captainsflat - 100 books for 2010

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captainsflat - 100 books for 2010

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1captainsflat
Avr 7, 2010, 7:38 am

Hi. Although I have been a member of LT since 2007, I have never posted to a thread before. But I do keep a reading journal, and I thought I would take the plunge and put it up. Last year I only read 53 books, but I did have a baby last year, so I thought that 100 books would be reasonable under normal circumstances. I have enjoyed watching a lot of the lists on here. I don't think I can thoroughly review things, so lengths of postings may vary, and I won't be objective. With the great stewpot that is the internet, I notice that I like things best that have their own individual distinctive flavour, and that aren't trying to appeal. So I will put these down as I have written them, when I thought no one was watching. (that could still be the case). Jasmina

2captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 8, 2010, 6:27 am

January

1. Tears behind closed doors by Diane Holmes
A strange first. A book about Hypothyroidism. What was interesting was reading this in conjunction with William H. Gass. Such high philosophy, the Gass, and this book the exact opposite of his picture. Even if I tried I could not get such jump-around to my writing. The author is not a reader, I think. (Does that mean that Gass's stuff applies only to readers, and even, only to specific types of readers? Or even more narrowly, to specific types of authors?). It's pure in a sense, because she hasn't reflected AT ALL on the ACT of writing - no ordering of thought, argument or picture, just put it all down as you would say it. Hard to read, hard to stop myself ordering everything like an editor firstly, and secondly switching off completely - all this, you know, apart from the fact that it is about hypothyroidism. I think I read it because the non-reading world fascinates me, especially when they write books!

edited the initial i got wrong.

3captainsflat
Avr 7, 2010, 7:49 am

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
A reread for me. Absolutely loved it the first time. But this second time, some cracks were showing. That the autism was a means to the technique he wanted to use, and the voice of Christopher was therefore less authentic to me. That the diversions were just putting a rhythm into the book, and didn't really feel diverting (amusing, fresh, side-alleys) but a bit labourious. The realisation that actually it didn't escape the "new writing", and is actually another example of it. What is the problem? A lack of intimacy, a false intimacy. Us and Them. Author and Audience. Crammed with Theory and Creative Writing Courses. Doesn't have that one human being to another thing. But this one is a bit better, because I missed it the first time, but it doesn't escape it.

4captainsflat
Avr 7, 2010, 7:57 am

3. Fiction and the Figures of Life by William H. Gass
Oops, number one I had C. how do you edit your posts?
This is a book for rereading, and also for not reading all at once, like I just did. I really liked the essays on the two James brothers - day and night. I'll have to reread some Henry. But it was Henry's style I found suffocating, but perhaps armed with Gass that would go better.
I have a long running interest in thinking about how art differs from craft. Especially since these lines are being more blurred through the internet, and with etsy etc. Gass is for art being honest and aware. And that craft doesn't make REAL objects. He doesn't help much.
The little thrills that come with finding clearly expressed things you have only groped towards. Clarity and connection and running on. Although, not all the time and not all the way through, of course. Just in a flash, now and again. Thunder and lightening writing.

5captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 9, 2010, 8:43 am

4. A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
5. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
On one hand, I really enjoyed this. How the private languages, the research, the investigation all was motivated from within - he actually did the things I passing-fancy-wouldn't-it-be nice I dream about. Also, I loved how externally he was domestic, so unadventurous, so human with failings and weaknesses; he lived so suburbanly and was so pedestrian. The riches do not manifest in externals, it is all within - in thought, in writing. That seems so anti-today, and I love iterations of it. Which brings me to what I don't like, which is in fact what Tolkien doesn't like about biographies. The work (Tolkien's work) has not much to do with the external, social creature. I feel - do I really need to know his procrastination and unmethodicalness, feel the frustration of his extreme perfectionism and feel sorry for all the other essays, translations, projects that never got off the ground? His comfortableness with his life, and his social awkardness/angularity? Knowing that stuff does not help explaining why the work exists, or the effects it has had on me, its time, or posterity. It's superfluous. It's gossip.

6karenmarie
Modifié : Avr 7, 2010, 8:23 am

Hi Jasmina:

Glad you've started one of the challenge threads. I'm doing the 75 book challenge and admire you for trying 100 with a new baby, too!

To edit your messages, find the pencil icon directly to the right of the first line of your message. Click on it and it will open up the message for editing. When you're done adding, changing, or deleting, click 'submit' and it will update the text.

I liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime but appreciate your comments. I listened to it instead of read it, which in my opinion always makes a difference. One is not better than the other, but they do create different experiences of the book.

I see from your profile you're a Bookmoocher too! Cool.

7loriephillips
Avr 7, 2010, 9:41 am

Welcome to the group, Jasmina. I enjoyed reading your thoughts about the books you've read this year. I understand completely the problem with re-reading a book you really enjoyed the first time around and then finding it a little disappointing the second time. I've re-read a couple of old favorites this year and only thought they were ok on a second reading. I guess the story just doesn't have the same impact and you can read more critically the second time.

8captainsflat
Avr 8, 2010, 6:25 am

Thankyou both for welcoming me!

Thanks for the post edit info karen. I wouldn't be able to read without the help of my husband, who has many more addictions than I do, so aids and abets my book one. I know Curious Incident is a well loved book, and so did I before the re read. I don't know, I could have just been in the new year doldrums and inclined to criticism! And also, you tend to suspend your disbelief a little more the second time around, as Lorie says. I love rereading, because even though they mostly tend to come out a little disappointing, when the particular book isn't disappointing it carries you away even deeper the second time.

I'm still catching up, so tonight I will enter the next five.

9captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 9, 2010, 8:44 am

6. Ways of Seeing by John Berger
A marxist critique of art and ads which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am intrigued with how wholeheartedly I go along with the critique and the examples (it has happened in Marxist theory before), I think the examples he uses have life, are vital, and therefore hold some truth. But I can never accept the conclusions, and sometimes I think it is not a conclusion but a foundation reached before we even start on the critique, of the Overthrow of Capitalism fixing everything. I don't believe that politics can fix it. That revolutions can have resoundingly positive effects. I think that Marxists more or less see the problems clearly, but their conclusions are what they want them to be, rather than dictated by the reality they see so clearly. I mean that I think there is a disconnect.
Lots of interesting things about how being able to reproduce works of art strips the original of its pre-reproduction meaning and makes a mockery of there being such a thing as an original. How what we see is encrusted with commentary, other juxtaposed images we have seen together with it even if randomly (in a book of art, or as a postcard for eg), everything we have seen or heard or read about it before, so that we can no longer really just SEE the work of art. That oil painting is intimately concerned with money and with possessing (even before our hyper consumerist age). That ads are the natural children of oil painting. What interests me is to take these ideas further - what does this mean for prints (as in lithographs, linocuts etc)? Or for watercolours, still the domain of the amateur and the children's book illustrator (but what beautiful work)? How the reproduction argument fits in with books (especially since I just read the Guardian article by Lisa Jardine re original handcopied books to the printing press to the e-reader)? I could go on but this is already obscenely long.

10captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 9, 2010, 8:44 am

7. The Burning of Njal by Henry Treece
Makes me just want to go and read the original, no, the whole Icelandic Viking cannon. And what is so attractive about such bloodthirstiness, such slaughter, and such acceptance of death? It just seems so far removed from anything you are allowed to think or feel today. That's refreshing, in a way, that people for the most part - well, they do fear death, but don't absolutely cling to life as the supreme value in itself. But revenge lingers on in the heart and fines paid do not dampen the fire. What a headache to keep track of who killed who! And the women, a land of Lady MacBeth's, proud of bloodthirsty warrior sons, eagles, sokoli. A bit like mafia women.
But how different it is, what passes for a narrative - what actions, thoughts, motives, gestures, and descriptions they considered sufficient for a story, compared to what we demand be carried in a narrative. For example, how could Kari let his small son make the decision to stay in the burning house? What could possibly be behind that? But it is presented as not very extraordinary, Kari's escape and fight is more important.
In literature from ages other than money-worshipping ones, I always look twice at the character that loves money above all. Always discreditable, dishonourable, envious, slimy, in the wrong somehow even before anything wrong has been done. Weak, but potentially dangerous through cunning or schemes. Less than a real man. Real men never dabbled too much with money. Did run their farms well, success there was good. Being a prosperous farmer, a good lawyer etc. was not the same as being money obsessed. I wonder what it has meant that in our time real men or real women = money.

11captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 9, 2010, 8:45 am

8. Lunatic Broth by H A Manhood
Some of the language is great, and it's nice to have a glimpse of such a men's world. It was printed during the second world war, a book of short light stories looking back to earlier times. A little too much sentimentality, and also a bit rushed, as if they needed to get the volume out. I just love that the pages are uneven, and that it is stamped with the War Department's Seal of Economy. It feels really nice to handle.

12captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 9, 2010, 8:46 am

9. The Architecture of Happiness by Alain De Botton
Basically, architecture matters and can speak to us of happiness. I can read De Botton's books compulsively in one sitting. It's like chocolate. May be rich, satisfying, filling, by it's texture you would think that it was food. But there is some nagging doubt, that you are fooling yourself, that the satiety has been got by improper means. You should be eating chickpeas, not chocolate. That's a bit harsh, I must be in a mood.
This analysis of art as reminding us of what we could be, or values and ideals, is diametrically opposed to "The Way of Seeing". In fact, it makes Berger seem stingy and misanthropic, rabidly railing against "THEM", against capitalists, as if they were somehow different to us, shallower, baser, avaricious to own, no matter what the cost. A caricature. De Botton is very generous and expansive - there is no "THEM", it is not about owning the paintings to own the subjects, but it is about the natural, human desire to surround ourselves with perfection, small glimpses of heaven in this fallen world. As always, I can't wholeheartedly subscribe to either view. They just flicker and merge one into the other like a kaleidoscope, half full and half empty in rapid succession. I wish I was as certain as Berger, or as generous as De Botton. But I am not sure either give me any more grasp on what is real, what is important about art, or what people are like.

13captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 9, 2010, 8:46 am

10. The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka
The pictures are beautiful, all "prairie" style houses. But the theme maybe not so relevant to me. I am not planning on building a McMansion any time soon. I would not consider 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms a normal size for a house. In fact, the not so big they suggest is usually bigger than what I live in now. But yes, details are important for well being. Knowing where you feel good and comfortable and what about those spaces make it so would be handy. Knowing how you live your life, being aware of your lifestyle, habits, what needs encouragement and what needs minimizing, is also something I could pay more attention to. Light, order, coziness, public and private, self knowledge, sanctuary.

(I know I said I wouldn't edit, but geez, I didn't realize how negative everything sounded at the beginning of the year. As a case in point, The last sentence for this review was "how does this relate to the meth addicts in the documentary I was watching while reading this?". I have to acknowledge that I am a bit of a misery guts. I just read ahead in my journal, the tide turns around March, they are all quite positive for that month. You may have to skip ahead or wait if I am still catching up.)

14karenmarie
Avr 8, 2010, 9:10 am

You're certainly reading some interesting books, captainsflat! I appreciate your reviews.

Your comments about money are intriguing and I tend to agree with them. Money was necessary of course, and certainly women tried to marry well, which included trying to marry a man who had money. The pursuit of money in and of itself, though, used to be seen as low class; now it's revered. I personally want money to free me up to do the things I want and to provide for when my husband and I retire, not just to have and pass on to my daughter without enjoying what it can buy us - books (of course), travel, freedom from want, charity.

I received Njal's Saga as a promotion from Penguin two years ago. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't read it and haven't reviewed it as I was supposed to. Perhaps I'll pull it out of the stacks.....

15captainsflat
Avr 9, 2010, 8:25 am

It is something I think a bit about, because I am torn maybe. What is wrong about wanting books, travel, freedom from want, charity? What is wrong about wanting to do those things? On the other hand, why is money so important - one can at least partly realize these things without having any money. It sure makes it easier though. But for me, it is a bit of a trap saying "I'll do this when I have the money" - i tend to use it as a bit of an excuse. I need to be more resourceful!

I just love the starkness of The Burning of Njal, and the passion. Just different faultlines to what I have become used to. It did take me a little effort to get into the rhythm though, but I found it worth it.

16captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 9, 2010, 8:47 am

11. The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
I didn't write anything for this one. But what a ride through the mind. There is science now behind "you are what you think". Or be careful about what you chose to think about. Or that you create your world (one thought at a time). And the overthrow of the idea that after a certain age, you can't learn anymore, or that your brain is fixed after adolescence. But anyone who has read Oliver Sacks never believed any different - the amazing world of plasticity and compensation. One scary thing is that it means that there is only so much you can do at any one time - I mean that if I blindfolded myself for weeks in an effort to increase my hearing discernment, the benefits of that would probably diminish as soon as I took my blindfold off and my eyes reclaimed all that brain real estate.

17captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 9, 2010, 8:48 am

FEBRUARY

12. From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
I just never got the 60s (from an 80s child), and the concerns in this book seem so 60s and 70s. Jack the Ripper, the Freemasons, a little bit of porno. There were lots of times I felt I was just pushing through it to finish the darn thing. The appendix timeline was the worst part. I just don't like Alan Moore's voice.

18captainsflat
Avr 9, 2010, 8:36 am

13. The Master of the Fallen Chairs by Henry Porter
A very very competent young fiction. I like it, but no sparks. Stir your stumps!

19captainsflat
Avr 9, 2010, 8:39 am

14. Stream of Consciousness in the Modern Novel by Robert Humphrey
Although this is a little clumsily written and definitely could do with some editing, I enjoyed it on the whole. Just makes me want to read Joyce's Ulysses surrounded by a mountain of commentary to wring every last metaphor from it. And Virginia Woolf! It is quite dated, as what he talks about is well and truly entrenched, and hardly even noteworthy today. But interesting to read one initial attempt at describing stream of consciousness.

20captainsflat
Avr 9, 2010, 8:42 am

15. Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope
Phew! I am glad that's over. It was somewhat amusing - well, I especially loved Lord Chiltern and was reading parts of the book furiously just to get another glimpse of him, his savagery, fury and menace (in a period sort of way). But on the whole I found it tedious. I wasn't involved with either the characters or the ideas. I don't think I shall read another Trollope, not without very good reason. I am a bit curious to know some fan's opinion though. What did I miss, what didn't I get?

21captainsflat
Avr 9, 2010, 8:48 am

Sorry, I edited everything to put the authors back in. It looks nicer.

22captainsflat
Modifié : Nov 19, 2010, 5:09 pm

16. Jacqueline Du Pre by Carol Easton
Well, this biographer falls more on the staunch friend side than the dispassionate observer side. Makes some very irritating sweeping statements and generalisations. You know, when people have theories about other people they've never met - but they are enlisting you on their "friend roll" for their cause and use any arguments, even second and third hand.
But she is a fascinating topic. I enjoyed looking at her on youtube more than reading about her though. I don't think this is a great biography, but I am glad I have been introduced to Jacky. And also reaffirmed how sublime the cello is. And another glimpse of life through musician's eyes (totally different breed of people). I love how performing never naturally stressed her (aha - but currently reading Elizabeth Wilson, and she says very different). And how she was a giggler. I am shocked that they had no books in their house, but I guess you can't be EVERYTHING.

*edited to fix touchstone

23captainsflat
Modifié : Nov 19, 2010, 5:06 pm

17. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
I really enjoyed this, I loved the tone of voice, suits me perfectly. Makes me laugh, but at the same time cry a little too. I didn't write much down, just quotes. "For the first time in weeks he was sufficiently roused by his wife to look at her." I mentally checked to make sure I at least look at my husband once every day. "It was a masterpiece among bedrooms, right out of Cheerful Modern Houses for Medium Incomes....if people had ever lived and loved here, read thrillers at midnight and lain in beautiful indolence on Sunday morning, there was no sign of it." Not something that could be said of my bedroom.

Edited to fix touchstone

24captainsflat
Avr 15, 2010, 6:07 am

18. The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson
I read this all the way through to 1 am. Eva is good, I loved Which Witch, although I couldn't say what it is that draws me in. Just what I hope for when I open a book. Totally drawn in with my criticizing voice totally silenced because I'm too far gone.

25captainsflat
Avr 15, 2010, 6:12 am

19. The Story of O by Pauline Reage
Surprisingly readable writing. Very explicit but I didn't find it so explicit that I had to put it down - that is, forcing you to be a participant in the action - the story was a refuge from that, in a way. But oh, the most frightening, disturbing thing about this was her total annihilation of self - i am nothing, he is everything. She goes so far as to call him God. But it seems to be a "he" who can take many forms - she is a particular nothing, whereas "he" can be any number of people and can be substituted. So it is the submission itself, and not to whom one submits?
I am also surprised a little to find what a strong reaction/rejection of such annihilation I had. Independence and equality, I say. What she does is not love. But isn't it interesting how close to religious is the thought? Wouldn't it be interesting if the thing I reject here is the same thing I reject in religion?

26captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 15, 2010, 6:20 am

MARCH

20. The Tarot Path to Self Development by Micheline Stuart
Oh Geez, see? How close is this to the Story of O? Self Destroying, purifying. Thy will be done. And total joy and ecstasy at the negation. In its balance of stark absolutes and quivering doubt, it reminded me of my teenage years.
I am, despite this book, fascinated by Tarot, by the dense forest of symbolism and the various narratives. But I haven't yet read anything like what I want to read, that strikes a chord. They are too Path-of-Life, like this one, too earnest. Or too external with not enough heart. Is there a thorough, but playful, book on Tarot?
Another thing, I really really liked the design of the book, made to look like medieval manuscripts (but what medieval manuscripts have to do with Tarot, I don't know - and trying to impart medieval spiritual authority this way is a bit disingenuous).

27karenmarie
Modifié : Avr 15, 2010, 8:35 am

#25 The Story of O - I twitched at her annihilation of self, too. Especially when her lover gives her to ...can't remember his name, if it was given.... One thing I particularly remember is the description of the layers of scent she would put on and the amount of time she spent preparing for her meetings, dates, whatever..

28clfisha
Avr 15, 2010, 8:49 am

Hi,
I have only read the really awful sequel to The Story of O which just seems to be just soft porn with no merit (nothing wrong with that but its so iconic I expected something less banal). Your review makes me want to go back try the orginal.. although I hear there is a comic book adaptation out which might be interesting too.

I can't recommend a Tarot book, only having read a guide to Rider-Waite tarot deck.

29wookiebender
Avr 15, 2010, 9:44 pm

Hi captainsflat, and welcome to the group! (I've been busy lately, and now have heaps to catch up on in this group, oh dear...)

Some very interesting books, and some very interesting comments!

