Balls and Walnuts
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The Last Thirteen Books
In tonight’s debate, I heard Senator Obama say, “. . . the white thing to do.” Meant to say “right,” came out “white.” Okay, the R/W thing is a common enough lingual slip. But what about when Chuck Todd (on Countdown tonight) said “Hitlery” when he meant to say “Hillary”? Come on — you don’t just accidentally slip Ts into your words.
Weird.
For tonight: here’s a brief look at the last thirteen books I’ve read. (No romance here. What’s up with that?)
1. Jack Faust by Michael Swanwick
Omniscient, omnipotent aliens from a parallel universe hate us humans sooooo much, they offer Johannes Faust free access to the knowledge of the 20th Century. (Um, why not smite us like bugs, which is the metaphorical explanation Mephistopheles gives Faust for their animosity towards him and his kind? Aside from the fact Swanwick would no longer have a novel.)
(Oh.)
Technology advances — or doesn’t advance — not in any logical fashion, but to suit Swanwick’s plot, as reviewer Steven Silver points out. This is only one of many annoyances; an absence of sympathetic characters, humor, and narrative drive make this novel a slog. Since the ending is a foregone conclusion revealed at the end of Chapter Two, nearly all of Jack Faust is a grueling experience, not unlike watching a Britney Spears video in slow motion.
I had hoped for much more from the author of Stations of the Tide (#4, below).
2. Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow
Sperm donor Murray Katz has a problem with his latest donation: it contains a fertilized egg. Only Begotten Daughter, winner of the 1991 World Fantasy Award, begins with this immaculate conception, hits its stride with the birth of the eponymous Daughter (demigod Julie Katz), and rockets forward once Satan takes center stage.
Once again, SF Site has a spot-on review. Read it.
I loved this book. I’ve noticed that stories about deities suffer because the main character is so damned inhuman. Only Begotten Daughter doesn’t fall into that trap; not once did I have trouble empathizing with Julie. Oh, and the ending? Most readers will see the inevitable disaster coming straight at our heroine, but none (or very few!) will anticipate the aftermath. The finish was masterful.
3. Lamb by Christopher Moore
Y’all know about this one: humorist Christopher Moore’s take on the Gospel. This is Jesus, the Lost Years as chronicled by that little-known disciple Biff, Jesus’ childhood pal.
This is a funny story, full of heart, and entertaining as a Monty Python movie (you know the one) as long as Moore sticks to new turf. But when Lamb intersects with the historical Jesus, the story goes pfffft. We all know the denouement on this one (despite Biff’s early promise to the contrary), so the only question is whether Moore’s embellishments will lend any insight to the endgame. As an outsider, I had hoped I would gain some understanding of the internal logic of Christianity, but I finished the book just as bewildered as I had begun.
4. Stations of the Tide by Michael Swanwick
I reviewed this back in 2005 (scroll down the page a bit) the first time I read the novel. On our recent trip to Las Vegas, I reread it, and loved it even more the second time through. I disagree with my review, wherein I criticized Swanwick for having his protagonist make a choice that was not believable, but necessary to the advancement of the plot. Nope. I was wrong. This is not a flawed novel.
If you read only one SF novel, make it this one. Yeah, it’s even better than The Forever War.
5. Towing Jehovah by James Morrow
The two-mile-long Corpus Dei has landed in the mid-Atlantic; the archangels and the Vatican want Him entombed in the Arctic Circle before He begins to really go bad.
Interesting, funny, but ultimately not as satisfying as the other Morrow on this list (Only Begotten Daughter).
6. City of Glass by Paul Auster
Blech. I hate meta-fiction. But I think Auster has hit on the only way to get me to finish a meta-novel: make it a mystery! Everyone loves a mystery!
. . . Although perhaps not when the author deconstructs all the life out of it.
Will someone please tell me what the hell this book was about?
7. Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin
Someone is strangling little girls in Detective Sergeant John Rebus’s Edinburgh. The more Rebus investigates, the more he fears this serial killer’s motives point to him, John Rebus.
It’s a tired formula, but Rankin puts it to good use in this, his first Rebus novel. I read it during my Thanksgiving trip to the Bay Area, enjoyed it, and I keep meaning to read more from the series, but these SF novels keep distracting me.
8. Fishing for Dummies by Peter Kaminsky
I’ve seen bigger postage stamps. This book delivers, though: it really is for dummies. Did you know the point of fishing is to catch fish? And that fish are edible, cold-blooded animals that swim in bodies of water? And that you need bait, or some sort of lure, and a line, and a hook? Me neither!
Fishing for Dummies did lead me to discover The Idiot’s Guide to Getting Girls, though, and for that I will forever be grateful.
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Earlier last year, there was a time when I read nothing but books which were intended for Jake’s homeschooling.
9. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Read it first in Junior High, loved it.
Read it again in college, loved it.
Read it last year, loved it.
What can I say, I’m a sucker for stories about unrequited love. Pop for the Norton Critical edition — the essays and footnotes are worth it.
By the way, can anyone think of another novel where the author had to write an alternate ending? I can’t.
10. The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Hated it in Junior High, hated it last year when I reread it. No way am I going to inflict it on my son.
11. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
What’s most interesting about Things Fall Apart is the way Achebe ignores most Western conventions of storytelling. Or maybe I’m too dense to fit this round peg into the square hole that is The Novel.
