The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

I've only ever heard this story as a legend or told though television movies. I was quite surprised that rather than a straightforward tale of horror, Sleepy Hollow is a satire on country life and superstition. I really enjoyed the subtle wit and rationality, and loved the wink and the nod ending. In the popularization of Irving's story, so much has been lost!

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce

Disclosure: I read this immediately on the coattails of Ulysses and suspect that my relief at the termination of Ulysses may have clouded my feelings for Portrait.

In all, I rather enjoyed this short novel. The life of Stephen Daedalus, which is said to parallel Joyce, is documented from his youth to his development as an artist. I felt like the novel immersed the reader in the trappings of Irish life - boarding school, Catholicism (and a near-Jesuit recruitment), interactions with classmates, Irish nationalism, disaffection, aesthetics.... Relationships with family and friends both play prominent roles in this novel. While perhaps not the vaunted literary masterpiece that Ulysses is reputed to be, Portrait was infinitely more enjoyable.

Ulysses - Joyce

This novel has been, since I was in high school, the only book that I've picked up and not completed. I would hear about how Joyce is one of the greatest novelists of all time, and how Ulysses is his masterpiece, and pick it up again - to no avail. Well, I can say that no longer. I've plodded through this book much to my detriment, but I can now finally say that I've completed it.

So why didn't I like it?

Something about Ulysses just didn't draw me in. Maybe it's too intellectual? (A bit of self-deprecation never hurt anyone, especially when panning a novel with a rabid fanbase.) Honestly, I was just bored. My experience with Ulysses was similar to that of Wuthering Heights. I TRIED to like it, to appreciate it, to look for it's merit. I WANTED to like it. The snob in me wants to be able to talk about its finer points with my "literary" friends. But I just didn't like it. End of story.

I think the primary problem was that I didn't like Bloom. I realize this is blasphemy and am ready to take my lashes. I thought he was boring. I found that I didn't care what he was doing/thinking/feeling. His fantasies, his wife, the funeral... I didn't even get a Every Man feeling from him like I did from Babbit. I could step back and appreciate the literary structure, the storytelling diversity, the Irish focus. And I actually enjoyed reading about Stephen. But every Bloom page flip was painful to me, and I probably spent nearly as much time checking to see how much I had left as I did reading the novel.

I'm sure the Bloom fanatics out there will merely dismiss me as an uneducated buffoon, and I'll gladly listen to any arguments in Ulysses's favor, but for now, I'm just glad that I'm done.

Babbitt - Sinclair Lewis

This novel was incredible. A description of 'normal' American life in the era of prohibition touching on capitalism, conservatism, romance, and societal position, Babbitt satirically portrays the lives of characters in an up-and-coming mid-sized town (Zenith). Babbitt describes the details of normalcy without embitterment, yet highlights the lack of satisfaction that even the most successful 'normal' people feel with the lack of passion and freedom in their lives. George Babbitt has an incident, a break with his life, but as soon as he's ready to accept that the consequences of rebellion are too great for him, he is accepted back into the fold without a ripple. The description of Babbitt was truly an Everyman description, and I felt after reading the novel not only did I truly understand Babbitt, but that maybe I'd misjudged other 'normal' people. This novel is interesting in that in most novels where people break out of their societal bounds, they escape permanently for better or worse. Although meant satirically, George Babbitt's re-fusion with society (albeit with his rebellion by supporting his son's life) actually depicts a more realistic (although less dramatic) result. By providing a fair critique of normalcy without over-sensationalization, Babbitt cleverly makes rebellion comfortable and commonplace.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne

I admit, I've never previously read this classic. Jules Verne is more about worlds than about characters. He uses his narration to describe scientific wonders rather than plot development, and some of the major events (ie squid attack) seem a bit contrived. As a novel, I wasn't very impressed. But as a scientist and a would-be adventurer, I was charmed by this book. I was endlessly impressed by the scientific knowledge presented in a book written in the mid-to-late 1800s. Although I'm not a historian of scientific discovery, I'm under the impression that despite the high accuracy of the marine descriptions presented, some were known at the time and some were Verne's vision. Very impressive. I read this book and wanted to explore - to discover things on my own. It gave me a wanderlust, and despite the ambiguity of Captain Nemo and the lack of substance to Ned, Conseil, and the Professor, I would recommend it.

