American Gods

Written by: Neil Gaiman












I went into this book with pretty high expectations ("The Graveyard Book" is one of my all-time favorite books), and these expectations may have actually gotten in the way of my enjoyment of the book.  I'm not saying "American Gods" is bad - it's quite good - but it doesn't live up to my ultra-high expectations for a Neil Gaiman book.  It felt, at points, like a one-trick-pony, or a novella that became a bit bloated out of control.  (Ironically, I just found out there is apparently an expanded "Author's Preferred Text" with some significant additions.  Perhaps these are the missing pieces which bring the whole novel together?)

Darth Paper Strikes Back

Written by: Tom Angleberger












In this second book of the "Origami Yoda" series, a villainous Darth Paper shows up to wreak havoc with the Origami Yoda universe.  Not quite as charming as the first book, but at least a fitting sequel.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Written by: Tom Angleberger












"The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda" compiles a "case file" proving the wisdom of a paper Yoda.  (And that makes even less sense than when I planned it in my head, but bear with me.)  It's a fun young-adult book, well worth reading and crammed with enough Star Wars references to choke a wookie.

The Grapes of Wrath

Written by: John Steinbeck












Easily one of the greatest and most important novels ever written.  If you haven't read it yet, there's not much I can add hear that would be meaningful.  You need to experience if yourself.

A Hologram for the King

Written by: Dave Eggers












Before going on, I wanted to take a moment to appreciate the cover of this book.  It's intricate and ornate and, simply put, beautiful.  From the moment you see this book, before you open a page, the book itself demands your attention and respect and, well, awe.

Eggers is a master, and he has created in "A Hologram for the King" another novel which, if written by someone else would be a masterpiece, but for Eggers is merely par for the course.

Eggers brings a straight and powerful tone to this novel, which gives the book a gravity which could have easily been lost.  There are points in the novel which border on surreal and could easily corrupt the story's core, but which Eggers handles effortlessly in stride.

The setting of the story manages to simultaneously call on several points of reference: it's both ancient and modern. Empty, but full of mystery. The other side of the world, but achingly familiar.

"A Hologram for the King" is powerful, and hearkens back to an ancient Greek tragedy while also firmly planting itself as a novel for its own time.

On the Beach

Written by: Nevil Shute












What inspires someone to read a book about the end of the world?  Whatever it is, it catches me about once a year, and this time manifested itself in reading a discarded library copy of Nevil Shute's "On the Beach."  And, with all due respect to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," I don't think I've ever read a book so harsh and bleak.

The protagonist, Dwight Towers, is one of the last surviving American naval officers, the US (along with most of the northern hemisphere) having been destroyed in an all-out nuclear war.  He and his crew take refuge in Australia - one of the last inhabitable places on earth - where they continue their service until the end of civilization as the earth's atmosphere is slowly overcome by radiation.

It's amazing how well Shute raises some pretty primal questions about humanity, given how simple his book may seem at the surface.  For example, what would you do if you knew you only had a month to live?  How would you spend your time?  How would you spend your money?  What would you do with yourself?

Shute reflects on some interesting aspects of human nature, and how they backfire when faced with the end of humanity.  For example, just after the nuclear war, everyone took as much gasoline as they could and hoarded it.  But, with less than a month to live, many realize that they saved more gas than they will ever be able to use.  The same goes for alcohol: a social club which has stockpiled rare vintages of wine for years, only to discover that many of the best will never be enjoyed.

"On the Beach" is a hard read, emotionally.  It raises, in an all-too-realistic way, questions of every individual's mortality and the limits of our lives.  Yet, unlike most novels, Shute's book offers no hope.  Instead, according to this book, we are all ultimately doomed.  We will never amount to much, and there will never be quite enough time to see all we want to see, do all we want to do, or to live the lives we've dreamed about.

