Friday, November 23, 2007
The World Without Us
Hey, who wants to be depressed? Raise your hand, and I'll give you this book. Upsetting and discouraging. Like Ishmael with science to back it. The upshot: People suck and we're ruining the earth. Surprised? You would be by the detail and specificity of the research. The author has identified all the wonderful and diverse ways we are destroying our planet. Turns out, we've screwed it up so badly that some of our unique creations--like nuclear waste, plastic, and enriched uranium--will actually outlast the life of our planet. Also, we're adding a million people to the planet every four days. Better save those TV dinners!
The Golden Compass
Good book! I very much enjoyed it. It was touted (on the cover) as another LOTR, and while I don't see it as that significant a text, it is still one of the better fantasy novels I have read in recent years. Original and interesting with clever and creative elements (alternate universe, interesting quest, compelling protagonist), it has some interesting philosophical digressions and a good narrative. Easy read. Fighting bears are way cool! I'll hit the other books in the series in a bit (there are three--big surprise).
Monday, October 08, 2007
Where's My Jetpack?
Very funny -- yet scientific -- look at the future that never quite materialized. Not as technical or as thorough as I was hoping for, but still very readable and entertaining: a fast 187 pages. Wilson discusses everything from personal jetpacks to ray guns to robots to space elevators. Best line (discussing cryogenic freezing): "Here you are palming a silly book with your meaty human paws [when] you could be a thousand years in the future, standing in a thin atmosphere and cradling a mutant human baby with your horrific titanium claws." Same author who wrote How to Survive a Robot Uprising.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
The Remains of the Day
I loved this book! It's intellectually stimulating, relaxing, and interesting. The characters had unique voices (Ishiguro conveyed Stevens's voice with spot-on consistency throughout the novel), and they were well-drawn. The book was enjoyable, though the plot was not exactly exciting. It was a leisurely read, encouraging interaction and interpretation, given its indeterminacies, while not requiring the mental efforts to read the complicated prose of, say, Jane Austen. I looked forward to reading the book as one would look forward to sitting in front of a crackling fire. Good book to read with a cup of tea or coffee on a cold winter morning.
The main character, the butler Mr Stevens, was fascinating in his rigidity and self-denial. I liked the fact that he was an unreliable narrator and pretty much knew it. The way he told the memories of his life were realistic and honest, yet his extraordinary self-denial prevented him from really understanding the emotions he was relating. His relationship with Miss Kenton was marvelous: she obviously loved him and tried many times to get past his outer shell, but to little avail. Stevens's love for her was obvious in the numerous memories he related about her and the fact that he read and re-read her letter to him so many times throughout the book, which only spans a week or so, and in his obvious disappointment in finding that she was staying with her husband. Most poignant moments: The tears Mr Stevens sheds as he serves drinks to guests only moments after the death of his father; Mr Stevens waiting outside Miss Kenton's door, certain that she is crying on the other side of it, yet unable to allow himself to go to her because of his duty to his Nazi-sympathizing pawn of an employer; Mr Stevens, crying again, as he speaks with the other butler at the end of the novel. Ultimately, Mr Stevens allows the love of his life to leave and marry someone else because she simply can't wait for him to come around. She knows she would always be second to his professional obligations. By the way, I love the way her emotions play out, crossing the boundary from her world of passion to Mr Stevens's world of rigid professionalism.
The book is about duty and dignity, about living one's life in the best way possible. Mr Stevens's realization at the end is poignant. He knows in the back of his mind that although he fulfilled his professional goal of being a "great" butler, his desire cost him dearly in the personal sphere. And even the attainment of his ambition was tainted by the fact that he worked for an employer who was not as "noble" as he thought.
