books
2008.08.30
running with scissors, augusten burroughsi finished this book on the flight back from new zealand. a stewardess stopped by and asked if i were enjoying it and i said i was. she said she had recently seen the movie and was having a hard time believing that anyone could grow up in such unusual circumstances and go on to become a successful author.
my life history is somewhat colorful and while i may not be a successful author i'd claim some degree of success, so i told her i was pretty confident you didn't have to stretch your imagination too far to believe this story.
from the author: sometimes i wonder if his life would have been easier if my parents had taken him to a doctor instead of just assuming he was cold and emotionally blocked. but then i remind myself that my parents had very questionable taste when it came to choosing medical professionals. with this in mind, i like to think that my brother wasn't so much overlooked as he was inadvertently protected.
the brief wondrous life of oscar wao, junot diazmy gangster image might take a hit if i acknowledged how much of this book i could relate to. but then again, if you've read anything else on this site you already know my nerd cred exists in buckets where my gangster cred exists in a thimble. on the comforting side, wao won the 2008 pulitzer prize for fiction so my people are obviously now in control of pulitzer. from the author: he tried to give magic a chance, tried to put together a decent deck, but it just wasn't his thing. lost everything to an eleven-year-old punk and found himself not really caring. first sign that his age was coming to a close. when the latest nerdery was no longer compelling, when you preferred the old to the new.
catch-22, joseph hellerfor the lover of irony, this book represents a feast. barely a sentence goes by without a taste. add in a backdrop of world war ii and the insanity of war is palpable. from the author: 'a million years?' persisted the jeering old man with keen, sadistic zest. 'a half million? the frog is is almost five hundred million years old. could you really say with much certainty that america, with all its strength and prosperity, with its fighting man man that is second to none, and with its standard of living that is the highest in the world, will last as long as . . . the frog?'
half of a yellow sun, chimamanda ngozi adichiei was in too much of a hurry... put too much value in the "we recommend" placement on the bookshelf.. and didn't read past the "war in nigeria" summary on the back cover... five pages in i knew this book was a mistake. twenty pages in i didn't have anything else to read. one hundred pages in it was the pill i had to swallow. two hundred pages in i practically read it over night so i could move on. from the author: 'you know what always amazed me?' she would ask olanna, as if she had not told her only a day previously. 'that civilized white folk wore nice dresses and hats and gathered to watch a white man hang a black man from a tree.'
the kite runner, khaled hosseinifor more than two-thirds of this book i was certain i would have to revise my five star book review rating system to differentiate this book from others. it was that good. then a few too many dramatic coincidences occurred and i thought it stretched the authentic, biographic feel of the novel. however, it finished strong and the washington post book world review on the back "parts of the kite runner are raw and excruciating to read, yet the book in its entirety is lovingly written" is spot on. from the author: nothing is wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. but when a coward stops remembering who he is... god help him.
nothing's sacred, lewis blackbefore starting this book i had picked up a piece of literature to read. however, if you've been following along the circumstances of my life of late you'll know i was in no way ready to tackle real literature. so, the comedy of lewis black seemed like the perfect alternative. if your not familiar with lewis black you'll be pleased to know that while his book may not qualify as fine literature there is still a loud and proud message to be found in there. from the author: since my head was in a continual spin cycle at the drama school, it made perfect sense that i would get married at this time. the wedding took place at the courthouse in rockville, maryland, with just my immediate family and hers. directly following the ceremony my brother and i walked out the door just as two officers of the law were passing by with a prisoner shackled between them. i looked at my brother and said, "when god sends you a message he certainly makes it loud and clear".
a long way gone, ishmael beahits hard to be critical of this story because the author goes from running through the forests of sierra leone slitting people's throats as a child soldier to graduating college in the united states. but from a literary perspective the book is only so-so. its the humanistic perspective that saves it. from the author: "visualize the banana tree as the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you," the corporal screamed. "is that how you stab someone who had killed your family?" he asked. "this is how i would do it."
the time traveler's wife, audrey niffeneggerthere's no denying this is a romance novel. but it is so many other good things that being a romance novel is easy to forgive. and the romance is the kind that makes you appreciate your wife and kids rather than desire a steamy affair with an exotic asian girl... but i digress.
