Arthur Conan Doyle created such an intriguing vehicle for his mystery stories in the figure of Sherlock Holmes, a man a...moreGotta love the old-school dash!
Arthur Conan Doyle created such an intriguing vehicle for his mystery stories in the figure of Sherlock Holmes, a man almost inhuman, nearly robotic in his exacting speech and actions, so much so that the reader longs for and grasps on to the minute human aspects (a hint of carnal desire, for example) on the fleeting instances they appear.
In story after tightly wound story intelligence and rational thought wins the day. But before it gets all too academic, Conan Doyle throws in a bit of action, some good old fashioned horror or a grotesque morsel for the reader to chew on, for he realized man can not be sustained on thought alone.
Taken on their own, each short story in this collection would receive 3 or 4 stars, but put them together and you've got a 5 star body of work. A lone stick breaks easily, but bundled together the sticks form a strong bond. Case after solved case impresses with its almost overwhelming accumulation of ingenuity. The character of Holmes eventually develops with nuggets of personal detail and, on rare occasion, even a display of pathos. (less)
A memoir of a German during WWII. Siegfried Knappe started as an exuberant youth, having done well in school and with all the promise of the world ope...moreA memoir of a German during WWII. Siegfried Knappe started as an exuberant youth, having done well in school and with all the promise of the world opening before him. Then the war came. He excelled as a soldier, though placed in an outdated, pre-mechanized unit, and soon rose through the ranks, seeing action on nearly all fronts. His story rises and falls along with his country. He was there at pivotal moments. He was in the thick of it. He was the fly on the wall. He was the every man in a German uniform.
One finds oneself rooting for Knappe. Enemy or not, he was human with a family whom he loved. And it helps that he was not a Nazi, just another patriotic German eager to see his country bounce back to prominence and prosperity.
Read Soldat to see what it was like on "the other side." Read it because from whichever side you approach it, war is hell. Without having to endure that hell, what better way to witness the horrible reminder than through the words of one who did?(less)
I don't give a fig if it is a kid's book, Charlotte's Web is one of the most well-crafted stories ever written. This classic children's tale deserves...moreI don't give a fig if it is a kid's book, Charlotte's Web is one of the most well-crafted stories ever written. This classic children's tale deserves 5 stars for story craft and language usage alone! (Read your Strunk & White to understand this man's talents in that regard.) The fact that it's a heart-warmer/wrencher clinches it. Never was I made to love pigs and spiders so much in my life. Charlotte's Web will always rank high amongst my favorites. But why, for the love of god, did they make us watch the cartoon version of this tear-jerker in school? Did they want to make us weep embarrassingly in front of one another? If so, mission accomplished, you sadistic school district!(less)
Oh dear heavens, a cow is having a difficult birth! A cat's sick! The local lord's thorough bred has skinned its knee! To live in a world where these...moreOh dear heavens, a cow is having a difficult birth! A cat's sick! The local lord's thorough bred has skinned its knee! To live in a world where these are your most worrisome worries is to live in the world of James Herriot, the pen name of the real-life mid-20th century country vet of the Yorkshire Dales in northern England.
Based on his experiences, these delightful tales that take place in an idyllic setting during a not-so-tumultuous time - "drama cozies" as I like to call them - will not be of interest to EXTREME ACTION junkies. These stories (for the entire book is essentially a collection of stories woven together into a loose though satisfactory narrative) will satisfy lovers of animals, animal husbandry, pre-WWII veterinarian practice, the English countryside and Yorkshire life specifically, as well as those looking for a light bit of pastoral humor. I liken reading Herriot to watching painter Bob "Happy Little Trees" Ross in action. It's soothing stuff. (less)
Classic Wodehouse. It doesn't get any better than this...actually it doesn't get much different than this either.
Perhaps that's not entirely fair. Fo...moreClassic Wodehouse. It doesn't get any better than this...actually it doesn't get much different than this either.
Perhaps that's not entirely fair. For me at least, The Code of the Woosters contains some of my favorite scenes and some of Wodehouse's most memorable characters. Herein his hero Bertie Wooster is at his daffiest, unable to accomplish the simplest of tasks, berating a cow creamer, without getting himself in thick soup. Soon after he's got a Bassett and that malodorous Spode badgering him to no end, and this is hot off the heels of a binge to-do in honor of his fish-faced friend Gussie Fink-Nottle, the newt fancier. Everything seems to converge upon poor Bertie in a most pitiless way, providing the reader with hoots galore and good old fashioned British hijinks.
