suggestions for holiday reading

book reviews for the second half of 2007

(though judging by the length of this, I think I will have to do this on a quarterly basis, the way big corporations announce their earning growth)

Since I’ve graduated from college, it’s been much harder to make time for reading. When there isn’t the pressure of papers to write or the fear of appearing stupid in class, I can easily waste my time surfing the internet or looking at knitting patterns (sometimes I feel like I spend more time looking at other people’s knitting than I actually spend knitting). I’ve also lost my subway reading time as I commute by bike on most days (I also find the trolley a bit too shaky to read seriously).

The past month or so, I feel like I’ve been swamped with packing/moving and wedding planning that have pushed reading to the backburner. I don’t think I’ve read a single book since mid-November and I miss it. If long plane rides to California have any benefit, that is that they give me plenty of time to read.

Once again, I post all my reviews to GoodReads.

* didn’t like it
** it was ok
*** liked it
**** really liked it
***** it was amazing

Fiction

** or *** American Pastoral (Phillip Roth) ~ It’s very hard for me to rate this book—I have a lot of stylistic and thematic appreciation for this book, but reading it at times was torturous. There were so many times while reading the book that I just wanted to put it down and give up on it, because it got long-winded. Roth is a brilliantly talented prose writer and can go on for pages and pages for just one thought, one idea or one scene, which can be delightful or a total a drag that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. I’m not sure whether that was a failure of the novel itself or just the situations where I was reading it (a.k.a. Philadelphia’s trolley system). I would give this book 3 or 4 stars, had I been able to really get into the book. I want to give the book 2 stars based on my actual experience reading it. All that being said, I thought the book had some really hilarious/insightful/beautiful passages, and its overall story reflected several narrative strands of meaning --- of immigrant life, of an American life, of America’s own consciousness as a nation. Roth writes about the Jewish American Swede Levov, high school sports star, who marries Miss New Jersey, inherits his father’s glove factory and appears in everyway to have achieved the American dream. Yet his “perfect life” disintegrates after his daughter bombs a post office and kills a man in protest of the Vietnam war. The last section of the book “Paradise Lost” highlights the aftermath and the downfall of Levov, and in doing so, paints a picture of America’s own decline.

* Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh) ~ So I've heard many good things about this book before reading it, but I just didn't like it that much. Maybe I just didn't get it? It's supposed to be funny but I didn't pick up that much humour. The book recounts the memories of Charles Ryder, his college year friendship with Sebastien (who carries around a delightful teddy bear named Aloysius), and his later affair with Sebastien's sister, Julia (and in the course of that, retells the story of their entire family). Though Waugh's prose is smooth, reflective and at times high-brow, the storyline tends to drag. The novel felt like a series of little witty conversations and indulgent descriptions of the upper class in pre World War II England. The ending, with its potentially redeeming characteristics, appeared rather trite and out of the blue, a feeling of Deus Ex Machina (which I guess in many ways may be the point if the novel is about divine grace).

** or *** Beloved (Toni Morrison) ~ If it weren't for a long plane ride, I probably wouldn't have gotten past the first 30 or so pages of this novel. But I'm glad I did because the novel is very beautifully written and well-constructed, though not necessarily a page-turner. The prose is very lyrical and dream-like, as it weaves the reader in and out of the past, but can also be confusing, especially if you read the novel in short chunks on the subway. The book basically explores the return of Paul D., a slave who once worked for the same owners as Sethe, and the return Sethe’s dead daughter, Beloved, as a physical (and sexually mature) young adult, and the accompanying memories that they stir.
As a book about slavery and life after slavery, it is not a "explicitly physical" account, recounting the physical horrors of the oppression. Rather, it explores the subtle psychological impact. (It makes me think of a quote I saw at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia: "We believed we were made to be slaves"). The novel poses the question of identity, but not primarily in terms of ethnic identity. The novel is not concerned with what it means to be "African-American" so much as it is concerned with what does it mean to be human. As it narrates the lives of former slaves, it is intimately and constantly exploring the questions associated with entering the territory of freedom. How do you belong to yourself when you've always belonged to someone else? How do you learn to love when your whole life you've tried not to love too much, since whoever you loved could always be taken away? What does it mean to suddenly wake up one morning and be able to decide what you want to do?

*** Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) ~ I absolutely devoured this book in a week when I first read it in sixth grade (or “grade six” since I was still in Canada at that point). As a melodramatic pre-teen who already to claimed to have “fallen in love”, and already submerged in unattainable celebrity crushes, I was absolutely captivated by the “love” and the “passion” in the book. The book was still highly enjoyable and a page-turner this time that I read it, but perhaps for different reasons. I found the book much funnier than before, with its hints of satire and exaggerated characters. I also laughed because Mr. Rochester reminded me of my fiancé’s personality. Jane Eyre’s character was still the biggest draw of the book—her defiance of social norms, and her firm hold on what she believed to be right makes her extremely memorable. I think the best section of the book are the initial chapters on the early years of Jane Eyre’s life, where the reader gains a vivid picture of Jane’s strong and proud character.

Non-fiction

*** Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America (Barbara Ehrenreich) ~ This book documents writer Barbara Ehrenreich's short-lived descent into the life of a minimum-wage earner. Though she bears no pretense of actually "experiencing poverty" (given her safety net of assets, education, connections etc...), she attempts to see how she will survive a minimum wage (or slightly higher than minimum wage-- up to $7.50 an hour). This book reads as a documentary with attitude, as Barbara recounts her adventures of finding a job, finding housing and working a job (her coworkers and bosses). She barely gets by, having to resort at times to a food bank, and almost ends up in a shelter. The book's strength lies in its ability to illustrate the sheer difficulties of surviving on minimum wage. The book only really has one point (it doesn't necessarily offer a full-scaled comprehensive analysis nor does it purport to do that), but makes that one point extremely clearly. Something needs to be changed, if hard-working people, laboring 40-70 hours a week, cannot afford decent housing and nutritious food, much less properly raise children and accrue savings. Minimum wage full time, or even more than full time, just doesn't cut it.

**** Why the Rest hates the West (Meic Pearse) ~ Even if I did not agree with everything in the book, I found it extremely thought-provoking. It revealed many assumptions I have that I have held as universally true as being assumptions of my culture. The book examines Western culture, explaining why the rest of the world often seems to bear so much animosity (and yet also envy) of our way of life. Pearse questions values that Westerners hold as universally good (human rights, democracy, freedom), showing the cultural context in which they arose, as well as illustrating the costs for other cultures to become more like ours. Pearse shows us our own intolerance and the continuation of our cultural imperialism. (He generally does this, without revering or idealizing other cultures. He criticizes the West really hard, because we’re so used to accepting the way that we think as true.)
Pearse’s last chapter is perhaps the most peculiar. He argues that our declining birthrate is the ultimate indicator of the unsustainability of our current cultural climate, because our focus on consumption and individual “freedom” has greatly reduced our desire to have children. (In fact, when it comes to caring for the environment, we advocate less children rather than cut consumption - http://www.slate.com/id/2173458/fr/flyout). If survival of the fittest applies, our Western culture will not last for that many more generations, in which case from both a practical and moral perspective, we can infer that perhaps something is awry with our culture, if it can’t reproduce itself sustainably.

** Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There (David Brooks) ~ Though it’s not necessary to read the whole book, the introduction and opening chapters provide a good characterization of my generation and my social class. Brooks describes today’s new upper class—the Bobos—Bourgeois Bohemians. While earlier in the 20th century and before, the bourgeois and bohemians existed in separate social and economic circles (the bourgeois dominating with “old money” and all the financial resources, the bohemian artists gathering in their coffeeshops and run-down neighbourhoods), today these two groups are blending. Brooks’ style is very conversational—it’s “snazzy” and “smooth”, evocative of the Bobos that he is trying to describe, but that same trendiness of prose can be irritating at times. Though he presents a general historical overview and plenty of descriptive examples, his sweeping generalizations can sometimes be more a matter of prose style than substance. His descriptions are entertaining and informative, and he does intersperse some key bibliography and references throughout his book. His best chapters are the opening two or three and “Spirituality” and “Politics and Beyond”, where he finally offers his brief criticism of the consequences of the Bobo mentality--- a mediocore, complacent existence, concerned with “small-scale morality” and a comfortable lifestyle. Though some may celebrate that we can now be cultured and artistic, and have our money too, it appears to me that this marriage between bourgeois and bohemian as but another step towards the complete commercialization of thought, the disappearance of a grander vision (and hope), and the loss of authenticity and anything real.