30captainsflat
Avr 20, 2010, 6:42 am

21. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat by Oliver Sacks
A reread. A reentering into Oliver Sacks's amazing world. For the first time (this is not just a reread, but something like an eighth read) I saw the incompleteness of some of the case studies, how some were just little snacks. But the general propulsion in me of "imagine that's..." and "what ifs..." still bore me along. It's mind-blowing, these people with blown brains. What is more amazing, and why I find Sacks so necessary, is that he sees the whole person - that you have to take it all-in-all, and not divide people up into their disabilities. That the whole is much much greater than the parts. What is considered truly lost, a truly lost soul? What is actually required for personhood?
And I love how he applies the philosophers. And how a "humean" being is functioning only with great loss (so there Hume).
Another glimpse of why art is/may be important. It's a rhythm thing. With the loss of all (intellectual) memory, the vital importance of art, music, gardening, religion, in rootedness, in grounding, in rhythm and peace and meaning outside of memory. In constructing self. In knitting together, or in Sacks' own quote (Sherrington, I think) - enchanted loom, weaving ever-dissolving but meaningful patterns.
There is infinite variety, so much more. Excess v. loss. The idea that excess is probably more damaging to "personality" as it is seductive. Also, agnosia and aphasia, and the tantalising thoroughness of knowledge of nonverbal communication on one hand, and purely verbal expression on the other.

31captainsflat
Modifié : Avr 20, 2010, 6:58 am

>28 clfisha: I'm not sure I would actually want to see The Story of O, like I said, the story and the words were a kind of refuge! I'm not sure you could write this book today, which may be the problem with the sequel. We are just too surrounded by it.
>29 wookiebender: thanks wookiebender - i just popped over to your thread, and i like what i see too! and no romances here either. yet. but you never know, librarything just has this corrupting influence....

edited for touchstone

32captainsflat
Avr 20, 2010, 6:57 am

22. Journey to the Stone Country by Alex Miller
I read this compulsively, I think because I have been thinking about this place - and whether it had it's own mythology, literature, songs - how you would go about reconstructing something (I have been making lists of birds and wildlife in my head - instead of rabbit, wren, badger, there are carpet snakes, brush turkeys, coucals...and leeches! leeches waving around like little flags underneath the palm fronds just waiting for you to brush by...)(and I have been listening to the weather and personifying it - easy to do when it's dark, windy, storm tossed, clouds racing across the moon and the curlews keening...)
Anyway, this was one way of doing it. This was one telling of this country, or nearby. As my husband said, I now want to spend every weekend in the car, exploring, going to Collinsvale, Uranna, Homevale. And the story wasn't just pioneers or aborigines, but a telling together, how difficult the past is. And that there IS a difference, and yet not mutually incomprehensible. And that understanding is more important than, and not the same thing as, knowledge.
Ahhh, ringers - that type of person is the same the world over - the farmer, the peasant, the cattleman. Silence and work and love. Work like I've never known it. And what does coming home mean? Do you know where your country is?

33captainsflat
Avr 20, 2010, 7:08 am

23. Time Without Clocks by Joan Lindsay
Wouldn't you know it? Reading about Melbourne was not in response to the last read at all, but synchronicity rules doesn't it? Finished during preparations for 1) Ilia's first birthday party this afternoon (when I wrote this back in March) and 2) Cyclone Ului expected tomorrow!
A beautiful glimpse into a past world, familiar, having been away for so long, my memories of Melbourne belong to the same country as these - the past somewhere. It's not an autobiography, but amusing vignettes, sketches of people and small everyday habits of the 1930s. A tone piece - trying to capture the feel of an era disappeared before she wrote this, the feel and colour - not history, fact, time, detail (unless a TELLING detail). Oh I just love the description of the Lindsay brothers, how vital they are! Everyone around them is so establishment. But such strong links between the establishment and the artist - is that still the case - do judges and governors and dukes still drop in on artist's studios to talk art? I shall have to visit the place next time I am in Melbourne, it being under Trust. What I really would like to visit is the delapidated, unfurnished shack in Bacchus Marsh.

34captainsflat
Avr 20, 2010, 7:12 am

24. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Wells is such a good writer. And for some reason that continually surprises me. How deeply ingrained is such an unfounded prejudice! It's the triffids that put me off, and mind you I have never actually read the whole thing.
Anyway, listening to a radio program about narcissists and sociopaths, this invisible man sounds like a classic example. Lucky they can't all turn invisible.

35captainsflat
Avr 20, 2010, 7:17 am

25. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Captivating little book. Very vivid. It builds so slowly - which in this case I think is a good thing. I kept thinking there's not enough pages for her to find out what's happening - but I liked the effect when she did, that everything was so normal right up to that point, and could be explained away. It really goes to the heart of all my misgivings about housework :)
But I want to know what else they were up to, those men. And imagine luring someone you have married there! Who are these people! Why not just divorce!

36captainsflat
Avr 20, 2010, 7:24 am

26. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
A writing style that has a lot of life. I have a small lingering sense that the style may date quickly, but it's not outdated just yet. I love that it is in English and Spanish all mixed up, like immigrants actually speak (oh, someone should write a croatian one, with ringati and shoppovati and the works!) And, strangely, I loved the word 'scromfed' for slept around. Just FITS. The appropriate amount of levity and ugliness/seediness.
I am unsure about the heavy use of literary references. i don't know about this, it jarred a little. And that last "The Beauty! The Beauty!" that's made me say "oh, come ON" and roll my eyes a bit. This book for the most part sounded lite'n'easy, but has little flashes that it is about more after all - well, the huge footnotes about the Dominican Republic aren't all that little, and the THEMES aren't lite'n'easy , so maybe it is just the flippant, bravado style? I am sounding like I didn't like it, but I did, all in all. Great characters. And I like how all the children differ SO MUCH from their parents.

37captainsflat
Avr 20, 2010, 7:27 am

27. The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
This is very jaunty. Obviously, Eilonwy is great. I don't remember the Children of Llyr being this jaunty. Will just have to go and haul it out of the stacks.

38wookiebender
Avr 20, 2010, 9:21 pm

Oh, another good list!

I read my first Alex Miller this year - Landscape of Farewell and while I had quibbles, I thought it was a very good book overall. My bookgroup is doing his Lovesong later in the year, and I'm looking forward to that now.

And I've got The Invisible Man on Mt TBR, been meaning to get to it for the longest time, I've enjoyed the others of his I've read recently (couldn't get into his books as a kid, although I did like Jules Verne very much).

39iftyzaidi
Avr 21, 2010, 7:17 am

24> "Wells is such a good writer. And for some reason that continually surprises me. How deeply ingrained is such an unfounded prejudice! It's the triffids that put me off, and mind you I have never actually read the whole thing."

If you are referring to The Day of the Triffids that was not by H.G. Wells but by John Wyndham and was written a few years after Wells' death.

40captainsflat
Avr 22, 2010, 6:37 am

You are right iftyzaidi, totally mixed up. Does the same go for John Wyndham though? I avoided HG Wells (looked him up just before, just to be sure) so I wonder what commentary I was reading? Obviously stuff that neglected to mention what a good writer he was! probably some of his plot summaries, not appetisingly presented. Obviously, also, Before Library Thing (BLT).

41captainsflat
Avr 22, 2010, 6:41 am

APRIL

28. Mafia Women by Clare Longrigg
And to think that around the 60s Jacqui Du Pre was agonizing over being a concert cellist! At least she wasn't killing her husband's killer, or getting married at 13, or running drug empires. A bit topical here in Australia, with Underbelly (a series about the criminal underworld in OZ), which definitely portrayed women as being fully involved with this. What is crazy is only how recently the courts have thought women capable of being criminal.

42captainsflat
Avr 22, 2010, 6:45 am

29. Absurdistan by Eric Campbell
Just one quote: "I flew back to Sydney for my first real break since coming to Russia. I found myself marvelling at how clean the streets were, how nice the shops were, how prosperous ordinary people were, and how much they complained about how hard their lives were."
Ain't it the truth.
Reminds me how many insolvable problems there are, how much violence and how much enjoyment of violence. Biggest danger? Soldiers and Generals with no wars to fight.

43captainsflat
Avr 22, 2010, 6:52 am

30. Ward Six and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov
I am unequal to writing about this. i am still shuddering about "in The Ravine". It ripped my heart out - but was very different from the other stories in this book. I am straight out of a Chekhov short story! How did he know :) I just recognised myself in the educated and lazy people always dreaming and longing - in these stories, about agriculture, about farming, real work, real life. But when they actually get there they hate it (with one exception), and they hate it because they don't understand it. I think I need someone to shoot at me, to wake me up.
I feel all a-tingle and alert and inconsolable.
This, and Babbit, two different styles exploring that impulse to rebel, which is futile and you get sucked back in because really what choice do you have? you are standing on the edge of an abyss. Spiritual death - is that it? Are these vignettes of spiritual death? The total failure and "blank incapacity to respond at all."

44captainsflat
Avr 22, 2010, 7:00 am

31. The R Factor by Michael Schluter and David Lee
Trying to build a background for a more clear idea of a "Relationist" society - one in which there is a better balance between choice and obligation (where today we are mostly about choice to the detriment of obligation). One which encourages encounter over contingent (depersonalized) relationships. And trying to build a sketch of what a society - a politics, an economy, a culture - would look like if one of its fundamental values was the quality of the relationships it fostered.
Really only a broad overview though. Will have to follow up and see if this was taken any further (well, there hasn't been a revolution or anything). It is a bit dated, in that it was written before the internet revolution. But the Web seems to have made the books questions more urgent. Are web relationships encounters or mimicking encounters? Strange hybrids? Is there even more threat now to face-to-face encounters (interesting parallel with another radio program about cafes in America instituting wifi free weekends - that this is seen as necessary, that it has to be a conscious decision, rather than socializing in a cafe being seen as the norm!)
Also explains what I've always felt - that I like being with those I'm with! That the feeling of connection is largely a factor of time, rootedness. Brings clearer into focus what we miss out on having family so far apart. Anyway, something to think about, to discover where I sit on this continuum, and what I want to do about it.