the time travel aspect of the story is very clever and the author creates a variety of interesting situations like the following. from the author: i'm in my bedroom with my self. he's here from next march. we are doing what we often do when we have a little privacy, when it's cold out, when both of us are past puberty and haven't quite gotten around to actual girls yet. i think most people would do this, if they had the sort of opportunities i have.
in cold blood, truman capotejudging from the response i've gotten, i appear to be the only person who was intrigued to read this book after watching the movie capote. all other accolades aside i'm glad i read the story to reconcile a scene from the movie involving alvin dewey and a phone call that appeared way out of character and proves again that hollywood can't resist even the most idiotic opportunity to overdo something. from the author: they [the clutters] never hurt me. like other people. like people have all my life. maybe it's just that the clutters were the ones who had to pay for it.
the color of water, james mcbridei didn't enjoy this as much as i expected but it remains a remarkable tribute to ruth jordan who raised a dozen, minority children who built these great resumes:
andrew dennis mcbride, b.a., lincoln university; m.d., university of pennsylvania medical school; m.p.h., yale university; assistant secretary for health and state health director, state of north carolina.
rosetia mcbride, b.a., howard university; m.s.w., social work, hunter college; clinical social worker, new york city board of education.
wiluam mcbride, b.a., lincoln university; m.d., yale university school of medicine; m.b.a., emory university school of business; medical director southeast region, medical and scientific affairs, merck and co., inc.
david mcbride, b.a., denison university; m.a., history, columbia university; ph.d., history, columbia university; chairman of afro-american history department, pennsylvania state university.
helen mcbride-richter, r.n., hospital of the university of pennsylvania; g.o.n.p., emory university school of medicine, graduate student in nurse midwifery, emory university school of nursing.
richard mcbride, u.s. army veteran, b.a., cheney university, chemistry; m.s., drexel university; associate professor of chemistry, cheney state; chemistry research associate, at&t.
dorothy mcbride-wesley, a.a., pierce junior college; b.a., la salle. university; medical practice office manager, atlanta, georgia.
james mcbride, b.a., oberlin college; m.s.j., journalism, columbia university; writer, composer, saxophonist.
kathy jordan, b.a., syracuse university; m.s., education, long island university; special-education teacher, ewing high school, ewing, new jersey.
judy jordan, b.a., adelphi university; m.a., columbia university teachers college; music teacher, philadelphia, pennsylvania.
hunter jordan, b.s., computer engineering, syracuse university; computer consultant, a new york area bank.
henry jordan, junior at north carolina a&t university; customer service and purchasing, neal manufacturing, inc., greensboro, north carolina.
and then herself:
ruth jordan, b.a., temple university, 1986.
the things they carried, tim o'briena week long ski trip in the rocky mountains: special.
leaving your two kids under three years old at home: even more special.
the amazing hospitality of the vance family and completing a new book: priceless.
from the author: the only certainty that summer was moral confusion. it was my view then, and still is, that you don't make war without knowing why. knowledge, of course, is always imperfect, but it seemed to me that when a nation goes to war it must have reasonable confidence in the justice and imperative of its cause. you can't fix your mistakes. once people are dead, you can't make them undead.
and more: a true war story is never moral. it does not instruct nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. if a story seems moral, do not believe it. if at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. there is no rectitude whatsoever. there is no virtue.as a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil.
ghost soldiers, hampton sidesthis story makes me feel inept, soft and extremely fortunate. from the author: even before the war, most of the prisoners had been well accustomed to the art of scraping by. the majority of them had grown up on small farms and ranches during the depths of the great depression. they knew discipline and self-reliance. they were field hands and shade-tree mechanics, men who were crafty with their fingers. they understood how to scrimp and barter and improvise. they grew up hunting, fishing, tinkering with tractors and old cars. from early boyhood most of them could tend their own gardens and were expert at butchering and dressing animals, using every scrap of the carcass.
choke, chuck palahniuki think chuck misunderstood his publisher's requirements for this novel. instead of thirty pages, they wanted three hundred. the quick fix, repeat the first thirty pages ten times and the first thirty pages are indeed good reading, just not three, four and certainly not ten times. from the author: every day, i came home from a hard day in the eighteenth century, and here's a big lava rock on the kitchen counter next to the sink.
peter pan, james matthew barriei so enjoyed finding neverland that i figured i should probably read the book. now i want to go see the play and complete a peter pan trifecta. from the author: the pirate attack had been a complete surprise: a sure proof that the unscrupulous hook had conducted it improperly, for to surprise redskins fairly is beyond the wit of the white man.
