book reviews first quarter 2008

this is my “quarterly earnings report"

(implicit question, if I were a stock, how much would I be worth?)

I thought I should post quarterly instead of twice a year, because the entries were getting a little unwieldly. Does anyone actually read through all of these? Please note that there are a few five star rated books! Given that I’m always complaining about how annoying writers’ tones are, or how I always find myself distracted because I read them on the trolley, this is something quite notable!

I’ve also stumbled upon PaperBackSwap, which allows you to mail swap paperbacks via mail with other people. I've just started using it, but it seems promising. Everytime you mail out a book, you get a credit, which you can then use to request a book to be mailed to you. I have on my way: Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala and Money and Power by Jacques Ellul.

I follow the Goodreads (which still has horrible navigation) rating system:
* didn’t like it
** it was ok
*** liked it
**** really liked it
***** it was amazing


Fiction

** Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys) ~ I was drawn to this book when I heard about its premise—it is about Bertha, the crazy wife of Mr. Rochester who is held captive in the attic in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. The novel explores her life in the Carribean and her subsequent existence in England, as a way of uncovering untold narratives. As fascinating the premise was, the book was disappointing. The prose was very lyrical, with a dreamy and dazed tone, which made it beautiful but also very confusing to follow. Despite the strength of the prose, the story did not seem to hold that much emotional power—though the characters were at times vivid, you never got very attached to them. Perhaps one could argue that I’ve already participated in my own oppression by adapting the preferences of the colonizer—a Western imperial taste for reason, expressed in my fondness of the straight forward narrative of Jane Eyre, instead of the fragmented structure of Wide Sargasso Sea. I’m just kidding. Let’s not read into everything.

*** Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula LeGuin) ~ This book gained critical acclaim after its publishing because it was a “thought experiment” on what a society would be like if there was no gender. In this book, Ai Genly arrives as an ambassador from the galactic federation of planets, Ekumen, to the planet Gethen, where the humans that inhabit are hermaphrodites, able to take on either gender at monthly intervals. However, the book isn’t really explicitly about gender—the genderless society only serves as a background, a quiet meditation that appears here and there, rather than a driving plot element. I found it to be much more effective that way—instead of having commentary about gender thrusted at you awkwardly, the questions and thoughts surrounding a genderless society are embedded in the narrative, and appear in your mind here and there as you read the book. The novel’s been criticized for not elaborating sufficiently on this genderless society— for instance, how does child-rearing work exactly? For me, it seemed that LeGuin was less concerned with the practical considerations, but more with the abstract impacts of not having gender (e.g. does that society think less in binaries?) In any case, this is a well-written novel concerning trust, friendship and long journeys across cold landscapes. Despite some pretty awful cover designs, this is not trashy sci-fi. LeGuin is an excellent writer and this book was thoroughly enjoyed 

*** The Time Machine (H.G. Wells) ~ I heard the entire plot of this novel before I read it, but it was still very enjoyable. Contrary to what the title suggests, the focus of this book is not on time travel, but rather a commentary on class, and economic and social structures. I don’t want to give the plot away, but it’s a quick and excellent read, and gives plenty of food for thought.

*** The Day in the Life of Ivan Denosovich (Alexander Solzhenitsyn) ~ I should not have read this book while riding on the trolley, because it probably distracted me from being more immersed in Denosvisch’s world. This book traces a day in the life of a political prisoner in a Soviet gulag. This book is not a gory sensational horror novel as it is more concerned with the mundane repetition of everyday prison life, rather than any extreme situations of abuse and punishment. Solzhenitsyn describes vividly yet subtly the hunger, the cold, and the sensations and thoughts of Ivan as he goes through his day. The book explores the psychology of a man who must endure over 3650 days, which are all more or less, variations of a single theme; the book investigates where the prisoner derives, if any, comfort and hope.

*** Undying Fire (H.G. Wells) ~ This book is H.G. Wells’ rewrite of the Book of Job. This book is extremely well-written, extremely philosophical and extremely dense. Job and his friends debate (or rather, orate) on the destiny and intrinsic nature of humankind and of God, and the purpose and role of education. It wasn’t that pleasant to read on the trolley, nor is it a particular page-turner, but it does offer some really beautiful and thought-provoking prose to the reader.

