Stretch's 2021 Reading

Hi, I'm Kevin back for another year.



The backbone of 2021:
Signs Preceding the end of the world
Blood Meridian
House of Broken Angels
The Only Good Indian
Deep Roots
The Power
Earthlings
Kindred
The Bear
The 99% Invisible City
How to be an Anti-Racist
Beloved
The Intuitionist
Tokyo Ueno Station

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Things Read in 2021:

Fiction:
Across the Green Grass Fields
Lost Boy
Tender is the Flesh
Penance
Signs preceding the end of the world
Blue Mars
My Lovely Wife
If Cats Disappeared from the World
The Speed of Dark
The Graveyard Apartment
A Luminous Republic
The Last Children of Tokyo
I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me
The Amityville Horror
Real World
Lonely Castle in the Mirror
Bullet Train
Musashi
Vigilance
An Unnatural Life
True Crime
The Laws of the Skies
The Great Passage
Witching Hour Theatre
Cirque Berserk
The Poppy War
My Heart is a Chainsaw
The Trees

Nonfiction:
The Alchemy of Us
Midnight in Chernobyl
Generation Kill
Kamikaze
The Fire Next Time
Women & Power
So You've Publicly Shamed
The Book of Tea
Football Hackers
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man
The Arsonist
The Clothing of Books
Science and Religion: a very short introduction
Demagogue
The Book That Changed America
Digital Minimalism
Tonight We Bombed the U.S. Capitol
99% Invisible Cities
Military Strategy: a very short introduction
The Look of the Book
The Library Book
Horror: a very short introduction
Black Hole Survival Guide
Paperbacks from Hell
Cultish

Short Stories and Other Things:
Leaves of Grass
In a Grove
Patriotism
Roshomon
The Seven Who Were Hanged
Grass
The Year of the Rabbits
Life on Mars
Thunder & Lightning
Imagine Only Wanting This
Dear White America
Wait for the Night
Twelve Angry Men
Speak
Helium
This is Pleasure
Fires in the Mirror
And the Sun Stood Still
Journey's End
The Human Chair
Multiple Choice
The I in Internet
Something is Killing the Children
I Am Not Your Final Girl

I've read three, and two of them of two of my favorite books. Happy New Year Kevin!

>2 dchaikin: hmmmm.... I'm thinking Blood Meridian and Beloved but now I'm curious to the third...

Happy New Year and happy reading.

Yes, good! I’m really attached to both of those two completely unalike books. I’ve also read Kindred, which I thought was good.

I've also read three and am looking forward to hearing what you think of them.

>3 stretch: I’ve read both Blood Meridian and Beloved as audio books. I want to reread Blood Meridian: the end is so strange and mythic. Last night I did reread the final scene - it’s something that has stayed with me.

>1 stretch: Oooh, what a fabulous list. Most of these are on my radar and I look forward to your reviews! Happy 2021!

Happy new year! What a great list to kick off with.

>6 gsm235: there's a discussion waiting to happen there... on the end of BM.

Happy new year! This is an interesting list! :)

>5 rhian_of_oz:, >6 gsm235:, >7 ELiz_M:, >8 AlisonY:, and >10 AnnieMod: Happy New Years y'all! I do hope this proves fortuitus once the rush on the library is over. I hope to sprinkle them throughout 2021, because I can never read in a straight line.

Happy new year! Dropping my star.

Happy New Year, Kevin! Similar to Dan I absolutely loved three of your books, Signs Preceding the End of the World, How to Be an Antiracist and Beloved. I intend to read at least one book from your list this year, the House of Broken Angels, so I'll be curious to get your thoughts about it.

Hey, Happy New Year, and neat assortment of books! I've only read the Kendi, but I have a few more of those on my list or my virtual pile. Interested to hear what you think of Blood Meridian—I'm a big fan of Cormac McCarthy, but I've been advised by a few friends who know me to give it a pass—but I'm always down for someone else's opinions.

>1 stretch: A good list of prospective reading, indeed! Six of those are also on my TBR shelves, and all of them seem like things I'd really like to get to this year, myself. We'll see if it happens or not...

>14 lisapeet: interesting advise, Lisa. I wouldn't outright recommend anything by McCarthy except All the Pretty Horses - but that's not because his other books aren't terrific (and some are much better), but because they're gruesome and all-male-centered to an extreme. But, he's really a master with language, and vivid, and it shows maybe best in BM. I loved reading through his work.

>16 dchaikin: The advice to skip Blood Meridian was because of its general gruesomeness and also animal cruelty (I feel like this aversion of mine is coming up in a few threads lately...). The male-centeredness I can handle. Suttree is one of my top lifetime books, although it's been about 15 years and who knows, I might have a different opinion if I reread.

Stretch, you always know I love following your thread so here I am marking my spot. I'm already quite interested to see your opinions on some of those books on your current TBR pile. I wonder if they'll end up matching mine. I'm also especially loving the fact that you created a Japan thread in the Japanese literature group. I think we're going to have a lot of fun this year as I also have decided to make this a strong Japan year. Now if I can just actually write down my thoughts every once in a while! Happy start to the new year!

>17 lisapeet: (sorry Kevin) - if you can enjoy Suttree then McCarthy’s male-centric aspect is certainly no issue for you. !! (It’s such a great thing too, that book)

Hello, just pulling up a chair in *hushed tones* the Pencil Master's thread.

>19 dchaikin: No worries Dan! I got Suttree and All the Pretty Horses after BM, so I'm enjoying the discussion, narrows down what's next.

> Hahaha, don't know about master. I do have few pencils i need to get too this year, last year well got away from me.

>18 lilisin: Yeah I wanted one place to collect all the Japanese literature I've read in one place. I figured the Japanese Literature group fits that bill! It's not like I'm not going to keep adding to it! I got a slate of Authors to get to this year and I'm excited to continue that journey.

I realized I read two types of fiction, the dark stuff and Japanese. So this year its all about the basics. I'm hoping to add some Abe, I've put him off for far too long.

A couple of short stories to start off the year:

In a Grove by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

The plot of this short is a juxtaposition of contradictory accounts of a dramatic death in a grove of bamboo. There is no objective truth, just subjective observations and interpretations from the affected parties. Each account shifting guilt, omitting details, painting the truth they want to believe.

This is a masterpiece in story telling. It asks so many questions about objective truth and the self-interested nature of storytelling without conclusion. Leaving the reader to ponder these questions for themselves.

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Roshomon by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

After a series of calamities befalls Kyoto, a samurai's servant is pushed out of work, a home, and on a rain drenched night options. He must decide how far he is willing to compromise his own sense of morals for survival. Becoming a thief even under such trying circumstances is not easy for him, until he comes across a woman stealing from the dead.

I'm getting a sense that Akutagawa's writing often asks more questions than it answers. With Roshomon we explore that gray area of what kinds of actions are justifiable in times of extreme hardships. What moral lines are deemed acceptable when pushed to the edge of survival?

Akutagawa is a master of the short story, that is easy to see. These are sticky stories that I'm going to think about for a long time.

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Patriotism by Yukio Mishima

Patriotism is a story about loyalty and honor. An honor defined by Mishima's hypermasculine warrior mentality. This honor leads a young solider and his wife to commit a graphic and gruesome the ritual suicide of seppuku.

While it is a dark tale, the beauty in Mishima's words along with his concepts of honor and trust transcend death and illuminates Mishima's own personal philosophy. This is the definition of toxic masculinity in its unflinching, gruesome grasp of what Mishima defines as honorable. It's just a small glimpse into the kind of mentality that gives rise to a certian kind of Japanese nationalism. Patriotism along with his final speech gives a great deal of insight into Mishima's own parallel end. A failed coup, a dramatic speech pleading with a deaf army for a return to a warrior nation, ending in his own ritual suicide.

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Three stories that will rattle around my brain for a long time to come. And now onto After the Quake by Haruki Murakami, a collection of short stories written after the 1995 Kobe earthquake and Tokyo subway attack, which I hope to soon forget. It's everything I hate about Murakami distilled down into mind-numbing boring, goes nowhere fast short stories, just without the fun magical realism! This was my last attempt at this Murakami. I've tried is longer works, his shorter works, and now is stories. I haven't finished a single one. I'm officially done with him as an author, now if only I could get random people to stop suggesting him when I say I'm into Japanese writers.

Oh, whew, someone else not in love with H. Murakami! I read a few but each time it ended with the feeling I've been had. Even the one I liked almost the entire way, with the bird in the title, in retrospect makes me angry. It's like he has an amazing gift of painting enticing environments and intriguing characters, but hasn't got a single real, worthwhile idea behind it. People are inscrutable and life is strange? Whatev, H.

The worst, however, was the experience of reading his book about the subway gas attacks, which struck me as monstrously cold and uncommunicative. All these people were reeling off very similar stories and of course their shock and not knowing what was going on predominated. But he made it seem all so dead and mechanical there was hardly any point in reading past the first few pages. The real suffering must have come later. It made me really wonder about the guy, does he not get trauma at all.

Re; Rashomon, obvious question--have you seen Kurosawa's movie and if yes how does it compare for you? I still haven't read any Akutagawa.

Hi, there, stretch, and Happy New Year! Just stopping in to get acclimated to CR this year.

>24 LolaWalser: Exactly! I've always refered to as navel gazing but much better put. Everything us just so banal. Hell so much of his work starts out with a medicore middle aged male lost in some crisis caused by his own medicarity. Why is this a thing?

I have seen the movie Rashomon, it's very different only borrowing a couple of the minor story elements and general idea. Honesty in this case the movie is better being more fleshed out. These were my first Akutagawa reads, I'll be seeking out more now for sure.

>25 sallypursell: Hi, happy 2021 to you! Thanks for stopping by. :)

>24 LolaWalser:, >26 stretch: Oh the "I love Japanese fiction too! Have you read Murakami?!" crowd. I don't know whether I fear or relish their naivete. But really, I know I'm being too cruel with the word naivete. But I do like to answer "Yes, I love Murakami Ryu!" However, I did actually like his nonfiction about the subway attacks. I was okay with the coldness because I found interesting that the book is basically about the inconvenience the incident caused on peoples' commuter route. I was actually able to pull quite a few quotes of interest from the book, something I've never done with his fiction. I do still plan on at least reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicle or the other famous one because I must admit I've only read his recent stuff and not his super famous stuff that is supposedly super representative of his style.

>22 stretch:
I realized I read two types of fiction, the dark stuff and Japanese. So this year its all about the basics. I'm hoping to add some Abe, I've put him off for far too long.

Fortunately a lot of the dark stuff is Japanese! :)
If it's worth anything here is my ranking of Abe from most favorite to least favorite:
The Box Man -- the most difficult to read but most thrilling
The Face of Another -- the easiest and most accessible to read
Secret Rendezvous -- an interesting combination of the above two reads in terms of theme and chaos
Kangaroo Notebook -- engrossing with an incredible premise but less successful
The Ark Sakura -- this one was a mess for me; it got lost in the world it created without truly exploring anything

I have read The Woman in the Dunes but it was the first Abe I read so I don't remember anything about it and my impressions on it. I'd have to reread it to rank it but it's generally a favorite for most people.

>23 stretch: Enjoying your reviews. I find Mishima a very interesting writer - that short story appeals (I like the edginess).

>28 lilisin:

I've read only two of Ryu Murakami's books, Almost transparent blue and In the miso soup, but I'd agree strongly he's much the more interesting writer.

Yes, The wind-up bird chronicle... that was the first H. Murakami I'd read (in the English translation, which I dimly recall learning later on had been shortened or changed from the original?) and although I hardly knew what to make of it in the end, it was unusual and intriguing enough that I picked up other of his books. I can sort of see why he's so popular, but don't feel the need to take those trips again myself...

>23 stretch: these three short story reviews are so interesting. (Are they stand alone or part of a collection?)

Sorry about H Murakami...not that i’ve read him and hold any opinion.

>31 dchaikin: The stories are standalones, a lot of Akutagawa's works are in the public domain. Found Roshomon on the short story project. So I pulled those into ebooks. Patriotism is a photocopy of an article from a literary journal I found at the local library. These are all in my "stolen" category.

I'm interested in following along with your reading this year, especially your Japanese reading. I read a book of stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa many years ago and have been wanting to reread them for several years. Perhaps this year. I also have another volume of his stories on Kindle, called Mandarins which I want to get to.
Have you read the novelization/biography? of Akutagawa by David Peace called Patient X? I started it, but had to return it to the library. I ended up purchasing it, but haven't gotten back to it yet.

>33 arubabookwoman: I haven't read anything about Akutagawa, these are my first bits of his work I've touche on. He is certainly intriguing and as I get further into his work I'll look for Patient X.

So the Incentive plan continues to add/maintain women and diversity at the forefront when making reading choices.

This year I'm going to move to a points based system. Which means the disincentive must change. I've already signed up for a December 10K run. I'll be doing this run without training, I hate running for running sake. I still play pickup soccer so the distance isn't exactly outside my range. However, all negative points will add kilometers to the distance and a positive point total will subtract. If the distance gets too outlandish I'll have to complete it in stages. I'm hoping I end in the positives this year! Right now I'm looking at a half marathon, yikes!

Points can be stacked now so not all books are treated equal. And this now includes nonfiction titles.

3 points for books by women 
2 points for an author from a background I don't share
1.5 points for a translated work so I don't punish my Japanese reading too much
1-ish point for a book off the TBR

-5 points for a book by a man

>35 stretch: I'd say adding kilometres could be pretty incentivising to stay within your goal! I'm very envious that you can do 10k with no training. I stopped running when lockdown 1 started last year, and now I struggle with anything beyond 20 minutes.

>36 AlisonY: If I'm honest it's going to hurt bad, it's within range but just barely, anything beyond is a painful thought. I'm hoping to reduce it quite a bit.

