Turbo
Well-Known Member
The audiobook for it is fantastic too - it's narrated by Bourdain himself. He had such a great voice.
2022 Reading Challenge
- Thread starter sarcasticfairyprincess
- Start date
The audiobook for it is fantastic too - it's narrated by Bourdain himself. He had such a great voice.
Turbo
Well-Known Member
No regrets. If I can't connect with something I'm reading, I put it down and move on.
You know I've deep diving into noir/detective novels since the start of the pandemic. I enjoy the simple distraction they provide from the heavy technical reading I do every day. Anyway, along the way I started a well-regarded Joseph Wambaugh novel written in the 80's and he dropped a few N-bombs that didn't feel like they were coming from the point of view of the characters - at least I couldn't tell and the context made me uncomfortable. Add to that the fact that I didn't enjoy his writing. A lot of oblique sarcastic comments that made it difficult to follow what he was actually trying to convey. So I just dropped it and moved on. It happens here and there that I end up picking the wrong book for me. There's no shame in putting it down. We only have so much time after all. Might as well devote it to things you like.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
Book 8:
Jazz: A Student's and Teacher's Guide by Graham Collier (Cambridge University Press, 1978)
This was a really quick read. Graham Collier was a British bassist responsible for some of the greatest albums and compositions to come out of the country but was also responsible for writing several books. He had a keen interest in musical education and wrote a few books that acted as handbooks for jazz teachers and students, with this being one of them. It's worth noting that he also recorded a couple of albums that were to be specifically listened to in conjunction with these books, with this one ("Jazz") referencing certain tracks as examples of points raised. Back to the book. It can be broken down as a series of sections with the first highlighting 5 key musicians (biographically and within the wider context), the next looking at principles of jazz, then more technical aspects, and finally a substantial appendix. Each chapter ends with a list of suggested reading, suggested listening, details to discuss with the student, and finally, a musical exercise that incorporates the lessons learnt. It was certainly an interesting read but as a non-musician, a large portion of the technical elements went over my head, especially the musical notations.
Jazz: A Student's and Teacher's Guide by Graham Collier (Cambridge University Press, 1978)
This was a really quick read. Graham Collier was a British bassist responsible for some of the greatest albums and compositions to come out of the country but was also responsible for writing several books. He had a keen interest in musical education and wrote a few books that acted as handbooks for jazz teachers and students, with this being one of them. It's worth noting that he also recorded a couple of albums that were to be specifically listened to in conjunction with these books, with this one ("Jazz") referencing certain tracks as examples of points raised. Back to the book. It can be broken down as a series of sections with the first highlighting 5 key musicians (biographically and within the wider context), the next looking at principles of jazz, then more technical aspects, and finally a substantial appendix. Each chapter ends with a list of suggested reading, suggested listening, details to discuss with the student, and finally, a musical exercise that incorporates the lessons learnt. It was certainly an interesting read but as a non-musician, a large portion of the technical elements went over my head, especially the musical notations.
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wmeugene
Well-Known Member
Book 2: The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman
So I'm super far behind (I'm in the middle of two other books right now), but this was enjoyable read on an out of town trip and I read 95% on the plane and downtime there.
A nice analysis of the decade and what was important without falling into the trap of nostalgia. Gives a true flavor of what the decade was like and providing context for those living in our modern world. The definition of the 90s as basically being from Niravana's Nevermind to 9/11 does accord with my thoughts of the decade.
So I'm super far behind (I'm in the middle of two other books right now), but this was enjoyable read on an out of town trip and I read 95% on the plane and downtime there.
A nice analysis of the decade and what was important without falling into the trap of nostalgia. Gives a true flavor of what the decade was like and providing context for those living in our modern world. The definition of the 90s as basically being from Niravana's Nevermind to 9/11 does accord with my thoughts of the decade.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
Book 5: Billy Summers by Stephen King
Full disclosure: I listened to the audiobook and didn't finish; I'm calling it after about 2-3 weeks of not listening. I quit about 3/4 of the way through though, so I feel I gave it a fair shake.
I was enjoying the setup at first; it felt like King writing some sort of Lee Childs type novel (even though I've never read any Childs). Billy Summers is an army vet, ex-sniper, who makes his bones as a hired killer (bad guys only, of course). He pretends to be slow-witted so his bosses underestimate him, but is really a smart, sensitive guy with the soul of (you guessed it) an author. Hired for One Last Job, he has to live in a small town incognito (shades of 11/22/63) while he waits for the moment he'll have to kill an inmate in transit to the courthouse. In true King fashion, the small town is charming and Billy ingratiates himself with the locals just in time to have to split town and break their hearts.
