, yeah, death, and taxes, and that wonderful, maddening so full of hopes and dreams, playful light, fading to something a little closer to a newborn puppy.
The waiting and not knowing and over thinking and senseless fear are all too much, too real, too sapping of strength, and we are left to wonder why we can’t fix it, why this rare and unexplained tragedy has placed its ghostly hands on his head.
Sure that five, ten, twenty years from now we’ll find out how foolish we were, how blunt the instruments of his cure have turned out to be, hoping it doesn’t turn out to be so, that he’s not one of the statistics, that somehow someway the ebbing tide just begins to flow and the dollar coin size stamp of approval embossed on his head fades from memory.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful day breaks.
Dappled light strobes through cheery blossoms as moments flicker through the days.
He begins to return. He gains strength.
His friends are legion. They try to make us smile. They reminisce about childhood Zen. They come to sit and cheer him on.
Friday he calls and asks for escape and there is an epic fight with the never-ending traffic to pry him loose from his crushing maw of clinical sterility.
We wait and live and wonder as we hold him tight. Now we find a new hotel, closer to his apartment. Sleeping with us so we can doctor him and nurse him and hold him still as he fights his need to move. The doctor has prohibited any exertion, beyond hauling a gallon of milk, for the next six weeks. He battles a ringing rushing rising torrent of something bubbly that he only hears in the quiet of the night. Cushioning crushing streams settle into new pathways, braiding a tapestry through his head.
“Will I always hear this, is this my fate, I’m trapped in my own head with an angry river?”
His body aches, his hands oddly chilled, his life on hold.
She makes things happen. Reminds us of all the little things we’ve lost track of, holds us together as we orbit this strange new world, starts to cheer him up by getting royally pissed off at him as his senses return and he turns into a smartass, twenty-something, the world revolves around me, baby again.
We catch a glint in her eye that is so obviously love it stops us in our footsteps. We are both, in our way, sure that we don’t deserve it.
She holds us so tightly in her caring gaze that it hurts with bittersweet pressure and we squeak and scream.
We are, he is, alive to fight another day. Together we roam on this meandering, stomach dropping, sunrising, journey into tomorrow and life starts again.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Books, June through September 09
Ok, this is part one of me trying to catch up with my reviews of books. I've been reading a ton over the summer and haven't had the time or inclination to jot down any notes. More to come...
Fiction...
"The City and the City" by China Mieville is classic Mieville but this time he spins the story as a detective novel. Two cities are occupying the same space (and maybe a third one is there too?) and the cop on the beat trying to solve a murder has to navigate the differences, the blindnesses, the seen and unseen while crisscrossing the borders. Kind of slight, but I enjoyed it.
"Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri is a collection of short stories about growing up as the first generation of indians in a new land, and the family expectations and realities that go along with the challenge. Good writing by the author of "The Namesake."
"Sandman Slim" by Richard Kadrey is just a playful take on going to hell and coming back (because you're just too much of a badass to be left in hell) to clear things up (particularly around the murder of your girl).
"My friend Leonard" by James Frey is a follow up to his story about being put in a rehab center. In this case it's about the friend he made in there that helped him after he left. Leonard is a character that is rich from dubious means, forceful, connected, loves a fine wine and a good meal, and tries hard to get James back on track. I don't think it hit me with the power of "A million little pieces" but James is a good writer so I'll read anything he makes (though I liked it better when I thought all his stories were true).
"Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a story about lovers of books, writers of words, Barcelona, the Devil, star crossed lovers, and a haunted house on a hill. A good book by a very good writer.
"The Magicians" by Lev Grossman is the first book I've read by this author and overall it was enjoyable and engaging. I wasn't entirely happy with the ending (in fact the latter half of the book seems to wallow a bit in things). It is the coming of age story of a teen who practices magic and stumbles into a secret world of real magicians, schools for budding sorcerers, and all of the usual troubles of becoming an adult (heightened by the fact that these particular young adults can kinda do anything). Feels like its trying to have its cake and eat it too in a sense because it wants to be another Harry Potter, but wants to do it in a sort of knowing, adult, referentially cool way too. On balance worth reading if you like a flight of fantasy in the streets of New York.
Non-Fiction...
"Eiffel's Tower" by Jill Jonnes is a history lesson in world fairs, building the impossible, learning about the unknown world of a newly discovered and robust new country, cowboys and indians, and the art and politics of engineering. Fun read if you're interested in Eiffel, his tower, Buffalo Bill, or Annie Oakley (who was the most surprising part of the story). Kinda reminds me of "The Devil and the White City," minus the serial killer, but plus the occasional nubian king offering to buy the pretty lady with the straight shooting style.
"My Life in France" by Julia Child is a wonderful snapshot of the rigor and science of french cooking (and the social dynamics and vibrant lives of Julia and her husband and all of her friends). She was a pioneer. It is also a quiet story of a lifetime of love. Worth reading even if you don't cook.
"The Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes is a bit long and drawn out (with many asides to poets and parallels between poetry, writing, and the romantic age of science) but worth the read. It basically covers the next generation of scientists (the first to call themselves scientists rather than natural philosophers in fact) after Isaac Newton. It follows a brother and sister who literally mapped most of the night sky throughout their lives (discovering Uranus and too many other celestial bodies to count) all via telescopes that they hand made in the basements and workshops of their home. It also touches on the discovery of Tahiti by the western world, the first aeronauts who took to the sky in balloons made of silk, and the general period of time where any mildly wealthy lay about could discover something fundamental about the world.
Fiction...
"The City and the City" by China Mieville is classic Mieville but this time he spins the story as a detective novel. Two cities are occupying the same space (and maybe a third one is there too?) and the cop on the beat trying to solve a murder has to navigate the differences, the blindnesses, the seen and unseen while crisscrossing the borders. Kind of slight, but I enjoyed it.
"Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri is a collection of short stories about growing up as the first generation of indians in a new land, and the family expectations and realities that go along with the challenge. Good writing by the author of "The Namesake."
"Sandman Slim" by Richard Kadrey is just a playful take on going to hell and coming back (because you're just too much of a badass to be left in hell) to clear things up (particularly around the murder of your girl).
"My friend Leonard" by James Frey is a follow up to his story about being put in a rehab center. In this case it's about the friend he made in there that helped him after he left. Leonard is a character that is rich from dubious means, forceful, connected, loves a fine wine and a good meal, and tries hard to get James back on track. I don't think it hit me with the power of "A million little pieces" but James is a good writer so I'll read anything he makes (though I liked it better when I thought all his stories were true).
"Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a story about lovers of books, writers of words, Barcelona, the Devil, star crossed lovers, and a haunted house on a hill. A good book by a very good writer.
"The Magicians" by Lev Grossman is the first book I've read by this author and overall it was enjoyable and engaging. I wasn't entirely happy with the ending (in fact the latter half of the book seems to wallow a bit in things). It is the coming of age story of a teen who practices magic and stumbles into a secret world of real magicians, schools for budding sorcerers, and all of the usual troubles of becoming an adult (heightened by the fact that these particular young adults can kinda do anything). Feels like its trying to have its cake and eat it too in a sense because it wants to be another Harry Potter, but wants to do it in a sort of knowing, adult, referentially cool way too. On balance worth reading if you like a flight of fantasy in the streets of New York.
Non-Fiction...
"Eiffel's Tower" by Jill Jonnes is a history lesson in world fairs, building the impossible, learning about the unknown world of a newly discovered and robust new country, cowboys and indians, and the art and politics of engineering. Fun read if you're interested in Eiffel, his tower, Buffalo Bill, or Annie Oakley (who was the most surprising part of the story). Kinda reminds me of "The Devil and the White City," minus the serial killer, but plus the occasional nubian king offering to buy the pretty lady with the straight shooting style.
"My Life in France" by Julia Child is a wonderful snapshot of the rigor and science of french cooking (and the social dynamics and vibrant lives of Julia and her husband and all of her friends). She was a pioneer. It is also a quiet story of a lifetime of love. Worth reading even if you don't cook.