maus i & ii, art spiegelmanthese two comic books, with mice playing jews and cats playing germans, tells one of the most human stories of the holocaust i've ever read. and, as if that wasn't enough, the author exposes himself and his relationship with his parents as he extracts his father's story of having lived through the holocaust. from the author:
so, come. we'll go now in to give back our groceries.
no way! i'm not going in to return a load of open boxes and partially eaten food.
what's to be so ashamed? it's foods i can't eat. you wait then in the car while i arrange it.
between innocence and arrogance in vietnam, mary reynolds powellthe first few chapters were very difficult to get through because they were filled with stories like the one below. this book adds to my conviction that no one really wins a war and that present generations do very little to prevent making the same mistakes that have occurred in the past. from the author: the soldier in the icu was no more than a boy, and he was dying. he had multiple abdominal wounds. tubes connected him to the equipment around him. one morning at about five, he asked stephanie for a glass of orange juice. "i told him he couldn't have anything to drink", she tearfully explained. he answered, "stephanie, i'm dead anyway. it doesn't matter". "ok", she said, "let me see". she called the doctor, who said "no", so stephanie gave him nothing. fifteen minutes later he was dead.
the crystal city, orson scott cardi'd nearly forgotten how much fun it was to read for pleasure and i'm saying that after reading a fairly mediocre story. whats worse is that orson borrows so much of the plot from his religion and it seems to me that if your going to spin a yarn around an existing story it should be better than the original. from the author: once he had been so formidable that he was surrounded by enemies. now even his enemies had lost interest in him. what clearer sign of failure could you find than that.
nickel and dimed, barbara ehrenreichthis experiment makes any bad day i have at the office seem like a good day in comparison. from the author: the "working poor", as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society. they neglect their own children so that the children of others will be cared for; they live in substandard housing so that other homes will be shiny and perfect; they endure privation so that inflation will be low and stock prices high. to be a member of the working poor is to be an anonymous donor, a nameless benefactor, to everyone else.
the da vinci code, dan brownquite a page turner even in its construction - 107 chapters in 454 pages. however, there were a couple of things about it that bothered me. first, it was obviously written for a female audience and contained far to many obligatory halequin moments. second, it mixed a lot of religious symbolism and cryptology info in with the non-fiction plot so i don't know if i actually learned anything. oh well, it was a fun read anyway. from the author: <gratuitous-romance>langdon shifted his position, leaning out across sophie to press the intercom button. as he did, an alluring whiff of sophie's perfume filled his nostrils, and he realized how close they were.</gratuitous-romance>
omon ra, victor pelevinseven months ago my son was born. since then i haven't read a single book and only a few articles from the various periodicals i receive. natalie suggested this as an easy read and billed it as a russian "ender's game". she was half right but it was no ender's game. from the author: i've stopped being interested in other people's opinions, since i realized that other people wouldn't be interested in me anyway; they wouldn't be thinking about me but about my photograph, and with the same indifference i feel for other people's photographs.
shadow of the hegemon, orson scott cardnot as good as "ender's shadow" but definitely better than "speaker for the dead" so in the battle of sequels it wins. i enjoyed it enough to jump right to third book in the "shadow" series but figure i should diversify a little. from the author's afterword: indeed, the game this novel most resembles is the computer classic "romance of the three kingdoms", which is itself based on a chinese historical novel thus affirming the ties between history, fiction, and gaming.
journals, kurt cobaini don't approve of any kind of censorship but i don't think this book should ever have been printed. how anyone who was supposed to have loved this man could publish his journals, especially after his own remarks, baffles me. where was his mother? from the artist: its my fault but the most violating things i've felt this year is not the media exaggerations or the catty gossip, but the rape of my personal thoughts. ripped out of pages from my stay in hospitals and aeroplane rides hotel stays etc. i feel compelled to say fuck you fuck you to those of you who have absolutely no regard for me as a person.
galápagos, kurt vonnegutnatalie picked out this book for me as a good light read for our trip to the hospital two weeks ago when we thought our first child was going to be six weeks premature. luckily, the child decided to stay in the womb and after suffering through my last week this was a welcome relief. from the author: what made marriage so difficult back then was yet again that instigator of so many other sorts of heartbreak: the oversize brain. that cumbersome computer could hold so many contradictory opinions on so many different subjects all at once, and switch from one opinion or subject to another one so quickly, that a discussion between a husband and wife under stress could end up like a fight between blindfolded people wearing roller skates.