For those who can't face their own inner-dreads, the book can also be read as a time-piece.  It is a distorted mirror for what might have been during the cold war - a reflection of the psyche of almost all of humanity when the world's most powerful nations were constantly moments away from pushing the button that would end civilization as we know it.

It will be hard to forget this book, though I would be lying (in a way) if I said I enjoyed it.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Written by: Shirley Jackson












This book, perhaps fittingly, had lurked around my life for a while before I finally had the drive to read it.  I'd come across an essay about it, and been intrigued even though I had lacked understanding of the  references.  A colleague referenced another Shirley Jackson work ("The Lottery" - perhaps her most famous).  Finally, for some strange reason, my wife picked up the book and read the whole thing in one night and spent the next month telling me I should read it.  I second her recommendation.

Jackson weaves together a beautiful, but dark and complex story, focusing mainly on the disintegrating Blackwood family.  At first, we find that the locals in their small town have ostracized the family after an unnamed event.  As the story unfolds, the truth becomes more murky and muddled until the arrival of a long-lost cousin catalyzes a major change and, finally, the truth is revealed.

What's amazing is how well-crafted this book is.  (And I know that's cliche, but I can't think of a better way of saying it.)  Upon reflection, most of the plot is both crucial and negligible.  What is most memorable, though, is the cast of characters.  Mary Katherine Blackwood is completely unforgettable (and to say much more would rob you of the joy of meeting her yourself).  Her sister Constance should rank in the pantheon of American mythology (with the Jay Gatsby and Quentin Compson types).  And, when all is revealed, the tragedy of Uncle Julian's madness is made complete.

The word "gothic" is thrown around a lot to describe books which don't fit into the polite category of fiction, but this is not the case with "We Have Always Lived in the Castle."  Jackson's novel should be hailed as the archetype of gothic American writing.  But, beyond that, it should be honored as an American classic.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Written by: J. K. Rowling












The third book in the Harry Potter series was a bit of a fizzle.  It just didn't do much for me.

Essentially, it picks up exactly where the last book left off.  Harry and his friends become caught up in a mystery which threatens to kill Harry.  You see, it turns out that one of the conspirators in the death of Harry's parents has escaped from the wizard prison of Azkaban, and all evidence points to this man - Sirius Black - coming to Hogwarts to kill Harry.  Of course, nothing is quite as it seems, and Harry and his pals find out that Sirius is actually innocent and wants to help protect Harry.  Unfortunately, in the end, no one (except Dumbledore) believes Harry, and so Black goes into hiding where he can keep an eye on things.

This book felt very, very formulaic for the first several chapters.  It starts in nearly the exact same way as the previous two novels, with only minor variation.  This was painful, and I grew frustrated waiting to get to the meat of this book.

And even when the plot did begin to develop, I never really felt any dramatic tension.  Although the character of Sirius Black is mysterious, I never got the sense of menace that I think I was meant to feel. Rather, I knew it was only a matter of time before the truth was revealed about his motivations.  (I didn't quite see the whole "I was innocent" twist, but I knew that he probably wasn't the heartless beast he was made out to be.)  Overall, there just wasn't any sense of danger, and I never believed that Harry and his friends were in any life-threatening scenarios.

Aside from some random introductions - Black, Hogsmeade - this book felt mainly like a bridge between what had already been established and something bigger to come in the later books.

The Art of Fielding

Written by: Chad Harbach












I'm always wary when a book comes with a lot of praise (in case I haven't said that before), but I also can't help but be intrigued.  In this case, the praise wasn't totally unearned, though it was not quite as great as it could have been.  "The Art of Fielding" had clear strengths and weaknesses which fell across clearly identifiable lines.

The novel, as a whole, is centered around college baseball player Henry Skrimshander, who has an uncanny ability to field the ball (thus giving relevance to the title).  Although Skrimshander is the central character, he only represents a fraction of the novel's plot.  The rest of the book examines the lives of other characters who are all connected through how they know Henry.  And that's where the novel falls apart.