Smelling a setup, Billy completes the job but goes into hiding (kinda unclear why he does the job, as he's aware things are pear-shaped pretty early on). This is where the book really stalls out for me; Billy's basically detached from the plot that's been building this whole time, and he starts to focus on his book. Unfortunately his book is probably the least interesting thing (to me) about Billy. Between writing sessions, Billy takes a young woman under his wing, and while I think the story is trying to extend Billy's humanity from living in the small town to how he helps this woman, she's really thinly drawn and basically defined by her trauma.
I wikipedia'd the ending, and indeed Billy tracks down the people who set him up and kills them. I think it'd be interesting if King pumped out like twelve of these, but I have a feeling this is a one-and-done thing. I don't know what to make of this era of King in general; he seems less interested in horror, and while he pins thriller/action/mystery elements in his stories, it sometimes feels like he'd rather write about going fishing in a small town where everyone knows your name. Also it seems Donald Trump has broken the man's brain because he comes up a lot.
Full disclosure: I listened to the audiobook and didn't finish; I'm calling it after about 2-3 weeks of not listening. I quit about 3/4 of the way through though, so I feel I gave it a fair shake.
I was enjoying the setup at first; it felt like King writing some sort of Lee Childs type novel (even though I've never read any Childs). Billy Summers is an army vet, ex-sniper, who makes his bones as a hired killer (bad guys only, of course). He pretends to be slow-witted so his bosses underestimate him, but is really a smart, sensitive guy with the soul of (you guessed it) an author. Hired for One Last Job, he has to live in a small town incognito (shades of 11/22/63) while he waits for the moment he'll have to kill an inmate in transit to the courthouse. In true King fashion, the small town is charming and Billy ingratiates himself with the locals just in time to have to split town and break their hearts.
Smelling a setup, Billy completes the job but goes into hiding (kinda unclear why he does the job, as he's aware things are pear-shaped pretty early on). This is where the book really stalls out for me; Billy's basically detached from the plot that's been building this whole time, and he starts to focus on his book. Unfortunately his book is probably the least interesting thing (to me) about Billy. Between writing sessions, Billy takes a young woman under his wing, and while I think the story is trying to extend Billy's humanity from living in the small town to how he helps this woman, she's really thinly drawn and basically defined by her trauma.
I wikipedia'd the ending, and indeed Billy tracks down the people who set him up and kills them. I think it'd be interesting if King pumped out like twelve of these, but I have a feeling this is a one-and-done thing. I don't know what to make of this era of King in general; he seems less interested in horror, and while he pins thriller/action/mystery elements in his stories, it sometimes feels like he'd rather write about going fishing in a small town where everyone knows your name. Also it seems Donald Trump has broken the man's brain because he comes up a lot.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
Book 9:
The Importance of Being Eric Dolphy by Raymond Horricks (D J Costello, 1988)
Another quick read, this one only took me a couple of days to read. It's a relatively short biography but really interesting. Horricks was in contact with Dolphy's parents and had also seen him perform live a few times as well, at one point being at the front row just inches from Dolphy playing in full swing. He clearly has a passion for the avant-garde moment and Dolphy's music in particular. At the end of the book there is an additional section by Ken Rattenbury where he transcribed 3 of Dolphy's performances and provided a write-up. There is also a discography of Dolphy's work by Tom Middleton.
The Importance of Being Eric Dolphy by Raymond Horricks (D J Costello, 1988)
Another quick read, this one only took me a couple of days to read. It's a relatively short biography but really interesting. Horricks was in contact with Dolphy's parents and had also seen him perform live a few times as well, at one point being at the front row just inches from Dolphy playing in full swing. He clearly has a passion for the avant-garde moment and Dolphy's music in particular. At the end of the book there is an additional section by Ken Rattenbury where he transcribed 3 of Dolphy's performances and provided a write-up. There is also a discography of Dolphy's work by Tom Middleton.
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sarcasticfairyprincess
Well-Known Member
Book 5: The Family Romanov - Candace Fleming
Historical non-fiction. Not gonna lie, while the history is interesting, this book was really hard to get through. It was written in quite possibly the most boring manner. I wouldn't recommend it.