Admiring your self-incentivization talent and wishing I could get me some somewhere.

Stopping in to take a peek at what you are reading. Interesting discussion of M & H Murakami.

The Alchemy of Us by Ainissa Ramirez

In the Alchemy of Us, Ramirez makes the convincing argument for better or worse our culture values gets baked into the materials and things we invent we create. Each chapter opens with a brief history of some invention or inventor that would go on to change the fabric of society. Tracing how those historic inventions have continued to our modern world in ways that could not have been foreseen.

The Alchemy of Us isn't groundbreaking, but it's well written and full of interesting factoids. It would have been a stronger thesis if Ramirez had woven the modern implications with the past, instead of ending each chapter in an argument. While it easy to see the truth in her arguments that structure begins to ware thin as the book progresses through time.

★★★½

Connective Tissue: Maps of Time, A Short History of Nearly Everything

Been trying to think of how to add to these, but really can't, so I'll just post Litsy thoughts here:

The Seven Who Were Hanged by Leonid Andreyev

An interesting character study, but kind of drags and dwells on and on about the criminals motivations for their crimes. Which was the least interesting thing about characters facing the gallows.

Not sure Russian authors are ever going to be all that interesting to me.

★★★

Connective Tissue: On Parole

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Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham

An incredible harrowing account of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear facility. Soviet bureaucracy is intense with so many layers and so many people all in charge of small little pieces but not really responsible for anything at all. Could be a little hard to follow at times. I'm not well versed in Soviet history so I just let this the disaster play out and followed along the best I could.

The Scary part is that these terribly flawed RBMK-1000 reactors are still in use to this day!

★★★★

Connective Tissue: The Devil in the White City

>40 stretch: I really like your use of "connective tissue"!

Interesting about Chernobyl, but sorry you’re not into Russians. : )

Regarding Litsy - if you go onto a laptop/desktop you can access Litsy through a browser and grab image links. I do that sometimes. (but I find I prefer to keep some difference between what i post here and there.)

>41 stretch:

I have had that Higginbotham on request for months now. Weird thing for masses to queue for in lockdown...

The Scary part is that these terribly flawed RBMK-1000 reactors are still in use to this day!

Well, yes, but... by the same token--all those reactors existed before and after the Chernobyl disaster without equal mishaps. (Quick, everyone start knocking on wood...:))

There is no perfectly safe tech, risks are omnipresent. (Look at Fukushima...) But the tech is only as scary as the supervision is bad, and by all indications that was the primary problem that led to Chernobyl (with multiple causes as to why it was badly supervised--some unpredictably random, but others inexcusable, like withholding of information).

>42 ELiz_M: Just my brain trying to make connections to my past reading. Not read alikes per se but have some thread/theme that connects them in some way in my mind.

>43 dchaikin: Yeah use the date for this kind of things but I was feeling particularly lazy and didn't want to elaborate on a book I was just kind of meh about or one that was comprehensive but I have no real expertise about so can't really add all that much. Nonfiction is so much harder to talk about if you don't have a depth of knowledge about.

I use litsy as more of an initial reaction and try to elaborate from there. That's the plan anyway. But you're right about it being a good way to grab images, that's why a made a TBR post there so I could put a pic collage in my first post. It's lonely here without the covers.

I shouldn't swear off Russians, just haven't found a classic that has really worked. They have all been so intensely focused on character psychology or internal monologues. Which at first I find fascinating but get stuck in as the story progresses. It's totally my own hang up and the merit of the Russians I've tried is not in question.

>44 LolaWalser: Totally agree that the Chernobyl reactor 4 disaster was a systematic failure from the top all the way down. And all reactor risk can't be mitigated. But one of the takeaways I took from Midnight in Chernobyl was that part of the failure was in the selection of the RMBK as the model for this new wave of civilian reactors. I'm not entirely sure you can spoil a nonfiction book but I'll put it behind spoiler tags anyway because the book itself reads more like an investigation than a straight history book.

One of the big takeaways is that RMBK-1000, a scaled up version of the military apoartus RBMK reactor used to enrich plutonium, had some inherit design flaws. Due to the nature of the reactor there are hot and cold spots through the fuel chamber. Something that can't be measured, and leads to a build up of a positive coefficient especially during periods of low power, like during start up and shut down. Engineers and operators had been using their experience, intuition, and unguided experimentation to maintain the reaction during episodes of low power. There wasn't a single set guidance for start up and shut down of an RBMK reactor, the hot and cold zones are unique to each reactor. As someone who works in the controlled risk business intuition and experimentation are not the kinds of things you want built into your engineered control measures.

Then there are the control rods, with their own unique sets of flaws. Like being ripped with graphite so as not to decrease the efficiency of the reactor when completely retracted. The effect though when be reinserted, especially during an emergency is to initially speed up the reaction. As Higginbotham puts it, it's like hitting the gas pedal to start breaking. They also lacked a mechanism that would forcably drive the rods into the reactor quickly during an emergency to stop a run away reaction. They utilized their normal control mechanisms which would take several seconds to reach full extension. Their best option at the time was to drop to the rods from the mechanical drives and let gravity pull them into place. For reasons due to the positive coefficient this didn't happen at Chernobyl.

These flaws were well known. The military had advised against the RMBK in civilian use. They had experienced some of the very same problems that reactor 4 had.

So compiled with the Sovit Union's bureaucracy and secretive nature, the countries evident decline (each of the reactors had to be taken apart and rebuilt onsite, due shoddy parts and workmanship). There's a lot that lead to reactor 4's meltdown, and some of the flaws have been mitigated. Still the RMBK is a particularly flawed machine. There was a program to retire them and phase in more safer and modern designs, but then 1989 happened. That's why stated how scary it is that RBMK-1000s are still in operation, theirs really no way of telling how compromised these reactors really are, if they are still operated by feel (even with modern computers there's no real way to measure those hot and cold zone. They've modeled them and designed specific procedures with the control rods but that's no substitute for real data). At lower power these particular reactors are vulnerable to human error. I'm all for marginal risk, otherwise I wouldn't do what I do, but I think the RMBK-1000s should be phased out along with some other Soviet era water cooled reactors. Reducing the chances of human induced errors is a big part of a healthy safety culture.

The Chernobyl disaster is a lesson in human hubris, lack of imagination, stagnation, bureaucratic waste, the cost of secrecy, bad decision making, poor incentives, human error, and mechanical failure. It's the whole ball of wax wrapped in one. Nevermind how they dealt with the fall out. This was a systematic failure for sure.

Enjoying the discussion on the Chernobyl book - that one's been on my radar for a while too.

The Chernobyl disaster is a lesson in human hubris, lack of imagination, stagnation, bureaucratic waste, the cost of secrecy, bad decision making, poor incentives, human error, and mechanical failure.

Do you come away from this book feeling that any lessons have actually been taken away by the Russians?

>46 AlisonY: Higginbotham concludes with the immediate aftermath and some of the changes implemented after the disaster. I got the feeling that the changes were incomplete before the fall of the Soviet Union, but some structural reforms were in the air. How far those got and what effect it has had are things I can't speak to, some of the issues leading to the disaster aren't just Russian problems. Some are most definitely unique to their former system of government, but hubris and complacency are universal.

>45 stretch:

All good points. I'd just add, all design is flawed in the sense that we can't even predict everything that might turn into a liability under some given circumstances, because we can't predict every "circumstance". A point frequently missed in the commentary is that what happened at Chernobyl was unusual for Russians too. They didn't go about building nuclear reactors thinking, "so, this boy's likely to explode on me sooner or later, oh well, that's a nuclear reactor for you."

They had objectively taken greater risks with those particular reactors but the spark of the disaster was still human error.

Risk assessment is a fascinating topic. I'm sorry I don't recall what field you're in, if you don't mind saying? It's fine if you'd rather not talk shop... :)

hubris and complacency are universal.

Amen...

Btw, noticing the exchange between you and Dan about reading Russians--if you read science fiction, I'd suggest trying the Strugatsky brothers before giving up completely. Just about anything of theirs you can find in English.

>45 stretch: And I would add that if you enjoy short stories, try a selection of Checkov and/or Gogol. Not too many all at once, but a handful from different periods is nice.

>48 LolaWalser: I'm an environmental geologist. My day to day is anything from rock drilling to hazardous materials handling. Occasionally throw in a massive train derailment you got the more exciting parts of the job.

I think Midnight in Chernobyl does a really good job of showing how castrophic disasters aren't just the moment in time. One of the more shocking revelations is the the Russian higherachy never thought a reactor cou;d explode, meltdown yes, their planning never considered issues outside normal operation. The failure of imagination is stunning if true.

I'll definitely look into Strugatsky. There are brothers?

>49 ELiz_M: Cool, I've heard of Checkov, but not Gogol I'll need to check them out the next time I'm ready revisit that region.

>50 stretch:

Sounds a cool and dangerous job. Rock drilling; what a coincidence, the last thing I read this morning before logging on here dealt with rock drilling in the Alps for the installation of cable cars (leading to a monstrous avalanche and heartbreak all around but more about that later).

Yes, the Strugatskys were Arkady and Boris, the first a professional writer and translator from Japanese, the second an astrophysicist. They collaborated on science fiction to make what is, to my mind, some of the most engrossing and intriguing, therefore entertaining literature of that type. Dated inevitably in the social aspects (and no need to worry about psychology! :)), but intelligent and with philosophical depth intact.

>41 stretch: I read and was impressed by this book a while back. In simplistic terms I remember that the author, in addition to the design flaws in the particular reactor, pointed out that the Soviet system, particularly its “ruthless expediency and paranoid secrecy” contributed to the accident and the failures to control the accident and clean up afterwards.

>49 ELiz_M: Chekhov might be the right solution. (Of course i haven’t read the other two suggestions )

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

A new engrossing world within the Wayward Children Series, yay! Hooflands is such a perfect place to explore and become comfortable with the idea of being two things at once. A world of centaurs and their mythical brethren is the perfect place to settle an intersex child.

What was the really different about this one, was that the main character came from a loving and caring family. The terrible circumstances that leads to her door is not because of neglect but is instead a consequence from drifting away from grounding and making choices that didn’t feel right for her.

It’s actually a bit sad that she finds her second family knowing that her original family longs for her in ways that are not exhibited in other books in this series.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: The Wayward Children Series, The Starless Sea

Lost Boy by Christina Henry

Lost Boy is a reimagined origin story of the villainous Captain Hook. An inverted sympathetic story were Hook is the hero and Peter Pan is a villain. Henry portrays Peter Pan as a manipulative monster. Someone who uses boys for his own purposes. There are always more boys, being nothing more than disposable. Someone has to look after the boys that never grow old.

I never thought Peter Pan was anything more than an immature and manipulator. So I really enjoyed this story, with it fitting my own perceptions. It’s also surprisingly brutal for a fairy tale re-telling which is again up my alley. I’m not entirely sure that it deserves such a high rating on merit, but it was so much better than the Girl in Red that may boosting it a little.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: The Girl in Red, The Starless Sea, The Night Circus, Beneath the Sugar Sky

>56 stretch: This sounds quite interesting. My sister was quite obsessed with Peter Pan when we were young so I've seen a lot of adaptations.

>56 stretch: That one sounds interesting to me, too. I love a good classic story retelling, and I can be totally on board with a villainous Peter Pan. (Personally, my take on the original is that he embodies the utter amorality of children in a way that gets more interestingly disturbing the more you think about it.)

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

A short shocking and absolutely deplorable near future where due to a mysterious pandemic all animal flesh is lethal for human consumption. Now a special meat (an underclass of humans) is cultivated to feed our own unshakable needs with all the accompanying governmental regulations and support of course.

In a world where humans are forced to raise and consume humans for meat, there are so many social and moral avenues to explore. But really besides the shocking setup in the first half, there really isn't much here. It's terrifying how Bazterrica was able to show how quickly and willingly people are to accept cannibalism as normal. Then the second half of the book went in a more personal direction, one that glosses over societal ills and a larger story line for one that fixes a singular wrong in a world of wrongs. Even if that fix is disgusting in of itself. All in all it's a let-down of an ending for a book that was set up to be something far more interesting.

★★★

Connective Tissue: The Jungle, Animal Farm

It's terrifying how Bazterrica was able to show how quickly and willingly people are to accept cannibalism as normal.

And yet there's a normalised highly ritualised form of symbolic cannibalism that is (confusingly) ALSO supposed to function as a literal partaking of flesh. Just remarking by way of how strange we are... viscerally I find cannibalism disgusting, but intellectually it's not obviously so.

Has anyone here watched South Park on DVD? There's an extra where Trey and Matt fry bacon and feed it to a pig, Macon. "Macon loves bacon." I winced, I laughed, I cringed, I was appalled, I was amused, I was amusingly appalled.

>59 stretch: Humanity will do anything to survive - regardless of how amoral it is. Yes - there may be some people that may not (initially) but... in the long run, survival beats morals. Which is what makes a lot of these novels so terrifying - we all believe that we won't when it comes to that and yet... somewhere deep down most people do wonder...

>59 stretch: I agree about the ending. The wife accepted the taboo baby so quickly and the man killed Jasmine so quickly it all seemed too forced. The death of the father was probably the turning point for Marcos, but that seems too easy. Oddly enough, the scenes with the puppies were some of the most effective.

>60 LolaWalser: I never quite looked at communion as a form of cannibalism, but I guess it fits both symbolically and literally. I also tought of it more in the famial sense, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh kind of thing. Never occured to me that they were consuming that to become one.

Yeah, I remember the Macon video. Pigs are known to eat anything including other bits of pigs but I'd never seen anyone do that deliberately before, at least not like that. They do explore cannibalism a lot in the show. If I recall correctly Cartman at one point feeds his bully a chili with the bully's parents as an ingredient.