The portions about Skrimshander are the most fascinating in the book, and could have (probably) stood on their own as a smaller novel.  He is, by far, the most interesting character in the book, and I spent a lot of the time away from him wondering when he was going to reappear.  ("When are they gonna get to the fireworks factory?")  Unfortunately, there are so many other major characters that there are massive swaths of text in which Henry is totally absent.

Harbach's prose is especially successful when describing the baseball games, and for this I applaud him.  There are very few books about baseball which accurately describe the game.  Harbach manages to infuse those scenes with the grace and elegance that baseball deserves, without dropping any of the intensity of the game's competition.

There's an old piece of writing advice: "Write what you know."  It felt like, at times, Harbach decided that he really knew about "the small-college experience" and just ran with that concept.  But this strategy can be problematic because at points the novel seemed to be a one-trick pony.

"The Art of Fielding" was pretty good, though it wasn't great.  That's what I'll end with.

Gods Without Men

Written by: Hari Kunzru












The book begins with a unique myth about Coyote the trickster, and takes off from there.  The book jumps around between several characters and time periods, all of which revolve around mysterious events surrounding a strange arrangement of rocks in the Mojave desert.

The central story follows of Jaz, a computer engineer wrapped up developing a program which can compile random bits of unrelated information to predict future economic trends.  When Jaz begins to worry about the implications of this model, he takes his wife and son out to California where, in the middle of the day, his son mysteriously disappears near a strange formation of rocks.  A long time later, the boy is found, but Jaz struggles to bond with the boy and wonders what exactly happened out in the desert.

Interspersed between chapters are two other major sub-stories.  The first tells of a researcher in the 1920s who loses the love of his life to another man.  In an act of revenge, he frames the man as a kidnapper and rounds up a posse to track him down.  A shootout occurs and the man is killed at the same odd rock formation.  The other major sub-story describes the rise and fall of a cult whose leaders claim to be able to communicate with aliens life forms of a higher civilization.  Where does this cult base their operations?  At the finger-like outcropping of rocks which has been featured in all the other stories.

There are a few other characters and sections which add to the overall mystique of the book.

As a novel with a jumping structure, it does all right.  It's not as good as "Cloud Atlas," but it does hold its own.  The comparison between "Gods Without Men" and "Cloud Atlas" is easy to make.  They both track vaguely interrelated stories over multiple time periods, showing how certain themes and human behaviors repeat themselves.  The problem with "Gods Without Men" is that the characters - with the exception of the cuckolded man - fall very flat, and without them there is no reason for the reader to consider the larger implications of the book.  By the end of the novel, the twists become predictable and cliche.

Still, it is neat to read a modern day "trickster" story, even if it's not a perfect novel.

Under the Dome

Written by: Stephen King












"Under the Dome" is one of Stephen Kings longest books, and it manages to showcase both his biggest strengths and clear weaknesses, often simultaneously.

To start with the positive: "Under the Dome" is ambitious.  In it, King sets out to document the decay and downfall of society when faced with the unearthly challenge of being stuck under an impenetrable dome.  And he absolutely succeeds.  Yet, at the same time, this "documentation" is often too meticulous, providing more detail than anyone really needs or cares about.

"Under the Dome" has some of King's most fleshed-out characters in any of his novels.  They feel almost real.  (OK, maybe Big Jim is a bit over-the-top at points - but what car dealer isn't?)  But too much attention is given to characters whose purpose is minimal and have no real affect on the story.  At one point, we meet a character, and over the course of five pages we learn all about their family and personal history.  A chapter or two later, that character is killed off.  It's almost as if King never learned the difference between major and minor characters, and so everybody gets the "major character" treatment, regardless of their significance.

I'm not sure how else to characterize "Under the Dome" except that it represents Stephen King at both his best and his worst.  If you're the type of person who likes Stephen King, you'll likely find what you like in droves.  If you're the type of person who looks down on King's work, you'll find plenty to gripe about too.  For me: I enjoyed it.  I just wish it had been about 400 pages shorter.