Book 6: October Mourning - Leslea Newman
This is a collection of poetry about Matthew Shepard. It's one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking things I've ever read. It explores what happened that night through the perspectives of not just Matthew, but of the moon, the fence post, the girlfriends of the murderers, the police officers, the road, etc. Leslea Newman is a member of the LGBTQ community who actually was scheduled to be a guest speaker at his university; this was pre-scheduled, before the murder occurred. She chose to still show up in Wyoming and speak to the students, despite the horrific thing that had just happened. She carried the weight of this even with her for decades before she finally wrote about it. I highly recommend this, regardless if you are a poetry person or not. It's gorgeous.
Book 7: The Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds
Another poetry book, but this is a fictional pose poetry story. The entire story takes place over the course of a minute. The main character's brother has just been shot and killed. He decides to take revenge on the killer. On the elevator ride down from his apartment, he encounters several ghosts from his past. These are also victims of gun violence and gang culture. They tell him what his life will become if he takes this path. It's a really interesting story and it shows how crazy grief can drive you. It's a modern spin on the old 'eye for an eye' tale.
Historical non-fiction. Not gonna lie, while the history is interesting, this book was really hard to get through. It was written in quite possibly the most boring manner. I wouldn't recommend it.
Book 6: October Mourning - Leslea Newman
This is a collection of poetry about Matthew Shepard. It's one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking things I've ever read. It explores what happened that night through the perspectives of not just Matthew, but of the moon, the fence post, the girlfriends of the murderers, the police officers, the road, etc. Leslea Newman is a member of the LGBTQ community who actually was scheduled to be a guest speaker at his university; this was pre-scheduled, before the murder occurred. She chose to still show up in Wyoming and speak to the students, despite the horrific thing that had just happened. She carried the weight of this even with her for decades before she finally wrote about it. I highly recommend this, regardless if you are a poetry person or not. It's gorgeous.
Book 7: The Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds
Another poetry book, but this is a fictional pose poetry story. The entire story takes place over the course of a minute. The main character's brother has just been shot and killed. He decides to take revenge on the killer. On the elevator ride down from his apartment, he encounters several ghosts from his past. These are also victims of gun violence and gang culture. They tell him what his life will become if he takes this path. It's a really interesting story and it shows how crazy grief can drive you. It's a modern spin on the old 'eye for an eye' tale.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Book 4
The Archandroid by Alyssa Favreau
Okay, so I know I said the last one was my favourite I've read in the 33 1/3 series before but I'm going to have to say it again and say it louder for this one - this is fantastic! A thoroughly rich and detailed analysis of the album that is full of academic goodness without ever once becoming dry and always remaining rooted in joy and the very obvious fandom of the author. In examining the album Alyssa Favreau touches on her own personal experiences, Janelle Monáe's entire career, Afrofuturism, Black Lives Matter, Sun Ra, Star Wars, joyful queerness, art collectives and collaboration, speculative fiction, the concept album, time travel, pop music trends and oh so much more. A very engaged, engaging and entertaining read.
The Archandroid by Alyssa Favreau
Okay, so I know I said the last one was my favourite I've read in the 33 1/3 series before but I'm going to have to say it again and say it louder for this one - this is fantastic! A thoroughly rich and detailed analysis of the album that is full of academic goodness without ever once becoming dry and always remaining rooted in joy and the very obvious fandom of the author. In examining the album Alyssa Favreau touches on her own personal experiences, Janelle Monáe's entire career, Afrofuturism, Black Lives Matter, Sun Ra, Star Wars, joyful queerness, art collectives and collaboration, speculative fiction, the concept album, time travel, pop music trends and oh so much more. A very engaged, engaging and entertaining read.
Turbo
Well-Known Member
Book #5
Sara Blaedel "The Midnight Witness" (2019 Grand Central Publishing, originally published in Denmark in 2004)
Impressions: Well constructed narrative even if one of the major plot twists was very predictable - it's annoying when a twist is so obvious to you and yet the main characters fail to see it. Lots of strong female main characters in this one, which is refreshing for this genre.
Up next is a Michael Connelly, #5 in the Bosch series, "Trunk Music". These have been a special guilty pleasure of mine, within the general guilty pleasure of reading these types of books in the first place.