45captainsflat
Avr 22, 2010, 7:02 am

33. His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Well, that's me caught up. Future posts will probably be only one at a time (sigh of relief). I don't mind being corrected, as I know I am sloppy. Thanks all for reading so far!

46wookiebender
Avr 22, 2010, 9:47 pm

Congratulations on being all caught up. :) I'm about six-seven reviews behind my reading, hopefully one day soon I'll catch up too!

I've been eyeing off Absurdistan in the bookshops, and I love the concept of "BLT". BLT, my Mt TBR was almost under control...

47judylou
Avr 24, 2010, 5:51 am

What an outstanding list of books read captainsflat! I have soooo enjoyed reading all your reviews. I especially loved the one for Journey to the Stone Country. It seems that you get a lot out of your reading!

48captainsflat
Modifié : Mai 5, 2010, 6:22 am

Thanks everyone for your kind comments.

Now, to let everyone down!

34. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
I was expecting a boiling-with-rage, exasperating, growing incredulity kind of read a la Dan Brown. However, it actually exceeded my, admittedly low, expectations. But that's all I'm going to say about that.

49captainsflat
Mai 5, 2010, 6:29 am

35. The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland
I just couldn't go past something endorsed by Philip Pullman. An Arthurian tale. It has great language and Arthur is really likeable - thinks about others, is clever, modest and noble. The father is a surprisingly good character too - unexpected clearness and warmth (where you would expect a harder, dumber man). I want to read the next one. But it is no Pullman.
"Time and place and flesh and thought and feeling. All these are our friends but also our enemies."
"Christmastide is the one and only stopping place in the long dance of the year. Christmas is like an enclosing wall, a fold. We're inside it, eating and drinking and keeping warm and singing, but we know all the year's hungers and terrors and lessons and anxieties and opportunities and sorrows are still there on the outside."

50captainsflat
Mai 5, 2010, 6:31 am

36. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Yes, I even went the next one available to me.

37. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Yes, and even the next one. Lucky this was the last though, as this had to be the most completely ridiculous book I have read in recent memory.

51captainsflat
Mai 5, 2010, 7:17 am

Sorry, skipped from 31 to 33. If post #45 is actually 32.,

33. The Mask of Motherhood by Susan Maushart
What a relief to read! Most of it was "yes, that's right!", although some was a bit too feminist - well, mysogyny is fear of the all powerful mother? All men fear engulfment?
But some real food for thought: 1. Choice and Culture (see, ties back to book 31!) not only do our general obligations suffer as a result of too much choice, it also leads to anxiety, panic, shock and generally not coping well with (have to be careful here) the realities of motherhood. Not that you don't cope, but that there are all these extra things on top of it. Her argument is that choice gives us false expectations about the course of our lives - but all sorts of things can derail our "choices" and even our power to choose - and we have lost a lot of resilience, and according to book 31, a lot of the social support.
2. Absolute equality in parenting and domestic duties is not very efficient. Takes a lot of energy. But does that mean that you can either police equality, adding another burden, or just suck it up and get on with it?
I really think my sisters should read this - but I am not convinced that any of it makes sense until it is too late.

52wookiebender
Mai 5, 2010, 8:03 am

I got a friend to summarise the second two "Twilight" books because I loathed the first one so much, but was slightly curious as to how it was going to be resolved. Can't say they sounded like it was worth reading on, but I admire your persistence. :)

53merry10
Mai 5, 2010, 8:34 am

How much I have enjoyed your reviews, and your choice of books. I like your point of view - interesting. Thanks!

54judylou
Mai 6, 2010, 6:19 am

I don't think I'll even attempt the "Twilight" books. I saw the first movie - not so great - saw the second movie - boring as - and read The Host which I thought was rubbish. So really, I don't think that I'll bother . . . . :0)

55captainsflat
Mai 7, 2010, 4:48 am

Well, I am surprised at myself at having got that far. But look, Wookiebender still had her friend summarize, and you judylou have seen not one, but two films (granted, less commitment than reading) and one book. I feel like she has duped me somehow, that she hits below the belt. Leave my twisted, pathetic feminine psyche alone and stop making money from it.

56judylou
Mai 8, 2010, 4:54 am

hehehehehehe

57karenmarie
Modifié : Mai 10, 2010, 1:15 pm

I read the Twilight series and enjoyed it for the fluff it was. I will never re-read them, and I'm about to put them up on BookMooch. My 16-year daughter read the first one and part of the second one and stopped. She said Bella's too whiney for words.

58captainsflat
Modifié : Mai 22, 2010, 5:45 am

MAY

Sorry, have been going to bed when the kids do lately!

I hardly thought of Bella as an actual character, and more like Stephanie herself, or an empty vessel to project yourself into.

38. The Goddess Within by Jennifer and Rodger Woolger
Like the tarot books, I really love the narratives, the building up of a complex picture, through symbol, myth, allegory, metaphor. Until you can hear those voices in your head - or identify them. It has a bit of a balancing effect on my reading of "The Mask of Motherhood" (No. 33) - in that that book could have been a pure Athena struggle with motherhood. Not a universal experience, which I don't think Maushart claimed at all, but still. This is only six archetypes, and interestingly, I can identify them pretty easily in Australian/Western culture and people, but find it much less fitting when I think of Croatian culture and people. My favorite "archetype" the seljanka (translates roughly to peasant woman, but oh so much more than that) does not overlap with these easily at all. And this book included my second encounter with a Mary Oliver poem. Who is this poet? I must investigate....

59captainsflat
Mai 22, 2010, 5:48 am

39. Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood
Phryne Fisher is capable, strong, courageous, independent, beautiful, a bit tragic, thoroughly modern (in a 20s sort of way), rich. Totally unbelievable and definitely escapist as who could possibly be all those things, but a breath of fresh air. I have a crush on her.

60captainsflat
Mai 22, 2010, 5:51 am

40. Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren
One of my favorite books. I think 12 must be the perfect age for a girl. The deep and violent emotion, the physical mastery, the threshold. I am totally partial to these half-savage, wild girl children. Ronia. Lyra. Birle (a bit older and more domesticated, but the same steely will). Even Sally Lockhart. And there's even boys - Riddley Walker. Will. Any more of these? I can't get enough.

61captainsflat
Mai 22, 2010, 5:59 am

41. The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer
My fourth "Twilight - antidote" book. Well that really sparked some "well, what does it mean to be female" questions, didn't it. i really like watching interviews with Germaine, you get good value. I don't find this book outrageous, totally and entirely outdated or absolutely delusional. I can definitely take or leave some stuff, but she just sounds exasperated that people aren't taking the situation seriously, or that they aren't more angry, or angry about the wrong things.
It was fun following the fun-house-mirrors reflections between this book, the Goddess Book, and my two heroines in between. Its intriguing to me that none of this interested me in the least before I had children - was I more sexless? was it because I didn't have lots and lots to do with people who were married, mothering, doing things other than going to Uni - I didn't mix a lot with people in very different situations? I've realised that apart from recently, I don't know many divorces close up, for example. Why is there such a chasm - post baby and pre baby - about identity, sexual politics, work, etc etc. Why are we so segregated, or is it just me and a lack of imagination or empathy?

62captainsflat
Juin 24, 2010, 8:29 pm

42. The Word Child by Iris Murdoch
I remember a while ago reading an Iris Murdoch book, don't remember which, and I have avoided Iris ever since. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and the emotion was slightly violent. Well, I braved this book (a violent child redeemed by words? as if i wouldn't try it) - and in the beginning I was saying: "But no, she's pretty darned good, what was I on about?" Enjoying myself immensely with her description, wordplay and sarcastic characters. But you know, I finished it and again I'm left with that bitter taste. It's just TOO MUCH, lays it on so thick, the monstrous ego of the man. The so many entanglements of everyone. It just all so selfish, melodramatic, unnecessary. Luxuriating in misery. I don't need it. The blurb says something like "working sin and redemption out in a godless world"- but religion and God's fingerprints were everywhere. If he had no God, he certainly had God Hangover - had neither God nor none. I should qualify by saying it's old style Catholic guilt.
Totally shallow of me, but I just can't imagine all the clothes - what on earth does an ankle length tarten dress look like?

63captainsflat
Juin 24, 2010, 8:39 pm

43. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
After Iris, I felt like a light, easy but still intelligent read, and this definitely delivered. I love Slavic old men. My grandfather was just like the father (except for the romantic entanglements - much too much mind for that). The Big Ideas. The stubbornness, the tyrant-like qualities. Diregard for social and societal norms because logic and reason rule. The eccentricities of behaviour (ostensibly based on reason). How all emotion is subsumed to the pseudo-rational. (He says in response to his wife hitting him: "Well, that is just a typical defect of the Russian character, the propensity for violence" - substitute Serb). I most like how the sisters rant and rave over his treatment, behaviour, craziness of Valentina - and you can totally see their Point of View - she is money-hungry, scheming, abusive etc etc - but Nikolai shows more understanding and compassion (albeit unevenly) that I felt shamed that I was so judgemental of Valentina! That there is actually no need to judge at all.
I also loved Donav - how some Slavic men know and totally accept their emotions. He has come back for his wife (who has had several affairs, and illegitimate child etc etc general chaos in her wake) - but his attitude is everyone makes mistakes. He will father the child. Genuinely, sincerly. No defensiveness, guilt or blaming - just simple and straightforward. And that Stanislav cries tears of relief that his father is there. When they get it right, these Slavic men make inspiring fathers (but that is not the balance of the average). This book seems to have made me happy.