The Orchard Keeper

Written by: Cormac McCarthy












If only most novels were as good as Cormac McCarthy's first novel.

Set during prohibition, "The Orchard Keeper" weaves together the lives of three characters, connected first by a circumstance of which none of them are aware and later by their mutual contempt for the law.

Like a pitcher warming up before a baseball game, McCarthy's first novel is not quite up to his usual standards, but you can still see hints of what is to come later.  The voice of the prose is not quite fine-tuned yet, but is obviously distinct.  This is not a criticism, but merely an observation.

As a writer, McCarthy mastered early the ability to let the characters and their circumstances carry their own gravity.  He assumes that his reader is intelligent and can make important connections without those connections being explicitly outlined or discussed.  For example: whose body is Uncle Ather hiding?  It's obvious, so it is never outright declared.  Few writers would be so bold as to leave such an important detail unnamed, but it seems natural - if not necessary - for McCarthy to do so.

I'm not sure whether or not this would be a good place to start for newcomers to McCarthy's work.  On the one hand, it's a solid general sampling of what his work is usually like.  On the other hand, it's not one of his best pieces. (Although, on a side note, I feel like comparing his books to one another is a futile venture akin to comparing Hall of Fame baseball players.  Is it fair to compare Joe DiMaggio to Hank Aaron?  No.  They were both amazing at what they did, and there's no value added by making the comparison.)

The Ecstasy of Influence

By: Jonthan Lethem












Jonathan Lethem has always had a strong way with prose, and his novels are usually pretty well written.  But, personally, I've always found it just as interesting to hear him talk about his work, so I was excited to hear about a new collection of his non-fiction.

In the interest of saving time, I'm not going to do an essay-by-essay analysis of the text.  Instead, I'll just go over a couple of the highlights and touch on a couple of the weaker points.

The first few essays were the most fascinating for me.  In them, he discusses his time working in various bookstores across the country.  He analyzes both the day-to-day life of working as a bookstore clerk, as well as sharing some of the sub-cultures who roam the stacks.

The title essay "The Ecstasy of Influence" is also fantastic.  In it, he outlines - in what can almost be described as a manifesto - the importance of influence in literature or for any piece of artwork.  To prove his point, he reveals at the end that most of the essay itself had been culled from other pieces of literature.  It's a fascinating read and well worth tracking down online.

There are a few essays that were a little too experimental for my taste.  There is also a whole section of essays devoted to "The Mad Brooklynite" which I had a hard time connecting with, both at a literary level and because I have never been there personally.

Overall, "The Ecstasy of Influence" is a great collection, although it could have been trimmed down and cleaned up a bit.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Written by: J.K. Rowling

I realize that I am very late to the Harry Potter train. But, better late than never, right?

The first book in the series - "Sorcerer's Stone" (aka "Philosopher's Stone" for our friends across the pond) - tells of the boy Harry Potter, neglected and abused by his aunt and uncle, who finds out that he is actually a wizard. As he runs off to wizard school at Hogwarts, he becomes involved in a mystery which will reveal exactly what is being hidden at the school, what happened to Harry's parents, and why everyone seems to treat him with such high regard. Turns out - not so surprisingly - that the villain Voldemort, an evil wizard, is the one holding the puppet strings, and that he's after the Sorcerer's Stone which is the key to eternal life.

(And yes, I just wrote all that down without a hint of sarcasm, somehow.)

I've always felt that the whole "Harry Potter" phenomena to be a sort of dubious second-cousin to more intellectual fantasy series (e.g. "Lord of the Rings"). But as more and more friends and acquaintances gave it such acclaim, I was eventually dragged into reading it.

Of course, the dragging stopped once I started reading it. I did have to put on my "new sincerity" glasses and read it honestly, with an eye for enjoyment rather than criticism. And, I must say, the book did provide much enjoyment. I had a hard time putting it down.