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

I've seen this somewhat cerebral novel described as 'difficult' by a number of reviewers. Other than the length (which I rather enjoyed), I didn't find Infinite Jest difficult or even challenging in the 'challenging to follow' sense (although DFW's vocabulary puts mine to shame). Rather, the central themes (addiction/competition/family/commerialization/etc/etc) and characters (both ETA and Ennett House) were well-developed, perhaps due to the obvious time and care devoted to each separately as well as the connections between them. The writing was both deep and amusing, and I found Inifinite Jest to be a page-turner, especially near the end when I became inpatient for the answers to my questions. (What caused Hal's illness? What happened with Pemulis/the Entertainment/Orin? Was Joelle actually disfigured with acid? Why exactly did James Incandenza stick his head in a microwave and demap himself? Will Gately survive/stay clean?) The ending was incredibly unsatisfying at first - abrupt and jarring not because it left all these questions unanswered (but with equally weighty support for multiple explanations) but because of the unexpectedness of the timing of the ending. This feeling was perhaps heightened for me because I read IJ on the Kindle and didn't have that physical feel of being near the end of a long book to warn me of its imminent termination. Upon reflection, I actually quite like the ending - much like the novel often describes how The Mad Stork's films constantly made viewers cognizant of the film itself rather than the plot or characters, IJ's ending (and frequent footnotes) makes you aware of of DFW's opus as a novel. What exactly was he trying to say with his abrupt finale?

I'm not going to go into each character or theme here - although I'm certain I can write nearly an essay on each. Instead, I'm going to tell you what I think happened, which is of course the beauty of the amibiguity. Like the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books I read as a kid, this IJ lets you decide not only how you would like things to turn out, but also gives the reader insight into how he/she thinks about the world and characters - a window into your own psyche. In my IJ Universe 1) Orin is not killed by the AFR, but is permanently injured from kicking the glass (ending his pro-football career) and tormented by the roaches, preventing him from further taking advantage of Subjects. 2) Joelle is actually disfigured by acid (otherwise why would Orin have left her and the Mad Stork have become interested in her), giving her a kind of hideous beauty. 3) Gately survives and is not prosecuted. He stays off drugs and hooks up with JvD. 4) Orin tries to go back to JvD in his new damaged state, and grows as a person (and maybe makes up with Avril) when she won't have him. 4) Pemulis, in his fear and anger at getting kicked out of school, wants revenge on Avril and Hal. It makes sense that he's dose Hal's toothbrush with the DMZ, causing Hal's illness. The timing works out. I don't think Hal saw the Entertainment (although it was made for him). I don't think he took the DMZ himself. Pemulis-mediated revenge would be such a nice cohesive ending. But I don't think Pemulis did it. He's too overcome by the missing stock - trying to talk to Hal, digging in the dumpsters. I think either someone else dosed Hal's toothbrush (although I have no idea who it would be) or that the mold from his childhood was actually the culprit (maybe he actually WAS silent when he thought he was talking to the Mad Stork and it was Hal, not the Mad Stork, that was losing it). How ironic if Avril's fear of dirt/basement ended up destroying her son. I'd like to think that Hal at somepoint will come out of his breakdown, but I doubt it. Instead, his problem may make him into the perfect tennis player (not thinking too much) and he can be a huge success in the show (even better than John Wayne). 5) CT was definitely Mario's father (and Avril's blood relative). This is actually pretty clear in the text, and so isn't much a stretch. 6)Finally, I think the AFR find The Master in Incandenza's coffin, but Remy's betrayal leads to ONAN success and AFR failure. Remy's wife is 'saved' by the very people that poisoned her, and as she no longer needs Remy, he loses his sense of self and ends it.

One person that I just don't 'get', even in my own personal IJ Universe, is Avril. She seems to be this driving cohesive force behind the story - her obsessions, her liasons, her Canadianness. But she doesn't seem to overtly cause any of the problems. Why does Orin break with her? It seems inconsistent for such a functional but OCD woman to be so sexually driven. What role exactly does 'the Moms' play in the events that transpire?

So that's what I think will happen, what will follow next from the given storyline. What does this say about me? I'll leave that to you to interpret.

As with any good piece of literature, Infinite Jest leaves you with more questions than answers, causes you to question your own world view and behaviors, search for your own addictions, address the incongruity of your actions with your belief system (like AA, we all do things that just don't make sense, but 'work'). I leave IJ questioning the value of certain things in my life (and deathly afraid of addictive substances). I highly recommend this novel to anyone who needs some perspective in their lives.