Sara Blaedel "The Midnight Witness" (2019 Grand Central Publishing, originally published in Denmark in 2004)
Impressions: Well constructed narrative even if one of the major plot twists was very predictable - it's annoying when a twist is so obvious to you and yet the main characters fail to see it. Lots of strong female main characters in this one, which is refreshing for this genre.
Up next is a Michael Connelly, #5 in the Bosch series, "Trunk Music". These have been a special guilty pleasure of mine, within the general guilty pleasure of reading these types of books in the first place.
Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
All right I finally gave myself permission to give up on the turd. Need to get back on track with an easy win, so I’m dipping into Jess Walter’s brief short story collection We Live in Water.
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
Book 2, and a bit of a slog. A book about Einstein’s theory of time maybe isn’t the best bedtime read. Nicely written, but I don’t think I understood much of it.
mgp
Well-Known Member
It's been a while since I checked in on this one. Some of you guys are prolific readers, and I've got a growing list of books, which will take me forever to get through. I appreciate it!
As I write this, I realize I've been all over the map:
#4: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner. The first book I've read of Stegner's and I really loved it. As a Pulitzer winner, not exactly below the radar, but I'd never gotten around to it. It's really two stories: told by an aging historian who is reckoning with health issues and a world changing around him as he researches and recreates his grandmother and grandfather's life settling (mining/irrigating) the western part of the US in the mid-late 19th century. An epic story.
#5: How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur. I needed a change of pace, so why not turn to a quasi-philosophy book by a TV writer? If you don't know him, he created a TV show called The Good Place, and a lot of this dovetails into the findings of that show... from Aristotle to Kant in a jokey/practical kind of way.
#6: Devil House by John Darnielle. The first book I've read by John Darnielle. It follows a true crime writer who is trying to recreate a murder in a town outside of San Fran... but that's a gross simplification. Kind of hard to explain, this book covers a lot of ground. It's well written, but honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it.
#7: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut. I went into this one blind after a recommendation from my uncle. Wow. The crux, without giving too much away, is a blend of non-fiction and fiction examining some of humankind's greatest scientific and mathematic discoveries and the reverberations that come as a result. I liked this one quite a bit. It's the type of book that I'll be thinking about for a long time.
As I write this, I realize I've been all over the map:
#4: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner. The first book I've read of Stegner's and I really loved it. As a Pulitzer winner, not exactly below the radar, but I'd never gotten around to it. It's really two stories: told by an aging historian who is reckoning with health issues and a world changing around him as he researches and recreates his grandmother and grandfather's life settling (mining/irrigating) the western part of the US in the mid-late 19th century. An epic story.
#5: How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur. I needed a change of pace, so why not turn to a quasi-philosophy book by a TV writer? If you don't know him, he created a TV show called The Good Place, and a lot of this dovetails into the findings of that show... from Aristotle to Kant in a jokey/practical kind of way.
#6: Devil House by John Darnielle. The first book I've read by John Darnielle. It follows a true crime writer who is trying to recreate a murder in a town outside of San Fran... but that's a gross simplification. Kind of hard to explain, this book covers a lot of ground. It's well written, but honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it.
#7: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut. I went into this one blind after a recommendation from my uncle. Wow. The crux, without giving too much away, is a blend of non-fiction and fiction examining some of humankind's greatest scientific and mathematic discoveries and the reverberations that come as a result. I liked this one quite a bit. It's the type of book that I'll be thinking about for a long time.
LeSamourai
Well-Known Member
mgp
Well-Known Member
Oh wow, I had no idea. That's really interesting. I wonder how much that would've changed my feelings about the book. "When We Cease to Understand the World" definitely gave me some preconceptions...
WhiteDahlias
Active Member
I thought I'd jump on the Murakami train with all of you.
Book 11: The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami
I've never read Murakami's short stories before, and I will definitely go back for more. I've heard criticism that a lot of his writing feels the same and that is definitely true, but I think the repetition throughout the stories in this book really added to it. If you couldn't tell by now, I am a fan of Japanese style quirky surrealism and I liked this very much.
The next book on my list is Station Eleven which I have been meaning to pick up for a while, plus I saw that they made it into a tv show (has anyone seen it? is it good?)
Book 11: The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami
I've never read Murakami's short stories before, and I will definitely go back for more. I've heard criticism that a lot of his writing feels the same and that is definitely true, but I think the repetition throughout the stories in this book really added to it. If you couldn't tell by now, I am a fan of Japanese style quirky surrealism and I liked this very much.