'tis, frank mccourtthis book was so lousy that hating it alone isn't good enough, so i've decided to dislike the author and his first book angela's ashes as well. 'tis a shame i wasted even a moment of my life reading it.
poland, james a. michenergeographically it couldn't be advantageous for a country to lie between germany and russia, and the history of poland proves it hasn't been. while this story is a novel much of the plot centers around historical events and demonstrates repeatedly how often a minority of the rich and powerful dominate the lives of the masses. from the author: and the peasant janko, as always, received nothing, for it had been his duty to go where his owner directed and do as he was told.
the sea, the sea, iris murdochi'm pretty sure i would have never picked up this book if i hadn't seen the movie iris and through the first twenty or so pages i was definitely questioning the selection. however, it turned out to be quite enjoyable even though it is filled with imagery and metaphor that the artsy could spend hours discussing but which is mostly lost on me. from the author: for i had to admit that i wanted from rosina not only information relative to my case, but also some touch of the comfort which an affection woman can give, even if she is a bitch.
first they killed my father, loung ungit always amazes me the number of times history has allowed ruthless, maniacal people to take rule of a country and lay waste to the lives of the civilians. this book tells of the instance where pol pot and the khmer rouge upset cambodia from the eyes of a childhood survivor.
one of my favorite passages from the book eloquently expresses a feeling i have about the power of parental influence and the importance of love for a child. from the author:"no one knows how precious you are. you are a diamond in the rough and with a little polishing, you will shine," pa whispers softly. his gentle words bring a small smile to my lips. the [foster] mother may not give me the love i crave, but i know what if feels like to be loved. pa loved me and believed in me. with that little reminder from him, i know the foster mother is wrong about me. i do possess the one thing i need to make something of myself one day: i have everything my pa gave me.
a day no pigs would die, robert newton peckthis book reminded me a lot of those campy after school specials that dominated the television when i was growing up. the story centers on a shaker boy growing up on his family farm in vermont. i would have expected it to be somewhat dull but throw in a little infidelity, a midnight grave robbing and cannibalizing the family pet and you have a much more entertaining yarn.
the alienist, caleb carrthe best thing about this book is that it feels like it came out of new york city in the late 1800's, the time and setting in which the story takes place. besides capturing the mood of a burgeoning city with all its amenities and corruption the author uses fun expressions like 'alienist', 'ring-off' and 'mollycoddling'. and even though the central plot is quite grim it almost seems censored by the morals of that time in its telling. from the author: it is never easier to understand the mind of a bomb-wielding anarchist than when standing amid a crush of those ladies and gentlemen who have the money and the temerity to style themselves 'new york society'.
the bondwoman's narrative, hannah craftsi read this book in under a week unless you start counting from when i first opened it which was 83 days ago. in my defense i did start a new job and get married during that same time...
the story itself isn't that exceptional but henry louis gates provides good proof, accounting for a third of the books girth, that this is the very first novel written by a female african american slave (circa 1850). from the author: alas; those that view slavery only as it relates to physical sufferings or the wants of nature, can have no conception of its greatest evils.
the stranger, albert camusjust before getting married my future wife recommended this book saying that she appreciated the way 'the stranger' thought. i suppose i should be alarmed by this since 'the stranger' puts his mother in a home, is willing to marry someone he can't profess to love and commits a senseless murder. however, it joins my list of books with a great opening: mother died today. or, maybe, yesterday; i can't be sure. the telegram from the home says: your mother passed away. funeral tomorrow. deep sympathy. which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday. and many of 'the stranger's' perspectives are refreshing. from the author: i've often though that had i been compelled to live in the trunk of a dead tree, with nothing to do but gaze up at the patch of sky just overhead, i'd have got used to it by degrees.
warlock, wilbur smithonly once in my life have i put down a book without finishing it. this should have been the second but out of respect for river god (the prequel and one of my top ten favorite books) i labored through. the storyline is trite, predictable and taita, a suspiciously talented character in river god, is now a 'warlock' with abilities to command weather, draw water from solid rock, clairvoyance and of course he can perform jedi mind tricks too. i can't recall getting through three pages without sighing 'oh brother'... in case your still thinking about reading warlock i can sum up the whole book and save you the misery - good guys and bad guys both desire the same thing, large armies meet in conflict where the lead good guy always ends up fighting directly against the lead bad guy, bad guys grossly outnumber the good guys but at the last minute taita conjures up some wizardry (on scale with commanding the weather) and the good guys vanquish the bad guys. repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat until the good guys ultimately live happily ever after.