"The Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes is a bit long and drawn out (with many asides to poets and parallels between poetry, writing, and the romantic age of science) but worth the read. It basically covers the next generation of scientists (the first to call themselves scientists rather than natural philosophers in fact) after Isaac Newton. It follows a brother and sister who literally mapped most of the night sky throughout their lives (discovering Uranus and too many other celestial bodies to count) all via telescopes that they hand made in the basements and workshops of their home. It also touches on the discovery of Tahiti by the western world, the first aeronauts who took to the sky in balloons made of silk, and the general period of time where any mildly wealthy lay about could discover something fundamental about the world.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Books, etc. May 2009
Ok, lots of books, proly not a complete list of what I've consumed in the last few months but close... So speed reviews so I can catch up...
Fiction...
"Domino Men" by Jonathan Barnes was a fun Queen Victoria era meets present day alternate reality house of Winsor maybe sold out the populace of London to some sort of evil entity and now a hapless civil servant has to fix it all kinda book. By the guy who did Somnambulist.
"The Dark Volume" by Gordon Dahlquist was a little more convoluted sequel to a kinda victorian alternate reality dark version of something that reminds me of the Golden Compass with a tear in reality where all the good/bad things bleed through sorta book. Not bad if you need a diversion but proly worth reading the Glass Eaters first.
"Drood" by Dan Simmons was an exploration into a possible Dicken's era explanation for Dicken's last book based on history and a bit of playfulness. Kinda long (like he's just filling pages sometimes) but overall enjoyable read with a dark twist.
"The Last Dickens" by Matthew Pearl was oddly also about Dicken's last unfinished novel but this time not so much fantasy as unexplored mystery by the writer who brought us The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow. Both of these books together give you a pretty good sense of Charles Dickens and his spellbinding ability to perform in public as well as captivate his readers. Also a nice exploration of piracy and copyright (America was like Napster or China back then).
"People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks follows an ancient illustrated holy jewish book from lebanon backwards in time across continents. Not bad, sorta soft.
"A Fraction of a Whole" by Steve Toltz kinda reminds me of something written by Chuck P if he were less of a minimalist. The story of a very disfunctional Australian father and son and the destruction of many things and the living of life inside and outside the lines. I liked it.
"Pygmy" by Chuck Palahniuk was a short little riff on super smart chinese children agents that are bred to be adopted by hapless American christians to deploy a plot to destroy the US, love ensues. Fun, fast.
"My French Whore" by Gene Wilder is a short little book (really more like a novella) that finds Gene's protagonist in World War One France, behind enemy lines and ultimately fooling the Germans and finding love. Nicely done.
"The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet" by Reif Larsen really kills me. The story of a 12 year old Montana boy who draws and maps everything (from real world places to ways things work) in the margins of his travelogue as he runs away from home to find his fame as the invited guest of the Smithsonian. Buy it.
Non-Fiction...
"A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson is a sometimes funny walking trip along the Appalachian Trails. Bears seem to predominate Bill's thoughts. Great history of the trail and the times that made it and the kinds of people who walk it.
"A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson isn't always completely factually accurate (at least not based on current theories) but is a pretty nicely pulled together history of the universe all the way up to people. Mostly a rumination on scientists who are thought crazy, dismissed, discovered to be correct (or more correct), probably after their death, and who end up having someone else take the credit for their discovery. And lots of scary bad ways of imagining the scale of things (like the energy under Yellowstone is akin to taking the state of Rhode Island and piling it six miles high with TNT). If you like the history of science it's worth a read.
"1434" by Gavin Menzies is one of those books that you hope is like "The Man Who Loved China" but instead is painful after the first few chapters (mostly because he can't stop trying to prove he's right and that he and his wife had a delightful vacation finding out all they did). Ok, I get it. China's emperor back in the 1400's wants the world to know that China rules and invented everything, sends out an armada to bring the good news (and get tributes) to the uncivilized (like those people in the dark ages of Europe), they leave maps and slave girls along the way, in places like Venice and the Vatican... maps of the entire world including details of North and South America, Australia, etc. hundreds of years before they were all discovered. Leave drawings of all the things Leonardo later "invented" but maybe just did a better job illustrating, and then they all returned to China and were maybe mostly destroyed by a huge comet that left actual evidence of Chinese junkets in Oregon, California, South America, and New Zealand.
"How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer is the second book in his exploration of how we think (the last one was about how artists probably discovered much of what we now are starting to understand about our brains decades or centuries ago). It reads a bit more like a Gladwell book than I'd like but it is full of fun examples and experiments. Worth reading.
Music...
Passion Pit, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear... all good...
Fiction...
"Domino Men" by Jonathan Barnes was a fun Queen Victoria era meets present day alternate reality house of Winsor maybe sold out the populace of London to some sort of evil entity and now a hapless civil servant has to fix it all kinda book. By the guy who did Somnambulist.
"The Dark Volume" by Gordon Dahlquist was a little more convoluted sequel to a kinda victorian alternate reality dark version of something that reminds me of the Golden Compass with a tear in reality where all the good/bad things bleed through sorta book. Not bad if you need a diversion but proly worth reading the Glass Eaters first.
"Drood" by Dan Simmons was an exploration into a possible Dicken's era explanation for Dicken's last book based on history and a bit of playfulness. Kinda long (like he's just filling pages sometimes) but overall enjoyable read with a dark twist.
"The Last Dickens" by Matthew Pearl was oddly also about Dicken's last unfinished novel but this time not so much fantasy as unexplored mystery by the writer who brought us The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow. Both of these books together give you a pretty good sense of Charles Dickens and his spellbinding ability to perform in public as well as captivate his readers. Also a nice exploration of piracy and copyright (America was like Napster or China back then).
"People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks follows an ancient illustrated holy jewish book from lebanon backwards in time across continents. Not bad, sorta soft.
"A Fraction of a Whole" by Steve Toltz kinda reminds me of something written by Chuck P if he were less of a minimalist. The story of a very disfunctional Australian father and son and the destruction of many things and the living of life inside and outside the lines. I liked it.
"Pygmy" by Chuck Palahniuk was a short little riff on super smart chinese children agents that are bred to be adopted by hapless American christians to deploy a plot to destroy the US, love ensues. Fun, fast.
"My French Whore" by Gene Wilder is a short little book (really more like a novella) that finds Gene's protagonist in World War One France, behind enemy lines and ultimately fooling the Germans and finding love. Nicely done.
"The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet" by Reif Larsen really kills me. The story of a 12 year old Montana boy who draws and maps everything (from real world places to ways things work) in the margins of his travelogue as he runs away from home to find his fame as the invited guest of the Smithsonian. Buy it.
Non-Fiction...
"A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson is a sometimes funny walking trip along the Appalachian Trails. Bears seem to predominate Bill's thoughts. Great history of the trail and the times that made it and the kinds of people who walk it.
"A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson isn't always completely factually accurate (at least not based on current theories) but is a pretty nicely pulled together history of the universe all the way up to people. Mostly a rumination on scientists who are thought crazy, dismissed, discovered to be correct (or more correct), probably after their death, and who end up having someone else take the credit for their discovery. And lots of scary bad ways of imagining the scale of things (like the energy under Yellowstone is akin to taking the state of Rhode Island and piling it six miles high with TNT). If you like the history of science it's worth a read.
"1434" by Gavin Menzies is one of those books that you hope is like "The Man Who Loved China" but instead is painful after the first few chapters (mostly because he can't stop trying to prove he's right and that he and his wife had a delightful vacation finding out all they did). Ok, I get it. China's emperor back in the 1400's wants the world to know that China rules and invented everything, sends out an armada to bring the good news (and get tributes) to the uncivilized (like those people in the dark ages of Europe), they leave maps and slave girls along the way, in places like Venice and the Vatican... maps of the entire world including details of North and South America, Australia, etc. hundreds of years before they were all discovered. Leave drawings of all the things Leonardo later "invented" but maybe just did a better job illustrating, and then they all returned to China and were maybe mostly destroyed by a huge comet that left actual evidence of Chinese junkets in Oregon, California, South America, and New Zealand.