* Written Lives (Javier Marias) ~ Sometimes you have to know when to put a book down. This book is one of those books that I didn’t really want to stop reading but decided that I should, because it didn’t really have anything substantial to offer. It would have been mildly entertaining but probably not worth my time. I spotted this in a bookstore and it seemed interesting – a collection of brief 3-5 page biographies or snapshots of famous authors, revealing their strange habits and tendencies. I read about 2-3 biographies and found them amusing, but not particularly enthralling or illuminating. This book is more a collection of pleasant magazine reading to pass your time before diving in something more engaging.

**** The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Michael Pollan) ~ I was not expecting to enjoy this book quite as much as I did, but I'll have to say this is probably the best non-fiction book I've read so far this year. In an easy-to-understand style that is both funny and intelligent (he manages to make 100 pages on the subject of corn absolutely fascinating!), Michael Pollan writes about the history of four meals - a fast food restaurant order, a meal made from ingredients purchased from Whole Foods, a meal with ingredients from a local farms, and a meal with ingredients gathered and hunted by Pollan himself. In the process he traces the production of our food in America, narrating the industrial and agricultural complex that the iceberg tip of our supermarket and fast food purchases do not reveal. While his informative exposition of the economic injustices and environmental damage of the mass-produced food industry (your usual supermarket purchases) and the mass-produced organic food can be disheartening, his week-long sojourn at Polyface Farm with Joel Salatin gives a glimpse of alternative agriculture that can produce sufficient food and remain environmentally restorative and humane to animals and invigorating for farmers. Pollan's last section on his self-gathered meal is a little less interesting, but also piques your interest on how earlier humans selected their food and developed their eating habits. Pollan's book has definitely made me reconsider what I eat and how I eat it-- and has peaked in an interest in me to read and learn more about food.

** Bait and Switch (Barbara Ehrenreich) ~ Similar to her hands-on investigation of life as a blue collar wage earner in Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich proceeds to explore the white collar profession by attempting to find a job. The catch is she never actually succeeds in finding a job, so the entire book is about the culture of the white collar unemployed as Ehrenreich attends career coaching, networking events and job fairs. While I enjoyed Nickel and Dimed, this book grew irritating after awhile. Ehrenreich is highly critical and writes with a slightly mocking, dry and sarcastic tone that appears almost elitist.
In any case, if you’re interested in the subject, perhaps it would benefit most to read the last two chapters, where Ehrenreich makes a few insightful conclusions from her experience (or peruse her bibliography)—namely the need for better unemployment benefits, the collapse of the attainability of upward mobility for everyone who does what they’re supposed to do (e.g. go to college, take a white collar job), the strange emphasis on “attitude” and “personality” and “culture” in corporate culture, and the transformation of employees from valuable long-term assets of companies to costs that can be cut.

Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (Amartya Sen) ~ I was drawn to this book by its title, and also because I had heard of Amartya Sen (a recent Nobel Prize Winner in Economics). However, I only read the introduction—because most reviews said that the book was very repetitive. The book is a edited compilation of various essays and talks given by Amartya Sen on ethnic or religious identity. His basic argument is that a person’s identity is far too complex to be reduced to a compartment such as one’s ethnicity or religion, and that by recognizing the pluralism of identity, we can form more understanding and reduce the amount of violence resulting from “clash of civilizations”. It definitely seemed interesting, but with my endless and constantly-growing-faster-than-I-could-ever-keep-up list of books to read, I had to put this one down.