64wookiebender
Juin 24, 2010, 9:41 pm

I've only read one book by Iris Murdoch - The Bell, and you're quite right, although I didn't put my finger on it before: well written, but slightly bitter.

I also rather enjoyed A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - I have no Slavic men in my family, but he still reminded me of my Dad. (I'm sure Dad'll love Toshiba apples, should I ever give him the idea...)

65captainsflat
Juin 24, 2010, 11:29 pm

I know!!! and also, that scene where all the men are bonding over that crap car! loved it.

66captainsflat
Juin 26, 2010, 6:15 am

JUNE

44. Maddigan's Fantasia by Magaret Mahy
I went off to the library and borrowed a stack of YA books, spurred on for the search for more Ronia's. This was a very good book which I really enjoyed, but it wasn't quite it. I know it's a cliche, but when I think of Mahy's writing, I think accomplished. She knows what she's doing.
Of course, just the idea of a travelling fantasia, nomadic, with parleys and caravans, is enough to get me on side. Freedom, ever changing roads, and the importance of being able to read a map. I also, really liked the (what, allegory?) where each place and challenge is a different TYPE of evil, a different kind of threat to freedom. I won't go through them, as that would be too much spoiler. I tell you what, even though this was written AFTER Mahy had developed the TV series, the book is still better than the TV series.

67captainsflat
Juin 26, 2010, 6:18 am

45. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Again, an accomplished book, well written and enjoyable. What's not to like - bookbinders, rare libraries, sarcastic mean but heart of gold spinsters, fairies, etc - No Ronia though. I actually didn't like Dustfinger all that much. He let me down a little. Supposed to be complex, but I didn't like him enough for his function in the book.

68captainsflat
Juin 26, 2010, 6:27 am

46. Disgrace by J.M.Coetzee
I'd forgotten I'd read this before. An antidote to the YA, or a clearing of the palate. I remember feeling disturbed the first time, and I was convinced it was more explicit than it turned out to be. That must have been due to its impact.
There is lots to think about here. The state of disgrace. Dis-grace. Paying. The two transgressions. I was totally on Lucy's side this time, that it was a personal matter, no one's business but her own. Her resistance to the abstract resonated, even as I am thinking, but surely it's just trauma.
"But he was wrong. It is not the erotic that is calling to him after all, nor the elegaic, but the comic." The rehabilitation of Teresa - ridiculous and absurd, but what else are you to do? This book definitely has moments of comic in it, despite the seriousness and the themes. It does have that existential lightness (not like Iris!). In fact, it is perhaps an Iris-type book, but in a style I can stomach and swallow. I hope they aren't setting this as school text, I feel I have only just begun to understand the edges, and that I should put it away for twenty years.

69captainsflat
Juil 1, 2010, 6:39 am

47. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
For some reason, Calder is more attached to this book than he has been to any other story book. Interesting that he loves it, enough to even let me read it out loud when there are no pictures.

70captainsflat
Juil 1, 2010, 6:47 am

48. Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky
Makes me want to go and save any and every book. Also, highlights how all languages are important - especially those not officially supported by governments. Each one has a character, a weltanschauung, lost if the language is lost. And I mourn all the aboriginal languages disappearing, and even the disappearance of dialects saddens me. What a great thing to do. As this is primarily meant to be amusing, he downplays the difficulties.
I read a story on the Centre's website called "Tall Tamare", and all the elements in Chabon I liked were in it. I like that brand of humour. So, why not go learn Yiddish? Such a literate and political generation. Literate - so that it meant something - that literature is held to have intrinsic worth, to be worth doing, worth reading, worth talking about. Interesting also how the generation after are not that interested, but the grandchildren are coming back.

71captainsflat
Juil 1, 2010, 6:55 am

49. Lamplighter by D. M. Cornish
This book was written just for me, I'm sure of it. From the mixing of technology and biology in old style ways, monsters, archaic language, the world being the same but different, to the wonderful characters, Rossamund especially, the landscapes, I loved everything about this. I haven't read the first one (so it took a while to figure out what some of the words meant - but I can read in suspension like that, even enjoy it), but the story, as far as I know (I could be missing lots, and I intend to find the first book quickly) can stand alone. To have thoughts and feelings the rest of the world doesn't share, and further, persecutes remorselessly - how lonely, but Rossamund bears up admirably.

72captainsflat
Juil 1, 2010, 7:05 am

50. The Shadow Thief by Alexandra Adornetto
Amusing, just a couple of hours read. Inventive. The narrator occasionally got irritating, but painlessly so.

51. How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom
I don't know. I thought the first two sections on Short Stories and Poetry pretty strong, with interesting points and a vague formulation of Bloom's Rules (not really). But the first Novel section and after, the project of how to read and why seems to me abandoned, he is just talking about these books individually rather than illuminating a greater project. Which is fine, I love reading about books, but there isn't really enough room, so I must admit I didn't understand some of his comments at all. Total incomprehension - but maybe because I haven't read these books, and don't know enough about them independently of Bloom. And it's a bit too American for me. It has left me craving for something totally outside the orbit of what he discusses.

73clif_hiker
Juil 1, 2010, 7:24 am

>71 captainsflat: I read Monster Blood Tattoo several years ago and loved it, but because I read it as soon as it was published... I did not have the sequel to pick up immediately. That's why we wait folks! Thanks for the review, I'll go grab both of them.

74clfisha
Juil 1, 2010, 8:57 am

71&73 Hmm you are noth making the series sound good! going to have to check out Monster Blood Tattoo.

75captainsflat
Juil 1, 2010, 11:16 pm

>73 clif_hiker: Glad to have refreshed your memory!

> 74 Oh do go check it out. I love things like that a gun is a "fusil" (slightly different technology) or that lamps are lit with a phosphorescent plant living in the mantle. Just so satisfying.

76wookiebender
Juil 2, 2010, 3:11 am

I hadn't heard of this D.M. Cornish series, and now I'm wishing I hadn't! (No new books being purchased until September in Chez Wookiebender, need to get Mt TBR down.)

Oh, they do sound fun.

I've read the first two Alexandra Adornetto books (have #3 in Mt TBR somewhere) and enjoyed them as good inventive entertaining fun reads. She was only 15 or so when she wrote them, so I'm hoping that's indicative of some seriously excellent stuff from her in 10 years or so!

77captainsflat
Juil 2, 2010, 6:21 pm

Well she is certainly a talented 15 year old! I would even venture so far as to say that this was better written than Eragon, if we are comparing 15 year old writers. I would have just loved the knowing-asides-to-the-reader style as a youngster, but the magic of that complicity wears a bit thin as an adult. Just reading it at the wrong age, I guess. But I did like it a lot. And will also have to keep an eye out for her, hopefully she is still writing.

Oh I liked Monster Blood Tattoo so much that I think you should bump something else off the TBR mountain and go get it from the library. (I'm not bossy in real life, and especially not about reading. Just trying it out :))

78wookiebender
Juil 3, 2010, 12:12 am

Oh, I'm a total bossy boots. Everyone should do what I think, because I'm ever so right! ;)

I did check yesterday, and the first (Foundling, right?) was available at one of the City of Sydney library branches. Not my local, but easy enough to request a transfer...

Yay for the library!

79SouthernBluestocking
Août 30, 2010, 9:54 am

Just caught up on reading your reviews, and have added A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and Outwitting History to my find-it-soon list. Thanks for the recommendations!

80captainsflat
Sep 4, 2010, 6:31 am

Well, work has been so busy lately that I hadn't wanted to be anywhere near a computer when I got home. So I am catching up on everyone else's reading, and thought I'd better add in what I have been reading too. It's hard work being regular!

52. Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Why do I do this to myself? I really didn't like this. So facile and simplistic. Actually, it makes me angry, his vile portrayal of women. (I had a bit of a rant in my book at this point, but I won't type it all up. Suffice it to say that I hated this).

81captainsflat
Sep 4, 2010, 6:35 am

53. Awareness by Anthony De Mello
Borrowed from my visiting sister, who is much more religious than I am. We have created a new phrase - a "De Mello person". I can't resist saying (although this is related to what I am currently reading, now, in September, rather than back then in July (JULY!)) that these enlightenment things really struggle with language. They can't really tell you what it's like when you wake up, can they?

82captainsflat
Sep 4, 2010, 6:45 am

54. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary
I finished this about a week before it came out as a movie, purely by chance. I still haven't seen the movie. I had a lot of objections to this book, which is why I put it down and didn't pick it up again for a while. Like what? Firstly, that it's about two characters who are hiding their light under a bushel - their intelligence, good taste, sensitivity. That these two are who we are supposed to identify with - not the cruel, thoughtless, painful, shallow people. But odds are that we ARE of the cruel, as the elites of sensibility are supposedly so rare! Surely she isn't suggesting that we are all hiding a deep understanding of art and literature from a cruel, shallow world. That was just too much for me.
Secondly, it is strangely non-railing, strangely accepting - the world doesn't need to change. But clandestine "goodness" is rewarded! And thirdly, the ending, pfft, such a tying of loose ends. PUH-LEASE. It was clumsy "an always within a never"? and sometimes downright pretentious crap. I did still enjoy bits of it, some of the vignettes. And the characters were very likeable (of course, part of the plan, innit?)