"How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer is the second book in his exploration of how we think (the last one was about how artists probably discovered much of what we now are starting to understand about our brains decades or centuries ago). It reads a bit more like a Gladwell book than I'd like but it is full of fun examples and experiments. Worth reading.
Music...
Passion Pit, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear... all good...
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Books, etc. February 2009
Books...
"The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Disai was a painful story about a group of people and their experiences (mostly of helplessness, slow decline and resignation). Not an uplifting book at all but very well written. A slow downward spiral.
"The Invention of Air" by Stephen Johnson was an enjoyable journey through the biography of Joseph Priestley (the man who discovered oxygen and figured out a way to make soda water). It gives you a glimpse into the early days of America, how the founders thought about science, and how amateur experimenters could uncover entire new fields. Stephen is kinda hung up on "long zoom" history telling and hobbyist innovators (see "Ghost Map"). Worth reading if you like science and history. Not as fun for some reason as his last book.
"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell is all about people not exactly in the center of the bell curve and how they got there. From the best hockey players (they all happen to be born around the first few months of the year in Canada because of the cut-off date for junior competition... so kids born just after the cutoff date tend to be bigger and more experienced by the time they get to play), to the Beatles (they played about 10,000 hours worth of time together in brothels in Germany before becoming an overnight success in the US), to airline pilots (beware flight crews that are from cultures where there is a large gap between superiors and subordinates). Seems fluffy and light as a book without the feel of any real direction or heft but cotton candy is nice sometimes so it made me think for a day or two.
"The Monsters of Templeton" by Lauren Goff is a first novel that does a nice job of exploring life in a small town, with monsters. The primary monster is something that lives in the lake but there are plenty of other monsters along the way. Of course the monsters aren't quite what you expect when the book begins but over time it becomes apparent. An author worth watching.
"Shame" by Salman Rushdie came out soon after his masterful exploration of India. This time its about a fantasy land that might (obviously) just be Pakistan. Not quite as playful as Midnight's Children but it has its moments. If you like SR you'll like this book. If you're interested in history many of the characters will seem oddly similar to real people from the history of Pakistan. It is a rough book though with a girl who's blush burns and who soon turns into a fury, a boy raised by three moms in a vast house, family feuds that span generations, the shamed and the shameless. I just love SR so I'm not going to be able to say anything but read it.
"The Man Who Loved China" by Simon Winchester is a deep exploration of Joseph Needham's life and masterwork. Needham was an eccentric scientist who fell in love with China (although it started with falling in love with his mistress/coworker-scientist from China). He wrote the canonical history of science and technology in the middle kingdom. I little rough going at the beginning of the book as he sets the stage but it fast becomes apparent that Joseph was an extrordinary researcher. He planned on publishing a book about Chinese technology and science and being done in 10 years and when he died decades later he was still writing. All told there turned out to be volumes and volumes of the work that completely changed western perceptions of China. A few examples? up until Needham discovered and popularized the inventions, few knew that China had printing presses with movable type centuries before the west, or that it had developed crossbows in the 5th century BC or gunpowder or multistage rockets, or even lowly simple things like stirrups. Examples of their mastery of engineering include waterways and dams that have been in operation up to the present day for thousands of years that would stun modern day engineers. At the end of the day the book as a popularization of Needham's life and a love story across time and culture. Nicely done. Worth the read.
Music, etc...
"Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" by David Bryne and Brian Eno is great if you like either of these two (though its pretty heavily Bryne oriented.)
"Rachel Getting Married" by Jonathan Demme is really well done. Made me want to go back and watch "Something Wild." Good soundtrack as well (as always).
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" directed by Julian Schnabel is ethereal and luminous. It is the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby who was the editor-in-chief of the french version of Elle magazine. He had a stroke in the prime of life and dictated his autobigraphy purely with the blink of one eye. I don't think the movie is perfect, but its pretty close. You could also freezeframe just about any moment in the film and frame it. Simple and wonderful cinematography.
"The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Disai was a painful story about a group of people and their experiences (mostly of helplessness, slow decline and resignation). Not an uplifting book at all but very well written. A slow downward spiral.
"The Invention of Air" by Stephen Johnson was an enjoyable journey through the biography of Joseph Priestley (the man who discovered oxygen and figured out a way to make soda water). It gives you a glimpse into the early days of America, how the founders thought about science, and how amateur experimenters could uncover entire new fields. Stephen is kinda hung up on "long zoom" history telling and hobbyist innovators (see "Ghost Map"). Worth reading if you like science and history. Not as fun for some reason as his last book.
"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell is all about people not exactly in the center of the bell curve and how they got there. From the best hockey players (they all happen to be born around the first few months of the year in Canada because of the cut-off date for junior competition... so kids born just after the cutoff date tend to be bigger and more experienced by the time they get to play), to the Beatles (they played about 10,000 hours worth of time together in brothels in Germany before becoming an overnight success in the US), to airline pilots (beware flight crews that are from cultures where there is a large gap between superiors and subordinates). Seems fluffy and light as a book without the feel of any real direction or heft but cotton candy is nice sometimes so it made me think for a day or two.
"The Monsters of Templeton" by Lauren Goff is a first novel that does a nice job of exploring life in a small town, with monsters. The primary monster is something that lives in the lake but there are plenty of other monsters along the way. Of course the monsters aren't quite what you expect when the book begins but over time it becomes apparent. An author worth watching.
"Shame" by Salman Rushdie came out soon after his masterful exploration of India. This time its about a fantasy land that might (obviously) just be Pakistan. Not quite as playful as Midnight's Children but it has its moments. If you like SR you'll like this book. If you're interested in history many of the characters will seem oddly similar to real people from the history of Pakistan. It is a rough book though with a girl who's blush burns and who soon turns into a fury, a boy raised by three moms in a vast house, family feuds that span generations, the shamed and the shameless. I just love SR so I'm not going to be able to say anything but read it.
"The Man Who Loved China" by Simon Winchester is a deep exploration of Joseph Needham's life and masterwork. Needham was an eccentric scientist who fell in love with China (although it started with falling in love with his mistress/coworker-scientist from China). He wrote the canonical history of science and technology in the middle kingdom. I little rough going at the beginning of the book as he sets the stage but it fast becomes apparent that Joseph was an extrordinary researcher. He planned on publishing a book about Chinese technology and science and being done in 10 years and when he died decades later he was still writing. All told there turned out to be volumes and volumes of the work that completely changed western perceptions of China. A few examples? up until Needham discovered and popularized the inventions, few knew that China had printing presses with movable type centuries before the west, or that it had developed crossbows in the 5th century BC or gunpowder or multistage rockets, or even lowly simple things like stirrups. Examples of their mastery of engineering include waterways and dams that have been in operation up to the present day for thousands of years that would stun modern day engineers. At the end of the day the book as a popularization of Needham's life and a love story across time and culture. Nicely done. Worth the read.
Music, etc...
"Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" by David Bryne and Brian Eno is great if you like either of these two (though its pretty heavily Bryne oriented.)
"Rachel Getting Married" by Jonathan Demme is really well done. Made me want to go back and watch "Something Wild." Good soundtrack as well (as always).
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" directed by Julian Schnabel is ethereal and luminous. It is the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby who was the editor-in-chief of the french version of Elle magazine. He had a stroke in the prime of life and dictated his autobigraphy purely with the blink of one eye. I don't think the movie is perfect, but its pretty close. You could also freezeframe just about any moment in the film and frame it. Simple and wonderful cinematography.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Books, Etc... December 2008
"Sea of Poppies" by Amitav Ghosh was an engaging bit of historic fiction set in the 19th century on a slave ship (well indentured servants) during the time when opium was bolstering British commerce. It is clearly a setup for more books, building the backstory for a group of travelers from very different walks of life. The mixture (and history) of English and Indian language was fun (in this way it reminded me of Vikram Chandra's work). A quick read.