ender's shadow, orson scott cardi was wondering if this story was good enough to tell a second time and after finishing the book i'm game for even a third account. while not a sequel to ender's game the author lies in the forward when he says that order doesn't matter. to fully appreciate ender's game, it has to be read first. from the author: "whatever," said bean. "i was just glad to get out of the toilet."
she's come undone, wally lambthis book is remarkably authentic given it was written by a man but represents a woman sharing her life story. then again, as a man, i may not be qualified to make that assessment. through most of the story i kept wondering what the author's requirements must be to achieve complete meltdown over the nearly jovial 'coming undone'. at the beginning of the book an accompanying soundtrack is listed and i'm always a fan of that.
harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban, joanne kathleen rowlingother than a chapter and a half that read like a sherlock holmes mystery this book was back on par with the first. i especially liked the dementors since i believe i have met a few masquerading as humans. from the author: dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. ...they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them.
the velveteen rabbit, margery williams
shortly after natalie started living with me she wanted to bring a couple mangy old stuffed bears from her apartment to the house. i was no kind of excited about it and insisted that the bears be washed in the machine before being welcome in the house. it wasn't until two years later that i realized how real the bears are and what a sacrifice she made putting them through the laundry. this year they threw a birthday party for me and gave me this book. from the author: generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. but these things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. the heart of india, mark tullya collection of short stories describing traditional life and the effects of modernization on the villages in eastern uttar pradesh, india. the book struck me as if holding an artifact of yet another culture no longer in existence.
the dispossessed, ursula k. le guindisgusted by propertarians and an unjust society a utopian movement flees urras (smells a lot like earth) for annares (smells a lot like the earth's moon). afraid that the anarchist freedoms which created the society of annares is eroding, a scientist joins a movement to demonstrate the freedoms they fought for. too much societal introspection and not enough star wars. from the author: it is hard to swear when sex is not dirty and blasphemy does not exist.
the corrections, jonathan franzenif you liked american beauty here is something equally appealing in print. this is the type of novel that oprah couldn't get enough of to keep her book club going. oh thats right, franzen preferred not being included in her club in the first place... from the author: he began a sentence: "i am--" but when he was taken by surprise, every sentence became an adventure in the woods ... the grownup al, watched in oddly impersonal suspense to see if the panic-stricken little boy might, despite no longer knowing where he was or at what point he'd entered the woods of this sentence, still manage to blunder into the clearing where enid was waiting for him, unaware of any woods-- "packing my suitcase," he heard himself say. this sounded right. verb, possessive, noun. here was a suitcase in front of him, an important confirmation. he'd betrayed nothing.
roots, alex haleyi usually don't like to read two books by the same author so close together but of all the paperbacks on my bookshelf before going to guatemala haley had the two i was most interested in. of the two books i'm glad i read roots second otherwise i might have agreed more with malcolm x that the white man could be the devil. the first one hundred and sixty five pages of the paperback i read described kunta kinte's life in africa before being captured. i read about his trip to america aboard a slave ship at the same time we flying back to the states and while in no way were the two trips similar, that difference accentuated the impression this story had on me. from the author: kunta dissolved into sobs, his mind streaming with pictures of his family around a flapping white cockerel that died on its back as the village wadanela went to spread that sad news among all of the people who would then come to omoro, binta, lamin, suwadu, and the baby madi, all of them squatting about and weeping as the village drums beat out the words to inform whoever might hear them far away that a son of the village named kunta kinte now was considered gone forever.
english passengers, matthew knealewhen we left xela for a week of traveling both natalie and i took only one book each. somehow she ended up starting mine and two hours later i was stuck with the one she brought. there wasn't much i enjoyed in the first thirty pages beyond the opening sentence but as i continued i found the characters and events consistent with my own prejudices and it was impossible not to enjoy. the story occurs during the time of the colonization of australia and is loosely based on actual events. first sentence from the author: say a man catches a bullet through his skull in somebody's war, so where's the beginning of that?