**** Overtreated: Why More Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer (Shannon Brownlee) ~ Though not nearly as deliciously funny or narratively delightful as Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Shannon Brownlee’s book was very informative on a subject that I didn’t know much about previously (though apparently is common knowledge across medical schools in the nation). Primarily through concrete examples of hospitals and individual cases, and an accessible, easy-to-understand overview of plenty of academic studies, Brownlee demonstrates how doctors overtreat patients with drugs, scans, and procedures that do not necessarily make them any healthier. Brownlee delves into hospital management, the latest body scanning technology, cultural incentives concerning medical care, the incentive structures of the current health care system, insurance policies, pharmaceuticals and advertising—exploring the various (generally economic) reasons why we are so “overtreated”.
At times, she can get repetitive, drilling home the same point again and again, but she manages to explore enough facets of her thesis that it does not actually get boring—her book is replete with examples, references and other information to support her thesis, instead of just endless abstract ruminations.
She also manages to present some hope in the situation, by examining a few health care systems that do work—Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente and surprisingly enough, the Veterans Health Administration, which recent turnaround in 1992, runs an incredibly successful health care system. By properly aligning financial incentives, implementing better record-keeping and technology, the care received by patients in these health care systems is far better and far cheaper. Brownlee also envisions small steps of reforms that could lead to the replication of these medical groups.
In any case, whether or not you actually do support universal health care, this book is a wonderful introduction to the economics and injustices and inefficiencies of the health care system, that have resulted in some (usually the rich) getting far too much care, and others (the poor) not receiving enough. (It’s that irony—that while in third world countries, people still die of starvation, people die from too much food in America).

** The Overspent American (Juliet Schor) ~ This book is really excellent for anyone who cares about consumerism, but find themselves estranged by the harshness or extremeness of Adbusters and other anti-consumerism/anti-corporate books and groups. Schor’s argument is essentially the same, but her method is more explanatory and empirical.
Juliet Schor, Harvard Professor, explores what increases the tendency for people to consume (television, education, neighborhood where they live), focusing mostly on the role of status and the symbolic power of brands. She illustrates that “keeping up with the Jones’” is still very much alive, though oftentimes, we don’t just aspire to be like our neighbours, but like the next social class up. She also spends considerable time exploring the lives of downshifts—people who have voluntarily or involuntarily given up higher salaries for lower paying jobs in order to free up more time, as well as “simple-livers”, who don’t give symbolic power to their consumption and find that buying more actually makes them less happy. She draws upon both statistical data in addition to anecdotal interviews and case studies to prove her point. Her basic conclusion are simple—that we spend vast amounts of money (often going into debt) to buy things that don’t actually bring any real value to our lives (beyond perhaps the “social status” and “identity” it may confer to us—a power that we give the objects). She then spends a chapter exploring practical suggestions on how to buy less and enjoy more, as individuals, and slowly as a society as a whole.
Though at times, Schor’s analysis can be a bit dry as she runs through numerous studies, her empiricism is appreciated. I wish that she did delve into more academic and theoretical explanations, as she only alludes to Pierre Bourdieu and only begins to explore the question of “Will spending less wreck the economy?” in her epilogue. Nonetheless, Schor’s work is an easy-to-read and accessible introduction to the effects and causes of consumerism.

** Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser) ~ I only skimmed this book, not only because I was mostly familiar with the ideas in it, but it lacked the narrative cohesiveness and strong writing present in Michael Pollan’s Omnivore Dilemma, which touches upon similar topics. Schlosser tends to jump around from topic to topic quite a bit and spends excessive time talking about the history of different corporations. His analysis tends to be less theoretical and more factual and broad. The book does have some really informative chapters on the concoction of natural and artificial flavours in New Jersey and of labour abuses in the meat slaughtering business. Schlosser’s vision of change is not as well articulated. His focus seems to be placed on the necessity of large fast food companies (e.g. MacDonalds) to be more socially responsible.

Christian

*** Life Together (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) ~ Despite a heavily Germanic writing style, and frequent grammatically awkward sentences, Bonhoeffer’s classic is a delight to read. Better read in small chapters with plenty of time for reflection, Life Together is an exposition of life in Christian community. Bonhoeffer explores how to interact with others in the light of what Christ has done for us. He covers the topics of Community, The Day with Others, The Day Alone (reflections on prayer and meditation), Ministry (reflections on work, includes the ministry of listening and humility), and Confession and Communion. Bonhoeffer writes some incredibly insightful passages about what it means to let others be free in Christ, which constitutes the core of how he approaches the subject of fellowship with other Christians.