83captainsflat
Sep 4, 2010, 6:52 am

55. Wild At Heart by John Eldredge

56. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
Wow, another bad run. Is that why I stopped posting - I was too depressed by my own strike rate?
The characters were muddy, muddled, unbelievable. The writing itself was at times striking, but I just found the main character unsympatisch, and the others all hollow. And I forgot about it overnight. Except to look up Lichtberger effects. How beautiful, and terrifying.
She kept being totally, annoyingly inconsistent - wants to be alone, doesn't, doesn't deserve love, gets offended when love not proffered, is a terrible black history, but is actually just like you or me. A lot of the time I was "Yeah RIGHT"ing her. That mystery man has seen through me and beheld the very deep dark heart of me by sending ..... ROSES?!?! Oh come on. And the pace was a bit weird - so fast, one thing jumping to another. First few chapters I just assumed she was rushing to fill us in before getting to the real story, and then I realised we weren't speeding to get anywhere, that was going to be the whole book.

84captainsflat
Sep 4, 2010, 6:55 am

57. Circle of Stones by Michelle Paver
Sorry, no touchstone. This was quite a good YA. Liked the Australian parts the most. And loved the goat who wants to come for a drive.

85captainsflat
Sep 4, 2010, 7:03 am

58. The Book of Lies by James Moloney
I really enjoyed this. I especially enjoyed the just-enough-doubt-to-doubt-yourself sense I had - "surely they're bad! But maybe not? He might surprise me. WHAT is going to happen!". It might be more obvious to other readers, but I enjoyed swinging back and forth.
I loved the characters, the pacing and what the book of lies does for animals. (I'm sure I've had similar kitties). The characters - you think one thing about a character, but actually the total opposite is true, or true too. Like Fergus - how misery can make bullies of us. That misery itself can make you meaner and shallower than you would be if you were somewhere more fitting to you.
I'm just sad that there doesn't yet seem to be a sequel (there is a riddle left hanging).

86wookiebender
Sep 4, 2010, 7:04 am

Oh dear. *looks askance at some books on Mt TBR* Oh well, maybe I'll like them more than you did!

87captainsflat
Sep 4, 2010, 7:31 am

I know wookie, maybe I should post a "do not look at this train wreck" for this part of the year. It may have been me, to have such a consistent reaction. I hope so. For your sake. But I am typing from notes, and I assure you that no permanent damage was done!

88judylou
Sep 5, 2010, 1:19 am

Hi captainsflat, just catching up on your thread.

I also liked the James Moloney books - there is a sequel to The Book of Lies ~ Master of the Books and then there is The Book from Baden Dark. I've read 1 & 2 but haven't read 3 yet.

I've added a couple of your reads to my wishlist and hope to enjoy them as much as you.

89captainsflat
Oct 25, 2010, 6:12 pm

59. Captivating by John and Stasia Eldredge

60. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
It wasn't a bad read, but it's two weeks later and I've already let most of it go. It was funny in places. "Do you think it's any fun, listening to a 10 year old pitching woo?"
"My mind reeled. There was my whole life for you, socks stretching all the way to the infinite horizon, a yawning valley of knitting tedium. I felt sick "Please Mother, let me do it tomorrow. I think my eyes are strained.""

I think I really identify with Callie's agony and rebellion as regards domestic drudgery. To be reduced to THIS? Is this what I was intended for? What a waste! But also, totally aware that really it's not that bad and you can find satisfaction in it.

90captainsflat
Oct 25, 2010, 6:15 pm

61. Hothouse Kids by Alissa Quart
I'm reading this just to confirm my own opinions. Kids need unstructured play, and boredom is important. There need to be more creative solutions to educating the gifted (then just academic fast forward) (and not that I have been or ever will be faced with that problem). Well, because if pushing and classes from day dot and enriching experiences actually always worked, my kids are stuffed.

91captainsflat
Oct 25, 2010, 6:19 pm

62. The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner
This was breathtaking. It was gorgeous. The voices. The writing. It was GOOD. What do this and Chekhov have in common - some stillness at the centre - some sense that everything changes, events happen - and nothing changes too. And tragedy and waste. The unlived life. The unlived life - why else would one write? Or read, for that matter. No answers, and no one gets off lightly. Caddy's beautiful fierceness. And Jason! despicable wretched man - but his voice was so clear and well, conventional and sane, compared to the others. But bitter and twisted. (sounds like big business actually). Quentin I did skip over a bit, so melodramatic. And Dilsey. That mother was horrible and bankrupt. I cheated though. Read an online version that was colour coded for timelines. Online reading not fun but timelines infinitely handy.

92captainsflat
Oct 25, 2010, 6:22 pm

63. Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
Excellent book. I have something about surviving in the forest, running wild and in union. A great one for the forest foundling shelf. Much stronger writing than Circle of Stones, although I enjoyed that too.

64. Spirit Walker by Michelle Paver
It was just sitting at the top of a box waiting for me! Another good read - seals, killer whales, sea kayaking - what more do you want? Twists and tokoroths, evil magic .... This series is a keeper.

93captainsflat
Oct 26, 2010, 7:08 am

I am exactly 20 books behind, so have to press on. These are now

AUGUST

65. Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen
Circus life, the carny, I grew up on Nick Cave, so this is familiar and nostalgic territory for me. But this story hasn't really stuck with me at all. Not enough Nick Cave in it, perhaps. Too nice and too pedestrian, with some alright touches.

94captainsflat
Oct 26, 2010, 7:13 am

66. The River Ophelia by Justine Ettler
Well, ain't this the total opposite of nice? I never understood the breathless excitement of "dirty realism", and always suspected it was just because those rude words and images were now in print, and they got to clobber people with it: "Oh, you can't stand it? But disgust is not the point...(I am above such prudish reactions)"
So sad, so sorry and empty. People who have lost all touch with reality - floating somewhere in the cold limbo of selfhate, masochism. I agree with a newspaper review I read about it - there is nothing feminist about this, the same old palaver and cliches, woman obsessed, woman victim, woman pathetic.
I thought I like some of here lists. I think she could be a good list writer. But her endless minute detail irritated me in general. May be valuable as a glimpse into a very damaged person. But I don't want to dwell there with her. I don't like her shadowland, obsess, stalk, catch cabs, phone, sex. I want reality now. A big heartening refreshing warm alive dose of it.

95captainsflat
Oct 26, 2010, 7:15 am

67. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
Amusing. Good quick read. I like the delving into your favorite book thing. And the idea of back story and what the characters do when not "on Stage". And that Neanderthals are pacifists and extremely sensitive.

96captainsflat
Oct 26, 2010, 7:16 am

68. Call Me Elizabeth by Dawn Annandale

97captainsflat
Oct 26, 2010, 7:21 am

69. Schopenhauer by Julian Young
Oh, really good. But I won't go into too much, I feel totally unqualified to do so.
Points of interest:
1. How everyone today has "passion" for absolutely everything. I think that's an absolutely clear example of Schopenhauerian boredom - willing desperately to will something.
2. Leaving aside salvation in the form of asceticism, the happiest people are most likely the middleclass (do they exist anymore) who have slightly challenging goals they strive towards, enjoy them when they achieve them, then they don't wait too long for the next slightly challenging goal.
3. Striving is less painful than achieving. Journey is much much better than the destination.
and lastely
4. Wittgenstein in his deck chair. Did Wittgenstein have a sense of humour?

98captainsflat
Oct 26, 2010, 7:23 am

70. Virtual Light by William Gibson
I didn't expect Gibson to be so funny. This was unexpectedly light and enjoyable. I loved the religions - First Church of Jesus - Survivalist. And T.V. religion - which kind of made a twisted sense after Schops, well why not?)

99captainsflat
Oct 28, 2010, 2:49 am

SEPTEMBER

71. The Surgeon of Crowthorne by Simon Winchester
His style seemed overly repetitive and circular to me. Maybe my problem is that I don't find it excessively strange and unbelievable that an asylum inmate, paranoid, murderer, should be a huge contributor to the OED? What is so strange about that in itself?
Dr Minor's two rooms, one a library with rare books, correspondance, Study, a manservant etc sounds, well, heavenly to me. Another instance of how you can't predict destiny. Paranoid, schizophrenic, murderer...and yet. There is a whole other person in addition to the labels.

100captainsflat
Oct 28, 2010, 2:54 am

72. Murphy by Samuel Beckett
My first Beckett novel. I just love his way with words. I was surprised it was actually a novel, with a (bare) plot and all. It did mention Beckett in the Schopenhauer book - and I could see that in there - mind and body, and the way Murphy describes the world, but I am not at all sure that their conclusions are the same. I haven't read up on this but I would like to. Beckett's description of the pendulum of willing finally coming to rest makes me anxious rather than inspired. It seems an awful collapsing in on oneself. Maybe that's the point? Schopenhauer was still too old-fashioned and hopeful, he was mistaken about redemption?
Beckett and Satre - seem like the end of a particular philosophical road. Can there actually be anything after them? Beckett really does satisfy the old decrepit man in me. And isn't that one of the best first lines? "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new."

101captainsflat
Oct 28, 2010, 2:59 am

73. The Permanent Pleasure by Richard Harter Fogle
Includes essays on Coleridge, Keats, Shelley and some on Hawthorne and Melville, as American representatives.
I found it rather quaint, and I'm not sure whether it was just the way Fogle expressed himself, or the content, or the Romantics themselves. It doesn't read like any literary criticism one gets today.