This book, especially, manages to strike an excellent balance between telling a self-contained story while also setting the stage for later books.

The characters are a bit exaggerated - Harry is always good and pure, Voldemort is pure evil - but I've heard that features gets toned down as the series goes on.

Years after the Harry Potter phenomena took off, I'm glad I've taken the opportunity to grab on to the coat tails. I'm looking forward to the rest of the ride.

Mockingjay

Written by: Suzanne Collins

Depending on who you ask, "Mockingjay" is either the worst book of the series or absolutely amazing. I tend to fall in line with the latter.

And, please be warned, there have been spoilers lurking these paragraphs ahead.

After being dramatically rescued from the nasty Quarter Quell edition of the Hunger Games, Katniss finds herself part of the rebellion against the Capitol. Unfortunately, in the chaos of the rescue, her sometime-lover Peeta was left behind and is now a prisoner of the Capitol. Katniss struggles to find her place as part of the rebellion: she is important as a symbol and a figurehead, but President Coin of the rebellion is wary of giving Katniss too much power. As the rebellion begins its final assault on the Capitol, she struggles to keep herself and her family safe while also leading the way to a better, brighter future for all.

I think most of the criticism of this book stems from the fact that this book is, by far, the most cerebral of the novels in the series. This time, we spend a significant amount of inside Katniss's mind, in place of the action which dominated the earlier books. Katniss is a much weaker character in this book; she has been broken and beaten down too many times. Rather than driving the action of the plot forward, she is much more of a passive observer (especially in the early part of the book). She spends much more time thinking "deep thoughts" about the nature of abstractions like power and violence, good and evil (and, yes, a few moments thinking about Gale/Peeta dilemma). It is not until the final few scenes that the strong-willed Katniss returns.

This departure from the standard established in the first two books is a turn-off point for many readers, who were hungry (pun intended) for more of what they got before. I actually appreciated this change, though. It always felt like there were bigger philosophical issues hidden underneath the plot, but that those issues were always neglected in favor of keeping the story moving forward. But, if Katniss were as intelligent as she showed herself to be, these things must have crossed her mind at some point, and, finally, in this book, we get the chance to get her opinion.

I appreciate the fact that, when the assault on the Capitol begins, the action of this book is strikingly different than the last two. Whereas the first two books took place in the Hunger Games arenas and the violence was mostly limited to participants, the violence in this book takes place in cities and pretty much everyone is a fair target. (And, trust me, there are a few surprises as to who gets hurt and / or killed in this book.)

I will say that I was slgihtly disappointed in the "Epilogue." Frankly, I didn't need it. I've voiced my opinion about these types of "gift wrap" endings before to anyone who would listen. I can't stand it when the author (or screenwriter, or director, or whomever) decides that the audience needs everything spelled out and resolved for them. Granted, I appreciate that not everything worked out perfectly for the characters: Katniss and Peeta are both ruined human beings, and several key figures are dead. So, I don't hate this ending as much as I usually hate endings like this, but I'm not terribly happy with it either.

Overall, the entire "Hunger Games" trilogy was a decent read, and I'd generally recommend it. Anyone going into it should realize that the series is not "classic literature." That being said, the books are fun to read, and well written enough to hook readers in with lots of twists and cliffhangers.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

Written by: Raymond Carver

I picked up this book on a whim while at Powell's bookstore in Portland. I'd heard a lot of praise about Raymond Carver's writing, and after reading this, it was well deserved.

Carver's prose is stark and brutal, but also crisp and clear. He doesn't waste words, nor does he include a word unless it is absolutely necessary. (To make an annoying comparison - his writing is reminiscent of Hemingway's, but more like Hemingway-to-the-extreme.)

The stories themselves are short and too the point. They are stripped down and, in their brevity, incredibly powerful. Carver doesn't beat around the bush at any point.

I highly recommend this book.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Nowadays it seems like the "spy" genre is filled with fast paced James Bond style action. But John le Carré's novel "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is quite the opposite.