"Shantaram" was I book I read a while back and just realized I never reviewed it. Apparently true story of a man who falls out of favor with the law (guns and drugs) and ending up (at various times) in solitary confinement, escaping to India, living in the slums, learning to love the city, falling into disfavor with local thugs, befriending hookers and thieves, treating and dolling out medicine to the poorest of the poor, extradition to prison, repeat, finally getting out, and then writing a book about it. Not the greatest writer (kinda wacky in some ways) but a really solid tale.
"Ender in Exile" by Orson Scott Card is a bit of backfill in the Ender saga. Basically "the lost years" right after "Ender's Game." If you like OSC you'll like this one. If you've never read his stuff, read "Game" first. I originally found OSC by reading a short story in "Omni Magazine" called "Unaccompanied Sonata." If you can find it read it. The story haunted me for years. When he's on as a writer he really can nail it. I don't think he's working too hard with "Exile" but its a fun universe of way too smart kids, clever strategies and the occasional alien mystery.
"The Golden Compass" trilogy was OK. Not sure what all the fuss was about but it held my interest for a few days. Basically alternate worlds that are slowly falling apart because of all the holes between them coupled with some kids that are the main characters/heroes trying to grow up. Good book for teens (though some have been dismayed by the portrayal of organized religion I don't think its all that bad).
"The Epicure's Lament" is the story of a dying (antihero) scion from a washed up family on the eastern seaboard. As he slowly smokes and drinks himself to death he dabbles in screwing up other family members lives. In between these machinations he cooks, ruminates about cooking, and generally laments his life (or society's existence). Fun book.
"The Ghost in Love" by Jonathan Carroll is a quirky fantasy ghost story with bizarre and thoughtful twists and turns. Man dies, ghost falls in love with his girlfriend, man somehow isn't really dead, entire life death system on the fritz, etc. I haven't loved all of his books but this one is pretty good (not mind blowing or anything, but pretty good).
"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick is a beautifully constructed art object in itself. Part picture book, part novel, words and images intermingle. I think my sister met the author and is always on the lookout for books for her classroom full of kids. She forced me to buy it one day. Ostensibly a book for children (intimidating at first glance but satisfying to the little whipper snappers because it really is a fast read). It is the story of the first magician film maker, a boy who fixes things, invention, love and lost history. Perfect gift.
Other?
Australia (the movie) was worth seeing for parts of the story, bits of the breathtaking countryside, and elements of the film making methodology, but really not anywhere close to Romeo & Juliet or Moulin Rouge. A diversion.
808s & Heartbreak is Kanye's newest album. Proof that an old Roland 808 synthesizer, a bit of heartbreak and serious use of an autotuner to help make Kanye sound like Cher is really all you need to make a good album. And it is good. Especially his mutation of Tears for Fears' "Memories Fade" song, recast as "Coldest Winter." Makes me want an autotuner and musical ability.
"Shantaram" was I book I read a while back and just realized I never reviewed it. Apparently true story of a man who falls out of favor with the law (guns and drugs) and ending up (at various times) in solitary confinement, escaping to India, living in the slums, learning to love the city, falling into disfavor with local thugs, befriending hookers and thieves, treating and dolling out medicine to the poorest of the poor, extradition to prison, repeat, finally getting out, and then writing a book about it. Not the greatest writer (kinda wacky in some ways) but a really solid tale.
"Ender in Exile" by Orson Scott Card is a bit of backfill in the Ender saga. Basically "the lost years" right after "Ender's Game." If you like OSC you'll like this one. If you've never read his stuff, read "Game" first. I originally found OSC by reading a short story in "Omni Magazine" called "Unaccompanied Sonata." If you can find it read it. The story haunted me for years. When he's on as a writer he really can nail it. I don't think he's working too hard with "Exile" but its a fun universe of way too smart kids, clever strategies and the occasional alien mystery.
"The Golden Compass" trilogy was OK. Not sure what all the fuss was about but it held my interest for a few days. Basically alternate worlds that are slowly falling apart because of all the holes between them coupled with some kids that are the main characters/heroes trying to grow up. Good book for teens (though some have been dismayed by the portrayal of organized religion I don't think its all that bad).
"The Epicure's Lament" is the story of a dying (antihero) scion from a washed up family on the eastern seaboard. As he slowly smokes and drinks himself to death he dabbles in screwing up other family members lives. In between these machinations he cooks, ruminates about cooking, and generally laments his life (or society's existence). Fun book.
"The Ghost in Love" by Jonathan Carroll is a quirky fantasy ghost story with bizarre and thoughtful twists and turns. Man dies, ghost falls in love with his girlfriend, man somehow isn't really dead, entire life death system on the fritz, etc. I haven't loved all of his books but this one is pretty good (not mind blowing or anything, but pretty good).
"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick is a beautifully constructed art object in itself. Part picture book, part novel, words and images intermingle. I think my sister met the author and is always on the lookout for books for her classroom full of kids. She forced me to buy it one day. Ostensibly a book for children (intimidating at first glance but satisfying to the little whipper snappers because it really is a fast read). It is the story of the first magician film maker, a boy who fixes things, invention, love and lost history. Perfect gift.
Other?
Australia (the movie) was worth seeing for parts of the story, bits of the breathtaking countryside, and elements of the film making methodology, but really not anywhere close to Romeo & Juliet or Moulin Rouge. A diversion.
808s & Heartbreak is Kanye's newest album. Proof that an old Roland 808 synthesizer, a bit of heartbreak and serious use of an autotuner to help make Kanye sound like Cher is really all you need to make a good album. And it is good. Especially his mutation of Tears for Fears' "Memories Fade" song, recast as "Coldest Winter." Makes me want an autotuner and musical ability.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Save wisely
Save the crying, the teary eyes, the hitch in your throat, the hopeless eyes casting about for a place to rest anywhere but on his face, in his eyes; save it up and buy a night's sleep finally knowing it's over, buy a chance to see tomorrow, not as a cold repast, but as something he would see. Something better than right now.
Save the earnest words, the comforting cliches, the useless crap veneer we all strap onto our souls every day to battle the world, save it all up for the day your family leaves, the day your friends find your jugular, the day some kid laughs at your tottering, twitching, barely coherent, oh so "un", remains of dignity.
Save it for the cold steel robot beneath your all too human, all too pat and small and predictable, feelings. Save it for the one behind the eyes that saw these words. Or, put it all in a bank, a vault of "No's", a little pink piggy bank of shame and dread.
Because they will find out that it was you. They will charge you dearly for your discretion, your humanity, your pity. They see through your charade.
Save wisely... my... friend.
Save the earnest words, the comforting cliches, the useless crap veneer we all strap onto our souls every day to battle the world, save it all up for the day your family leaves, the day your friends find your jugular, the day some kid laughs at your tottering, twitching, barely coherent, oh so "un", remains of dignity.
Save it for the cold steel robot beneath your all too human, all too pat and small and predictable, feelings. Save it for the one behind the eyes that saw these words. Or, put it all in a bank, a vault of "No's", a little pink piggy bank of shame and dread.
Because they will find out that it was you. They will charge you dearly for your discretion, your humanity, your pity. They see through your charade.
Save wisely... my... friend.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
A few more books...
"Anathem" by Neal Stephenson is ok if you like math-geek monks living out the rises and falls of civilization "long-now"-wise with the chance that those mathics have maybe learned new technologies that involve the many worlds interpretation of the universe, and then top it off with the intrusion of visitors from one of the other world-strands who are probably not visitors but invaders. I can't quite tell what he was thinking in writing this book. After the wonderful dive into historic fiction of his last few I wanted more of the same. Still fun to read if you like that sorta stuff.
"The Little Book" by Seldon Edwards is a time travel love story set at the turn of the last century in Vienna. It is the first (and probably only book) by the author (he spent his life writing it). It reads like it took someone maybe a bit too long to write it (overwrought?) That being said it was a fun exploration of time travel (of course with a young Hitler), Freud, and a time and place many of us don't know much about. I enjoyed it.