>61 AnnieMod: Yes it is a truly interesting and scary concept to explore. I really liked the world she built in the first part of the novel. I grew up in a rural community that performed the slaughtering of animals for food. Those parts of the book felt visural reaction, because it felt so very real except it was humans instead of livestock. In a couple of parts I had to put it down.

>63 gsm235: It kind of felt like she had written herself into a corner with all the shocking bits running their course she had nowhere else to go with it. Except for that half hearted attempt to shock us one last time with that ending.

From the shut-up and listen list:

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

A powerful indictment of how little things have changed. Baldwin as writer, moves even an irreligious person like me in a way I was not expecting.

>64 stretch: At the end of Stranger in a Strange Land, there's an explicit link to Communion as cannibalism and the willing sacrifice - it made me look at Mass a rather different way for a while, and the echoes still linger.

>66 jjmcgaffey: It's now one of those things once it is seen it can't be unseen.

>65 stretch: "Shut-up and listen list". I quite like that :-)

I'm glad I started reading your thread. I'm finding it very enlivening for my sluggish brain. Previously I had only "spoken" with you on last year's covid thread and read your comments on others' threads.

>23 stretch: Your review of Patriotism sparked my interest so that I spent an hour with Mr. Google reading about Mishima. I have a smattering of Japanese authors represented on my shelves, but have yet to breach most (Abe, Mishima, Endo, Kawabata). Sadly I have only been a rather pedestrian reader of Japanese literature (Murakami, Ogawa, Ibuse's Black Rain, Kuwahara's unforgettable Kamikaze, and a smattering of graphic novels, such as Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen series) so far.

>35 stretch: Wow. I'm impressed with your system of quantifying not just what you read, but your values and what you want to emphasize in your reading, then linking it to another quantifiable activity, running. Far surpasses the data I used to crunch linking my reading and health. I once brought bar graphs of my reading to my doctor to prove that something was "off". True story. LOL

>40 stretch: Echoing others that I like your use of connective tissue. I sometimes talk about reading down a rabbit hole, which is a similar idea although indicates sustained single-directional linked reading, as opposed to a one-to-one web of reading. Thanks for the brain spark.

>41 stretch: Not sure Russian authors are ever going to be all that interesting to me. Ooh, immediately I began trying to think of works that might get your to change your mind. Once I get more familiar with your reading interests, I might have a go at suggesting some things. For instance, I immediately thought of Chekhov's Sakhalin Island, but I'm not sure if you are into history. Certainly there has been a lot of overlap in Soviet and Japanese control of the area, although Chekhov's book is about the penal colony there and only touches on the Japanese. I realize you may have little interest in ever pursuing Russian literature, but it will be fun for me to think about what might entice you.

>54 stretch: I was intrigued by your review of Across the Green Grass Fields and read about the wayward children series. This article made it seem incredibly complicated, but my guess is that the reader would be eased into it.

>56 stretch: I like some fairy-tale retellings too, although most of the ones I've read are of Slavic origin. Have you read any of the Canongate Myth series? Natsuo Kirino writes one of the books.

>69 labfs39: Heh. Yeah, the author has extracted a lot of data from the stories - but the stories don't lay things out that way, it just comes up in passing while the adventure is going on. I like all of them and love some. You'd do a lot better to try reading one of the stories, rather than an analysis article like that, to find out if you'll like them.

>69 labfs39: Thanks for stopping by, it's so hard to follow everyone in CR. I never get around to all the threads I want but that is by no means a negative!

>23 stretch: stretch: Your review of Patriotism sparked my interest so that I spent an hour with Mr. Google reading about Mishima. I have a smattering of Japanese authors represented on my shelves, but have yet to breach most (Abe, Mishima, Endo, Kawabata). Sadly I have only been a rather pedestrian reader of Japanese literature (Murakami, Ogawa, Ibuse's Black Rain, Kuwahara's unforgettable Kamikaze, and a smattering of graphic novels, such as Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen series) so far.

He is a fascinating character to research. I still have his novels on my TBR, wanted to read something to understand his mindset better before tackling his longer works.

I do love Japanese literature of all types thanks to Lilisin. I got a bunch on my ereaders to plow through now, and I'm always looking for more recommend ations. Kuwahara has definitely been added to the list.

>35 stretch: stretch: Wow. I'm impressed with your system of quantifying not just what you read, but your values and what you want to emphasize in your reading, then linking it to another quantifiable activity, running. Far surpasses the data I used to crunch linking my reading and health. I once brought bar graphs of my reading to my doctor to prove that something was "off". True story. LOL

Hahaha, yeah it's a little overboard. But I finally get to use all those risk assessment equations on something other than esoteric chemistry. It's a personal experiment in change. I wanted to really push my own habits in a new direction and I think it's been a moderate success so far. This iteration is way more complicated than last year's version but I am proud to see it working and influencing my decision making process.

>40 stretch: stretch: Echoing others that I like your use of connective tissue. I sometimes talk about reading down a rabbit hole, which is a similar idea although indicates sustained single-directional linked reading, as opposed to a one-to-one web of reading. Thanks for the brain spark.

Thanks, there just random thoughts of how my past reading influences my present. Not read alikes, bit connected in my brain by theme, topic, or some other intangible thing I can't put my finger on. Maybe if I collect enough data points I'll figure out how to create one of those web cradle things. Right now resist my completist nature to fog too deep in the weeds of making connections. It's just the major stuff that comes to my mind when I think of it and that is good enough for me now.

>41 stretch: stretch: Not sure Russian authors are ever going to be all that interesting to me. Ooh, immediately I began trying to think of works that might get your to change your mind. Once I get more familiar with your reading interests, I might have a go at suggesting some things. For instance, I immediately thought of Chekhov's Sakhalin Island, but I'm not sure if you are into history. Certainly there has been a lot of overlap in Soviet and Japanese control of the area, although Chekhov's book is about the penal colony there and only touches on the Japanese. I realize you may have little interest in ever pursuing Russian literature, but it will be fun for me to think about what might entice you.

I was being a bit harsh in my statement. Too concentrated on the "classics" when I know there is more to any canon. I need to find the right niche. That Chekhov sounds way more my speed than what I have trying in the past.

>54 stretch: stretch: I was intrigued by your review of Across the Green Grass Fields and read about the wayward children series. This article made it seem incredibly complicated, but my guess is that the reader would be eased into it.

Hmmmm that is a complicated deep dive into this portal fantasy. Truthfully it is a super straight forward, McGuire makes it really easy to follow. I started reading this series in my COVID down time, and started with the third book in the series. Never felt lost. Do love those illstrations though, they look exactly how'd I imagine them.

>56 stretch: stretch: I like some fairy-tale retellings too, although most of the ones I've read are of Slavic origin. Have you read any of the Canongate Myth series? Natsuo Kirino writes one of the books.

I hadn't heard about these. They look right up my alley, some retellings can be pretty flat when they don;t come at the story from a new angle. From a cursory glance these look fantastic and an opportunity to learn about some of the original stories I've never heard of. Bookmarked for future reference for sure!

I was inspired by your thread to read one of the Japanese novels that has been languishing on my shelves. I chose The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe. I finished it yesterday and am still caught in its atmosphere. Have you read it?

>72 labfs39: I skipped ove Abe until I got over my first person narrative thing bugging me, he's defintely on the list.

Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

I was very meh about this one the entire time reading it. I've never really cared about the political machinations. And a good chunk of this book is just that, the formation of fractured government overlong periods of time, I mean for me not the characters. It was a tough slog to get through. Then there's the first 100 failing to mature and grow. They are the same people at 30 as they are 200. And it's infuriating to watch them continue to not communicate for decades over and over again. It's a wonder how they got to Mars at all.

So yeah loved Red Mars
Liked Green Mars
Was meh about Blue Mars

I'll still end up reading the Martians.

★★½

Connective Tissue: Mars Trilogy

Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim

Grass is a harrowing graphic novel, offering up the life story of a Korean girl named Lee Ok-sun who was forced into sexual slavery as a comfort woman for the Japanese Imperial Army during the second World War. Beginning in Lee’s childhood, Grass shows the lead up to World War II from a child’s vulnerable perspective, detailing how one person experienced the Japanese occupation and the widespread suffering it entailed for ordinary Koreans. Keum Suk Gendry-Kim emphasizes Lee’s strength in overcoming the many forms of adversity she experienced. What these poor women went through was utterly unfathomable. Strong of character is the only way to describe them.

While the story is harrowing in itself and the brushed artwork is incredible in selling the pain and desolation. I found the interview style of story telling distracting at times. I think a more cohesive narrative would have taken this one over the top.

★★★½

Connective Tissue: The Best We Could Do, Maus

>74 stretch: Hmm, I have Red Mars on my shelf. Is it worth reading as a stand alone? It sounds like the rest of the trilogy goes downhill.

>75 stretch: The only book I've read on the subject is Comfort woman by Nora Okja Keller. Like your impressions of Grass, I found the topic chilling, but the writing wasn't as compelling.

>76 labfs39: I certianly liked the geology aspects of Red Mars and the science was compelling enough in Green Mars, just never enjoyed the politicial discussion asides. From what I can remember Red Mars was good as a standalone. If you don't mind a loose end or two the each volume is more of it's own standalone that is loosely connected to the previous one. A by product of terraforming is it takes a really long time so the each book is different period of that evolution. My feeling is that it could have ended with the first two and been a fine series, I didn't get that much from this last installment.

I, too, haven't read much on the subject, but I do want to read more about Nanjing, more of the humans are terrible to each other subject line.

>74 stretch: It’s been more than ten years, but remember Blue Mars being fine. In fact, I tend to think of the three books as volumes in one large books rather than separate novels.

>74 stretch: I think I liked Blue Mars a lot more than you did because I did not try to judge it as a standalone novel but as the logical continuation of the other two. This trilogy works better if it is read one after another than if you split it IMO. Then the politics of the third don't feel as overwhelming...

The Martians is fun :)

>77 stretch: Have you read The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang? Brutal reading, but it gave me an overview of the atrocities. Although praised for bringing the incident to light in the West, it was quite controversial, and not just for the numbers of murdered and raped, which no one seems to agree on. She blames the Japanese "character" and culture and didn't seem to do much research from the Japanese sources. It's unfortunately that the first popular book in the West on the subject was not written by an historian. I think she had good intentions but got in over her head. Sadly she committed suicide seven years after the book was published.

>78 gsm235: and >79 AnnieMod: Perhaps they are better as one volume. I did read Red and Green relatively close together but began to lose interest 3/4 of the way through Green Mars and never felt that compaled to continue on wtih Blue Mars right of way because of the direction it was going. We all read this for different reasons and mine were more back burner through the latter parts of Green and most of Blue. It's not a bad series and I'm not disappointed to have finished it off, just didn't end as high as it started for me.

>80 labfs39: My library has the Rape of Nanking and I put it on my wishlist, but not sure this is the Nanking book I want. Reading about the controversy and the blame the Japanese 'character' is so simplistic. No one culture is immune to atrocities. She defintely had the best of intentions there's no doubt, but reading interveiws it sounds like she went into the a certian predetermined mindset to discover or pinpoint the reason for this horrible period. I don't I tend to think human reasoning for why we do anything is beyond complex. I just started Kamikaze it has already blown away some of my own preconcieved notions about those pilots backgroundsand motivations.

It's always difficult with reading history books written by journalist vs historians. Books by journalists are generally, not always more readable given their narrative structure, but facts and analysis are not always the best. Not that historians don't bend facts to their own purposes. With history books you can only trust the reputations of the authors and trust what you read is close to the factual truth that time and distance allows.

>81 stretch: Possibly. This trilogy was my introduction to KSR... and I fell in love with his style. So I am not very objective when the Mars books are mentioned. :) But I agree that depending on why you liked Red to start with, Blue can be seen as a letdown.

Penance by Kanae Minato

Penance is slow burn revenge tale of four very damaged girls after they witness their friends brutal assault and murder. The murder isn't a mystery, nor is what happens to the dead girl slowly exposed over the course of the novel. All that is revealed in the opening chapter. The facts are not in dispute. What is divulged in confessional chapters are the feelings and consequences for the four girls who witnessed and reported the key events. Each feels an overwhelming quilt and is psychologically damaged by what they witnessed. With the victim's mother only adding to their damage by further augmenting their feelings of guilt through intimidation and curses, leading to the damage manifesting itself in very different self-destructive ways with deadly consequences as the girls become women.

Minato is brilliant at making psychological damaged people make sense. Their actions flow so naturally from the feelings that everything that happens to them or by them is just a logical and natural outcome. Never is there a question about the authenticity of the characters actions. Not as thrilling as or as surprising as Confessions, but I think I'll appreciate what Minato has written here more the further I get away from this one.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: Confessions

>81 stretch: I read Kamikaze years ago, and I have forgotten much, but some things remain vivid in my mind: the training the pilots underwent, the hachimaki, the desperation, the dignity. I look forward to hearing your thoughts when you finish.

Kamikaze by Yasuo Kuwahara and Gordon T. Allred

Billed as an autobiographical chronicle of a Kamikaze pilot in the late stages of World War II. I'm not entirely sure if it's all that accurate in the details. Reading more like an embellished narrative of a young man building a story around a terrible experience. At times, it reads more like a beautifully written fictional account than an accurate, dry retelling of factual events. Regardless if it's truly non-fiction or purely made up, there's a lot that can be learned from this story.

I wasn't interested in the aviation history of the story or Kamikaze tactics. I wanted some insight into the devotion and suicidal commitment these young men had for their country and Emperor. What drove them? How they felt facing the possibility of certain death? How they wrestled with justifying their actions in their minds, with their peers, and with their families?

