March, 2023 Readings: “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” (Pablo Neruda)
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1CliffBurns
Fear not, Spring is once more in our sights, winter receding faster than my hairline.
Got a pile of non-fiction to read, plus there's that pledge to tackle some of the literary classics I've had on my shelves so long the wood has actually bowed from their weight.
Soon...soon...
Got a pile of non-fiction to read, plus there's that pledge to tackle some of the literary classics I've had on my shelves so long the wood has actually bowed from their weight.
Soon...soon...
2CliffBurns
RUSSIAN ROULETTE by Michael Isikoff and David Corn.
Tracing the shenanigans of Russian hackers, who are doing their best to undermine people's faith in democracy (and succeeding beyond their wildest dreams).
The Trump campaign in 2016 knew exactly who they were getting into bed with and the Republican party just wanted back in power, period.
Freedom and liberty are in crisis and the folks with their hands on the levers of power really couldn't give a shit.
Tracing the shenanigans of Russian hackers, who are doing their best to undermine people's faith in democracy (and succeeding beyond their wildest dreams).
The Trump campaign in 2016 knew exactly who they were getting into bed with and the Republican party just wanted back in power, period.
Freedom and liberty are in crisis and the folks with their hands on the levers of power really couldn't give a shit.
3CliffBurns
FLATSCREEN by Adam Wilson.
Why I am so drawn to central characters who are utter losers? Take Ignatius O'Reilly, from A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, and the lead character in this Wilson book. Inept at life and love, merely existing, rather than embracing life and thriving. What does my attraction to such twits say about ME?
Anyway, the book was fun and funny, though not as original and enjoyable as a later novel by the same author, SENSATION MACHINES.
Why I am so drawn to central characters who are utter losers? Take Ignatius O'Reilly, from A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, and the lead character in this Wilson book. Inept at life and love, merely existing, rather than embracing life and thriving. What does my attraction to such twits say about ME?
Anyway, the book was fun and funny, though not as original and enjoyable as a later novel by the same author, SENSATION MACHINES.
4iansales
Books read since the last lot:
The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho - absolute drivel. This book has sold a gazillion copies and has been endorsed by no end of celebrities and powerful figures, and yet it's complete tosh. An Andalusian shepherd gives up up his living to find a "treasure" at the Pyramids at the urging of the "King of Salem" who tells him he needs to embark on his "Personal Legend". I can't decide which is the most bollocks - the Lawrence of Arabia meets Doctor Dee plot in the North Africa desert, or the underlying philosophy that the universe conspires to grant the wishes of people who wish hard enough. As a self-help manual, it's about as useful as a TikTok video; as a novel, it's about as interesting as The Old Man of the Sea, without the old man, or the sea, or the shark.
The Things We’ve Seen, Agustín Fernández Mallo - I recently learned a friend who used to live in Spain regularly had Mallo around to his house for dinner. Of course, this was before I knew the friend. And probably before Mallo became an internationally-renowned author. Mallo founded the Nocilla Generation of writing in Spain, and one novel written as part of that movement is Uppsala Woods by Álvaro Colomer, and Uppsala is where I now live, as does my friend who used to be visited by Mallo. Which is, in a roundabout way, sort of what Mallo's novels are like - semi-autobiographical, deeply researched, and drawing connections between events, real and invented, in the narrator's life, and real-world history, which illustrate a connectedness between a multitude of unconnected things or events. This book includes photographs, some historical, some by the author. Cannot recommend Mallo enough.
Snow Country, Sebastian Faulks - the second novel in a loose trilogy about the beginnings of psychiatry and psychology, the first of which is the excellent Human Traces. Unfortunately, Snow Country felt more like a collection of offcuts from that novel than a coherent work in its own right. The characters in Snow Country are descendants of those in Human Traces, at least some of them are, the two major characters are completely unrelated, but the story Faulks tells linking them together is somewhat banal given the plot of the earlier novel. A poorly-educated young woman works at a sanitarium in rural Austria, meets an older Austrian journalist, and while various aspects of their past might have led them to become lovers, it never happens. Because. I don't rank Faulks especially highly - strictly middle-brow, like Ian McEwan; but he at least has the advantage of not being an offensive prick. And he did write a good book about fiction. But Snow Country is very much middle-book territory, even if it actually a standalone novel. Missable.