Bones to Ashes: A Novel - Kathy Reichs

Out of curiousity, I decided to read this novel by the forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, who is the scientist that the TV show Bones is loosely based on. I like Bones - I guess I relate to Brennan, or at least would like to. She's a tough, intelligent woman who does important work (with an attractive partner). She's uncompromising about her work and well-rounded in her outside interests (speaks multiple languages, loves jazz). So I wanted to see the type of the novel the real life version (although I'm sure less sensational) would write.

Bones to Ashes was OK, although I can't figure out why it was a best seller. The plot is a bit thin - there's not a lot for the reader to really dig into or try to figure out on their own (always key to mystery novels from my perspective). The science was nearly non-existant - very disappointing. Also, I didn't like Tempe Brennan (the book character). While she's definitely more multidimensional than the TV character (and I realize that the TV character only shares a name with the novel character), she doesn't seem to have a lot of depth. Perhaps if I read all of Reichs's novels, I'd get a sense for her as a person. Maybe jumping in in the middle of a 'series' wasn't the best approach, but I certainly 'get' Sherlock Holmes in every novel.

Overall, Bones to Ashes is mediocre to poor as a stand alone novel, primarily because I really don't care about any of the characters. I don't care that Tempe's husband's getting remarried or that Ryan's daughter is addicted to drugs. I don't care about the cat or the bawdy bird, or even that Evangeline had unnecessarily untreated leprosy (seems a major stretch). Hippo was my favorite, with his doughnuts and anger.

I won't be reading any more of Dr. Reich's works, but it's encouraging to me (as a budding trash-novelist/scientist) that this stuff can get published.

Twelfth Night - Chesapeake Shakespeare Theatre

This production, shown outdoors and set in the ruins of the Patapsco Female Institute ruins, was actually quite nice. The setting was relaxing and beautiful, and there wasn't a bad seat in the 'house' (lawn). The performance I attended was on family night, and the show had a laid back atmosphere compatible with the presence of children. Unlike some of the "family" productions that I've seen, the script wasn't altered or shortened in any way (good for the adults, not so good for the families), and unfortunately we had to leave after two hours because my son's (and my husband's) attention were wavering in a patron-disturbing way. The cast was fun, if not convincing, delivering the lines with humor and style. The acting wasn't the best I've seen (felt a bit amateurish), but it was inviting and I enjoyed myself. The novelty of the setting more than makes up for the quality of the performance, and I'll gladly go back (perhaps with different companions).

Isaac Newton by James Gleick

This short biography lacks everything a biography needs - depth, focus, even interesting personal details. It is dry and chronological, and uses objectivity as a way of avoiding taking a stand on either Newton's genius or his obvious eccentricities. This is a man that changed the world, but Gleick merely paints him as a secluded scientist. He glosses over Newton's theology and interest in alchemy, sounding embarrassed that he has to mention them at all. In his attempt to show Newton's complexity, he leaves you with no feeling for the real man.

Precaution - James Fenimore Cooper

It's often hard as a modern-day reader to evaluate past work in the context of the author's time and not ours. That being said, the best novels are timeless. Precaution isn't one of those works. Cooper's first novel, said to be written after an off-hand comment that "he could write a better novel than the one he was reading", is a mark of the times. Written about nobility and propriety, it focuses a bit too much on Christianity and the idealized "innocence" of women for me to have enjoyed it. The twist was obvious entirely too early in the progress of the story, which made the rest of the novel plod as he slowly revealed the surprise. I don't blame Cooper - an off-the-cuff novel can't be expected to be quality, but I don't recommend this novel unless you are born again.

NOLA

Despite my travel delinquencies, I have indeed traveled to New Orleans (for work). Unfortunately, all I saw was the French Quarter (open containers of alcohol on the streets and people covered in beads despite it not being Mardi Gras). I think I would have loved it in college. I regret not having seen any of the cultural bases for the city, but what I did see hasn't inspire me to go back.

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

It's hard to believe that I've made it this long without reading this classic adventure rag. It delivered everything it promised - danger, excitement, treasure, adventure... Sure, the characters are caricatures, but at the end of the day this novel was written to inspire kids to be pirates, and it certainly inspired me. The basis of a lot of pirate-lore (the pirate, shiver me timbers, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum...), who hasn't wanted to go on a quest to find buried treasure? Sure, Long John Silver is a scoundrel, but would we have him any other way?