Kamikaze gives us a brief insight into the absolute brutal training that cadets were put through in order to break them. The propaganda that fills them with the fighting spirit. And to conflicting feelings of fear and trepidation, but the overwhelming desire to preserve their honor of their country, their people, their Emperor, and most of all their family. The struggle with growing disillusionment of a war going bad, yet still feeling the need to fulfill their duty. I learned a lot of what I was after reading this book, but I don't think I'll truly ever understand what it meant to so willingly forfeit one's own life for a cause that you can't fully believe. Psychologically we are very much alike, sacrifice is universal, but at the same time culturally and all the social pressures that entails makes us so different. To willingly give up ones own life for an abstract idea like honor is hard enough to understand, but when that idea is wrapped in honoring one's family, country, and Emperor, that's something that is difficult to fathom.

★★★★★

Connective Tissue: Fires on the Plain, One Man's Justice, The Stones Cry Out

"I did not comprehend all the differences between the religion of Buddha and national Shintoism. Nor did I understand how it was possible for a person to embrace both simultaneously as many in my country actually did, for their doctrines regarding an after life seemed utterly antithetic.

On the one hand lay ultimate transcendency, ultimate liquidation of individual identity and absorption into the grand and universal "soul", much as a drop of water enters the ocean. On the other, the perpetuation of personality and of human relationships. For our fighting men, those who died valiantly in battle, the honor of being guardian warriors in the realms."

I can't remember where I saw this, but I read that the whole kamikaze myth is a tad overblown--not that there weren't suicide bombers, but that generally the soldiers were anything but delighted to sacrifice themselves in such a fashion. Only there wasn't much space for rebellion. Meaning, it's at odds with the not-uncommon notion that the Japanese were swivel-eyed fanatics to a man.

>86 LolaWalser: No, fantaticism played an insignificant part in the suicidal attacks of the Japanese. It seems to me these type of attacks were done more out a devotion and obligation drummed into them by propaganda and a narrow militrastic definition of bushido. I've always wonderred what if any role the traditional shinto belief system plays into the kind of ritual suicide that at times seems prevalent throughout Japanese history through the days of the smaurai right up to the present. There may be no connection at all, but it is tangilently mentioned enough in these stories to make me wonder if I am missing something there.

>87 stretch:

It's interesting you bring up shinto. I saw recently The Emperor's naked army marches on (highly, highly recommended if you haven't seen it) and the man the documentary follows, a 62-year old veteran, expresses a concern with religion, a religious motivation, that I have rarely (or maybe never) seen before in something about Japan. He is on a mission to appease the souls of his comrades, he says that explicitly. Their souls can't rest until the world learns the truth about their deaths. This is hugely important.

It's also interesting that almost the opening statement in the film is a sort of credo, him saying nations are an obstacle, as the families are an obstacle, between people (obviously I could only read the subs so maybe this is not his thought perfectly relayed). Not a very "Japanese" sentiment, as the Japanese are mostly presented in Western media...

ack! Sorry! wrong thread, meant to post in mine

>88 LolaWalser: Never Heard of that Documentary before. I'll be sure to look it up. Cutting through all the Western BS of what is and isn't authentically Asian is something I try to avoid. Fetishing an entire people has lead to so many issues. Of course the nueance in my understanding is what I am striving for with this kind of topic. I want to be careful drawing generalizations from a single source so more information is always welcome. Shinto is not something I understand with any kind of depth and want to know more about how it shapes their culture. Much like how aspects of Christianity defines our own even for people that are non-belivers.

>90 stretch:

I wrote a little about the film here https://www.librarything.com/topic/328338#7452381

I would advise watching it (if only you can find it!) without reading too much about it, though, much of online analysis is very judgemental (Roger Ebert's site has a good review but they too advise breaking off reading until one has seen it and then coming back).

On religion, I just had a general impression that it somehow matters less than in many other places, that the society is quite secular, similar to Europe. Obviously this is not supposed to be absolutely true, individuals can be all sorts of un/believers... and there is still some potential for fanaticism, as exemplified by that Aun Shinrikyo cult and similar.

I've read that it's the ancestor-worship that causes relatively "milder" (healthier? at least for society) attachments to religion in China (historically) and Japan. This would fulfill the need for moral discipline, but as it is oriented toward one's own family, there is no oppressive messianism oriented toward (against) other people. You are a good person if you do good by your own, not if you go fighting "infidels".

>85 stretch: Nice review of Kamikaze, Kevin. I'm glad you liked it. It would be interesting to read other kamikaze pilot memoirs for comparison, but I've never run across any.

Generation Kill by Evan Wright

A fairly straight forward accounting of the invasion of Iraq with a battalion of Recon Marines. Full of macho bravado, straight up killers, troubled young men, questionable decision-making up and down ranks, foggiest of war fogs, lack of rest, complaining about MREs, and most of the endless feeling of boredom. Decidedly real leadership is revealed while incompetence is exposed throughout. Even if its focus is narrowed to a single the actions of small aggressive Marine unit in a much larger war. Once the larger picture is revealed a lot of the seemingly foolish actions begin to make sense.

Shocking for sure, but not really that shocking considering war stories we've been exposed to over the last 20 to 30 years.

★★★½

Connective Tissue: Joker One

---

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

This is supposed to be a twisted tell of serial killers, but really it just a vehicle for book club discussion points. There are matters to adultery, spousal lying, family issues, mental health issues abound, middle age breakdowns, feelings of inadequacy, etc. etc.

It's not that it isn't well written, it's that the domestic issues swamp an interesting story for a pretty mundane one. There are better thrillers and better stories that tackle these sorts of issues.

★★

Connective Tissue: In the Miso Soup

If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura

A young man diagnosised with a brain tumor with only days to live, makes a deal with the devil to extend his life. By removing one thing, something important from the world, he can extend his life by a single day. With so many things in the world it seems like an excellent way to gain a few more years. Once things start disappearing it becomes obvious that even the little things play an important role in connecting us to what truly is important. Within days the man realizes a profound truth and decides some things are just too important to disappear.

It's pretty clear early on that this is all his head, and that nothing is really disappearing from the rest of the world. It's something he is living, but for the rest of the people around him it is a dying man trying to reconnect in his last days, nothing in their lives is a miss. This a much more literal approach to the things disappearing being more meaningful than on first inspection than the more abstract exploration of the theme from the Memory Police. So inevitably it's much more sentimental with the profound conclusions being a bit cliché. In any other book it's something I would've derided, but in this story it works, even with the profound clichés about a worthy life lived, I still felt something by its conclusion that I wasn't really expecting and if any novel does that in my book it was worth the read.

★★★½

Connective Tissue: The Memory Police

>85 stretch: Some years ago I read a book which studied the diaries of a number of young Japanese soldiers, some of whom ended up as kamikaze pilots - Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney. I looked up my review at the time and I think some of it might be interesting here:

One of the main aims of this book is to dispel the myth that kamikaze pilots were fanatical nationalists, eager to die in the name of the Emperor. As it turns out, there were 4000 kamikaze pilots trained. 3000 were children - schoolboys - and 1000 were students who had been granted early graduation to enable them to be drafted. Huge amounts of peer pressure were put on them to 'volunteer'. Sickeningly, the whole process was done at arms-length from the regular army and navy because they took their orders from the Emperor, and it could not be seen that the Emperor was ordering men to die.

Their diaries track ... their views about their own situation - both the war itself, and their inevitable oncoming death which they are expected to receive with joy.

Some of them are supporters of making peace from the start. Others begin with strong patriotic sentiments which are eroded by the brutal, oppressive treatment they receive on the military bases. But the overall picture is a complex mixture of pride in the national culture, a sense of impending doom (whether or not they are in the army), an idealised view of masculinity and sacrifice, and an often naively adolescent view of the ills of the world.

Ohnuki-Tierney argues that all of these responses were attempts to rationalise the fact that they were going to die young, and they didn't want to. I don't think that the texts themselves demonstrate this clearly - some of the patriotic emotions were surely genuine. I can understand her intentions, but I think that this complexity is already enough to demonstrate that the stereotype of kamikaze pilots is inaccurate.

>95 wandering_star: I think you're right her argument is fundamentally flawed when considering a larger picture than just the Kamikaze pilots. There's the issue of the most successful attacks being led by well-trained and experienced pilots, not just boys, who undoubtedly made up the bulk of these squadrons. But the Kamikaze attacks are just a single prong in the all or nothing attacks that the Japanese exhibited throughout the war. They are the most prominent in our minds because of the media surrounding them. But there are the human wave attacks executed by the army, even the navy at Pearl Harbor deployed suicidal sub attacks. The pilots probably gives us the greatest insight into these sorts of attacks because they had the longest to contemplate their meaning and wrestle with all the various motivating factors: a fanaticism to some extent, the destructive nationalism in grained within society, peer pressure, a particular interpretation in Bushido, a system of honor and masculinity unique to their culture, the sense of impending doom, propaganda designed to incite the worst fears, and their own fears. I think in a way to call them fanatics or merely forced into it by the system, cheapens their own lived experience and the sacrifices they made either of the own volition or against their will. This is a much more complex topic than what most of the sources out their boil it down to, even in Kamikaze at one point called the navy Kamikaze pilot's fanatics while the army pilots were more contemplative about their sacrifice. Even from within this wasn't much nuisance taken into account about the men making these sacrifices by the very men making those sacrifices.

Catching up, Kevin fascinated by the kamikaze (and Japanese culture) discuss.

>81 stretch: on history in general, no field is immune. There are historians and there are historians. But non-historians writing history do some terrible crimes. See Nathaniel Philbrick, who takes stories in diaries as absolute certain historical fact, if he likes the story.

I think Iris Chang was a very good but also flawed writer. She presented the research that agreed with her pre-intended arguments. She has a book an American anti-Chinese sentiment, which is really enlightening. (The Chinese in America : A Narrative History) It has some of the same strengths and weaknesses, though. No nuance, for one. (Don’t feel obligated, but my at-the-time thoughts are in the last long paragraph of my review https://www.librarything.com/topic/179643#4944276 )

>97 dchaikin: Thanks for stopping by, I'm still hestiant to make any conclusions about a culture I've only ever read about, one day I'll need to find my way to Japan for some cultural immersion.

You absolutely right about no filed immune to bias. History is one of those areas that can attract some dubious characters with nefarious agendas because fact checking a too good to be true story that aligns with your biases just isn't something most people do. For instance, I grew up in a rural county in the central valley (hometown pop. was maybe 350 people) and this big shot reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle wanted to write a story about how rural communities were discriminating against Asian-American farmers. So he wrote a story that featured the bankruptcy proceedings of the Wong family from my community. Wong is certainly a Chinese family name except when it's the modern spelling of an old English name Geong. The Wong's in this case was a Mayflower type family that were more example of white mediocrity using every part of the system to get ahead. We had a good laugh at the story because the Wong's went on to make all kinds of embarrassing headlines. It was really actually kind of sad that a reporter so eager to push their agenda about the courts judgements in an ugly bankruptcy with an Asian sounding name missed out on some actual stories of the families the preserved through Japanese internment, Chinese exclusion laws, and just plain old racism. For rural county we were remarkably diverse with families from Latin, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Korean, and Pakistani backgrounds I'm sure they all had stories to tell that were far more interesting and true. Hell our Native American sheriff could fill several volumes of stories with all the BS he put up with.

I think I'll put Iris Chang on the reading list, maybe not her Nanjing book, but the Chinese in America, it's something I at least have more familiarity to and can discern where things do and don't line up. When it comes to the atrocities committed at Nanjing, something I know next to nothing about it would be better to perhaps go with a drier account first to get an idea of the history. The truth is hard to get to in history, it's so easy to get carried away with the story you want to believe.

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera

A story about a small town unnamed Mexican woman with connections to seemingly everyone, including the underworld that dominates her sphere of influence, who makes a journey north of the border to locate her lost brother. Her brother journeyed north in pursuit of land and his dreams only to never be heard of again.

This is an incredibly thin premise. It drifts from a relatively straightforward narrative to something a bit surreal where details are lost and only a feeling of what happened is left. At times, it's a story about a journey of an unstoppable woman on a mission, at others it's an indictment of the perils of immigration along our southern borders, and at others a love letter to the status quo. Herrera never fully settles on what this story is about, which in the end left me confused. Confused by the use of language, by the flow of the story, and finally its outcome. The unnamed woman is both fully in control of her journey and destiny, but lets the world at times dictate terms. I'm not sure where exactly I land on this one.

★★★

Connective Tissue: The Lost Children Archives

>99 stretch: I’m intrigued (and i like this specific connective tissue)

>98 stretch: that’s funny about the Wong story. Regarding Chang’s book, the seismic industry is heavily Chinese. My previous company was even known informally as “that Chinese company” (it was Canadian at the time). So I found it fascinating because it gave a little context to so many of my coworkers and the wave they are a small part of.

>98 stretch:
I think Iris Chang, although still very much indeed having an objective, is at least considerate to mention the different data from different sources. For example the much argued death count. She could easily have given the highest figure like the Chinese do, or given the lowest figure like the Japanese do, but she discusses how the count changes depending on the motivations behind the people counting. So I think if you keep these things in mind it still is very much worth reading the Nanking book. I personally loved it.

When I read these type of history books I never take what is written as the most objective truth. Instead I look for common stories and common truths. If this is the first book I read about a topic, then I compare it to other similar situations across other countries to find commonalities. If I have read several within a topic, I think about which viewpoint I'm reading from and how things are being presented.

But I think for me it helps that I can't keep dates and names and events in my head. I can read 10 books about a historical event and I'll still have to wiki the details if someone asks me about it. But I always remember what the book discussed in terms of humanity. For me, that's the most important part.

>99 stretch:
I purchased this book in February and will probably be reading this in May or June as right now I'm currently on a French language reading spree. I'll be interested to see how our experiences with the book align as I had high expectations of the book when purchasing it as it was on a best novellas list.