In the Cavern of the Night, William Barton - a collection of stories set in the same universe as When We Were Real, although, to be fair, one or two didn't read as if set in that universe. Your appreciation will definitely depend on how much you like Barton's fiction, as the stories are 100% down the line he writes--first-person narrative with self-centred protagonist, a somewhat obsessive focus on sex, background a weird mix of hard sf and juvenile space opera, somewhat nihilistic worldview, but an uncommon degree of rigour and prose considerably more evocative than is usual for the genre. I really like Barton's fiction, and I think he's written some hugely under-appreciated novels, but reading this collection it does occur to me he's an acquired taste. One for fans, I think, but I'm happy to count myself among that number.
The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho - absolute drivel. This book has sold a gazillion copies and has been endorsed by no end of celebrities and powerful figures, and yet it's complete tosh. An Andalusian shepherd gives up up his living to find a "treasure" at the Pyramids at the urging of the "King of Salem" who tells him he needs to embark on his "Personal Legend". I can't decide which is the most bollocks - the Lawrence of Arabia meets Doctor Dee plot in the North Africa desert, or the underlying philosophy that the universe conspires to grant the wishes of people who wish hard enough. As a self-help manual, it's about as useful as a TikTok video; as a novel, it's about as interesting as The Old Man of the Sea, without the old man, or the sea, or the shark.
The Things We’ve Seen, Agustín Fernández Mallo - I recently learned a friend who used to live in Spain regularly had Mallo around to his house for dinner. Of course, this was before I knew the friend. And probably before Mallo became an internationally-renowned author. Mallo founded the Nocilla Generation of writing in Spain, and one novel written as part of that movement is Uppsala Woods by Álvaro Colomer, and Uppsala is where I now live, as does my friend who used to be visited by Mallo. Which is, in a roundabout way, sort of what Mallo's novels are like - semi-autobiographical, deeply researched, and drawing connections between events, real and invented, in the narrator's life, and real-world history, which illustrate a connectedness between a multitude of unconnected things or events. This book includes photographs, some historical, some by the author. Cannot recommend Mallo enough.
Snow Country, Sebastian Faulks - the second novel in a loose trilogy about the beginnings of psychiatry and psychology, the first of which is the excellent Human Traces. Unfortunately, Snow Country felt more like a collection of offcuts from that novel than a coherent work in its own right. The characters in Snow Country are descendants of those in Human Traces, at least some of them are, the two major characters are completely unrelated, but the story Faulks tells linking them together is somewhat banal given the plot of the earlier novel. A poorly-educated young woman works at a sanitarium in rural Austria, meets an older Austrian journalist, and while various aspects of their past might have led them to become lovers, it never happens. Because. I don't rank Faulks especially highly - strictly middle-brow, like Ian McEwan; but he at least has the advantage of not being an offensive prick. And he did write a good book about fiction. But Snow Country is very much middle-book territory, even if it actually a standalone novel. Missable.
In the Cavern of the Night, William Barton - a collection of stories set in the same universe as When We Were Real, although, to be fair, one or two didn't read as if set in that universe. Your appreciation will definitely depend on how much you like Barton's fiction, as the stories are 100% down the line he writes--first-person narrative with self-centred protagonist, a somewhat obsessive focus on sex, background a weird mix of hard sf and juvenile space opera, somewhat nihilistic worldview, but an uncommon degree of rigour and prose considerably more evocative than is usual for the genre. I really like Barton's fiction, and I think he's written some hugely under-appreciated novels, but reading this collection it does occur to me he's an acquired taste. One for fans, I think, but I'm happy to count myself among that number.