To go back to my original statement...The Code of the Woosters, while a good 'un, is not a vast departure from the normal. Book after book Wodehouse churned out pretty much the same story. But it matters not a lick! The sense of humor might put the starch up some people's collars, but it fits me like a worn-in pair of loafers. Not every book's a school prize winner, but I've seldom been disappointed. If you want to give Wodehouse a go, The Code of the Woosters is the stuff to give the troops! (less)
BEST HOW-TO PLAY HOLD'EM EVER! I've read a few books about "winning" poker from players who've won and I found this to be the best, most comprehensive...moreBEST HOW-TO PLAY HOLD'EM EVER! I've read a few books about "winning" poker from players who've won and I found this to be the best, most comprehensive for the beginner. Sklansky and Malmuth's books are good too, especially with all the visuals and hands that they walk you through, but they don't quite hold your hand through the fundamentals like this one does.(less)
The fantasy novels of CS Lewis can barely touch the fanciful nature of love, but in The Four Loves, his work on the subject feels so in tune with the...moreThe fantasy novels of CS Lewis can barely touch the fanciful nature of love, but in The Four Loves, his work on the subject feels so in tune with the complexity of its forms that it seems as if it MUST be written by some learned/aged Don Juan reflecting back on the lusts and loves of his past, so much so that you forget all about Lewis, the pasty white English professor and his faerie books. The Four Loves made a strong impression on me in my youth. Perhaps I didn't, and maybe still don't, take his every word on love as the end-all truth, the absolute definition, the incontrovertible conclusion, but his ideas struck me as sound and intriguing in the very least. It's been quite some time since I last read this. I think it's due for a reread, as I'm curious to see how my perception has change. (less)
This is a liberal view of the Battle of Hastings, with the author's bias quite apparent. Having said that, it's still quite an enjoyable look from a d...moreThis is a liberal view of the Battle of Hastings, with the author's bias quite apparent. Having said that, it's still quite an enjoyable look from a different prespective on the event that changed England's future in a big way, the last successful invasion by a foreign enemy.(less)
Images...I see them. They are beautiful, but I...The images...There goes someone. What is she doing?...Those images, what do they mean?...There she go...moreImages...I see them. They are beautiful, but I...The images...There goes someone. What is she doing?...Those images, what do they mean?...There she goes again...
And then, as if you weren't confused enough, in the second section of The Sound and the Fury, the narration is taken over by Quentin, a quick-witted, but nearly no more reliable a narrator than before. He is the somewhat confused but chivalrous Harvard-educated brother, who clings to Southern ideals. He is so passionate about his fight to uphold his beloved sister's virtue that it may be the very thing that actually undoes it. Just as you feel you're getting your bearings, we're off again!
Jason. The family bread winner. No-nonsense. Unhappy. Money over ideals. It's his way or the highway. Aside from the at-first confusing addition of "Miss Quentin," this section - as bleak and tense as it is - is the easiest to follow....so Faulkner switches it up again.
Dilsey, the head of the black servants, is the strong counterpoint to the decaying white folks she works for. While them and their way of life in late 1800s/early 1900s Mississippi falls apart, she is rock solid. Through her voice, in this final section we see the story from another perspective, which helps fill in some more of the pieces to this complicated tale.
William Faulkner is a shapeshifting devil of a writer. His pen creates impenetrable morasses of language and plot, and whether you ever emerge from his labyrinthine swamp or not is almost entirely up to you. Few lifelines will be found, and you may easily miss one amid an impossibly long descriptive drenched in the Southern artist's canvass painted lavishly with molasses and sweat. This is Faulkner at his finest. To craft a tale told four times over from disparate sources - one nearly impossible to follow - and expect to keep the reader rooted to the page is an incredible feat. By the end you're sure you've just witnessed black magic. (less)
Arrrrrr me reader, embark now on a voyage of high seas adventure with scurvy pirates, honest jack-tar sailors, marooned souls, and a vast treasure bur...moreArrrrrr me reader, embark now on a voyage of high seas adventure with scurvy pirates, honest jack-tar sailors, marooned souls, and a vast treasure buried on some faraway island. Aye, that's Treasure Island! Weigh anchor, me laddie! The wind's always fair for gettin' this wonderful tale under way! HAHAAAAARRRGGGHHHAAAaaaa....That's exhausting.(less)
This was like a coloring book of pre-Pilgrim North America for me in that it filled in a lot of unanswered questions and brilliantly illuminated some...moreThis was like a coloring book of pre-Pilgrim North America for me in that it filled in a lot of unanswered questions and brilliantly illuminated some areas of my knowledge that were mere outlines. It stays within the lines and makes my early attempts at coloring in the past look like spidery, seizure-induced scrawlings.