102AndreaBurke
Oct 28, 2010, 3:36 am

I pretty much completely agree with you on The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It's been a few months since I read it, and the more I think about it, the more I feel like you do. I look forward to seeing what you are reading for the rest of the year.

103jfetting
Oct 28, 2010, 1:19 pm

I'm always happy to see someone else who appreciates The Sound and the Fury. It's one of my top 3 favorite novels ever, although I have to admit that timeline cheat sheets are a must - my copies (yes, plural) are all marked up in Benjy's and Quentin's section. It's funny that you skipped Q's section - he is melodramatic, but it is my favorite, especially the last few pages where it goes fully stream-of-consciousness.

104captainsflat
Oct 28, 2010, 9:19 pm

#102 Andrea, the more I think about it, the less I think of it too!

#103 It was only a little bit skipped over, jfetting, just a bit of glazy eyes, not like skipping whole pages or anything. I think I will have to return and do Q some justice and read it more closely. Maybe it would be better to read that section in an actual book, rather than the internet. Now that I think of it, the presentation on screen wasn't great for that section. Do you know of any good internet resources for it?

105clfisha
Nov 15, 2010, 7:22 am

98 I have always steered clear of Gibson for a reason, guess been a bit suspicious its been a bit dated but I think think your review has inspired to at least try it.

106captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 9:36 pm

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

107captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 9:39 pm

I know, it was totally different to what I thought it would be. Went in with some trepidation, but came out with some good laughs.

74. Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
This was yummy and satisfying. Very fresh and modern in an old fashioned kind of way. Is the narrator totally trustworthy? I love her Edwina - what a great character - a model for old age, using disgust and squeamishness as a weapon.
And I really liked Fleur and Dotties relationship - not friends, not even really liking each other, always fighting and being horrible to each other - they're like sisters! Friends but not. I like those kind of relationships where it's actually the total opposite of what is evident, or that it's very undefined. She's not a friend, not an enemy, just my lover's wife who stole my manuscript after I interoduced her to my employer (and what exactly is the proper attitude to THAT?)

108captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 9:42 pm

75. Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys
Heartbreaking. Can the world be divided into those who have felt like this and those who haven't? Or perhaps only those who keep the panic at bay and those who are washed away?
Beautiful touch she has. So precise. The sense of humour in despair. I suspect each reread will be harder. And it is a book I predict I shall reread. But not immediately, and not when I am feeling vulnerable. The ending is horrible, but not even disgust is the end really, is it?
And why the difference between Iris Murdoch and Jean? Why do I like one and not the other? Without too much research and reflection, Jean just seemed to be describing an inevitable misery, where Iris's characters choose totally unnecessary misery.

109captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 9:46 pm

76. Little People, Poets, and Places of Sarina by Bob Read
A kind of anecdotal snapshot of Sarina after the war, and also of the diggers of Sarina from both World Wars. A lost world. Very Queensland, and very what is being lost, the attitude, the characters. So many dead - it really hit me that there is a stage of your life in which you attend funerals on a regular basis. And so much feeling - these men were solid, if wounded. Belies the mute Aussie male stereotype.

110captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 9:49 pm

77. The Lexus and The Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman
Interesting. It does point to (predict?) 9/11 and even the GFC (bad lenders!). I find him unconvincing when he talks about olive trees - he is much more versant with lexuses, how that works. Makes me want to be selfsufficient and quickly in this heavily coal-mining dependent area (probably not the effect he meant to have). His style is a little irritating, and his geopolitical architect section is awful. But it is very interesting.

111captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 9:53 pm

78. Touch the Earth Lightly by Glenn Murcott
The amount of detail this man notices - the vegetation, light, texture, moisture, contour etc. etc. Phenomenal. I get the feeling he would see more spending just one day on your place then you would in ten years. And to incorporate it all into architecture. I find reading about architecture dissatisfying, I need to be IN the space, need to observe the psychological effects first hand, the LIVING.
And the father! What a regime to live under. Learning that you always have more in reserve.
Cares deeply about our place in nature. No airconditioned life. And what I was already thinking about, has a name - Storm Shutters. Windows without glass. He's done something similar in an Aboriginal House in NT.

112wookiebender
Nov 17, 2010, 9:54 pm

#108> You're not making me want to read any of the Murdoch books I have on my shelves at the moment. :)

113captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 10:01 pm

OCTOBER

79. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
I didn't write anything for this one in my reading book - not sure why. But I can't remember what I thought. It's been reviewed plenty, so I don't feel bad skipping over it.

80. Illuminations by Walter Benjamin
Another book which leaves tracks in its wake, to which I refer everything over the next week or so, hold up everything in its light. Even the new CEO's segment (needless to say, it faired particularly badly).
The one thing I want to record this read is that it struck me how MALE they are - Kafka, Nietzsche, Benjamin, Satre. Although Benjamin spoke to my experience - so it's not that I think them irrelevant to women - I don't know, it seemed to go only so far. The horrors aren't completely female horrors, we have others.
For example, I was going to say that as long as women do the disproportionate share of housework, we will always have practice. But even that is not true, really. Not true at all - see Flylady website and others. All these women who have no idea what they are doing, devices galore. That website from America I came across that made cooking sound like a new discovery (really? What had these people been eating then?). So women don't necessarily know practice any more either. But there's still something in it, even if that example failed. Maybe just expression, emphasis?

114captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 10:05 pm

81. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Although I loved this most of the way through, yet having finished I feel a vague sense of dissatisfaction - that it failed to live up to its promise, or more that it ignored or insufficiently applied its own thesis at the end. That the ending was overly sentimental (or something akin). Most of it was excellent.

115captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 10:06 pm

#112 i'm sorry, I don't mean to put anyone off, just recording honestly. I would love someone to explain her to me, tell me I've got it all wrong, and put me straight!

116saraslibrary
Nov 17, 2010, 10:19 pm

Interesting reads. :) As for Breaking Dawn, that's the last one I have to read in that series (oh, and the novella: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner). I agree, the whole series can be kind of ridiculous; that's probably why I avoided reading it this year. Maybe next. Maybe.

Sorry you didn't like Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. I've been wanting to read a Joe Hill book soon and was thinking Horns would probably be the first. I hope Heart-Shaped Box didn't turn you off completely. I've heard some of his others are pretty good.

117captainsflat
Nov 17, 2010, 11:02 pm

Note that I only thought Breaking Dawn was absolutely ridiculous. The first three were other things, but only the fourth earned that. I say you can do without reading it, really, I wish I hadn't.
I noticed Horns first too, on LT, but only had access to Heart Shaped Box. It has put me off Joe Hill. I just didn't like all the MTV effects. I like my horror real. And I can't get past his women. Too stupid. MInd you, that was a bad patch of reading, and who knows, if I ever come across Horns, I just may be in a forgiving mood. You never can tell.

118wookiebender
Nov 17, 2010, 11:13 pm

*little voice*I rather liked Heart Shaped Box...

I see what you mean though, about MTV horror and the lack of a good intelligent female character. But it was my first toe-dip into the murky waters of horror, and I was terrified. Which I think was entirely the point. I've gotten Horns out of the library, but didn't get a chance to read it. Will try again another time.

#115> Oh, you haven't turned me off Iris Murdoch entirely! I think you were spot on with your comment about how her characters choose totally unnecessary misery (based on reading one of her books, mind, I'm no expert). But I did like the language, and I did find the characters fascinating, and I will get around to reading others of hers. They're just not high on Mt TBR. :) I believe there's a group here that's working its way through all of Murdoch's books, maybe someone there can give you a better reason to like her stuff, if you want one.

I read Twilight, and gave it 1/2 a star. Ghastly stuff, I have no wish to ever read a Meyer novel again. I personally enjoy telling all my bloke friends (who would never read it, and would never go out with the sort of women who would take them to the movies, either) all about the sparkly vampires, and watch their jaws drop. It's highly entertaining.

119captainsflat
Nov 18, 2010, 12:43 am

#118 - well, i have a horror tolerance that is quite quite high. Before I had children, the only thing I had to turn away from was "The Marathon Man" and that dentistry. Now, I can get cheap thrills with anything that involves children! The first night I was back from hospital, "Wire In The Blood" was on, dependable pleasure, but for the first time it really scared me!

I will have to check out the Iris Murdoch group when I have time.

Baiting boys is fun. I always pretend I can't move spiders or snakes out of the house by myself. Sometimes I even put in a squeal.

120wookiebender
Nov 18, 2010, 1:27 am

Snakes?? I try to be brave about spiders, to keep Miss Boo calm as she seems somewhat arachnophobic (wonder where she got that one from, NOT). We've been naming all the daddy long-legs that live in the house (Webby #1, Webby #2, etc, and all of a sudden we have two named Peter, which seems a bit out of left field given our previous naming conventions). They still freak her out though, on bad days.

I've got a friend who *loved* horror, until the birth of her first child. Then she went and saw a horror movie, and had to leave half way through. I've just never been good with horror or ghosty things (or violence), I had to sleep with the lights on after watching "The Sixth Sense". And "Beetlejuice" scared me as a young adult. Yes, I am a wus.

121captainsflat
Nov 19, 2010, 4:45 pm

Still only in October, so keeping on :

82. Saturday by Ian McEwan
It was involving writing - I was definitely caught up in it. Intriguing character, intriguing spans of thought, and very interesting after reading The Hours as he also uses the one day technique. Should actually reread Mrs. Dalloway now. And it contrasted, as the narrator was male, a "materialist", and the world intruded.
But again I feel let down, deflated, after finishing it. These two books are written beautifully, brilliantly. Their technique is great. But something is missing for me. It feels like, in the end, the message (the bones, the ideas) are all cliches. Whether they are written well or badly concerns me only in the actual process of reading - I swoon, or snort in irritation, whichever way - it's the ideas that linger, that I savour, and that didn't come through in the end in these two novels.