I was moved and impressed by The Chinese in America, which educated me on the harrowing racism that Chinese Americans have faced since their initial arrival in the United States, and The Rape of Nanking, which was a powerful and difficult read, due to the horrific acts committed by the Japanese. Both books are utterly unforgettable.

With my Father's passing in mid-April I have much to catch up on, I have fallen woefully behind on everyone else's threads and don't think I'm going to catch up anytime soon.

The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike

Like a lot of haunted house stories the young Kano family think they have hit the jackpot when moving into a brand-new apartment in the heart of Toyko – that overlooks a temple and graveyard. The unit is spacious, underpriced in a hopefully up and coming neighborhood. The Kanos aren't well off, but the father has a good salary job, the mother a freelance illustrator has something to keep her busy while she stays at home taking care of their precious daughter. It's a fresh start for the family and things look bright. Until the other building occupants begin moving out, having had enough of the spooky malevolence permeating the atmosphere. Sinister coincidences and terrifying experiences pile up as the Kano family descends further into madness and fear.

The Graveyard Apartment is something of a departure from the classic haunted house tale. It's more a slow build psychological terror and gradually unfolding suspense than the shock and gore of Western horror. For Koike the terror lies in the characters minds as odd occurrences unfold. She dissects her adult characters, pulling them apart to expose their innermost thoughts. They all harbor anger toward those who don’t deserve their wrath and guilt for actions they couldn’t prevent even if they wanted to. Teppei (the father) insisted on buying an apartment his wife was reluctant about and then resisted leaving because homeownership was his first real opportunity to “be a man” and provide for his family, a feeling of failure in this regard he still hasn't escaped from his first and something his brother constantly reminds him of as being the most important virtue. Misao (the mother) saw it as a chance to play the dutiful wife and mother. Teppei’s first wife was the epitome of womanhood and wifeliness, and Misao is trapped in her shadow. Their marriage was founded on lies, betrayal, and death, and the apartment was a chance to start over, which is why they stay even after it becomes clear they need to leave. The Kanos are the kind of people who willingly move into a place that’s nothing but bad vibes then try to convince themselves that everything will be fine if they try hard enough.

Like most good ghost stories it is about so much more than a creepy house and unsettling happenings. There's a haunting here that runs much deeper.

★★★½

Connective Tissue: White is for Witching, The Haunting of Hill House, The Tell-tale Heart, Poe

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More for the Shut Up and Listen List:

Dear White America by George Yancy

A quick indicating letter full of righteous anger, that is a clear call for action.

Women & Power by Mary Beard

The history of political silencing of women from classical examples to the present. An interesting/effective approach.

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So you have been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

Profiles the people behind some of the most popularized public shamings in our new age of social media. Ronson thesis that public shaming doesn't solve the wrongs that these people commit, doesn't really make us feel better, or make the public square a better place. He argues that the harm caused by public shaming is in fact far more destructive than the initial wrong.

I don't totally agree with his thesis. Yes, public shaming is a hammer, that people deserve second chances, that we shouldn't be forever saddled with our wrongs, that along with the shaming should come forgiveness. In a lot of cases shaming is the only way to hold the more powerful accountable for their actions. It's a blunt instrument that is easily abused in our social media age, something that needs correction for sure. But at the end of the day forcing people to think about their actions before they commit to do something stupid then maybe that isn't the worse thing. Most of the shamings Roson highlights could have been avoided with a little empathy and understanding. Even the edge case was an example of a lack of communication. Slowing down and taking the time to think through our actions rather than shooting from the hip just to get internet brownie points is something we should all be doing.

★★½

Connective Tissue: Something Malcolm Gladwell wrote, that sounds far more profound than it actually is.

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The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

The Speed of Dark is a science fiction book like no other. In the near future high functioning adults on the autism spectrum are employed in jobs that take advantage of the unique skill sets. Written primarily from the point of view of an autistic man there is a lot of insight into how their mind works as he tries to navigate everyday life, relationships in his job, with his friends, with other members of the autistic community, and with the people that are supposed to be assisting them through all these challenges. Autism has been cured in newborns, so this group of adults are some of the last autistic folks in society. When rumors of a new cure for adults begin to circulate, things get a lot more complicated for our protagonist.

Such an interesting concept and coming from such a challenging point of view makes for an incredible arresting book. Moon is a very talented writer. For me though the ending was so anticlimactic and so out of place with the direction of the story, it's a bit of a let-down.

★★★

Connective Tissue: None

I haven’t read your whole post yet, but i read the first paragraph. I’m really sorry, Kevin.

I’m very sorry for your loss, Kevin.

” Connective Tissue: Something Malcolm Gladwell wrote, that sounds far more profound than it actually is.”

I think that could be any of his books. : ) (i still like him, despite that sense.)

I'm sorry for your loss, Kevin. I hope Covid restrictions did not impact you too much.

Very sorry to hear about your father.

>103 stretch: What a traumatic loss! I'm so sorry, Kevin.

Sorry to hear about your loss. It's a club I wish no one had to join. :(

Kevin, my sympathies.

>104 dchaikin: >105 NanaCC: >107 labfs39: >108 LolaWalser: >109 sallypursell: >110 lilisin: >111 lisapeet: Thank y'all for the condolences, it is much appreciated. He had cancer for a long, long time now, has earned his rest and then some.

>106 dchaikin: Tongue firmly in cheek although I did struggle with his titles at first. I've read he has gone a bit off his rocker in his latest, since he has taken a more public conservative bent as of late.

I'm just now seeing the news about your father, Kevin. My apologies for my tardy reply, and my thoughts go out to you and your family.

>113 kidzdoc: Thank you Darryl. No need for apologies, we all deal with our parents getting older. I know you have your hands full as well.

A Luminous Republic by Andres Barba

What starts out as a matter of fact bureaucratic re-telling of a Cities killing of 32 feral children, turns into a commentary on power of music, law and justice, causes of violence, reality of childhood, the friendship of marriage, roots of language, society’s views on poverty, what is reality, what is truth. I'm not sure how exactly to summarize this wonderfully short exploration of one of our primordial fears: what's out there beyond our civilized constructions. As a novel it does so much more than tell a story of lost, uncivilized children, in fact they are more a backstory for Barba to explore far more complex topics. This sounds like too much for a single novel that is closer to being a novelette. Yet Barba weaves all his musings into the narrative smoothly and with ease. A Luminous Republic is like all the books in my connective tissue section, and not like them at all; it is not quite like anything I've read before.

★★★★★

Connective Tissue: Lord of Flies, Shipwrecks, Heart of Darkness, Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids

The Last Children of Tokyo by Yoko Tawada

Just finished this book and I have no idea what it is about! I can tell you the plot: In the near future a plaque strikes the planet where the old progressively get stronger and the young get weaker. Grandparents taking care of grandchildren and those in the middle (parents) seemingly disappear in a starving Japan. It's like Benjamin button but from both directions. And well that's it. To be fair there's a running commentary on Japanese Isolationism, not entirely sure if she is against it or just the way it's being implemented. Pretty sure it's the former, but it's hard to tell at some points.

This is a well written book, that is incredibly readable. But does it say anything. Not all books have to have some grand scheme or theory of course, but I get the feeling that Tawada is commenting on something. I'm just missing what that something is. I want to give this one the benefit of the doubt and say this s on me for not understanding, say this is a well written science fiction dystopia that leaves me wanting more. Really I'm just confused how I enjoyed the writing and story, yet wanting something more from the premise.

★★½

Connective Tissue: Benjamin Button

Keeps the wheels churning, at least. 🙂

Hoping you’re well. It’s quiet here. Nabokov got me thinking of you as his Pnin (pronounced P-neen) set up his office to his peculiar liking, and VN left this sentence. Pardon the melancholy feel.

“With the help of the janitor he screwed onto the side of the desk a pencil sharpener—that highly satisfying, highly philosophical implement that goes ticonderoga-ticonderoga, feeding on the yellow finish and sweet wood, and ends up in a kind of soundlessly spinning ethereal void as we all must.”

>118 dchaikin: That is a neat quote from Nabokov. A reminder I need to get back to my pencils.

I'm good, just a bit scatter shot lately. I keep starting books but haven't been able to finish them, I'm terminally stuck at 40-50% in over six of them. It's not a slump, just able to stick to anyone thing at the moment. Tried limiting distractions, but I just ended up starting a two more books. Got to figure out a better workflow soon, so I can post something again. The ADD is strong as of late, lol.

I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me by Juan Pablo Villalobos

A confused, possibly humorous, definitely convoluted money laundry scheme is the premise of this novel. A Mexican PhD student of literature heading off to Barcelona is roped into a vague business deal through violent means via his sketchy cousin. Told from four distinct voices: the cousin an annoying fool, the superficial mother of the student preoccupied with keeping up appearances, the naïve PhD student that is in over his head and stays there, and the girlfriend who gets dumped but is the only one that asks intelligent questions to figure what the hell is going on.

It's a mess of a story. The money laundry plot goes mostly unexplained, things are hinted at, but never fully rendered. The supporting characters are there only to add to the confusion, never to clarify. Motivations and purpose is left untold. It's all a secret, except maybe that the people of Catalonia are easily corruptible. The initial literature angle for why this student is perfect for the scheme is mostly forgotten, only being brought up to explain away the problem of the plot. Villalobos is a talented writer, able to convincely write in four distinct voices, it's too bad it was wasted on such a thin plot.

★★

Connective Tissue: Tim Dorsey

I finally finished a thing! Hopefully, better things will be completed next.

Real World by Natsuo Kirino

Real World is a portrait of a modern Japan from a teenage perspective with cellphones and texting, adolescence pressure from school and tests, pervasive mass transit, and polite police added interest. Following a story of four girls that encounter an incredibly mediocre, violent boy gone astray transports them from typical high school girls into the adult world, with serious consequences. The point of view rotates between the five kids, leaving the adults on the outside at all times. The women change throughout the book in ways interesting, appropriate, and permanently. Discovering who they really are, navigating a sexist, gritty, and violent world. Even if their ends don't come to some neat and tidy conclusion, they are real, raw.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: Confessions

>121 stretch: Dropping a line to let you know I've been following along. Nice review of Real World.

The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura

Written in 1906 the Book of Tea is a long essay broken into separate chapters, dissecting the culture and aesthetic significance of the Japanese tea ceremony in the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration.

I. The Cup of Humanity:

Okakura initially uses the idea of the tea ceremony to contrast the recent surge of aggression of a modern Japanese warrior spirit of the early 20th century. The recent successful wars with China and Russia have painted the Japanese as being aggressive conquers slave to the cult of Bushido. As celebrating the samurai 'way of death'. To Olakura the Cult of Tea as he puts is celebrating the 'way of life' and peace. Also, in this opening chapter, Okakua rails against the Western stereotyping of the East and the generation of Japanese people adopting too much of the west's culture. To Okakura the Cult of Tea is one of the things that contrasts Japan with the west and an important tool for fighting the insidious nature of Western imperialism. To Okakura the adoption of western dress and customs is a sign of weakness, that Japan should lean into and preserve its own customs, remain defiant to the powerful West. This chapter the ends with a somewhat odd short history of the western adoption of tea. An attempt to connect the east and west on common grounds. An argument that we can all agree on the beauty and enjoyment of a good cup of tea. As well as some Taoism that is indecipherable, which fits Taoism.

II. The Schools of Tea

In this chapter, Okakura details a very brief history of tea and tea making from China. Dividing the periods into three schools of tea making: cake-tea which was boiled (Tang dynasty; Classic school), the powered tea which was whipped (Sung dynasty; Romantic school), and the leaf-tea which is steeped (Ming dynasty; Naturalistic school). This chapter is an interesting mix of philosophical thinking, a mix of eastern thought and Plato's ideal forms. It's interesting to see how Taoist simplicity intersects with the ideas expressed in ideal forms, at least in Okakuro's retelling of how the Japanese tea ceremony is a continuation of the Sung's romantic school of tea making before it was interrupted in the Mongolian invasions, implying the Mongols as uncivilized barbarians that didn't add anything to Chinese culture.

III. Taoism and Zennism

Okakura acknowledges that no amount of explanation is going to adequately convey the meaning of Taoism or Zen. They are such a simple concepts in theory, but the more the Path is explained, the less understandable their practical implications become. The important takeaway from this chapter is that Taoist thought and the formality of Zen rituals is how the Tea Ceremony is defined. Tao gives Teaism it's ideals, while Zen makes them practical. Another thing of interest here is how Okakura divides China into a more spiritual, loosely grounded south and a more structured, Confucian north. The Confucian thought within the Chinese communism makes sense, which provides some sense of the philosophical and political divides of some of the more contentious regions within China's sphere of influence.

IV. The Tea-Room

Every Tea Room is to be built to the Masters' own tastes and aesthetics. The layout, materials, workmanship is top-notch, but not ostentatious. While following a basic plan, no one Tea Room is alike. Each room is to foster a unique sense of contemplation, a serenity, a humbleness through design. Striving for a connective asymmetry of design to encourage deep meditation through the careful selection of a chosen few decorations, artworks, colors, materials of both the room and tea essentials, shapes and sizes of tea vessels, even the placement of objects on the table being misaligned, all in order to concentrate focus, to make the user notice and reflect on the individual objects. Everything about a Tea Room is meant to focus the mind, foster a deeper sense of contemplation about the world, and assist with the meditative process. While the Tea Room is to be immaculately clean, there are places and times purposely left imperfect, like leaves/twigs being left on the grounds of the garden in order to appreciate the perfection that is found in nature. A Tea Room ideally serves as a sanctuary from the outer world, an opportunity for all walks of life to rest and enjoy the refinement of beauty.