The main character, the butler Mr Stevens, was fascinating in his rigidity and self-denial. I liked the fact that he was an unreliable narrator and pretty much knew it. The way he told the memories of his life were realistic and honest, yet his extraordinary self-denial prevented him from really understanding the emotions he was relating. His relationship with Miss Kenton was marvelous: she obviously loved him and tried many times to get past his outer shell, but to little avail. Stevens's love for her was obvious in the numerous memories he related about her and the fact that he read and re-read her letter to him so many times throughout the book, which only spans a week or so, and in his obvious disappointment in finding that she was staying with her husband. Most poignant moments: The tears Mr Stevens sheds as he serves drinks to guests only moments after the death of his father; Mr Stevens waiting outside Miss Kenton's door, certain that she is crying on the other side of it, yet unable to allow himself to go to her because of his duty to his Nazi-sympathizing pawn of an employer; Mr Stevens, crying again, as he speaks with the other butler at the end of the novel. Ultimately, Mr Stevens allows the love of his life to leave and marry someone else because she simply can't wait for him to come around. She knows she would always be second to his professional obligations. By the way, I love the way her emotions play out, crossing the boundary from her world of passion to Mr Stevens's world of rigid professionalism.
The book is about duty and dignity, about living one's life in the best way possible. Mr Stevens's realization at the end is poignant. He knows in the back of his mind that although he fulfilled his professional goal of being a "great" butler, his desire cost him dearly in the personal sphere. And even the attainment of his ambition was tainted by the fact that he worked for an employer who was not as "noble" as he thought.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
The Road
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Very Hemingway-esque in style, which may be one of the reasons the boy calls his father "Papa" throughout the novel. I enjoyed the story, as simple as it was. Very exciting in places, and very realistic throughout. The themes of God and the final image of the boy as an angel were profound and moving. The father defined himself and the boy as the "good guys", but it seemed to me that the primary elements that separated the father as Good Guy from the Bad Guys were the fact that the father killed only in self-defense and that he and the boy didn't eat other humans, an element the boy confirms at the end of the novel.
Throughout the novel, the father seemed distant from the boy, as if he were trying to understand his son. He has a few moments of connection but he also admits to a disconnect at times. The primary difference I saw was that the father cared most for himself and the boy, while the boy cared most for the whole human race, attempting to save nearly everyone they met on the road. No wonder he was angelic.
The final irony of the title was that the "veteran" tells the boy that the safest action was to get off the road, while his father was always traveling on it. I liked the ending of the novel, speaking of which. The father's death was inevitable, and the boy being saved by a family was as happy an ending as a post-apocalyptic novel can have without being maudlin.
The unnamed character is not uncommon in literature, but the authors usually have different reasons for their choices. In McCarthy's case, I think The Road contained no names (except for Ely, who lied about his anyway) because what do names matter in a world that has been nearly consumed? They don't define a person. Only the characters' actions mattered, and the love they shared. I'll probably read McCarthy's Blood Meridian at some point, though I have already begun Dracula and received The Kite Runner today. So many books, so little time.
Very Hemingway-esque in style, which may be one of the reasons the boy calls his father "Papa" throughout the novel. I enjoyed the story, as simple as it was. Very exciting in places, and very realistic throughout. The themes of God and the final image of the boy as an angel were profound and moving. The father defined himself and the boy as the "good guys", but it seemed to me that the primary elements that separated the father as Good Guy from the Bad Guys were the fact that the father killed only in self-defense and that he and the boy didn't eat other humans, an element the boy confirms at the end of the novel.
Throughout the novel, the father seemed distant from the boy, as if he were trying to understand his son. He has a few moments of connection but he also admits to a disconnect at times. The primary difference I saw was that the father cared most for himself and the boy, while the boy cared most for the whole human race, attempting to save nearly everyone they met on the road. No wonder he was angelic.
The final irony of the title was that the "veteran" tells the boy that the safest action was to get off the road, while his father was always traveling on it. I liked the ending of the novel, speaking of which. The father's death was inevitable, and the boy being saved by a family was as happy an ending as a post-apocalyptic novel can have without being maudlin.
The unnamed character is not uncommon in literature, but the authors usually have different reasons for their choices. In McCarthy's case, I think The Road contained no names (except for Ely, who lied about his anyway) because what do names matter in a world that has been nearly consumed? They don't define a person. Only the characters' actions mattered, and the love they shared. I'll probably read McCarthy's Blood Meridian at some point, though I have already begun Dracula and received The Kite Runner today. So many books, so little time.
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