122captainsflat
Nov 19, 2010, 4:51 pm

83. Shadowmarch by Tad Williams
Competant, as in there wasn't much that was really grating. But I was put off at the start that the Twilight People seemed to be simply and straightforwardly evil. No grey lines, they're the enemy. It might develop in later books (events give at least some scope for that development) but that was the burden I carried throughout reading - it's too simplistic. Also, the characters were competantly drawn as well, but there was no highly engaging character for me. It's a good read. I think it just pales (as in, is bloodless) in comparison to Monster Blood Tattoo.

123captainsflat
Nov 19, 2010, 4:55 pm

84. Maralinga - The Anangu Story
The community stories about great injustice involving the Aborigines and the 1950s Australian nuclear tests in the (not uninhabited at all) desert. Illustrated. It's funny how stories of the original way of life - hunting, walking, ceremony - strip all the Western points of contact in the story of any sanity or reality. The explorers dragging horses around that need to be watered? Madness. Permanent camps, hundreds of people, plus machines that also require lots of water, in the desert? Insanity. Classifying desert as nothing? Blind, deaf and dumb. Aboriginal men helping in the post test clean up barefoot and in normal clothes while the whitefellas are totally suited up in masks? Obscene.

124captainsflat
Modifié : Nov 19, 2010, 5:02 pm

85. The Lady of the Shroud by Bram Stoker
Abandoned with only about 50 pages to go. Just couldn't any longer.

125clfisha
Nov 22, 2010, 6:46 am

Belatedly coming to Joe Hill discussion.. I agree with about Heart Shaped Box, not my cup of tea at all. I think I need my horror more grounded in reality or um more violent *ahem*. I am enjoying his graphic novel Locke & Key* though, loads of room to play with ideas and some bits are quite unsettling.

*touchstone broken...

@124 I hate that, you invest much in a book u hope that gets better but it never does and you just can't go on. Happened to me quite a lot this year :( Mr Cormac McCarthy I am I thinking of you!

126captainsflat
Modifié : Nov 26, 2010, 3:57 pm

#125 - theoretically, i find it a really hard decision to abandon, but at the same time, when it actually happens, I actually physically just cannot go on reading. But it's good because you then look forward to the next book with renewed vigour. And yes, more reality means I guess more violence :) actually, i think it means more feelings of horror inspired in me, however the author chooses to inspire it.

NOVEMBER

86. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
I think the title of this must have changed. I know it's the same book. Well, there it is, the first romance. Totally, totally escapist reading. I got really picky with certain points of glaring incongruity, so I wasn't totally swept away. And Jamie Fraser didn't melt me - *shrug* there's no accounting for taste. A take you along read, good for what it is. And definitely leagues ahead of Dan Brown non-writing.

127captainsflat
Nov 26, 2010, 3:53 pm

87. Rowan and the Travellers by Emily Rodda, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
Both pretty darn good. Small books, so I lumped them together. I can't wait for my boys to ask me to read them.

128captainsflat
Nov 26, 2010, 4:03 pm

88. The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin
Comparison with Saturday is inevitable. And I like this better. It is quieter, not as showy. And I didn't get that bitter aftertaste (I think because, if it actually had any sort of message, I totally missed it). These shut off men, the flexibility of youth solidified. Self-sufficiency is a dead end.

BONUS READ: Storm and Honey by Judith Beveridge
Delicious. Just the right colours. Just the right level of violence and death.

129captainsflat
Nov 26, 2010, 4:11 pm

89. Picasso by Patrick O'Brien
I have not read any other books about Picasso, and am not overly familiar with his work apart from the obvious. I came to this because O'Brien wrote it. He does a good job presenting a whole person, good points and bad without idolising or demonising. He has a great "story" about art, although Picasso is not around to agree or deny, and by the sound of it P may have done both. It is very aware of the difficulties about biographies - that the work is elsewhere and not explained by the life.
O'Brien is a misogynist and hates children! But I don't mind all that, it's amusing. And that having a wife and kids is incompatible with the artist - well, many artists act that way even if one doesn't come right out and say it so baldly. Like Hothouse Kids, Clive Bell makes the point that there are clever and cleverer people, but the true genius is rare, and like an alien in how far removed they are from the rest of us - different in kind rather than just degree. I would like to meet a genius some day.
And unlike the two men novels preceding, youth did not solidify for Picasso. Although his later seclusion may have been interpreted as that, O'Brien points out that his paintings from that time were happy.

130captainsflat
Nov 26, 2010, 4:14 pm

90. The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones is both highly inventive and surprising, and also a good storyteller. I delight in her tales. The characters are never completely what you expect. Events always unfold with a twist. I completely trust her.

131judylou
Nov 27, 2010, 2:35 am

As usual, a wonderful mix of books on this thread. I have to confess to really liking Heart Shaped Box but felt that Horns was pretty ordinary. I look forward to trying out another one of his to see if he really is any good ;0)

132captainsflat
Déc 6, 2010, 3:00 pm

91. White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Overwritten and overwrought. A car wreck of a book (but I was totally rubbernecking to see). Another instance of, like The Elegance of the Hedgehog, rather than just telling the story she had to tell, the protagonists all have to be MORE - a great poet, a budding artist, both so beautiful etc etc. And that trick shits me, as it feels like a con. Is the story not worth telling unless the characters are blinding stars? Or is it a marketing ploy, people believe these things about themselves, believe in their untouched potential, and this is the way to hook them?
I never truly believed in her poetess, like talking poetically, behaving "poetically" and nothing being ordinary. And the relentless terrible events - it felt like she was trying to cover ALL BASES. As fun sport as picking it to pieces is, this is an airport novel dressed up, and that's where I should leave it.

133captainsflat
Déc 6, 2010, 3:07 pm

92. A Stranger In a Strange Land by Richard Heinlein
It's hard not to judge this as dated after "free love" has been and gone. Or maybe it's just that constant intimacy (especially emotional, rather than physical) gives me the creeps. I don't think I would ever fall prey to a cult, I need too much solitude. Interestingly, the "sci" in the "fi" seems to be not too shabby, and didn't feel as dated as the philosophy. It was an entertaining read. As has been said, he is a little preachy with long stretches of explication rather than dialogue. Especially near the end, but the ending redeemed it.

134captainsflat
Déc 6, 2010, 3:12 pm

93. Moonheart by Charles de Lint
I seem to have read a lot more sci-fi/fantasy this year. This was good, well written. I wonder about his product placement - not having read any other de Lint - is it just to put Canada in the 80s and making it real, or is it actually ads? Isn't it funny that I am unsure? Dying races and species and languages make me very sad, even when they are fiction. And I love that House - it has everything - a surprise around every corner and noone is quite sure what size it is, stuffed full of stuff, and many secrets.

135captainsflat
Déc 6, 2010, 3:16 pm

#131 - Yes, I suspect that I will give him another go if I come across him, just to see!

DECEMBER
94. The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham
My first impression was that her writing was somehow eccentric, or that her unique personality shone through, though not in an obvious way. It was quite formula, but still, there was a flavour. It was an easy, unsurprising and comforting read. There was a touch of Chesterton, which I very much appreciated. I really like all the fog, especially when I can see it out my window. And the innocent-savant character of the Canon. And evil.

136captainsflat
Déc 6, 2010, 3:19 pm

95. The Suburbs of Hell by Randolph Stow
Yes, these came out of the same box! And it was the fog that piqued my interest. I really liked the atmosphere and the landscape in this, the feel of the place, and the interesting grammar. I like half-deserted fishing towns, beach tourist towns in winter etc. I'm not sure the story worked, but it was an easy and enjoyable few hours.

137wookiebender
Déc 6, 2010, 9:57 pm

And Stranger in a Strange Land gave us "grok", which is a great word, although sadly neglected nowadays.

I had White Oleander on a shelf, but it's gone the way of a number of other books that stick around for too long unread - bookcrossed, and out the door. Rather relieved now! :)

138captainsflat
Déc 6, 2010, 10:49 pm

#137 - Yes, Grok would certainly be a useful word, but wookie, it's so ugly!

Glad to be of service.

139clfisha
Déc 7, 2010, 6:10 am

awe now I feel all nostagic for my computing courses, better go and re-grok some code right now ;)

140captainsflat
Déc 7, 2010, 7:24 am

I had never even heard the word before. Must have been a big thing!

96. Cazim Catic und seine Zeit by Anto Kovacevic
Reading about a whole tradition I know next to nothing about is so refreshing - croatian, as well as turkish, as Catic was bosnian. I need to track some more down. What I find interesting about Catic is that he blends both the turkish/persian traditions and the european style. Kovacevic valiantly carves out a place for Catic, who is, by what I can understand, a minor poet. And people keep saying he is "of the earth", "natural", "unnaturally healthy", " a man of the earth and of blood". I can't 100% place that, but would like to know more about why this sets him so apart from Matos and his group.
The poetry - I can't use what I know when I read it, so I have to read it in suspension, in limbo. How unsure and tentative I am, about the worth of what I am reading, I have no way of judging it. I was just thinking about how sophisticated my reading is compared to when I was a teen and everything was new and had direct access without many filters. Well, if I get too jaded I now know I have the whole croatian tradition, there must be german stuff that hasn't been translated too, or alternatively I can just go and learn another language, and it will all be fresh, new, unjudgeable again.