***** Bone (Jeff Smith) ~ I burned through this graphic novel (aka, fancy term for comic book)in 3 days, struggling to resist the urge to stay up until wee hours of the night in order to finish it. It is absolutely delightful! The characters are so memorable—the protagonist loves Moby Dick, the greedy Phoney Bone, a rat creature obsessed with quiche, and a talking leaf bug just to name a few. While managing to be extraordinary cute, corny and funny, the novel is also incredibly thought-provoking, particular on the subjects of relativism, cultural imperialism and power. The drawings are beautiful. The dialogue is excellent. And the story a definite page-turner—the start of the novel can be a bit slow, but hopefully the wackiness of it will keep one’s interest. Three cousins are driven out of a town which resembles something of early 20th century and stumble into a valley that appears to be from the middle ages, complete with vicious rat creatures who are searching for one of the cousins and a mysterious guardian dragon who always seems to appear at just the right moment, and then disappear. Think Disney meets Lord of the Rings.

Non-Fiction

** How Luxury Lost its Luster ~ I probably shouldn’t review this book, as I’ve never actually been in possession of it. I read or skimmed through about 50-70 pages of it while going to Barnes and Nobles at lunchtime. In any case, the book traces the development of the luxury brand corporations, all the while lamenting the loss of fine artisan craftsmanship that once characterized brands like Louis Vuitton or whatnot. The author focuses a lot on the founding of various large fashion corporations, and the profit-driven motives that led them to become the mass market giants that they are today. While presenting plenty of information, the author ends up jumping around a lot and listing tons of dates, events and people without drawing a compelling narrative (a similar weakness of Fast Food Nation). However, what was more annoying was the author’s own snobbishness about conspicuous consumption, as she constantly laments that the luxury products once finely made for the aristocrats are no longer available. She’s ultimately still interested in upholding the social status that luxury brand products can confer to their owners, rather than dissolving the mystique and the power that they hold over us. In any case, maybe worth skimming but definitely not worth buying, and for me at this point, probably not worth hunting down from the library.

*** The Sandman Papers ~ As much as I enjoy reading literary criticism, sometimes this book reminded me of why the English department in universities seem mostly useless to me—petty debate and interesting observations that never seem to actually answer any questions. The wrong questions are asked. The answers are never satisfying, just good fodder for cocktail conversation. I read through about two thirds of this book (a collection of academic essays written about Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed comic book series the Sandman)—it was fun and entertaining, but not much more than that. And I think part of the enjoyment was derived from recalling and remembering parts of the original Sandman series.

***** Planet of the Slums (Mike Davis) ~ I was very deeply impacted by this book—it left me crying pretty violently numerous times, both as I read it and afterwards when I thought of it. Mike Davis writes about the situation of urban peripheral poverty in Third World Countries, illustrating their historical development and inhumane living situations (sanitary and physical dangers aside, Davis writes of diminishing solidarity, growing exploitation and competition; governments have also pretty much abandoned them, instead opting to criminalize these neighborhoods, and seeking to hide them, destroy them or relocate them) Davis draws on numerous other authors, studies and statistics to illustrate his point (though unfortunately, very few first-hand interviews). Unfortunately, this book offers no hope or no policy solutions, only a bleak vision of an impoverished and chaotic future (an appropriate question to ask though—is hope an appropriate timber of emotion when faced with the bleakness of the facts?). This book left me feeling both incredibly privileged in my situation, but also incredibly helpless. I hope that my raw emotions can be channeled into some meaningful action and direction. And perhaps this is what this book is most valuable for: opening your eyes to the reality of the world in such a way that it becomes very difficult to ignore or forget.

***** The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis) ~ I first read this book my freshman year, after receiving it as a gift from a roommate, a sweet and wonderful atheist. I’m now returning to this book after attending a play of this novel. I think I had a brief period where I didn’t really read C.S. Lewis—perhaps a slight aversion to his extreme trendiness in Christian circles—but sometimes trends are not always bad, and at this point, I’d call C.S. Lewis a classic, not a trend. His writing is so clear and concise (something that so many modern writers lack). His insight both into the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world, and us humans who are stuck navigating between the two, is incredible. This book is a compilation of letters written by a senior demon to his nephew, giving him advice on how to tempt a recent convert to Christianity back into Satan’s camp.