The next book on my list is Station Eleven which I have been meaning to pick up for a while, plus I saw that they made it into a tv show (has anyone seen it? is it good?)
Selaws
Well-Known Member
I will have to look out for this one. I have read 2 Murakami's this year having not read any before, and I really enjoy his style.
Mr Moore
Well-Known Member
Book 13 - Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead
This was great, I've loved every page of it. It's 600pp so quite hefty and in the acknowledgments at the end, Shipstead thanks her editor for helping her rein this in from 1000pp which I think was for the better, the story felt complete and I never felt like there was any fat needed trimming at this length.
The story is of a fictional aviator trying against all odds to blaze a trail and circumnavigate the globe taking in both poles. Her story and the people's closest to her unfold throughout the 20th century and we witness the amazing advances that century saw in spite of or perhaps because of two major wars.
Our protagonist struggles against near infant death, sexism, gender expectations, spousal abuse and rape but never loses focus of her desire to fly. She's a wonderful, complete character including many of her own flaws.
Interspersed throughout the main narrative is a second story set in contemporary L.A. of an actor set to play our historical aviatrix in a biopic. She too struggles against the male dominated world showing us how little has changed in the past century for professional women.
Beautifully written and seemingly rigorously researched it reads at a clip, and although it's taken me a little longer to get through than I expected due to being a bit busier than usual this last fortnight, I've always looked forward to picking it up again.
This was great, I've loved every page of it. It's 600pp so quite hefty and in the acknowledgments at the end, Shipstead thanks her editor for helping her rein this in from 1000pp which I think was for the better, the story felt complete and I never felt like there was any fat needed trimming at this length.
The story is of a fictional aviator trying against all odds to blaze a trail and circumnavigate the globe taking in both poles. Her story and the people's closest to her unfold throughout the 20th century and we witness the amazing advances that century saw in spite of or perhaps because of two major wars.
Our protagonist struggles against near infant death, sexism, gender expectations, spousal abuse and rape but never loses focus of her desire to fly. She's a wonderful, complete character including many of her own flaws.
Interspersed throughout the main narrative is a second story set in contemporary L.A. of an actor set to play our historical aviatrix in a biopic. She too struggles against the male dominated world showing us how little has changed in the past century for professional women.
Beautifully written and seemingly rigorously researched it reads at a clip, and although it's taken me a little longer to get through than I expected due to being a bit busier than usual this last fortnight, I've always looked forward to picking it up again.
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Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
Okay, I've kicked it into gear. I know it's only 3/21, but I need a little break from work, so here's my Q1 in review (page counts in parentheses):
January
1. The Jaguar Knights, Dave Duncan (428)
2. One Velvet Glove, Dave Duncan (300)
February
3. The Ethical Swordsman, Dave Duncan (321)
4. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (158)
5. The Vegetarian, Han Kang (188)
5a. The Epiphany Machine, David Burr Gerrard (432, abandoned before page 100)
March
6. We Live in Water, Jess Walter (177)
7. A Better Man, Michael Ian Black (301)
8. Saga Volumes 1-9, Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples (~1188) [comic/graphic novel]
9. Replay, Ken Grimwood (311)
pending, on track to finish this week
10. Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger (307)
11. Karmic Traces, Eliot Weinberger (198)
Thoughts
1-3: I've talked about these at length in previous posts and won't repeat those here.
4. Somehow had never read this one before now. It's strange to read a classic that you're already intimately familiar with through other adaptations or works that were influenced by it. Makes it harder to reckon with the text itself, because my thoughts are so thoroughly clouded by other interpretations of it that I already knew. I can't say anything else about it that hasn't already been said, so I won't.
5. Very put off by this book, and not in the same sense as something like Ottessa Moshfegh's Eileen, which is deliberately repulsive but still compelling. Did not like, was grateful for its brevity.
5a. Bad selection, couldn't make any headway, gave up after I realized I had spent two weeks doing anything BUT reading in order to avoid it. This was a bummer after #5, and I got nervous that I was already losing steam after a relatively good start to the year.
6. Jess Walter's short story collection was a nice reset, and a lot more grounded in reality than what I've been indulging in lately. Lots of good stuff in here, particularly when he focuses on the things that clearly interest him most, namely blue-collar poverty and addiction in & around Spokane. This was easily digestible in just one or two sittings, and a refreshing change of pace to get my wheels turning again.