I also liked this story because it gave me a detailed look at a foreign culture, one which may no longer exist. So overall, not a bad book . . . but I don’t understand why it ends up on so many must-read lists for young people.
12. 1984 by George Orwell
I read this for the first time last year. Not an easy read, but definitely an instructive one. Of all the “classics” I’ve read recently, this is the one Jake really needs to read.
Right after he finishes The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh.
And the last one, not a classic, but still a damned good read . . .
13. The Right Madness by James Crumley
I’m tired. Read the review. And read The Right Madness, but only after you read Crumley’s other Sughrue novels, beginning with The Last Good Kiss — one of my favorite hardboiled novels.
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Read any good books lately? Leave a rec and I’ll give you some linky lurve!
Darla has a contest
Kate’s son twists the knife
So that’s what gives Lyvvie clenchings.
SxKitten shares: a video that brings Dean to tears
D.
I read Only Begotten Daughter, and loved it… probably when it first came out, but certainly over a decade ago. I’d forgotten all about it. Thanks for the reminder. I’m sure I kept it–it’s probably back in TX. Maybe I’ll retrieve it and reread it.
I’m too lazy to go look through my archives to try to find something you’d like to read. Besides, I see you haven’t read Anansi Boys yet, so I figure further recommendations can wait until you do.
hey those are all BOOKS by BOYS. I’m reading a bunch of RITA books and a Terry Pratchett I somehow missed, the Fifth Elephant.
My favorite Christopher Moore is A Dirty Job–read that one yet?
I bought Husband the first four books of the Deathnote Manga series Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. We keep fighting over them, he reads too damned slow. I’ve found the animated series online though, Shhhh.
Anansi Boys. Check. Yeah, I keep forgetting that one!
So, Kate, you nag me for not reading women, and then you rec another Chris Moore? (No, I haven’t read A Dirty Job.) Turn me on to some new authors! I’m a little tired of Crusie, and Rothwell doesn’t write fast enough for me 🙂
Lyvvie, I usually stay away from the manga section of the bookstore. That’s because I pronounce it like the Italian slang term for “Eat!” and then some pimply thirteen-year-old will sneer at me and pronounce it the right way. My ego is too fragile to handle it.
have you read Kinsale? Ivory? Chase? All historicals and you don’t like them? I’ll have to get back to you then. How about Bettie SHarpe’s book? It’s out. Or Sam Winston. Ebooks.
I listened to Anansi’s Boys on tape with Lenny Henry I think? Anyway a great reader. Our library’s audio book section is better than the regular books.
I have never read Things Fall Apart, but I can tell you it’s one that is part of the senior curriculum at AHS, and most senior English teachers HATE it.
I had to read The Old Man and the Sea as a freshman in high school. PU
I like Moore – my favourite was Bloodsucking Fiends, and The Stupidest Angel is pretty hilarious. I just read Vernor Vinge’s latest, Rainbows End, which was very good (although the ending just kind of … ends, with a lot of threads still unravelled). He’s very hard sci-fi, but this one’s a pretty fascinating vision of the world in 15 years, and he’s getting better at creating likeable characters.
Kate: titles! titles! I mean, I could tell you to read Crusie, you could buy that awful one about the painting-forger, and you’d never trust me again. See what I mean?
Sis, I don’t know why the teachers would hate TFA. What’s to hate about it? It’s an odd book, that’s all I’m saying. But I liked it a lot better than Old Man and the Fish.
sxK: I have mixed feelings about Vinge. He’s the only really hard SF writer I’ve read, so I have no one to compare him to. I know what you mean about his characterization skills.
Okay, Doug–try For My Lady’s Heart and Shadowheart by Kinsale. You don’t mind middle-English, do you? Shadowheart’s my favorite, but it’s a sequel of sorts to FMLH. Dark & intense. Not at all light and fluffy.
If you want to try Nora Roberts (more-or-less reigning queen of romance), I’d suggest Sea Swept. First of a trilogy, pretty guy-friendly. Or of course Naked in Death.
They dislike teaching it…perhaps because of the students’ reactions.
Okay, here’s where I find out if Beth still reads my blog, because I could not tolerate Kinsale’s The Shadow and the Star. Could. Not. From page one, blech. Karen was able to finish it, but she panned it, too. So I’m not too inclined to give Kinsale another chance. I just ordered Sea Swept on PaperBackSwap (and, yes, Anansi Boys, too).
Sis: I wonder why the students hate it? Maybe because it’s boring. Or because the main character is a dick.
found you today by way of Skippy- read 3-4 books a week, always have several going at once- the best i’ve read in the past year would be a graphic novel “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel (of “Dykes To Watch Out For”)- and if you have read and liked “American Gods”, “Anansi Boys” is a very good bet. Am now reading, and liking, “Ladder of Years” (Anne Tyler), “Gold By Gemini” (Jonathan Gash), a history of Timbuctoo, and am listening to “Daughter of Time” (Josephine Tey) during the commute. Salut!
Thanks, Dalton! Welcome aboard.
I liked American Gods. What kept me from Anansi Boys was my impression that Gaiman was doing more of the same shtick — repeating himself. But I’ve ordered it, I’ll read it, and I’ll let y’all know what I think.