the autobiography of malcolm x, alex haleyan extremely candid history detailing the evolution of the self proclaimed 'angriest man in america'. for me, the value of this history is the variety of thought it provoked. from the author: ...next to me, was a white man. 'malcolm x!' he called out - and when i looked, he stuck his hand out of his car, across at me, grinning. 'do you mind shaking hands with a white man?' imagine that! just as the traffic light turned green, i told him, 'i don't mind shaking hands with human beings. are you one?'
harry potter and the chamber of secrets, joanne kathleen rowlingi thought this was a disappointing sequel to the sorcerer's stone. the plot wasn't nearly as engaging as the first and far too many hazards were avoided by brilliant strokes of convenience. i guess believers in santa claus and the easter bunny would enjoy all these miracles but doubt any self respecting ten year old would. however, you do find out why hagrid was expelled from hogwarts and prohibited from practicing magic so its worth reading for that alone.
finding fish, antwone quenton fisheri believe the words of mormon prophet david o mckay when he said "no other success can compensate for failure in the home". this autobiography details the survival of antwone quenton fisher through a miserable foster home, reform school and subsequent life on the street. the tale furthers my conviction of the dramatic role single individuals can play in affecting another persons life, both for good and harm. from the author: a shame, what could have been an extraordinary deed in her life is an ugly thing. i was a child with no responsibility for being on earth or in her home. with no way to protect myself, she had the power to crush out my spirit, and she did. she had the power to strip me of all feelings of self-worth, so she did. she had the power to beat me to dust, and she did. in my estimation, her behavior was too bizarre for her to wear the title mother, her cruelty more than criminal...
me talk pretty one day, david sedariswhile i enjoyed this collection of short stories, especially those reflecting on his family, i came away even more impressed with my own friends. i have been subjected to many similar or superior diatribes from the people i know and one friend in particular could pass for sedaris if only he admitted an existing homosexual preference and began habitual drug use. from the author: on the off chance that sexual desire was all it took, i steered clear of lisa's instrument, fearing i might be labeled a prodigy.
hannibal, thomas harrisa few years ago a friend of mine asked 'why do you seek out opportunities to disturb yourself' and for the first time i found myself wondering the same thing. i think i would have enjoyed this story more as a younger man but seem to have less of a taste for it now. i was drawn in to the story even while being annoyed every time (and there were many) the author dropped the brand name of a commercial product. most interesting to me is how easy it is to develop empathy for detestable characters and you do end up rooting for the cannibal in this story.
masada, ernest k. ganni saw the television mini-series of this true story when i was young and you'd think i would remember the ending as remarkable as it was. rated critically because it was greater parts love story than historical novel, but a good read none the less. from the author: ...epicurus said, "i shall give you a rule by which to measure yourself and your development; in that day you will come into your own when you realize that the successful are of all men most miserable."
tarzan of the apes, edgar rice burroughsan easy read in nostalgic prose, tarzan of the apes features fair maidens, courageous heroes and ferocious villains. from the author: withdrawing the knife that had so often rendered him master of far mightier muscles than his own, tarzan of the apes placed his foot upon the neck of his vanquished enemy, and once again, loud through the forest rang the fierce, wild cry of the conqueror.
lolita, vladimir nabakovreportedly a love story, which 'lolita' must be to take such an act and weave this intoxicating narrative of it. from the aftword, the native russian author apologizes for his second-rate brand of english... what a tale it would have been in his native tongue. from the author: she was lo, plain lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. she was lola in slacks. she was dolly at school. she was dolores on the dotted line. but in my arms she was always lolita.
bury my heart at wounded knee, dee brown
in their own words:"do not misunderstand me, but understand me fully with reference to my affection for the land. i never said the land was mine to do with it as i chose. the one who has the right to displose of it is the one who has created it. i claim a right to live on my land, and accord you the privilege to live on yours." - heinmot tooyalaket (chief joseph)
"if the texans had kept out of my country, there might have been peace. but that which you now say we must live on is too small. the texans have taken away the places where the grass grew the thickest and the timber was the best. had we kept that, we might have done the things you ask. but it is too late. the white man has the country which we loved, and we only wish to wander on the prairie until we die." - parra-wa-samen (ten bears)
"they made us many promises, more than i can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it." - mahpiua-luta (red cloud)
harry potter and the sorcerer's stone, joanne kathleen rowlingadd me to the list of those bewitched by harry potter. i purchased this book at the largest independent book store in america (powell's city of books) after a portland radio biography described ms. rowling as recently divorced, living on public assistance and writing the story at a table in a small cafe while her daughter napped. i wanted to contribute to the real life fairy tale.