5KatrinkaV
>4 iansales: I think that's the best review of The Alchemist I've ever read; if I remember my experience correctly, it could probably cover The Celestine Prophecy as well.
6varielle
>5 KatrinkaV: I agree. I gave up after 30 or 40 pages and thought maybe I wasn’t sophisticated enough to get it. I thought it was stupid which is not something I could put in a review.
7CliffBurns
LOVE AND HATE: STORIES AND ESSAYS by Hanif Kureishi.
Cool concept, combining fiction and nonfiction in one volume. The stories were fine, but I preferred the non-fic essays, including a good one on Kafka and an extended account of how a con man bilked Kureishi out of a substantial portion of his life savings.
Recently Kureishi suffered a bad fall--hope his run of bad luck is over.
Cool concept, combining fiction and nonfiction in one volume. The stories were fine, but I preferred the non-fic essays, including a good one on Kafka and an extended account of how a con man bilked Kureishi out of a substantial portion of his life savings.
Recently Kureishi suffered a bad fall--hope his run of bad luck is over.
8mejix
When Einstein Walked with Godel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought by Jim Holt. A collection of essays mostly on physics and mathematics intended for a general audience. The writing is clear on very complicated subjects, it does it's job reasonably well. The selection of essays should have been more focused. The book serves well as an introduction or a sampler of many dazzling concepts. It whetted my appetite.
9CliffBurns
2 A.M. IN LITTLE AMERICA by the great Ken Kalfus.
Set in the near future after a brutal civil war has divided America and reduced it to Third World status. An American forced to flee abroad by the targeted killings and economic disorder struggles to make a new home in an unnamed country.
Effective and believable...all too believable and Kalfus avoids a happy, pat ending (which I always appreciate).
One of the best novelists out there.
Recommended.
Set in the near future after a brutal civil war has divided America and reduced it to Third World status. An American forced to flee abroad by the targeted killings and economic disorder struggles to make a new home in an unnamed country.
Effective and believable...all too believable and Kalfus avoids a happy, pat ending (which I always appreciate).
One of the best novelists out there.
Recommended.
10CliffBurns
A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA, the debut novel by Anthony Marra.
We Westerners know little of the horrific wars fought in Chechnya in the late 20th & early 21st century. The Russians unleashed the same brutal tactics as they are now employing on the Ukrainians, including using mercenaries drawn from the dregs of the prison system. Torture and murder were commonplace, whole families disappeared because of rumors and malice.
Like his colleague Adam Johnson, Marra has an incredible ability to take you to a region of which you know nothing and cause you to fear and grieve for the plight of complete strangers.
A rare gift--man, this guy can write.
We Westerners know little of the horrific wars fought in Chechnya in the late 20th & early 21st century. The Russians unleashed the same brutal tactics as they are now employing on the Ukrainians, including using mercenaries drawn from the dregs of the prison system. Torture and murder were commonplace, whole families disappeared because of rumors and malice.
Like his colleague Adam Johnson, Marra has an incredible ability to take you to a region of which you know nothing and cause you to fear and grieve for the plight of complete strangers.
A rare gift--man, this guy can write.
11CliffBurns
THE WAR OF ART, Stephen Pressfield's guide to breaking blocks and jump-starting creativity.
I'm usually no fan of "How to..." books relating to writing/art, but this one really spoke to me. Practical, no-nonsense and, yes, inspiring.
Also, it's very short and to the point...plus it's written by the same guy who brought us GATES OF FIRE, one of my all-time fave works of historical fiction.
I'm usually no fan of "How to..." books relating to writing/art, but this one really spoke to me. Practical, no-nonsense and, yes, inspiring.
Also, it's very short and to the point...plus it's written by the same guy who brought us GATES OF FIRE, one of my all-time fave works of historical fiction.