7. I've been reading Michael Ian Black's essays about masculinity over the course of a few months in little spurts, mostly on my phone in the middle of the night when I'm rocking my kid back to sleep. That nexus of reading about masculinity and the responsibility we have to improve how our culture addresses it, while simultaneously physically holding a person who will inherit many of the best and worst of my own inclinations about maleness, made it a reading experience that was probably a bit more profound than the actual content of the book itself. Still, I appreciated it and its mission to provoke more non-academic conversations about this topic. On more than one occasion I coincidentally found myself reading Black's thoughts about things that were at the same time playing a large role in my own life, and on more than one occasion found myself brought to tears by his observations.
8. Fun. Not quite what I expected, but inventive and fun. A few eye-popping uses of homosexual slurs, but an otherwise mostly harmless diversion, a quick read, and one easily cleared from the to-read shelf.
9. I *love* stories about getting to do things all over again. If you've read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, then you've already read something HEAVILY indebted to Ken Grimwood, but this was still satisfying, even if it ultimately ended up being mostly a meditation on more spiritual concepts than the purer thriller that it teased itself as a couple of different times.
10. I'm only about 20% of the way through this novel, but it's going down easy, the type of small-town nostalgia with a dash of (possibly? not clear yet) mystery along with ruminations on folksy religion that pitches straight down the middle to a reader like me.
11. I've read one other collection of Weinberger's essays (An Elemental Thing) and I have to admit that I don't completely understand what he's up to in these works, but they're still fascinating, and lyrical, and worth the effort, even if just to find a few nuggets that stay with me after I've put them down. I'm also going to take on Oranges and Peanuts for Sale at some point this year.
January
1. The Jaguar Knights, Dave Duncan (428)
2. One Velvet Glove, Dave Duncan (300)
February
3. The Ethical Swordsman, Dave Duncan (321)
4. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (158)
5. The Vegetarian, Han Kang (188)
5a. The Epiphany Machine, David Burr Gerrard (432, abandoned before page 100)
March
6. We Live in Water, Jess Walter (177)
7. A Better Man, Michael Ian Black (301)
8. Saga Volumes 1-9, Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples (~1188) [comic/graphic novel]
9. Replay, Ken Grimwood (311)
pending, on track to finish this week
10. Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger (307)
11. Karmic Traces, Eliot Weinberger (198)
Thoughts
1-3: I've talked about these at length in previous posts and won't repeat those here.
4. Somehow had never read this one before now. It's strange to read a classic that you're already intimately familiar with through other adaptations or works that were influenced by it. Makes it harder to reckon with the text itself, because my thoughts are so thoroughly clouded by other interpretations of it that I already knew. I can't say anything else about it that hasn't already been said, so I won't.
5. Very put off by this book, and not in the same sense as something like Ottessa Moshfegh's Eileen, which is deliberately repulsive but still compelling. Did not like, was grateful for its brevity.
5a. Bad selection, couldn't make any headway, gave up after I realized I had spent two weeks doing anything BUT reading in order to avoid it. This was a bummer after #5, and I got nervous that I was already losing steam after a relatively good start to the year.
6. Jess Walter's short story collection was a nice reset, and a lot more grounded in reality than what I've been indulging in lately. Lots of good stuff in here, particularly when he focuses on the things that clearly interest him most, namely blue-collar poverty and addiction in & around Spokane. This was easily digestible in just one or two sittings, and a refreshing change of pace to get my wheels turning again.
7. I've been reading Michael Ian Black's essays about masculinity over the course of a few months in little spurts, mostly on my phone in the middle of the night when I'm rocking my kid back to sleep. That nexus of reading about masculinity and the responsibility we have to improve how our culture addresses it, while simultaneously physically holding a person who will inherit many of the best and worst of my own inclinations about maleness, made it a reading experience that was probably a bit more profound than the actual content of the book itself. Still, I appreciated it and its mission to provoke more non-academic conversations about this topic. On more than one occasion I coincidentally found myself reading Black's thoughts about things that were at the same time playing a large role in my own life, and on more than one occasion found myself brought to tears by his observations.
8. Fun. Not quite what I expected, but inventive and fun. A few eye-popping uses of homosexual slurs, but an otherwise mostly harmless diversion, a quick read, and one easily cleared from the to-read shelf.