Being originally from New England, I'm well aware that there were inhabitants here long before the Europeans arrived. Early on in school we were inundated with stories of Samoset and Squanto, the first Native Americans to make contact with the Plymouth Colony pilgrims, and how in 1621 they strolled into the transplanted Englishmen's village and a big party broke out, thus began the tradition of Thanksgiving. I was (mis)taught in a Massachusetts classroom where heritage and history are king, so much was made of this. We were led to believe the story by elementary schoolteachers who probably wholeheartedly believed it themselves. What about the Virginia Colony of 1607 and their contact with the native inhabitants? It failed, so sweep it under the rug. Something tells me this version of America's founding by Europeans was not the one being taught in Virginia at the time...
Never was explained how the two natives could speak English (from Englishmen fishing off of the Maine coast and, in Squanto's case, from abduction and internment for seven years in England) or anything that happened in the Americas prior to the pilgrims landing. Oh sure there was talk of Incas and Mayans and their all important maize. But the extent, the sheer size of the native tribes, clans, and cosmopolitan societies of the Americas, north and south, and how Europe brought it all down upon their heads, none of this was discussed. Why? Because even during the late 1970s and early 80s when the movement to turn the Native Americans into mystical caretakers of Mother Earth, there was still a prejudicial sense of 'white is right' prevalent, at least in the neighborhood I grew up in. The other reason is a plain lack of knowledge. My simple teachers simply did not know. They can't wholly be blamed. The information wasn't readily available or flat-out wasn't available. School books were traditional and outdated. The grey-area material was swept under the rug. Now there is less grey-area material - advances in technology and archaeological practices have greatly advanced our knowledge of the past in just a few short decades - but there's still plenty of unknown patches of time in the western hemisphere. In 1491 Mann does not shy away from them.
Having said that, it should be noted that this is not just about North America. No, in fact more time is spent on everything below it. Through discovered texts and deciphered inscriptions there's just more known about Mesoamerica than the other areas, so yes, there are pages upon pages about those Incas and Mayans.
In general what I love about 1491 is that it doesn't take the Indians' side or the Europeans'. It doesn't try to cast a glowing angelic light upon the native inhabitants to transform them into woodland spirits whose only concern was the preservation of the trees and the birds, etc blah blah blah (Earth Day is quaint and misguided, but I digress...), nor does Mann attempt to attack or defend the actions of the Europeans. All is more of a statement of fact or, if lacking concrete evidence, a statement of possibility based on sound theory.
Sure, this distills oceans of scholarly study down to a more manageable duck pond, but it never tries to pretend it is doing otherwise. Mann is no pretender to vaunted erudition. He's a journalist who's done some research. He's a guy who realized his own grade school education was lacking, and when he found out the moldy stuff he was taught way back when was still being taught to his son he decided to do something about it. I'm glad for it. (less)
If the total output of your entire career should include only one thing, make it something special.
Not only was To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee's on...moreIf the total output of your entire career should include only one thing, make it something special.
Not only was To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee's only novel, at one point she nearly destroyed it. That would have been a terrible loss, for - coming from an insular, white-New England upbringing - this book was a game changer for me and my young outlook on life and race relations. Having read it as a youth, it's coming-of-age or loss-of-innocence theme spoke to me while the idea of equal rights for all held by the "liberal" Southern Atticus Finch seemed heroic and opened my eyes to the closeted bigotry around me. I know I'm not alone in my reaction and the effects it had upon me.
Perhaps Lee didn't write another novel, because she took to heart the maxim "write what you know" and this was the one and only novel within her. It seems a shame such a good writer should have produced and be judged by only one book, but at least she made that one book something special. (less)
Near perfection! Pride and Prejudice is one of those rare gems that weds character, plot and language all in one harmonious marriage.
They say, write...moreNear perfection! Pride and Prejudice is one of those rare gems that weds character, plot and language all in one harmonious marriage.
They say, write what you know. Austen knew the life of the upper class (more precisely, the lower ranks of the upper class). She knew all about sitting around in parlors waiting to one day possibly be wed. She knew the rules of engagement that her class and gender imposed upon her. And so she wrote about those things and wrote well, weaving complex love triangles around the morals of the day in a style that heralded a return to realism.