After a blown spy mission behind enemy lines, major shifts in power have taken place in the British spy agencies. When vague but relevant evidence reveals that there may be a Russian mole near the top of the British secret service, retired agent George Smiley is put on the job to investigate. And as Smiley gets closer to the mole's identity, he also gets closer to figuring out what happened on that blown mission and why he was forced into retirement.

The novel's plot is delicately paced, but executed perfectly. It's slow, but it is deliberately slow. The story unwinds - going back and forth through time - until everything has been revealed. To be honest, at times it can wear on the reader's patience, but when the truth is revealed the novel is redeemed.

George Smiley - through whose eyes we see most of the novel, indirectly - is an interesting character. He has his obvious weaknesses, but a keenness with which he uses those weaknesses to his own advantage (if that can be understood and believed).

The book is weakest in terms of its length. There are many sequences in which we're provided detail after detail. Some of those details become quite important, but it's hard to parse those out as you read. Instead, there are huge monologues and flashbacks that the reader must pay attention to, even if the reader is unsure what they are paying attention for. This perspective puts the reader in almost the same position as the protagonist - trying to pull out the meaningful details from a hodgepodge of rumors and hearsay.

In fact, the process of finding out who the spy is dwarfs just about everything else, even to the point that the big reveal - when we finally find out who the Russian mole is - is almost anti-climactic. (This isn't to say that the reveal isn't important or exciting, though.)

Overall, it's an excellent novel. It is unique and well written, and definitely a cut or two above the usual pulp spy novel.

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

Carson McCullers's novel falls under the "southern gothic" genre, but in its own special way. Whereas Faulkner's prose intimidates you and beats you over the head with its brute strength, McCullers's text hums like a lullaby with a soft melody.

"The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" is set in small-town Georgia during the great depression. It's the type of town where you know everyone else by name, and you're related to half of them by blood or marriage. Most of the story surrounds the deaf-mute John Singer and the fingerprints he leaves on the lives he touches.

This novel is beautiful and soft, but also powerful. I have a hard time describing it, but I highly recommend you experience it for yourself.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

This book arrived with a lot of critical acclaim - including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award - so, naturally, I ignored it for a year. Later, I found it for sale in the book piles at Costco and realized that it might be worth checking out.

The plot of the novel is hard to describe, as it is not necessarily linear. Rather, it is a series of segments tied together by overlapping characters and settings.

To be honest, I wasn't as impressed with this book as the critics apparently were. I found it to be rather flat and desperate to be "hip" in its comments on contemporary culture. (Perhaps "contemporary isn't the right word, considering it doesn't take place in the current time period - but you know what I mean.)

The book is neat, but beyond its general "neatness," I did not find it to be anything really significant. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Ask the Dust

A while back, while discussing my affection for the writings of Charles Bukowski, a friend of mine, and I forget exactly who, mentioned that I should check out John Fante's "Ask the Dust." Back in the spring time, this conversation crossed my mind while I wandered the shops at the LA Times Festival of Books, where, lo and behold, I found a copy - complete with an introduction and ringing endorsement written by Charles Bukowski.

The novel itself is filled with tales of Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer in Los Angeles. He lives off a few meager dollars, stolen milk, and the hope that a few more stories will lead him to fame and fortune. Alas, even in his meager state, he falls madly in love (emphasize the madly) with the Mexican waitress at the local bar. Their love-hate relationship goes on-again-off-again through most of the book while Bandini desperately tries to put together his next great story and scrounge up his next meal. The emotional climax of the story takes place during the Long Beach earthquake of 1933.

Overall, I don't have that much to say about this book. It was good, mainly because it reminded me of Bukowski's work. It was clear, after merely a chapter or two, how much of an influence Fante was on Bukowski. Although Fante lacks Bukowski's brutal and stark prose, he definitely led the way on telling crisp true stories. I might pick up another Fante book, if I ever get tired of re-reading the Bukowski books.