9. I *love* stories about getting to do things all over again. If you've read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, then you've already read something HEAVILY indebted to Ken Grimwood, but this was still satisfying, even if it ultimately ended up being mostly a meditation on more spiritual concepts than the purer thriller that it teased itself as a couple of different times.
10. I'm only about 20% of the way through this novel, but it's going down easy, the type of small-town nostalgia with a dash of (possibly? not clear yet) mystery along with ruminations on folksy religion that pitches straight down the middle to a reader like me.
11. I've read one other collection of Weinberger's essays (An Elemental Thing) and I have to admit that I don't completely understand what he's up to in these works, but they're still fascinating, and lyrical, and worth the effort, even if just to find a few nuggets that stay with me after I've put them down. I'm also going to take on Oranges and Peanuts for Sale at some point this year.
Mr Moore
Well-Known Member
Book 14: The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Interesting read, not something I think I'll ever feel the impetus to reread though.
A tale of a butler, Stevens, the head of the staff at a grand English house, formerly of a disgraced old money gentleman, now a wealthy American owner. Stevens travels to Cornwall to meet a former housekeeper hearing that her marriage is ending in an effort to entice her back to the staff, some 20 years after her departure. Along the way he regales nostalgic flashbacks of life under the household's previous owner.
There's definitely something interesting about how the other half live as it were and equally interesting to see the shift in culture occurring around the middle of the 20th century in this country as the old aristocracy made way for new money to take over many of these stately homes and what that meant for a shift in priorities (28 staff down to 4 for example).
There's also some interesting history about how the aristocracy had/has an influence on (inter)national policy making and some thought-provoking philosophising about whether a country's common people have the intellectual capacity to be involved in the western democratic process as we know it when they simply aren't smart enough to make big decisions.
There's some complicated, contradictory characterisations here. On the one hand, I found myself sympathising with Stevens, born into the life of servitude as his father was a butler before him, it seems to be a life where one rarely even leaves the premises at which one works and in his aim to be one of the greats, Stevens admits that this means giving everything to his master and that this will be how he achieves true 'dignity'. It is apparent that he has romantic feelings for his housekeeper colleague and she him but, he seems incapable of expressing himself romantically and indeed in other social situations. On the other hand, he comes across as a self-righteous snob with a severe superiority complex who bullies his colleagues at times and comes across as the boy pulling the girl's pigtails in the schoolyard because of his emotional incapacity.
I've only read this and Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro and in both it seems to me his writing is of a very bare bones, matter-of-fact, almost emotionless style that allows the reader to infer plenty about the characters. I think it worked better here than NLMG and I did indeed prefer this book of the two.
Interesting read, not something I think I'll ever feel the impetus to reread though.
A tale of a butler, Stevens, the head of the staff at a grand English house, formerly of a disgraced old money gentleman, now a wealthy American owner. Stevens travels to Cornwall to meet a former housekeeper hearing that her marriage is ending in an effort to entice her back to the staff, some 20 years after her departure. Along the way he regales nostalgic flashbacks of life under the household's previous owner.
There's definitely something interesting about how the other half live as it were and equally interesting to see the shift in culture occurring around the middle of the 20th century in this country as the old aristocracy made way for new money to take over many of these stately homes and what that meant for a shift in priorities (28 staff down to 4 for example).
There's also some interesting history about how the aristocracy had/has an influence on (inter)national policy making and some thought-provoking philosophising about whether a country's common people have the intellectual capacity to be involved in the western democratic process as we know it when they simply aren't smart enough to make big decisions.
There's some complicated, contradictory characterisations here. On the one hand, I found myself sympathising with Stevens, born into the life of servitude as his father was a butler before him, it seems to be a life where one rarely even leaves the premises at which one works and in his aim to be one of the greats, Stevens admits that this means giving everything to his master and that this will be how he achieves true 'dignity'. It is apparent that he has romantic feelings for his housekeeper colleague and she him but, he seems incapable of expressing himself romantically and indeed in other social situations. On the other hand, he comes across as a self-righteous snob with a severe superiority complex who bullies his colleagues at times and comes across as the boy pulling the girl's pigtails in the schoolyard because of his emotional incapacity.
I've only read this and Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro and in both it seems to me his writing is of a very bare bones, matter-of-fact, almost emotionless style that allows the reader to infer plenty about the characters. I think it worked better here than NLMG and I did indeed prefer this book of the two.