V. Art Appreciation

A bit of a lecture on what makes good art. That devolves into a rant about modernity and consumerism in art, rather than the appreciation of true beauty. And a take-down of the archaeological approach to collecting works as being a by product of the age of science. A tired lecture that both exalts modern art and criticizes people for liking what is popular or trendy. A reason to hate serious art critics.

VI. Flowers

A chapter on the veneration of the flower. A brief history on the cultivation and display of flowers through time. The opening bit is about how wasteful it is to cut and display flowers in a manner in which they just wither and die. The art of flower arrangement was a simultaneous development with the tea ceremony. It is interesting that Okakura doesn't dwell on the art of flower arrangement with the kind of depth that Teaism receives. Can't imagine the art wouldn't garner as much detail and introspection as tea. Okakura makes it clear that the tea ceremony is not the time and place for elaborate flower arrangements. For a tea master, the art of flower arrangement is to be left in as natural arrangement as possible. Only the selection of the right flower matters. The focus again should be on the nature of the flower itself, not its artful arrangement. Nature takes precedent over art in the tearoom, except when it comes to actual works of art. Contemplate the great sacrifice of a flower in death and understand the beauty of that the natural world has bestowed upon us.

VII. Tea Masters

A summary chapter outlining all the great contributions that the tea masters of old have left to Japanese culture. Through their influence of the natural love of simplicity and humility to beauty, Okakura credits them with deep impacts in the direction of architecture, art, pottery, the very refinement of Japanese culture. The end is very un-zen like and more in line with the 'way of death' than the 'way of life', detailing the ritual suicide of tea master Rikiu.

The Book of Tea is one of those works that highlights the struggle to hold onto the traditional values that are so important in shaping culture, while dealing with the ramifications of a rapidly modernizing society. Not sure how relevant the Cult of Tea is to the everyday person in 21st century Japan, but the philosophy and ideas behind the tea ceremony are still something that has clearly shaped the modern culture. Grappling with the two divergent pulls within the culture of Meiji period, defining masculinity as both the pursuit of an elegant life and an elegant death, the Book of Tea is an interesting insight into the philosophical mindset of the times.

Connective Tissue: In Praise of Shadows

Helium by Rudy Francisco

A poetry collection about love, heartbreak, discovery, race, racism, and anger. I don't read poetry. To love poetry you must love the language, I merely like the language. I don't know if these are artful, profound, or even good. I can't properly evaluate these poems. I am a poor judge of poetry. But I liked these poems, that read more like statements than poems. More like open thoughts than conclusions. A collection I could get behind.

★★★★½

Connective Tissue: Long way Down

>122 labfs39: Thanks, I have book Out that i want to get to soon now that I know her style is something I like.

Out was the first of Kirino's books I've read and to date my personal top favourite of hers. But I'm there for anything and everything she writes. Glad to have read your review of Real World. Lovely review of Okakura too. If memory serves, it was written for, or mainly with the Western audience in mind, achieved enormous success, and thus became a cultural signpost itself in the story of the Japanese-Western relations.

>126 LolaWalser: Yes, Okakura wrote the Book of Tea in english, specifically for a western audience, most of his work was written in english. He does play into both east and west streotypes a bit and can be confrontational with his western readers. It is curious that in subtle ways it reinforces exocitism of Japanese culture, Okakura makes sure that the things that define Japanese culture are different from those that define the west. Even as he was in the heart of the transedentalism movement of Ameria that reflect some of the very things he describes in his book. I can see how it would be a hit in the west. It certainly is a curious little book, especially during the formative years that would lead up to Japan's politcal upheaval.

>124 stretch: Nice honest review of the poetry, Kevin.

I've had a nice, long catch-up with your reading. It's wonderfully eclectic. My interests seemed to have narrowed over the last couple of years.

Sorry to hear of your father's passing.

>120 stretch: Villalobos is a talented writer, ... it's too bad it was wasted on such a thin plot.

I had the same problem with his Down the Rabbit Hole.

>128 avaland: Electic is such a nice version of chaotic. At least at times it is how it feels. I don't even know why I pretend to make plans that I'm never going to stick to. I think next year will see a narrowing of focus a bit, since over the course of the year I've been amassing Japanese Lit. and 'dark' fiction. More things within my wheelhouse. It''ll still be all over the place but it'll at least resemble a plan.

>129 SassyLassy: That is disappointing Down the Rabbit Hole just became avaible at my library, it was the one I had more of an interest in, but if it's more of the same than i won't regret skipping that hold.

A Continuation of the shut up and listen list:

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

Doesn't hold back even a little from getting uncomfortable and awkward. Great as a resource and for resources. Good place to start.

Football Hackers by Christopher Biermann

I won't go into detail with this one. This is a basic overview of the very recent history of data collection and the creation of advance analytics in professional soccer. For a long time soccer was without data that could explain the game, today with expected goals, packing, and other statistics that is rapidly changing. Add digital video analysis, individual player tracking, psychology, and just better information in general, we are in the era of big data for the game. It is somewhat overwhelming with terabytes of data collected from each and every game. There are issues certainly: team stats are mostly descriptive, predictive stats are hard to come by and flaky in light of the randomness of the game, slow adoption by managers and front offices, misapplications of player data, still not much in the way of the defensive side of the game, and information overload. This area of the game is still new and we improve with time, of course. I like that it can add some hard facts to tactics that were once only described in vague terms. Numbers help me define the game without the cloud of emotion coloring those opinions.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: The Numbers Game, Soccernomics, The Mixer

This is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill

Short #MeToo story, from the perspective a powerful editor in the boo world (the perp) and the prep's close female friend as she tries to process his downfall.

The perp is a man that thinks openly flirting with women is fun and a way to get to know women on a deeper level. Women are viewed in ways that please him. Once he no longer derives pleasure from the situation he moves on, discarded the women as being rigid, becoming unattractive to him. It never seems to occur to him that the inappropriate questions, and touches create situations that trap these women. He doesn't understand the power dynamics at play. That he comes off as a creep. Instead, he uses the few women that appreciate the attention as his justification that what he does is innocent, that no real harm is caused by his flirtations. He is blind to the hurt he leaves in his wake, both to the women he harasses and his wife and daughter. In the end, his life sort of falls apart, but he learns nothing from the experience. For the perp he is just old-fashioned in a world that no longer understands him. Comforted in the fact that he'll land on his feet once this controversy blows over. He's sadly probably right.

The real story though is the friend's perspective. She's of an older generation than the majority of the women the prep has harassed. She's experienced the inappropriate questions, comments, touches. She is strong enough to stop his actions, to dismiss him as an eccentric, harmless flirt. At first, she wants to defend her friend and colleague. Thinking less of women, thinking they lack fortitude. But as it internalizes his actions, she comes to understand how lopsided the power dynamic is with the prep, even in their relationship. She finds her judgmental attitude is misplaced. That she too should angry. That prep's actions do cause real harm. They are not innocent flirtations. That people aren't disposal once they are no longer fun. Still, he is her friend, they share an intimacy she can't easily dismiss. Her efforts to get him to see his errors are for not, her anger and frustrations like much of the other women is invisible to the perp. In the end, all she can do is pity him, realizing that his character lacks depth for remorse or shame.

It's such a different perspective on harassment. I mean, the harasser is pretty much a cliché creepy from the bygone era of Mad Men, so that's not exactly unique. But it is interesting to see how the story plays out from the perspective of the friend who is privilege enough to have dismissed the preps actions early enough in their relationship to form a bond with this interesting, but creepy man. That is interesting to watch evolve. Very well done.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: So you have Been Publicly Shamed

Interesting reading, Kevin. I had never given much thought to soccer big data, but I'm thinking about it now, though not enough to read the book. grin. Nice review of This is Pleasure.

>134 labfs39: Yeah, soccer data is another way to sink my time into soccer. It's asesoteric as it could possibly get, can't imagine many folks around these parts would delve this deep into 1) math, and 2) math about soccer. It's a pretty niche subject matter. This is Pleasure was a surprisngly good book for me. I don't typically like the kind New Yorker books, but this one wasn't so stuffy. The characters are certainly upper class devrial, but the story felt much more human then I was expecting. Not sure if that makes sense.

The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper

A true-crime story of the devastating Churchill fire in Australia. A truly horrific fire that killed over a hundred people. I normally steer clear of true-crime. I don't care for trying to understand the kind of people that commit such heinous acts. At least not interested enough to get their backstories or find out about the ins and outs of their defense. Even courtroom drama isn't really my thing. What hooked me about this story wasn't the criminal or his drama. What got me was the opening chapter, the fire, and the heroic efforts of ordinary people trying desperately to save themselves and their neighbors. Hooper's descriptions of the event are some of the most riveting reading I've done in years. It's intense and overwhelming. Maybe even a little overwrought, but riveting nonetheless. Gut-wrenching in places and almost heart-warming a few sentences later, it's a roller coaster. Even the fire investigation is fascinating as they piece the puzzle together.

Once they narrow in on a suspect and get him in custody does this book ever feel like a true-crime story. This is also where it lost me. I wanted to stay in the devastation and with the victims. The criminal is a disturbed man with a mental disability. His defense and the courtroom drama plays out like any other case. Some legal maneuvering, almost blowing the case on a technicality, etc., etc. I'd much prefer to see how the people impacted most get on with their lives. How they move or don't move past the devastation. If it weren't for the opening chapter I would probably have given up on this one.

★★★

Connective Tissue: The Big Burn

Huh. I hadn't heard of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, so I've added it to my wish list.

Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy by Larry Tye

A thorough, well researched, and complete biography of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Answering what shaped and drove his ambition to such destructive ends. And how a constant liar could become for a time a feared, and powerful man. It is a well done biography, but for me, I can only take so many examples of his lying, cheating, and short cutting before it's just tedious repetition. It's rare that I ever like biographies or memoirs, even well done biographies like this one. I see the merits and importance of biographies, but to me individuals are really small cogs in a larger movement that is far more interesting.

Interesting to see how the institutions at first humored and enabled his investigations, as popular opinion was so thoroughly against the menace of Soviet communism. Before getting sucked into a mess that no one could see a way out that would both end the committee and satisfy the public. An indictment of populist sentiments in all forms.

★★½

Connective Tissue: Brinkley's Beat, The Unfinished Nation

The Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

Lonely Castle in the Mirror takes up the related issue of futoko, students who for a variety of reasons simply refuse to go to school. Kokoro one of the these futoko can’t bring herself to go to school anymore. he has been the victim of an intense bullying campaign. She is full of anxiety. Fearing for her life and well-being at 12. Without school to order her life, Kokoro watches television and rarely leaves the house. She spends her day alone, locked in her head and anxieties. It's an overwhelming headspace to be in. Then, one especially lonely day, she steps through her mirror and finds herself inside a castle from a Western fairytale. There she meets six other children, also futoko, and the mysterious, vaguely ominous child who calls herself the Wolf Queen who sets them on a mysterious task to be completed before the school year ends. The castle is supposed to be a magical place, but really it's really a mundane place where the rules are slightly off from the real world, but really it serves as a place for these children to learn to connect with each other, to overcome their social awkwardness, learn how to be the kind of friend that each child secretly desires. An adolescents fight to find their place in the world. Not all bullies look alike. And many people share Kokoro’s greatest dream, to find a loyal friend who will like her for who she is. And ultimately find her place in a world she doesn't fully understand.

I enjoyed this read, but I can see a lot of people becoming frustrated with the slow pacing, the lack of fantastical elements, and the picking apart of nearly every social interaction. The anxiety levels of this story is intense. It never lets up, it just keeps building, the stress is something else.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: Every Heart a Doorway

Checking in, Stretch. You do read eclectically, and I admire that.

Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka

Bullet Train was such a complete departure from what I expected. Instead of the gritty complicated thriller of fast-paced action that is typically demanded of lock room (train) full assassins' story, what we got is a darkly humorous even a satirical take on the genre. This, however, is no farce, there is still plenty of action, and killing, and all the fun of a thriller to be had here. This is satire at its best sprinkled in the story with a wink and a nod, respecting the source and elevating it rather than trying to tear it down. All done through an eclectic cast of underworld characters. From the unluckiest assassin in the world and his sarcastic go-between, the wonderfully odd couple paired assassins that debate the merits of literature vs the moral values of a children's TV show, a drunk seeking revenge, a psychopath teen mast mind (reading a lot of these, these days), a mysterious man that is unevenly easy to talk to, and a sadistic and compliment killer. You know for sure that not everyone comes out of this encounter alive. The plot is pretty standard, a train of bad guys that kill and steal from one another because they all do the same kind of work and run in the same circles must sort out the cluster this all creates before the train reaches its final destination. How it all plays out and the interplay between characters is where this story really shines. Some are played to be serious hard nose tasks, others are full of humorous banter that tonally swifts this story from gritty realism to something a bit more jokey in a way feels more authentic. They may be killers, but for most this is their 9 to 5. They are incredibly efficient at dispatching their targets and in the latter stages of this thriller there is plenty of action. Even manages to end on a lighthearted note in its own macabre kind of way.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: Triggerfish Twist

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa

A classic and epic samurai tale. Don't think Yoshikawa can write a historical fiction without it being on an epic scale. And like Taiko this is a story of a simple man becoming one of the greatest samurai in history. A lethal ronin of legendary skill and reputation. An epic journey from the bottom to the top.

If nothing else, the introduction is worth reading on its own, a complete and succinct history of this period. I admittedly know very little about the samurai and the era of the shogun, so a primer on this extremely complex period is helpful, putting things in proper context. This chapter is so useful that it helped me understand Taiko better, filling in gaps that added so much to the narrative. However, while Musashi makes {Taiko better, it is a bloated around the edges. What Yoshikawa choices to explain in excruciating detail and what he chooses to gloss over here makes it hard to digest this story in large chunks. Musashi as character makes huge jumps in growth as a person in single sentences after paragraphs of relative nonsense. Whole chapters can be cut without missing out on much. Certainly an early novel, still a very good if a bit long read. I can see how some will find this more to their liking.