** Don’t Waste Your Life (John Piper) ~ This is classic (or typical, depending on how you want to spin it) John Piper—a Biblically grounded argument for the importance of risking our lives in order to live more fully for Christ (and not just doing what everyone else is doing), and an exploration of how to go about doing it. Piper is solidly grounded Biblically and presents a very compelling argument, spending most of his time investigating scripture for the reasons we will be most fulfilled if we value Christ supremely in our lives, and how that can be lived out in our work, in our ministry and in our lifestyles. For those familiar with his other books, most notably “Desiring God”, will find that many of his ideas are repeated again. In comparison, this book is less abstract and less mired in theological musings. It is much more concise and quick to read than his other work. His most poignant chapter is the one titled “Risk is Right—Better to Lose Your Life than to Waste it”, which I should probably aspire to make a principle by which I live. (That chapter was also photocopied for me by my dearly beloved significant in hopes that I would take a risk and quit my previous job…. )
Here’s the teaser from John Piper himself: “I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader’s Digest: A couple ‘took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells. . . .’ Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: ‘Look, Lord. See my shells.’ That is a tragedy.”

Knitting

** Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter (Stephanie Pearl-McKee) ~ I skimmed through this book fairly quickly since it is a bit of a guilty light-reading for me. For a non-knitter this book would probably make no sense whatsoever. For someone who has is slowly being pulled into the lure of the craft, the book is slightly amusing and mildly entertaining, reading like a series of blog entries. It consists of short stories and essays, ranging from falling in love with lace knitting, the excruciating pains of knitting gifts for Christmas, and the infamous yarn stash. I guess the more you’ve knit, the more you can relate to these stories and the more you are able to laugh when you feel the same way. Other than that, there isn’t that much solid substance to the book. It’s chatty, but doesn’t offer any theoretical, abstract or conceptual ideas about knitting…. That being said, Stephanie does make an interesting observation that people tend to think that knitting is hard. (A brain surgeon once commented to her that she would never be able to do anything as complicated as that). Knitting is actually very easy—two types of stitches and lots of practices is really all you need. Everyone knew how to knit back in the day (and cook for that matter), but somehow these historical necessities have become superfluous hobbies, that we need to have “talent” in order to practice them.

**** The Joy of Knitting (Lisa R. Myers) ~ Written by the co-owner of Sophie’s Yarns in Philadelphia and an English Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, this book was close to my heart. Out of my very meager reading of knitting books, this is by far the one I have enjoyed the most. This book provides a brief summary of knitting history and technique, and includes several simple patterns along the way. What I found most valuable were Myers’ explanations on different guidelines of working with color (e.g. hue, intensity and saturation). Unlike some other knitting books, she doesn’t spend a lot of time on one technique or one item of clothing, but gives the reader different characteristics and tendencies of fabrics and encourages the reader to experiment. The style is detailed and factual, but is backed up by a theoretical framework. It’s easy to understand but will give you the tools and concepts to do more yourself. (In those of you who enjoy Myers Briggs personality, this book was written by an N in S language.) It’s not the best book to pick up if you want to learn knitting by yourself, because it lacks diagrams, but it’s a pleasant, informative read for someone who has started learning but wants to delve deeper into the craft.

** Luxury Knitting: The Ultimate Guide to Exquisite Yarns Cashmere, Merino and Silk ~ This book explains the history and characteristics of three types of “luxury” materials: cashmere, silk and merino wool. Though the sections on the characteristics of the materials (e.g. drape, stretch, memory etc…) was extremely useful, the historical overview and current day production was brief and general. I had the impression that the author was romanticizing the work and the lifestyles of these wool and silk farmers living at subsistence in far-off countries. She doesn’t present a particular in depth study and does not explore the difficulties or challenges of their livelihood or the injustices that may be involved in compensation for their products. The author also annoyingly alludes constantly to the fact that high quality yarn is the same stuff used by the luxury fashion industry (perhaps a result of owning a luxury yarn store on Madison/Fifth Avenue area in NY). The book also explores different blends of high quality yarn materials and presents a useful list of good quality yarns. Some have criticized the list, because they’ve noted that these yarns are all available at the author‘s store, but I’m not too bothered by it since they retail all over the place. The book also contains several patterns, specifically geared for each type of material. While it does contain a few patterns I like (a lace sweater, silk decorative pillows), it also contains some incredibly ugly ones (blue and pink pastel cover-up thing with matching mink fur). The patterns in and of themselves were rather basic and simple—they are also photographed in artsy manners that make you suspicious that the actual garment doesn’t fit very well.