"The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga just won the Man Booker Prize (I thought Salman's book should have won it by the way because even though it wasn't his best it was richer than this one). All that being parenthetically said, I enjoyed the read. It is another first time writer (though an accomplished reporter). It is a mildly comic "murderer coming of age in a pretty screwed up have and have not world" sort of story (oh yes another one of those). Very compact exploration of Indian Society and the mind of an antihero.
"Slam" by Nick Hornby is yet another coming of age tale (About a Boy and High Fidelity where coming of age stories in different vein). Set in working class London with a teen who idolizes Tony Hawk (and maybe talks to him). The main character gets slammed pretty hard by life, maybe travels occasionally through time (hmm is time travel the new black?), and ultimately makes it through to the other side, older than his years. Small, good, and quick read.
Other things...
Films?
"Sunshine" by Danny Boyle (of Trainspotting & Millions & 28 Days Later fame) is a bit bloody but blindingly buildingly brilliant exploration of science fiction themes (like the sun is going out, we're all trapped on an ark and there is a murderer loose, space travel is long stretches of boredom complimented by moments of terror, and ecologies are fragile things). Anything Danny makes I will watch and this is no exception. He has a new one out called "Slumdog Millionaires" that promises to be good as well.
"Synecdoche, NY" is confusing, difficult, looping, lingering, halting, sprawling, small, dark, and somehow ultimately worth seeing again (I think people will love or hate it or a little of both and if you love it you'll end up wanting to see it again 24 hours after seeing it for the first time).
Music?
Department of Eagles and Beirut. Good.
"The Little Book" by Seldon Edwards is a time travel love story set at the turn of the last century in Vienna. It is the first (and probably only book) by the author (he spent his life writing it). It reads like it took someone maybe a bit too long to write it (overwrought?) That being said it was a fun exploration of time travel (of course with a young Hitler), Freud, and a time and place many of us don't know much about. I enjoyed it.
"The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga just won the Man Booker Prize (I thought Salman's book should have won it by the way because even though it wasn't his best it was richer than this one). All that being parenthetically said, I enjoyed the read. It is another first time writer (though an accomplished reporter). It is a mildly comic "murderer coming of age in a pretty screwed up have and have not world" sort of story (oh yes another one of those). Very compact exploration of Indian Society and the mind of an antihero.
"Slam" by Nick Hornby is yet another coming of age tale (About a Boy and High Fidelity where coming of age stories in different vein). Set in working class London with a teen who idolizes Tony Hawk (and maybe talks to him). The main character gets slammed pretty hard by life, maybe travels occasionally through time (hmm is time travel the new black?), and ultimately makes it through to the other side, older than his years. Small, good, and quick read.
Other things...
Films?
"Sunshine" by Danny Boyle (of Trainspotting & Millions & 28 Days Later fame) is a bit bloody but blindingly buildingly brilliant exploration of science fiction themes (like the sun is going out, we're all trapped on an ark and there is a murderer loose, space travel is long stretches of boredom complimented by moments of terror, and ecologies are fragile things). Anything Danny makes I will watch and this is no exception. He has a new one out called "Slumdog Millionaires" that promises to be good as well.
"Synecdoche, NY" is confusing, difficult, looping, lingering, halting, sprawling, small, dark, and somehow ultimately worth seeing again (I think people will love or hate it or a little of both and if you love it you'll end up wanting to see it again 24 hours after seeing it for the first time).
Music?
Department of Eagles and Beirut. Good.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Books 'n' Stuff September 08
Ok, its been a long time since I've posted. I'll probably miss some books but lets see how many I can remember since the last time...
"Court of the Air" by Stephen Hunt isn't really that much about the aforementioned court but it is a dark page turner set in a steampunk alternative universe (think Dickens meets China Melville). I'd give it pretty high rankings for what it was, a quick adventure featuring evil cross dimensional universe sucking spiders combined with kind hearted mechanical men and a government gone too far.
"Submarine" by Joe Dunthorne is a typical coming of age story about a way too smart kid, his dysfunctional parents, imagination, and adolescence in a small town in England. I started out liking it (sorta reminded me of Black Swan Green or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) but then it just kept being a bit too cute and clever and never really paid off.
"The Enchantress of Florence" by Salman Rushdie is a deep dive into history and storytelling. A blend of fact and fiction is one part clash of Mughals versus Medicis and one part delight in telling stories of fantasy and flight.
"Midnight's Children" also by Mr. Rushdie but from way back in the 80's is in some ways the one that put him on the map. I finally got around to reading it. It is crazy good. Science fiction (what if 1001 children born at the stroke of midnight to 1am where somehow suffused with super powers and linked to the birth of India?) combined with autobiography and the modern history of India. I had to reread some pages a few times just to figure out what they meant (though partly I just enjoyed reading the poetry of the prose so much that I wanted to hear it more than once before moving on). If you read one deep sprawling tale this year, read this.
"The Hakawati" by Rabih Alameddine is a story of a family who lived through some very hard times in Lebanon interspersed with fables and fantasies from the ancient world. It is the first book I've read by Rabih, I'll read his others as well.
"Saturn's Children" by Charles Stross is a cross between his Accelerando future (just a bit of it) and his Jennifer Morgue playfulness with the James Bond thriller mode. Not really much more than a diversion of a novel I still enjoy his storytelling and inventiveness (though this isn't anywhere near as good in my opinion as the other two). Feels like he's trying to start a new series. Sexbot Bond in Space.
"City at the End of Time" by Greg Bear is completely impossible for me to really like. Very mind bending leaping from the end of time back to some parts in the past that are being destroyed by some all encompassing future danger meets books that do something important but I can't figure out what and godlike intelligences combined with a howling chaos. Huh?
"Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow is a revisiting of the "Big Brother" concept (extrapolating from 9/11 into a near future San Francisco) but from the standpoint of crowdsourcing revolt through xboxes and hacker kids. Readable and probably good for the boing boing generation (and people who aren't that geeky but want to understand a few off the implications of technology and the "war on terror") as a primer of some sort.
New Music?
The Duke Spirit (retro sounding in some ways but it rocks)
DeVotcka (odd gypsy stuff with some great hooks)
Beck (just plain best album of the year I'm thinking right now)
Girl Talk (DJ mixmaster craziness, I've never heard so many songs blended together from so many sources in one song ever... I love it in small doses)
"Court of the Air" by Stephen Hunt isn't really that much about the aforementioned court but it is a dark page turner set in a steampunk alternative universe (think Dickens meets China Melville). I'd give it pretty high rankings for what it was, a quick adventure featuring evil cross dimensional universe sucking spiders combined with kind hearted mechanical men and a government gone too far.
"Submarine" by Joe Dunthorne is a typical coming of age story about a way too smart kid, his dysfunctional parents, imagination, and adolescence in a small town in England. I started out liking it (sorta reminded me of Black Swan Green or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) but then it just kept being a bit too cute and clever and never really paid off.
"The Enchantress of Florence" by Salman Rushdie is a deep dive into history and storytelling. A blend of fact and fiction is one part clash of Mughals versus Medicis and one part delight in telling stories of fantasy and flight.
"Midnight's Children" also by Mr. Rushdie but from way back in the 80's is in some ways the one that put him on the map. I finally got around to reading it. It is crazy good. Science fiction (what if 1001 children born at the stroke of midnight to 1am where somehow suffused with super powers and linked to the birth of India?) combined with autobiography and the modern history of India. I had to reread some pages a few times just to figure out what they meant (though partly I just enjoyed reading the poetry of the prose so much that I wanted to hear it more than once before moving on). If you read one deep sprawling tale this year, read this.
"The Hakawati" by Rabih Alameddine is a story of a family who lived through some very hard times in Lebanon interspersed with fables and fantasies from the ancient world. It is the first book I've read by Rabih, I'll read his others as well.