The stories of the samurai is legendary in their own right. I don't know if fictional accounts are working for me right now, but I do want to keep exploring their nonfictional stories

★★★

Connective Tissue: Taiko

>141 stretch: That sounds interesting (although you need to fix the touchstone) :)

>143 AnnieMod: Thanks I wasn't even paying attention to that even though in search for it took me to some many bullet + train books.

>139 stretch: Your review led me to read more about futoko. I had no idea that it was as widespread as it is or that there are "free schools" in Japan. I didn't know that such unstructured options were accepted. I'm not sure I'll get to the book, but I may continue reading about this issue. Your reading is always interesting. Thanks for sharing

>145 labfs39: The topic is reallyintersting, I mean we all have drop outs from the educational system but nothing on the scale or magnitude of the futoko. The trageic part is the youg ages of some of these students. I can't understand the school system of Japan having lived nothing of the sort or contend with the immense pressures some of thee kids are under It's such a multi-facted problem there are endless trails to investigate, Lonely Castle in the Mirror focuses on the bullying and ostraction, only touching some of the other issues that may cause a kid to drop out. It is difficult to understand how easy it seems for these kids to have slipped through the cracks of society. The "free schools" seem like a band aid in light of all the anncillary issues but an interesting movement in of itself.

>141 stretch: Interesting. I haven't read this yet but provisionally booked onto this online book club discussion of the book later this year - sharing the link for anyone else who is interested and maybe see you there!

>147 wandering_star: Interesting I'll try to remember to check it out. It'll be interesting to see how this one works as a book club book. I'm guessing the Prince's and Kimura chapters drive much of the discussion.

>142 stretch:

I prefer Taiko over Musashi but I still love both especially because of the sense of myth in them. Yoshikawa was inspired by the Chinese classics which also mix legend and myth with reality, so it's fun to see this influence in his books.

>149 lilisin: There both great Taiko is an ultime favorite, the mix of myth and reality makes a great story. I partially listened to Musashi, long 10 hour drives to a jobsite every week, and there's something to how the characters interact with one another that was off, felt like they just dropped off. So things felt extraneous in some places, I'm really not a good aduiobook listener, I should only limit myself to thrillers that wash over me.

The Human Chair by Edogawa Rampo

There are a lot of authors that are claimed as Edgar Allan Poe's successor. There is only one Poe and many second rate imitators. Rampo however, is an author that clearly understands Poe, that can channel Poe styling and put his own voice in the work. This story about a creepy creator of a bizarre chair that on its surface is not a scary concept, but Rampo twists this initial seed of a story into a very unnerving tale of obsession and extreme voyeurism. It's got all the Poe hallmarks: a grotesque protagonist, a dark, cold, but plush atmosphere, a broken psyche, and a truly shocking twist. These are pretty standard in most inspired works. What Rampo gets about Poe that many authors fail at is the rhythm of the story. There's a slow build up of the stories heart beat. Something that crescendos, when the story reaches a high point it drops you off a cliff. It's in the sudden change that the impact of the story is felt, not necessarily how creepy the twist is or how dark the story is. There's no limit to the depravity of the human mind. Darkness is not what makes a story unnerving, Rampo clearly understands this and like Poe is great at manipulating our emotions to break our spirit. I can't wait to consume more of Rampo's work.

>151 stretch: Ooo...good review.

Vigilance by Robert Jackson Bennett

In a not too distant future, America has given in to the orgy of violence. Mass shootings are not just common, they are televised for entertainment. Most of the young and sensible have fleed far from this increasingly dilapidated country. A News corporation that puts on these mass shootings is seemingly the power in charge. The government is largely absent, fighting some far-flung war that no one is paying attention too. The citizenry are so caught up in the homespun patriotic rhetoric and staged events, they fail to notice that their world is quickly coming to an end. Even the news is too far gone to cover actual news that when China, America's number one critic, strikes it is a complete and total surprise, now completely unable to help themselves and despite the vigilant atmosphere unable to fight their own demons.

Is this an incredibly thinly veiled political commentary of a liberal bent? Sure, but it's also a fun dystopia of violence leading to its logical end.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: All Systems Red

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The 99% Invisible City by Roman Mars

Like the podcast I found some of these tidbits interesting, others less so. Wishing there was more depth on certain topics.

★★★

Connective Tissue: Mary Roach

True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik

A deeply dark novella exploring not the monsters that go bump in the night, but the monsters we create. Through abject emotional manipulation, sexual abuse, physical violence, and neglect, a young girl is stripped of her humanity. Becoming a remorseless manipulator and killer. Devoid of emotion, empathy, or moral boundaries, she becomes like the maggots she admires from her True Crime rags.

The first chapters are absolutely brutal. I mean, it goes to a dark, dark place right away. The abuse and its descriptions are not easy to digest. It sets the tone of this book for sure. Rough but enjoyable ride of dark and broken of the kind of monster created rather than imagined.

★★★★★

Connective Tissue: Confessions

The Library Book by Susan Orleans

A mix of a true crime account of the 1986 fire at the LA Central Library, a personal memoir about Orleans' relationship and library usage, the history of people that shaped and built the LA library, and a profile of the people that will shape its future.

The description of the fire was intense, deeply emotional, and some of the best nonfiction writing I've read. This book is in no way a typical true-crime book. Certainly details the fire, its investigation, and the main suspect. And the suspect is an interesting character. But dispersed throughout recounting the fire and its investigation is a fascinating history of the LA county library, how it evolved from its paid club beginnings to one of the most extensive and largest library system in the country. Exploring what a library means to a community, its place as repository of information, a gathering place, a social services center, a place for a fresh start. Many of the central themes are reflected in Orleans' own personal experiences. This book should have been a complete mess, especially since the arson investigation ends so melodramatically, but really Orleans weaves a perfect narrative in this book. It strikes the right tone and mixing the history of the institute with the true-crime aspects serves reinforces the importance for why rebuilding after the devastation was so important making for a more complete story. Susan Orleans is an extremely talented nonfiction author.

★★★★★

Connective Tissue: The Arsonist, The Big Burn, The Book on the Book Shelf

An Unnatural Life by Erin Wagner

In the future, advance robotics has created a class of robotnics that work alongside humans. These artificial intelligence (AI) are independent, free thinking (within limits), with something that almost approaches an emotional state. On Earth The AI our given basic rights. They are integrated into society. On the fringes of the solar system on a small colony, a case of coldblooded murder tests how far are we willing to extend those rights. There is no mystery as to who committed the murder nor their guilt. The AI charged with the crime is definitely guilty. The question is the motive and how far as a society even in the face of a horrible crime are we willing to stick to our own principles.. Are they a manipulated robot acting on what they think is love, or merely carrying out a quirk in their programming.

Morality here is ambiguous since AI don't operate with the same moral code as humans and yet we apply that code to them and expect them to operate within its bounds. A situation bound for abuse. An Unnatural Life asks some interesting questions. And with not a particularly sympathetic character in the AI, does come to some compelling conclusions. Not sure how to treat this one exactly.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: I, Robot, All Systems Red

>155 stretch: >156 stretch: Two very different, but equally interesting sounding, books. I don't usually read crime (fictitious or true), but you may have sold me on The Library Book. I'm also noting The Big Burn. I met Timothy Egan when I lived in Seattle. Interesting speaker, although I haven't read any of his books. I've had the Worst Hard Time on my shelves forever. I like the idea of an unsympathetic AI character. Most of the time it seems they are either innocent childlike beings or absurdly rational.

>155 stretch: Orlean is one of those nonfiction writers who just has that secret sauce—she's very assured about how much information to offer at any given moment, and when in the narrative that should be, and where to let the authorial voice come out and give those little extra access points. I've got her On Animals on the virtual shelf—collection of old and new essays, I think—and I'm looking forward to that one. After listening to her talk about it on a couple of podcasts I think Orlean has an interesting take on the human/animal interface, which is something that interests me too, and I want to read more of that. But yeah, she's such a solid writer.

>157 labfs39: I'm not much of true-crime reader myself. Despite my interests in darker literature, I really don't enjoy being stuck with a murder for so many pages. BUt fooks with fire are to me fansicating, they just lend themselves to wrinch, vivid descriptions. The Library Book isn't really like other true-crime books, its really a perfectly balanced history of a place and event that just happens to be an arson investigation.

I've only read Timothy Egan's The Big Burn many years go now, but I think back on it often. He has an intuitive understanding of the west that is missing in a lot of books written about the west. I need to remember him when looking for a new nonfiction read.

Yeah, AI characters are often pretty one dimensional. Here its an arrogant ass, which when you think about it makes sense, they are rational logic machines, they really aren't going to be so likeable in context with a close-knit human society. An Unnatural Life does quite a bit in reimagining AI and their roles in society for such a short book.

>158 lisapeet: Orlean is really an outstanding writier. I've only read this and another one off essay but I can see her reaching a John McPhee, Mary Roach kind of status is in the realm of nonfiction. In that I'll read anything they write no matter how esoteric the topic. I hadn't ever heard of Orlean before stumbling upon the Library Book, now I want to explore her backlist for sure.

The Great Passage by Shion Mirua

The Great Passage a book about editing dictionaries was nothing like I expected. Going in, I thought it would be something like a love letter to words. Something lyrical that would bend over backwards describing the meaning and beauty of words, how they define the world, etc. Thankfully, this is nothing like that, it is a story about people who find purpose and definition in the single pursuit of advocating and editing of a comprehensive dictionary for the Japanese Language. Describing how a group of rudderless people come to define their lives in relation to this exacting endeavor. Sure, there are moments of the characters gentle arguing over the preciseness of definitions for certain words. But Mirua uses these moments to exhibit the evolution of the characters from being listless to active participants in their own lives.

A story of how a passion in one area can ignite the other areas of life.

A common theme in my Japanese reading of late, people watching life passing by, only to find meaning in unexpected ways, giving their lives a shape they grab onto.

★★★★½

Connective Tissue: What If Cats Disappeared from the World, Lonely Castle in the Mirror, Every Heart a Doorway, Evidence of Things Unseen

>160 stretch: I loved this one when I read it a few years ago :)

>160 stretch: Wow, never heard of this one and it looks like just my kind of thing.

Also, I know it's bad form to comment on someone else's typo, but this
people watching life passing by inky to find meaning
is too beautiful to let go unloved.

>162 lisapeet: I think i fixed it, or ruined it. Trouble with typing this on a phone to kill time, waiting on a sun that's now running late => forgetting what you meant to say

Some Horror Reads:

The Laws of the Skies by Jonathan Janz

A psychopath child goes on a murderous rampage of his classmates and adult chaperons on an overnight camping trip. No one comes back alive. The violence and gore is perfectly on point for this kind of story.

Normally I'm on board for killer kids, but this one was not it. Wanting 6-year-olds to behave like children but having an emotional maturity to analyze their reactions didn't work for me. And the adult storylines definitely devolved into a bit of that French stereotypes of affairs and unsaid desires that really had no place in the story. Courtois certainly wrote the children to be years of age for an incredibly dark and effective mommy moment. I think in my head it would have worked better with a mixed age group (6-12) with Enzo and Hugo being the oldest since that fits their thought pattern better and the trio Océane, Luis, and Nathan being just a touch older. Everything can stay, and for me it would have just worked better. These are small nitpicks, I know, but it would've kept me more engaged.

★★½

Connective Tissue: Lord of the Flies, Shipwrecks, A luminous Republic

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Witching Hour Theatre by Jonathan Janz

Basically, this is a fan send up to slashers. And it certainly is a fun atmospheric slasher!

Janz has a real feel for creating just the right kind of creepy setting for paying homage to slasher flicks. The characters are incredibly shallow and really only have bit parts, which is fine, it's a slasher we're for the kills not character development! Janz delivers the goods on that end. There is plenty of gruesome gore and classic endings. I think the short last chapter could've been left off to make it perfect, but it's fitting with the movie genre, so no foul there.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: Cirque Berserk

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Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess

Super fun slasher, that subverts so many horror tropes. Jessica Guess is a super talented horror writer! She turned so much around on its head in this short novel but made it all work. Great fast-paced read. Could have stayed more in the present at times, rather of flashing back so much to fill in the backstory. Sometimes felt the present rampage was getting a bit short shifted in order to explain why the teens are ritualistic murderers. Even if the backstory is compelling.

★★★★

Connective Tissue: Witching Hour Theatre, Penance

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Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Henedrix

I would call this a pretty comprehensive trip down memory lane of the heyday of pulp horror fiction of the 70s and 80s. Grady is well versed in the subject and with his researcher has collected a massive list of titles that certainly showcase the various phases' horror has passed through. But Grady treats this with just the right amount of reverence for the authors of the past and humor, because you got to laugh at just how absurd horror can become.

I remembered quite a few titles that I forgot for good reason, and have added a few gems that missed after my goosebumps days. I've forgotten what it was like to sift through the trash to find the garbage! It was so much fun finding a truly creepy book from the all the crap that was pumped out in those days. Something you really can't do in the internet age, with reviews and dedicated fans steering conversations to actually good books.

★★★

Connective Tissue: The Look of the Book

I just bought a copy of Paperbacks from Hell. I was hoping for a review of all the campy stuff I read back then and from your review, it sounds like it’s exactly that. Yay!

>165 Yells: Oh yeah, they don't cover every title from the era but hit some of the major ones that showcase the theme.