the hunchback of notre-dame, victor hugoi'm a huge fan of the medieval french fatality that dramatically interweaves character and plot before concluding in tragedy. if you could remove the two chapters of book iii and their genesis like description of notre dame and paris your left with a story as engaging as hugo's more popular work les miserables. from the author: now, here was a case which the law had not provided for - the deaf interrogating the deaf. - and - the wretched man said to himself, that when his cassock should be rent, when the leaden pipe should yield, he must fall, and horror thrilled his entrails.
touching my father's soul - a sherpa's journey to the top of everest, jamling tenzing norgayson of tenzing norgay, who with sir edmund hillary was the first to climb mount everest in 1953, tells of repeating his father's ascent during the 1996 imax expedition. this book is equal parts mountaineering, buddhist philosophy and sherpa history. while not the most articulate narrative, it's hard to criticize someone who has graced the highest ground on earth, a feat that takes a life for every five successful summits. from the author: as ed viesturs put it, "you don't conquer everest - you sneak up on it and then you get the hell outta there."
the killer angels, michael shaarathe author states this book was written "to know what it was like to be there". in so doing, he created a story that left me with the impression of having been there. not typically intrigued by the civil war, this book has me looking for more. from the author: "oh, sir-" the lieutenant grinned- "a lovely spot. safest place on the battlefield. right smack dab in the center of the line. very quiet there."
it's not about the bike, lance armstrong with sally jenkinsa poignant human drama that left me with the following observations: on more than one count i lack what is required to win the tour de france; i'm eyebrows and 10lbs away from resembling a chemo patient; i could never live in texas; you need to have survived cancer to encourage a baby's crying; and behind nearly every significant personal achievement is an equally remarkable supporting cast. from the author: i yelled in to the mouthpiece, "how do you like them fuckin' apples!"
holes, louis sacharbest described as modern folklore this story came to my attention through a discussion of young adult literature on npr. a caller praised the book because it combines an entertaining story with social commentary on racism and prejudice. i periodically try to read a children's book and am glad to have found holes. having bought the hardcover, large print edition was even more fun to read in public on the airplane.
the code book, simon singhan excellent, easy to understand introduction to the mathematics and linguistics of cryptography and cryptanalysis, the author does a great job describing the theory behind generations of cryptography and provides the historical context behind the need to encrypt and decrypt communications. a sampling of epics are the beheading of mary queen of scots, cracking the world war ii nazi enigma, translating egyptian hieroglyphics, discovery of public key cryptography which protects modern internet communications and the theory behind next generation quantum cryptography. additionally the author acknowledges the sacrifice and tragedy surrounding many cryptanalysts whose life and achievements went unheralded due to the necessity of keeping their successes secret.
what she saw, lucinda rosenfeldwhile waiting in a line that snaked most the way way through barnes and noble two days before christmas i found this book lying on top of a harry potter display. obviously the title had not captured the interest of the previous customer the duration of the wait, but i was an easier target. i thought this was a non-fiction work of a woman and her perspective on all her previous relationships and not being female it could be insightful. turns out the story is fiction and beyond lucinda's entertaining recall of hip trends during the 70's and 80's, not much worth while.
pastwatch the redemption of christopher columbus, orson scott cardauthor of my all time favorite science fiction work (ender's game) and many other quality works, this unfortunately wasn't one of them. it's particularly sad because it could have been. the first 375 pages presented an intriguing story of a future generation capable of time travel wrestling with the idea of changing the past. then i guess the publisher jumped in, pushed for early release and in the remaining 25 pages all their complex plans work out exactly and everyone lives happily ever after -sigh.
hiroshima, john herseya profile of six people who survived the atomic bomb attack on hiroshima, japan. when i first read this book in elementary school i learned to fear the "red menace", became thankful for bomb shelters and developed renewed zeal for crawling under my desk during air raid drills. recently i discovered the latest edition included an additional chapter where the author returned to japan forty years later to visit with the original six hibakusha (explosion-affected persons) and i decided to revisit the story. a must read for anyone who doesn't remember cold war atomic fear...