"Saturn's Children" by Charles Stross is a cross between his Accelerando future (just a bit of it) and his Jennifer Morgue playfulness with the James Bond thriller mode. Not really much more than a diversion of a novel I still enjoy his storytelling and inventiveness (though this isn't anywhere near as good in my opinion as the other two). Feels like he's trying to start a new series. Sexbot Bond in Space.
"City at the End of Time" by Greg Bear is completely impossible for me to really like. Very mind bending leaping from the end of time back to some parts in the past that are being destroyed by some all encompassing future danger meets books that do something important but I can't figure out what and godlike intelligences combined with a howling chaos. Huh?
"Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow is a revisiting of the "Big Brother" concept (extrapolating from 9/11 into a near future San Francisco) but from the standpoint of crowdsourcing revolt through xboxes and hacker kids. Readable and probably good for the boing boing generation (and people who aren't that geeky but want to understand a few off the implications of technology and the "war on terror") as a primer of some sort.
New Music?
The Duke Spirit (retro sounding in some ways but it rocks)
DeVotcka (odd gypsy stuff with some great hooks)
Beck (just plain best album of the year I'm thinking right now)
Girl Talk (DJ mixmaster craziness, I've never heard so many songs blended together from so many sources in one song ever... I love it in small doses)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Books 'n' Stuff February 08
"Matter" by Ian M Banks is a return to his culture universe (a place reminiscent of the UK but after a trillion years of evolution... witty, dry, casually superior to the savages, cultured). I read all of his books the moment they come out. He's created a complete, self-consistent, and at times brutal setting for his characters. Things you can do in the culture? Think about it and start your body shifting from man to woman, lose a leg and regrow it, work because you feel like it, live mostly forever, sublime when you get bored. Things you can do if you're part of special circumstances (understated way to say that you're a part of the culture that is sorta the MI5 or CIA, Peace Corp, Warrior Class)? Shoot laser beams from your fingers, move fast enough to ignite the atmosphere, take over most machines and environments by thinking about it, and generally being a pretty bad a... It is escapism, but hey, once in a while that's what we need, no?
"The Assault On Reason" by Al Gore is a serious indictment of the political system and in some ways the citizenry of America. His claims are brutal and well documented and highlight a decline that has been slowly reducing our ability to talk, think, or act reasonably as a country. Much of it can be attributed to corporations now being treated as citizens (thanks to a supreme court decision from earlier in the century corporations now have freedom of speech and I guess to bear arms too...), the rise of one way communications (TV) focused more on entertaining than enlightening, the move towards constant campaigning instead of governing (instigated by the previous two developments) and the shift from being interested in the best interests of our country to being driven by party ideologies by some less than forthcoming leaders. Is there hope? He thinks so, though we have to hold people accountable, stop focusing more attention on the sensational story du jour (read Anna Nicole Smith, OJ, and the other media created hype machines) than on the fate of our world, and start using two-way methods more deliberately (read internet, public forums, and generally getting off our bums). Depressing, good.
"Brave Story" by Miyuki Miyabe was a long "wizard of oz-style" road movie kinda book, probably aimed at young adults rather than not as young ones. Coming of age fantasy set partly in Japan and partly in an otherworldly place that echoes the best and worst within us.
Other stuff?
Wyclef Jean's new album... Carnival II, is solid, "Once" inspires, Daniel Day Lewis is mesmerizing, and "Be Kind, Rewind" makes me want to go out tomorrow and swede life again. Nuff Said.
"The Assault On Reason" by Al Gore is a serious indictment of the political system and in some ways the citizenry of America. His claims are brutal and well documented and highlight a decline that has been slowly reducing our ability to talk, think, or act reasonably as a country. Much of it can be attributed to corporations now being treated as citizens (thanks to a supreme court decision from earlier in the century corporations now have freedom of speech and I guess to bear arms too...), the rise of one way communications (TV) focused more on entertaining than enlightening, the move towards constant campaigning instead of governing (instigated by the previous two developments) and the shift from being interested in the best interests of our country to being driven by party ideologies by some less than forthcoming leaders. Is there hope? He thinks so, though we have to hold people accountable, stop focusing more attention on the sensational story du jour (read Anna Nicole Smith, OJ, and the other media created hype machines) than on the fate of our world, and start using two-way methods more deliberately (read internet, public forums, and generally getting off our bums). Depressing, good.
"Brave Story" by Miyuki Miyabe was a long "wizard of oz-style" road movie kinda book, probably aimed at young adults rather than not as young ones. Coming of age fantasy set partly in Japan and partly in an otherworldly place that echoes the best and worst within us.
Other stuff?
Wyclef Jean's new album... Carnival II, is solid, "Once" inspires, Daniel Day Lewis is mesmerizing, and "Be Kind, Rewind" makes me want to go out tomorrow and swede life again. Nuff Said.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Books 'n' Stuff January 08
A few of the books and such that I've finished up recently...
"Halting States" by Charles Stross was a great little mini-thriller/detective story/day after tomorrow future/geek/gaming fun house. Basic premise? a bunch of orcs break into an online world and rob the vault, but in reality they maybe are chinese hackers trying to take down the economy in the real world (or substantial parts of it). Not as unlikely as it sounds. Team up a reclusive geek and a sword wielding analyst and add some random english wit and you've got another diverting ride from Mr. Stross. I recommend just about anything he's ever written.
"Nova Swing" by M. John Harrison was a book. Meh. Not bad, I liked some of his other work but this one seemed like just too much for me to get my head into. I finally did and it wasn't bad, but not worth spending money on. Set in a world where some alien artifact, manifested as a sort of dimensional tear in the fabric of things, makes predicting what will happen if you walk down a street hard to do. People (or something like them) start coming out of the tear and others are adventurers who want to go in. Whatever.
"Beautiful Children" by Charles Bock is a richly detailed journey into the seedier side of Las Vegas, adolescence, wasted youth, run away children, lost dreams and crushing helplessness. Well done. Bleak. Kinda reminded me in some parts of Chuck Palahniuk's work (though without the evil giggle burbling out of the edges of the page).
"Firstborn" is another time odyssey book by Arthur C. Clark and Stephen Baxter. Fluffy sorta hard sci-fi. Nothing really to see but distracting if you need that sorta thing.
"Proust was a Neuroscientist" by Jonah Lehrer is an interesting attempt to meld science and art. The author is the editor of Seed magazine which is a pretty nicely crafted art/science journal in itself. In this book he takes a number of artists (Proust, Cezanne, Walt Whitman, Auguste Escoffier, etc.) and explores how their art predated, predicted, explored current advances in science decades ahead of time. I enjoyed some aspects of the book and found others a bit of a stretch. Jonah is a really smart guy and I'll keep an eye out for more from him.
"Einstein: His Life and Universe" by Walter Isaacson was a great exploration of Einstein's life and theories. Written to be accessible to a broader audience, Isaacson tries hard to explain some pretty heavy stuff. The biography is based on some recently released personal papers and as such is probably the most complete history of Einstein's life. Great nuggets? He graduated from school and spent 2 years or more trying to get a job and couldn't get anyone to give him the time of day (probably in part because he was jewish and in part because he sorta alienated a few of his professors). Worth reading.
"The Age of Turbulence" by Alan Greenspan was both a memoir (he dated Barbara Walters, was dragged to celebrity parties, and declined Nixon's offer of a job in the white house after seeing Nixon lose it during a high pressure meeting for instance) and economic treatise (his basic theory is that market economies supported by an evenly applied rule of law and strong property rights have done more to raise the standard of living throughout the world than any other form of government AND that they are incredibly resilient to the ebb and flow of the human psyche). If you're interested in the economic implications of the current and future world (on its current trajectory), read it.
"The World To Come" by Dara Horn was a nice surprise. I picked it up on the road without really knowing what to expect and really enjoyed it. The story revolves around a child prodigy, artists from Russia (Chagall figures prominently), generational love stories and the plight of Russian Jews. In a sense its a book of stories about the world to come, many resurrected from lost Russian writers. Lyrical, imaginative, poignant, and captivating.