My Heart is Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

A teen obsessed with slasher films, in a small town, begins noticing the patterns of a slasher flick come to life. Jade our teen protagonist is a very damaged girl, neglect, abuse, and low standards have dragged her down. And like many residents of this small mountain town, she needs an escape. She chooses horror. Giving her an insight to the strange going happenings that no else sees as anything more than a battle with rich, entitled folks destroying their peaceful habitat. There are plenty of hidden secrets and dark history in town boiling beneath the surface, perfect for the classic slasher setup. After stumbling upon the 'final girl', Jade hatches a plan of education and indoctrination in her well versed subject, to prepare the final girl for her inevitable battle. The final chapters unleash plenty of gore and tragedy fitting of the slasher genre.

On its merits, My Heart is Chainsaw is good. Jones is able to create a damaged, selfish character that is likeable and while obsessive, still functions in the world. It's a very literary type horror, the writing is elevated to something a bit better than your typical horror story. The slasher 101 asides are fun. Everything works together and when Jade comes to terms with her personal demons, it is cathartic. In every way this is an excellent book, except the climax goes completely hare wire in an orgy of blood, that is both hard to follow and breaks with the logic of the slasher. If only we didn't try to kill the entire town off in a single orgy could this had been a better and even more drawn out story.

★★★½

Connective Tissue: Cirque Berserk, Witching Hour Theatre

The Trees by Percival Everett

The Trees is a darkly humorous, somewhat satirical, capital 'R' revenge story. But not a personal revenge seeking revenge for an acute wrong, a more societal revenge for long overdue wrongs for our collective failings. A big picture institutional and rank and fie of society reckoning. It's impactful, shocking, well written, funny, horrific, righteous, and easily one of the best reads of the year.

This book doesn't fit in a box. Hard to describe adequately without spoiling it, but it is certainly worth the read.

★★★★★

Connective Tissue: Confessions, Penance

I low key love these things... Yes, Very Short Introductions are longform wiki articles, but that's kind of why I love them. Shallow starting places for a wide range of topics that don't require a large time commiment or detailed analysis, just information and a begining point for a wide range of topics. I plan on working more of these in monthly reads if I can next year and for years to come.

>169 stretch: I hadn't though about these in a long time. I might look into some of these next year as well. For instance, their histories would be nice companion pieces to my reading in the Asia Reading Challenge that Paul Cranswick is leading. The Portland Public Library has 65 of them, but I would need to ILL many of the ones I'm interested in reading. How do you access yours?

>170 labfs39: My library has some in ebooks of the history/philosophical ones and I get ILL from IUPUI that has the entire collection so far. But I also bought a few from Kobo because I feel I need to own the geology topics and some of the other ones that directly relate to my profession or hobbies, i.e. fire and horror lol

>171 stretch: I don't use an e-reader, so I'm stuck scrounging the paper copies. I was surprised OUP hasn't published one on Turkey or at least the Ottoman Empire. A search brought up a slew of chapters, but not a single text. That's the first country in the Asia Reading challenge.

>169 stretch: I just checked and my library has a lot of these in ebook format—good to remember. Though not the Crusades, which is the title that caught my eye.

>168 stretch: This is definitely a book to go into without any idea of what is going to happen. Hard to write about it in a way that doesn't give anything away.

I just finished the History one - not what I was expecting, but very interesting. Not an overview of history, but a discussion of History as a field and how it got to where it is now; and a discussion of how History happens (as opposed to history), by example - tracking one person/event and discussing where to find out about it, what other sorts of questions the answers you find might trigger, etc. I'll be looking for others. I got it from the library as an ebook, which is how I'm doing a lot of my reading these days.

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

Thiago as an angsty, socially isolated man trying to escape the vacuum that is his linage, meeting his future wife puts him on a totally different trajectory. One full of love and devotion. She the more outgoing and ambitious, forcing Thiago out of his shell. A good match, that is tragically cut short when she dies from a terrible accident. The grief and pain leads Thaigo to retreat back into himself and isolated from the world. The anguish he feels for the world is palpable. He's for all intents and purposes done with the world, especially when strange occurrences surrounding a smart speaker and his empty condo begin to gnaw at his psyche. His escape his an isolated cabin in the woods where things only get more bizarre and his decent into madness only deepens.

This book is truly one of the more creepy things I've read. There’s such an oppressive eeriness to this paranormal haunting with no obvious meaning. This is a book about grief and sorrow, there is no grand meaning to that, no easy answers. Being able to relate to Thiago dealing with the unimaginable loss of the person that gave him shape, and defined how he interacted with the world is the only way to understand the meaningless of the haunting. This is a parallel narrative abut sinking into a pit of sorrow and dread until all that's left is the darkness, that's it, no victory over death, no light at the end, just the dark. It's a confusing and bizarre and enjoyable as hell.

★★★★½

Connective Tissue: The Twisted Ones, In the Tall Grass

Calling it a Year, a bit early, but I'm not finishing anything else this year. At least nothing that will affect the stats.

Sorry for the large pictures, still trying to figure out how to scale them and still be legible, I'll replace if experiments go well.

2021 reading year summation:



Big Takeaways

Quantitatively most read ever so far! Quality about the same as previous years. Getting more comfortable giving up on books sooner. Especially with a growing TBR. I think developing strategies to read only a couple of books at a time instead of a bunch of books at a time leads to more finishing and less stalling, which in turn helps keep up with postings. Early in the year, all my finished books come at the beginning and ends of months. I bit overwhelming and troublesome. Got better at reading fewer books at a time as the year progressed. Using Litsy to post smaller thoughts on books I really have nothing to comment about or wish to log in CR while splits the record, provides space to keep reading without the pressure to find something to say about books I'd rather just move on from.

I really like seeing how my incentive goal shapes my reading habits. Still short of the goal of 70% women read, but I feel my reading is more diverse than ever and more reflective of the kinds of books I want to read. Still work to be done.

That being said, I will be running 3 KM of the Indianapolis marathon. I'll actually be running a bit farther since the path of the marathon, quitting at the 3 KM would put me in the middle of the canal. For a dignified exit to the race, I'll need to go a little further. Oh well, next year I'll hope to do better or worse, as the case may be. Still hate running, the practice runs I've made have been the worse. Not physically, surprising still something that resembles shape from the past year and a half, but I find it absolutely mind-numbingly boring. So good motivation to continue avoiding it as much as possible.

I am truly allergic to sticky to a reading plan. I basically read nothing from the list in my first post. I still want to read all those books, but as soon as I put them in a list they felt like assigned reading and I couldn't find the motivation. I read by chaos and need to embrace that chaos. So no more planned out reading for me, it is statically eclectic from here on out.

With that being said I have built up a backlog of Japanese works (76 titles) and Darker works (120+ titles) so those are going to feature in my reading a lot more. This is who I am as a reader. I don't need to chase what I should be reading, just stick to my roots. I will try to read a few books from other parts of Asia, but my home internationally is Japan, large portions of South America, and Mexico.

This year, I also learned I can no longer read physical books. I read nearly everything on my ereaders (Kobo Forma and Boox Poke 3, which are both fantastic devices) to the point that reading a paperback or hardback is a chore. The traditional formats require that I set aside large periods of time to do nothing but read them, like the chaotic reader I am I jump in and out all the time, which is just easier on an ereader. I need to get over this, the few books still left on my shelves need to be read.



New Authors I love:

Baldwin, James
Akutagawa, Ryunosuke
Orlean, Susan
Moreno, Gus



The Books that'll stick

(s) In a Grove by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
(s) Patriotism by Yukio Mishima
(nf) The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
(nf) Kamikaze by Yauso Kuwahara
(gn) Thunder & Lightning by Lauren Redniss
(f) A Luminous Republic by Andres Barba
(f) Real World by Natsuo Kirino
(nf) Football Hackers by Christopher Biermann
(nf) Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Eammanuel Acho
(s) The Human Chair by Edogawa Rampo
(f) True Crime by Samantha Kolensik
(nf) The Library Book by Susan Orlean
(f) The Great Passage by Shion Miura
(f) Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess
(f) Witching Hour Theatre by Jonathan Janz
(f) The Trees by Percival Everett
(f) This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

>177 stretch: Wow, I love it! Got data?

Congrats on a big reading year. Do you know why you were able to read so many books this year? I too read more than I had in the last two years combined. For me I think it was a combination of environmental, political, and pandemic factors.

Congrats too on running the 3K. Do you listen to audiobooks while you run?

I am truly allergic to sticky to a reading plan... I read by chaos...

I hear you. And yet next year I'm going to try and participate in the Asia Reading Challenge. It's broad, so I hope I can read at least one book a month, but the two books I picked for January are starting to seem less appealing, the closer the time comes to picking them up. We'll see how it goes.

Will you create incentive goals for next year? It seems like they worked for you. Broad enough that you didn't feel constricted like you did with the reading list. I have similar goals to you I think—diverse, women, translations—but I haven't put numbers on them. I did track it this year, and that proved interesting, but that's looking in the rear view mirror.

I've never tried an e-reader, but I wonder if I might have to go that route at some point. Sometimes the type in small press books is difficult for my aging eyes. But I worry that I might not be able to find the books I want to read in e-format. Have you run across that problem? Then there is the issue of not having physical books around with which to insulate my house. lol

I hope you feel free to log anything you read here on CR and don't feel like you are being judged. That would be lousy. I've tried to give myself permission to not write about a book if I don't want to, and it's been easier to do this year than in the past. I didn't write reviews of any of the Mantel books I read, for instance. I felt like everything had already been said, and I just didn't have the energy after reading them to do more than jot a few notes. Somewhat to my surprise, the sun continued to rise and set, and no purple monkeys jumped down onto my head. I'm trying to focus more on the enjoyment factor and less on completionism. Or perhaps I'm just getting lazy.

I thoroughly enjoy following your thread, and look forward to doing so in 2022 as well. Happy Holidays

>177 stretch: I love your annual summary!

Some of your totals don't match (e.g. Publication Year and Ratings sum to 79 rather than 69) which is making my eyes itch :-). I recognise this is completely my problem but I can't stop looking. Who doesn't love tables and charts?

I am intrigued by the 'Stole' category - are you an international man of mystery?

>178 labfs39: Thanks, I honestly have no idea why this year turned out so big. It shouldn't have been with my dad's health and busywork schedule, it makes no sense to me. Last couple of years have been giant increases fromthe last, no Idea if I can keep it up, lol

Congrats too on running the 3K. Do you listen to audiobooks while you run?

Haha, I can still run a bit, even if our soccer league meets up less. If I did audiobooks while I run, I might start to enjoy it, and then I have to find a new disincentive. I hate it, so it works as a motivating factor.

Congrats too on running the 3K. Do you listen to audiobooks while you run?

I will most definitely keep the incentives going. Since it's point based and not a number goal, it's easy to weight certain factors more than others, Right now the balance feels good, I can still read what I with only a reasonable cost and not force myself into tight of a box. The disincentive is just there to keep me motivated and a little fun. Perhaps in later years I'll change it, but for now it works.

I've never tried an e-reader... Have you run across that problem?

I got an e-reader because my travel schedule can be crazy at times, I didn't intend it to be my primary way of reading, but here I am reading 100% on the device. I haven't run into too many issues s of not finding a book. I can buy almost any modern book I want, most classics are free, and tons of the back catalog on there as well. It's extremely rare that a book I want isn't available. Mostly happens when I go to esoteric or so deep in the back catalog the physical book has been out of print for 20 years. With libraries expanding their digital content, I have too many choices now, and I need to focus on some of the physical books I have, so I can downsize some more.

I hope you feel free to log anything you read here on CR and don't feel like you are being judged. That would be lousy. I've tried to give myself permission to not write about a book if I don't want to, and it's been easier to do this year than in the past. I didn't write reviews of any of the Mantel books I read, for instance. I felt like everything had already been said, and I just didn't have the energy after reading them to do more than jot a few notes. Somewhat to my surprise, the sun continued to rise and set, and no purple monkeys jumped down onto my head. I'm trying to focus more on the enjoyment factor and less on completionism. Or perhaps I'm just getting lazy.

This is in line with my feelings. Never felt judged in CR and enjoy the feedback. Sometimes I just don't have much to add to a book, or feel like rewording something already said about a book I just didn't care for all that much. A few thoughts here and there, and keep on trucking. I like the log completionist, but I don't want to have to search for something to say about a horror book about rats (although to be fair I'd probably would write about that one).

Happy Holidays to you too. See you in 2022.

>179 rhian_of_oz: Thanks!

I was hoping to sneak that one past everyone, but it bothers me too, deep down in my soul. I noticed an issue: I was avoiding reading short stories and essays because they were killing my page average. So I removed them from the count, causing a discrepancy. The fix on the surface is easy, add a fourth category for articles. But this sheet is based on older much simpler ones and that change causes a cascade of changes that will take me many hours to fix for 2019, 2020, and 2021. My compromise was to just force the numbers in where needed and not actually fix the sheets. It's a terrible, ugly compromise, and at some point I'll wake up at 2am to make the necessary corrections.

This is fixed in the 2022 sheet and onwards, where it is easier to fix.

I am intrigued by the 'Stole' category - are you an international man of mystery?

Nothing actually stolen. Just my semi-humorous way of saying free content post on the internet by the copyright holders or stuff that is out of copyright. Stealing is more fun than downloading.

>181 stretch: ...and at some point I'll wake up at 2am to make the necessary corrections. LOL

Thanks for explaining 'Stole'. I was trying to think about how one could 'steal' books without literally stealing them.

>176 stretch: Noting The Thing Between Us - sounds great.

Congrats on a great reading year. Can I ask what the 'other' classification is?

>183 AlisonY: Other is plays, poetry, graphcial novels, entire Journals or more work related stuff. Anything that doesn't fit in the dictomoy of fiction and nonfiction, and that I read inconstentally. I could break it out into its compontents, but since year to year some of those are null I lump them togehter, as an outlier, it use to include individual essays and short stories, but that was killing the average page count which was influencing what I read, those will be seperated out and counted from 2022 onwards.