The Vanishing Man - R. Austin Freeman

In the style of Sherlock Holmes or a Wilkie Collins novel, this turn-of-the-century (the LAST century) murder mystery is quite intriguing. John Thorndyke is a medical lawyer whose keen powers of observation and reliance on observations and data make him thoroughly scientific in his investigation methods. The book is narrated by a young medical doctor who falls in love with one of the principals in the case. As far as mysteries go, I wasn't at all surprised (and in fact expected) the conclusion, but as always I was drawn in by the image of a more civilized (at least in some parts of the popultion) time.

Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson

The first in a series of books about the colonization and terraforming of Mars, this novel functions well as a stand alone novel. I doubt I'll read the rest of the series - while the world is intricate and the characters are engaging, there are too many characters to get personally attached to any of them. The novel begins with the murder of the 'First Man on Mars' by his best friend, and another of the '1st Hundred' - the first hundred colonists on Mars. It gives a retrospective of personal interactions between the 1st Hundred, all of whom were scientists, albeit with different ideologies. The terraformers, led by Sax, would like to remake Mars in Earth's image, whereas the Reds, led by Ann, would like Mars to remain untouched. John Boone, as well as Arkady in a different way, argues for Martian independence from the transnational companies on Earth that have grown wealthier and more powerful than individual nations. The transnationals represent capitalistic greed in a socialist/utilitarian society. Attempts to reset human history on a new world come into conflict with the traditionalist ideals, and a rebellian results (compared often to American Independence) that leads to the deaths of many. Other interesting concepts include the discovery of a 'treatment' that leads to increased lifespan, which leads to incredible overpopulation problems on Earth, and a breakaway group led by Hiroko (likely to be discussed more in future books), who are the true idealists. Overall, this novel made me think, but didn't draw me in.

His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik

Not a bad little fantasy piece. The presence of dragons is inserted into the British/Napolionic wars. Dragons basically provide air support for the naval and land troups. The story is told from the perspective of a formal naval officer that bonds with a rare Celestial Chinese dragon after it hatches from an egg that he takes from a French frigate. He is forced to leave his aristocratic life, parents, and love interest to become an 'aviator' - inserted into a totally different world where (gasp) women can also be aviators and crewmen are informal. The captain and the dragon learn together who they are and how much they depend upon each other.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith

Wah! So of course I had to read it. I can't resist either Jane Austin OR zombies, let alone together. Only an idiot like me would expect to like such a thing. I enjoyed the book about as much as I would have enjoyed a zombie eating out my succulent brains. Of the >50 cool ways I imagined the author could have written this book, all were ignored, and it was one of the most poorly cobbled together things I've read in a long time. It's almost like the author did a 'find and replace' for certain phrases and inserted zombie references. I could have written a better version in an hour.

Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hood

As much as I hate to admit it after my recent lambasting of the fantasy genre as a whole, I really liked this book. It was a page-turn (screen-advancer) and the characters were diverse enough to be interesting. I would definitly be interested in reading the rest of the triology, although the book was sufficient as a stand-alone novel. You rooted for the main character, even though he wasn't perfect (and in fact was an assassin, no one I could root for in real life), and the description of the society verged on political criticism. There was a Machiavellian kind of economy - whatever means to an end, and description of the responsibility of rulers to the people (the Mountain people didn't have a King, but a 'Sacrifice'). No noble set of ethics guided decisions on the societal level (although they did on the personal level) - the good of the Kingdom was the overriding goal.

Other interesting things. I actually liked the Royals' naming system - name them for virtues you hope them inspire to - leading to the irony of course that personalities became the perversion of virtues taken to the extreme. The Red ships with Forging was slightly confusing to me, and I'm assuming will be played out better in the subsequent novels. Also, blaming the child for being a bastard (most definitely not the child's fault, but certainly politically important when you're a bastard of royal blood) was telling of society as well.

Overall, I'd recommend this novel for a light read if you're into fantasy - not a masterpiece but definitely fun.

Settling Accounts: Return Engagement - Harry Turtledove

While doing my post-book diligence on this free-to-kindle novel, I discovered this is actually a gigantic (10 or more?) book series, which explains a lot. Why are fantasy series always so long? Perhaps because they don't have any merit as individual novels and so need to build a fanbase on character loyalty.