Other things...
Yeah Juno is actually really well done, and the sound track crackles, Charlie Wilson's War is pitch perfect, funny and deeply sad and I really did not like Sweeney Todd (I really can't stand musicals and almost walked out a few times even though I wanted so much to like it).
"Halting States" by Charles Stross was a great little mini-thriller/detective story/day after tomorrow future/geek/gaming fun house. Basic premise? a bunch of orcs break into an online world and rob the vault, but in reality they maybe are chinese hackers trying to take down the economy in the real world (or substantial parts of it). Not as unlikely as it sounds. Team up a reclusive geek and a sword wielding analyst and add some random english wit and you've got another diverting ride from Mr. Stross. I recommend just about anything he's ever written.
"Nova Swing" by M. John Harrison was a book. Meh. Not bad, I liked some of his other work but this one seemed like just too much for me to get my head into. I finally did and it wasn't bad, but not worth spending money on. Set in a world where some alien artifact, manifested as a sort of dimensional tear in the fabric of things, makes predicting what will happen if you walk down a street hard to do. People (or something like them) start coming out of the tear and others are adventurers who want to go in. Whatever.
"Beautiful Children" by Charles Bock is a richly detailed journey into the seedier side of Las Vegas, adolescence, wasted youth, run away children, lost dreams and crushing helplessness. Well done. Bleak. Kinda reminded me in some parts of Chuck Palahniuk's work (though without the evil giggle burbling out of the edges of the page).
"Firstborn" is another time odyssey book by Arthur C. Clark and Stephen Baxter. Fluffy sorta hard sci-fi. Nothing really to see but distracting if you need that sorta thing.
"Proust was a Neuroscientist" by Jonah Lehrer is an interesting attempt to meld science and art. The author is the editor of Seed magazine which is a pretty nicely crafted art/science journal in itself. In this book he takes a number of artists (Proust, Cezanne, Walt Whitman, Auguste Escoffier, etc.) and explores how their art predated, predicted, explored current advances in science decades ahead of time. I enjoyed some aspects of the book and found others a bit of a stretch. Jonah is a really smart guy and I'll keep an eye out for more from him.
"Einstein: His Life and Universe" by Walter Isaacson was a great exploration of Einstein's life and theories. Written to be accessible to a broader audience, Isaacson tries hard to explain some pretty heavy stuff. The biography is based on some recently released personal papers and as such is probably the most complete history of Einstein's life. Great nuggets? He graduated from school and spent 2 years or more trying to get a job and couldn't get anyone to give him the time of day (probably in part because he was jewish and in part because he sorta alienated a few of his professors). Worth reading.
"The Age of Turbulence" by Alan Greenspan was both a memoir (he dated Barbara Walters, was dragged to celebrity parties, and declined Nixon's offer of a job in the white house after seeing Nixon lose it during a high pressure meeting for instance) and economic treatise (his basic theory is that market economies supported by an evenly applied rule of law and strong property rights have done more to raise the standard of living throughout the world than any other form of government AND that they are incredibly resilient to the ebb and flow of the human psyche). If you're interested in the economic implications of the current and future world (on its current trajectory), read it.
"The World To Come" by Dara Horn was a nice surprise. I picked it up on the road without really knowing what to expect and really enjoyed it. The story revolves around a child prodigy, artists from Russia (Chagall figures prominently), generational love stories and the plight of Russian Jews. In a sense its a book of stories about the world to come, many resurrected from lost Russian writers. Lyrical, imaginative, poignant, and captivating.
Other things...
Yeah Juno is actually really well done, and the sound track crackles, Charlie Wilson's War is pitch perfect, funny and deeply sad and I really did not like Sweeney Todd (I really can't stand musicals and almost walked out a few times even though I wanted so much to like it).
Monday, December 24, 2007
Books 'n' Stuff December 07
I'm about at the point where I need a really good book to read. I don't seem to be able get through Al Gores newish one or Steven Pinker's either (though I'll keep working on them over grape nuts and the morning sun). So I'm just going to capture some of the things I have managed to read/see/etc in the last few weeks.
"Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin is a memoir about growing up as a magician, banjo-player, comic. He's a good writer and this is a solid bit of flashback that captures the hard lessons of fame and practice and inventiveness and humor. He was an overnight success that of course took years of people thinking he was just weird before the actual night came. Nicely done, short, sweet.
"I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson has been re-released with the release of a new movie remake ("The Omega Man" was an example of a sorta previous retelling of the story). It was released along with a collection of his other stories, all written mid-century. It's a good capsule reminder of the mores of the time as well as a perfect, tight little gem of a story that turns the vampire myth on its head. Worth reading if you like horror or classic pulp fiction.
"Samedi the Deafness" by Jesse Ball is trying so hard to be good but it falls down in many ways. I had to start 3 times before I could care enough to get through his format. In the end it was an OK bit of fiction. An evil genius is plotting to commit some horrendous act on the country and our protagonist stumbles upon (or is meant to stumble upon?) the machinations. Some have said the book was like Lewis Carroll meets Kafka. Meh. It is a first novel so I'll suspend judgment.
I saved the best for last...
"No Ordinary Time" by Doris Kearns Goodwin (she wrote "Team of Rivals" which was easily the best book I've read in a long while) is a perfect glimpse into life in America in the late 30's and 40's during the run up to and culmination of the war and in particular how the Roosevelts (Eleanor, Franklin, and their extended clan) managed to guide the country out of the depression and into its adolescence. It came out a few years ago but I was hungry for something more by this author so I searched it out. It is perfect. Franklin was masterful and his wife was clearly the wife of the country. I didn't know much about Eleanor (or Franklin) beyond the broad strokes of their story. As with "Team" Doris does a deep dive into actual letters, notes, newspaper articles, and interviews with family members to give the reader a deep sense of the time and the minds behind the people. It is a testament to another incredible pair of people who helped America come of age. Read it.
Not books...
"No Country for Old Men" by the brothers Coen was really a compact little movie about the senselessness of evil and the ultimate randomness of life.
"The Fountain" was a movie not many people saw (now on DVD) that integrated the story of genesis, the story of Spain's search for the fountain of youth (and plundering of the Americas), and the MAYAn history of the beginning of the universe, in the form of a love story (possibly) across time. Wonderfully brooding soundtrack (Kronos Quartet), perfect special effects that seem effortless (and apparently were mostly microphotographic films of liquids and bacteria), nicely drawn story. By the director that brought us the painful and powerful "Requiem for a Dream."
"I'm Not There" is a movie about Bob Dylan in the form of a collection of stories about fictional characters that shared many of Bob's life experiences. The film is more collage than straightforward biopic. I enjoyed it, although it may be seen as flawed in any number of ways, mostly because it stretched the boundaries of storytelling in new ways. Great soundtrack, Antony and the Johnsons brings a seriously heavy rotationwise cover of "Knocking on Heaven's Door" to the mix and Jim James and Colexico shake it up with "Going to Acapulco."
"The Knee Plays" was a tight little series of abstract plays performed in the eighties back when we lived in Chicago. It was a collaboration between Robert Wilson and David Byrne (with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band providing backup). I bought the cassette tape that night and played it until it was in tatters. David just re-issued it as a CD, I've been waiting for years. Classic fun with words and music. My favorite song is called "In the Future" and is just a running list of conflicting predictions of the future (like "we will all have our own unique style" and "people with boring jobs will take pills to relieve the boredom").
"Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin is a memoir about growing up as a magician, banjo-player, comic. He's a good writer and this is a solid bit of flashback that captures the hard lessons of fame and practice and inventiveness and humor. He was an overnight success that of course took years of people thinking he was just weird before the actual night came. Nicely done, short, sweet.
"I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson has been re-released with the release of a new movie remake ("The Omega Man" was an example of a sorta previous retelling of the story). It was released along with a collection of his other stories, all written mid-century. It's a good capsule reminder of the mores of the time as well as a perfect, tight little gem of a story that turns the vampire myth on its head. Worth reading if you like horror or classic pulp fiction.