Synopsis: This is an alternate history, based on the premise that the Confederates won the Civil War and the downstream changes of this major history-changing notion. It's set in WWII, and does a decent job of highlighting the delicate balance that has lead to our current history and how even small decisions could dramatically affect the timeline. I though the alternate history presented was interesting (the lack of Russian revolution leads to acceptance of socialism in the US - certainly the 40s was a breeding ground for that kind of thought), although discussion of the underlying currents was lacking.

I guess my overall impression of this novel is that it took on too much - there were too many characters (hard to identify with them, even though the perspective gained was good) and too much war (the US-France/Confederate-Nazi parallels seemed sloppy). Plus, the language was simplistic and repetitive (everytime a character was re-introduced, we got the same background). Due to the number of characters, there wasn't a lot of character depth. Also, I think the confederate genocide was unbelievable. I'm not a scholar of genocide, but to compare this to Rwanda or Bosnia is beyond a stretch. Of course, it's a direct parallel for Nazi Germany, although I don't feel like Turtledove even came close to capturing the motivation behind such horrific acts.

This book probably provides an interesting perspective, and may make you think a bit, but to get the full effect you'd likely have to read the full series. Based on my reading of this one novel, it certainly doesn't seem worth it.

A History of God - The 4,000-Year Quest of Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam - Karen Armstrong

I began this book quite excited about its prospects. I'm a bit of a religion-freak - although more curious by it than involved in it myself. I've read everything including translations of original works by early Christian scholars/heretics, works on Satipatthna, the Bhagavad Gita, and even a Wiccan guide. "A History of God" promised an integration of the religions that have done such a bang-up job shaping the history of Western civilization. What it delivered, however, was a jumbled mess of separate histories, philosophies, and opinions, "integrated" by talking about each religion in isolation from the others in random order. While I definitely learned something (especially about the development of Islamic philosphy, where I'm notably weak) when Armstrong veered from loosely tied-together histories to her personal opinions on the state of God in society, I nearly lost my lunch. I have a overwhelming bias towards objectivity, which was overwhelmingly disappointed. Do I agree that people are rejecting God because they find problems with the specifics of their personal religion? Maybe some, although the claim just doesn't resonate with my experience or observations. I think that some people may be more secular because the need filled by God is filled by other things (both TV and the internet provide greater meaning now-a-days). And while I strongly agree that the recent trend towards religious fundamentalism is scary in any religion (especially where it manifests as required conversion or hatred of/violence towards others not like yourself), Armstrong's religious relativism (in the guise of objectivity) hit a bit too close to home for me to buy it.

Blood Engines - T.A.Pratt

Wow, this is embarrassing. My first review in like two months and it's on a piece of fantasy/fiction. I was beginning to be worried that in my new post-Spawn/Suburban Hell/HD Plasma TV life I wasn't interested in reading anymore. I've been working on A History of God since Christmas. I thought I was turning into a normal person.

Then came the Kindle, and with it some free fantasy books. 5 days later, here I am. I read in the car at stoplights, at work while waiting for downloads, at home instead of watching TV. I stopped sleeping. Hello, I'm a fiction addict. I've tried to give up fiction multiple times in the past, but it always ends up sucking me in, no matter how poorly written.

Well, enough editorializing, onto the review. I am generally not a fan of fantasy, despite having read a lot of it. I love the thought of fantasy/sci-fi, using fiction to step outside the world as we know it and examining things as possibilities, not practicalities. But fantasy novels generally suck, and this one was no exception. While some authors use fantasy as a platform to stimulate the imagination, move a story line, most (Pratt included) write to their audience - people interested in the show and not the substance. Blood Engines provided no insight into the human condition. There were no light bulb moments. There's basically a ruthless sorcerer with a problem who fights a bad sorcerer, pulling out all the stops, and has to compromise in the end. There was no beauty in either the language or the plot, although it was somewhat refreshing that the strong ruthless character was female. As is often the case with fantasy novels, this is one book in a series - drawing readers in to see if the character is better developed in the next novel. I hope I have the will-power to not read it.

Kindle!!!

I realize that this is a book review blog, but I just had to share my joy at receiving a Kindle for my birthday. Not only is it a totally cool technology, but the screen really is just like reading a book. It's easy to navigate, transport, and comfortable to hold. You can even upload your own files onto the kindle. I guess my only current digs (in the two days since I got it) it that it doesn't have a touchscreen (prob impossible with the cool screen), the five-way controller isn't the most convenient, and kindle book selection is limited. It would be great if you could get scientific journal subscriptions posted to your kindle - best scientific use ever - although I certainly don't want to pay for all of those subscriptions myself.