"Samedi the Deafness" by Jesse Ball is trying so hard to be good but it falls down in many ways. I had to start 3 times before I could care enough to get through his format. In the end it was an OK bit of fiction. An evil genius is plotting to commit some horrendous act on the country and our protagonist stumbles upon (or is meant to stumble upon?) the machinations. Some have said the book was like Lewis Carroll meets Kafka. Meh. It is a first novel so I'll suspend judgment.
I saved the best for last...
"No Ordinary Time" by Doris Kearns Goodwin (she wrote "Team of Rivals" which was easily the best book I've read in a long while) is a perfect glimpse into life in America in the late 30's and 40's during the run up to and culmination of the war and in particular how the Roosevelts (Eleanor, Franklin, and their extended clan) managed to guide the country out of the depression and into its adolescence. It came out a few years ago but I was hungry for something more by this author so I searched it out. It is perfect. Franklin was masterful and his wife was clearly the wife of the country. I didn't know much about Eleanor (or Franklin) beyond the broad strokes of their story. As with "Team" Doris does a deep dive into actual letters, notes, newspaper articles, and interviews with family members to give the reader a deep sense of the time and the minds behind the people. It is a testament to another incredible pair of people who helped America come of age. Read it.
Not books...
"No Country for Old Men" by the brothers Coen was really a compact little movie about the senselessness of evil and the ultimate randomness of life.
"The Fountain" was a movie not many people saw (now on DVD) that integrated the story of genesis, the story of Spain's search for the fountain of youth (and plundering of the Americas), and the MAYAn history of the beginning of the universe, in the form of a love story (possibly) across time. Wonderfully brooding soundtrack (Kronos Quartet), perfect special effects that seem effortless (and apparently were mostly microphotographic films of liquids and bacteria), nicely drawn story. By the director that brought us the painful and powerful "Requiem for a Dream."
"I'm Not There" is a movie about Bob Dylan in the form of a collection of stories about fictional characters that shared many of Bob's life experiences. The film is more collage than straightforward biopic. I enjoyed it, although it may be seen as flawed in any number of ways, mostly because it stretched the boundaries of storytelling in new ways. Great soundtrack, Antony and the Johnsons brings a seriously heavy rotationwise cover of "Knocking on Heaven's Door" to the mix and Jim James and Colexico shake it up with "Going to Acapulco."
"The Knee Plays" was a tight little series of abstract plays performed in the eighties back when we lived in Chicago. It was a collaboration between Robert Wilson and David Byrne (with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band providing backup). I bought the cassette tape that night and played it until it was in tatters. David just re-issued it as a CD, I've been waiting for years. Classic fun with words and music. My favorite song is called "In the Future" and is just a running list of conflicting predictions of the future (like "we will all have our own unique style" and "people with boring jobs will take pills to relieve the boredom").
Sunday, November 18, 2007
A book we don't need to read...
A story about invention and death and fiasco and false starts and foolish dreams and childish wonder and acoustic guitars and fluttering heartbeats and cold chills on the back of your neck and jesus and love and songs of abandon and cheap wine.
A note about smiles that smile until they hurt and the hard lump that forms in your throat when you know it is over it is done it won't cause you the pain of love or the taste of death or the knowledge that you are not even close to enough.
A film about a little boy who thought he was made of wood and strings and cigar boxes and superglue and scraps of memories and glimmers of light and chilled ice cubes making your mouth become numb.
A book about nothing and everything and something less than that and something more and this and that and sudden movements and cold dead bodies that look somehow so wrong in death so fake and made up and plastic and not people you love and not people that you remember you won't mind when they're gone you don't remember them they are gone and dust and you are left to carry on and act like life matters when you know it doesn't when you know that you live only to carry over carry through Cary Grant Hawkeye pierced and waiting for the day you can sleep.
A chapter about origins and endings and falls from grace and the day they caught you and the day you knew the truth and the day after that when you still went on and you wondered why how why you wondered when it would happen and the waiting was a dream and a nightmare and a sweet penance and a dread relief and a seductive drift into oblivion.
An index of things that made noise and things that made light and things that made light of noise and things that made noise of light and things that went bump and things that taste like chicken and things that don't.
A footnote from the beyond about never having enough time to stop and breath to stop and think to stop and say thanks for a thankless task to stop and stop and to count the seconds to let time slip by without filling every moment with something to stop waiting for the time of our lives to realize that it is here now while we yearn for it it is all around us while we angst and wonder and wait and then it is gone all too soon all too swiftly but can you replace it you wonder can you find it again or is this good enough what is good enough when everything is pale and grey and full of that tension that pulls your shoulder blades together that feeling in the pit of your stomach that tells you that you should run (our brains taking clues as to how we should feel from our bodies in such things as these).
An aside (like this? (not like that (or this one where we talk about the obvious run on sentences that fill this missive (no. (how about me I'm speaking in the first person because I can and I have plenty to whisper (not even close. (damn.)cry baby.) damn.) oh well thems is the breaks.) damn.) leave it be.) crap.) yup.) about the futility of plans and the celebration of things left to chance, planned to be left to chance, plotted and outlined and diagrammed and practiced and left to chance.
What would this book be titled?
10:37 the time of our lives, no 10:38.
Bricks of soul and the love of polka.
The smoke and the leaves and the orange moon glow and rubber bands... and post-it notes those are really romantic things.
The fog of lore the log of thor the frog of door the flog of more the dog of four the tog du jour the god of war.
Heavy.
or just...
Aren't you lucky they only take people.
A note about smiles that smile until they hurt and the hard lump that forms in your throat when you know it is over it is done it won't cause you the pain of love or the taste of death or the knowledge that you are not even close to enough.
A film about a little boy who thought he was made of wood and strings and cigar boxes and superglue and scraps of memories and glimmers of light and chilled ice cubes making your mouth become numb.
A book about nothing and everything and something less than that and something more and this and that and sudden movements and cold dead bodies that look somehow so wrong in death so fake and made up and plastic and not people you love and not people that you remember you won't mind when they're gone you don't remember them they are gone and dust and you are left to carry on and act like life matters when you know it doesn't when you know that you live only to carry over carry through Cary Grant Hawkeye pierced and waiting for the day you can sleep.
A chapter about origins and endings and falls from grace and the day they caught you and the day you knew the truth and the day after that when you still went on and you wondered why how why you wondered when it would happen and the waiting was a dream and a nightmare and a sweet penance and a dread relief and a seductive drift into oblivion.
An index of things that made noise and things that made light and things that made light of noise and things that made noise of light and things that went bump and things that taste like chicken and things that don't.
A footnote from the beyond about never having enough time to stop and breath to stop and think to stop and say thanks for a thankless task to stop and stop and to count the seconds to let time slip by without filling every moment with something to stop waiting for the time of our lives to realize that it is here now while we yearn for it it is all around us while we angst and wonder and wait and then it is gone all too soon all too swiftly but can you replace it you wonder can you find it again or is this good enough what is good enough when everything is pale and grey and full of that tension that pulls your shoulder blades together that feeling in the pit of your stomach that tells you that you should run (our brains taking clues as to how we should feel from our bodies in such things as these).
An aside (like this? (not like that (or this one where we talk about the obvious run on sentences that fill this missive (no. (how about me I'm speaking in the first person because I can and I have plenty to whisper (not even close. (damn.)cry baby.) damn.) oh well thems is the breaks.) damn.) leave it be.) crap.) yup.) about the futility of plans and the celebration of things left to chance, planned to be left to chance, plotted and outlined and diagrammed and practiced and left to chance.
What would this book be titled?
10:37 the time of our lives, no 10:38.
Bricks of soul and the love of polka.
The smoke and the leaves and the orange moon glow and rubber bands... and post-it notes those are really romantic things.
The fog of lore the log of thor the frog of door the flog of more the dog of four the tog du jour the god of war.
Heavy.
or just...
Aren't you lucky they only take people.
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