Some readers, often American, complain that Austen's work is tedious. They are annoyed by characters that do not speak out or act when action would resolve the problems that arise in the social situations that make up the basis of Austen's stories. They lose sight of the fact that the early 19th century is not early 21st. Heck, it's not even the same country. To some living 200 years after Austen published, these sensibilities do not make sense. While I would not have wanted to be a woman living then, essentially tied down and utterly reliant on a wealthy man's whim for my salvation, I try to at least enjoy the spectacle of something absolutely foreign to the way I live. Watching these people in the midst of arguing or courting is much like watching the controlled chaos of a boxing match. The principle parties are dueling like fighters looking to beat the crap out of one another, yet under strict rules which they are bound by the game to follow. Break the rules and you're disqualified. You lose. The constraints these people put themselves under in the name of civility may seem fanciful to us outsiders, but for a woman whose very livelihood depended on winning this bizarre game, it was very real.
A must-read if you're from New England or interested in early colonial era history. Philbrick's Mayflower is written to capture your interest in a way...moreA must-read if you're from New England or interested in early colonial era history. Philbrick's Mayflower is written to capture your interest in a way you might not expect a book on the Pil--*YAWN!*--grims could. You'll find much more detail with way more truth in this book than anything you learned about those uptight prigs in elementary school! (less)
Very witty stuff! Almost Wodehousian. Portuguese Irregular Verbs follows an uptight German Romance languages professor struggling for the respect he f...moreVery witty stuff! Almost Wodehousian. Portuguese Irregular Verbs follows an uptight German Romance languages professor struggling for the respect he feels is owed him and his 1000+ page book on Portuguese irregular verbs. If you like your wordplay humor in the dry British style with a light dash of slapstick and a touch of the absurd, this is the little slice of heaven pie you've been looking for! If you have a childish love of poking fun at pompous Germans as I do, well then, have another slice!(less)
Anyone heard of this? It's not bad! It's about a kid who goes to school...no really, it's more interesting than it sounds! Harry Potter and the Sorcer...moreAnyone heard of this? It's not bad! It's about a kid who goes to school...no really, it's more interesting than it sounds! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a book about (view spoiler)[...seriously? What rock did you just crawl out from under? (hide spoiler)](less)
What is there to say? This is the end of a sweeping epic, one which held me firmly in its grasp as a child and still holds a place in my heart as an a...moreWhat is there to say? This is the end of a sweeping epic, one which held me firmly in its grasp as a child and still holds a place in my heart as an adult. I can't begin to touch upon it and hope to do it any justice, so I'll confine my comments to a mention of the very helpful appendix section at the back which answers some questions the read may have as well as filling in more of the background details, if you're interested. (less)
After finishing The Hobbit as a young boy, I needed something else, something a little more mature to meet my growing needs. Lucky for me, Tolkien had...moreAfter finishing The Hobbit as a young boy, I needed something else, something a little more mature to meet my growing needs. Lucky for me, Tolkien had done just that in the form of his epic The Lord of the Rings. Fellowship..., the first book in the trilogy, is my favorite of the three. I love the four little friends striking out on their own, having adventures and misadventures that, within the context of the beginning of this first book, haven't yet taken on the worldly importance they will later on. They skip along having a merry old time, stumbling into minor troubles, all the while clueless that they possess the world's most powerful evil magic. I love that innocence. It reminds me of past days when my friends and I would grab stick-swords and hike through the woods, slashing at the trees that had become our goblin and ogre enemies - no worldly cares yet to bog us down with their weighty responsibility. (less)
From a hole in the ground came one of my favorite characters of all time, the very reluctant and unassuming hero of the story, Bilbo Baggins. As a chi...moreFrom a hole in the ground came one of my favorite characters of all time, the very reluctant and unassuming hero of the story, Bilbo Baggins. As a child, The Hobbit sparked my young imagination, causing wonderful daydreams and horrible nightmares. As a teen, the book made me want to become a writer of fantastical tales...or go shoeless, live in a hole and smoke a pipe. As an adult, Tolkien's novel maintains within me a link to my childhood, safekeeping cherished memories and evoking everlasting emotions. I have read this fantastic tale a number of times, watched the 70s cartoon movie version countless times and am counting down the days with unabashed eagerness until Peter Jackson's new live action film comes out. I will continue to read The Hobbit again and again, for the road goes ever, ever on...
I'm going to make an unpopular statement right now: This is the best of Kurt Vonnegut's novels. Okay Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five fans, fling...moreI'm going to make an unpopular statement right now: This is the best of Kurt Vonnegut's novels. Okay Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five fans, fling your dung at me, I understand.
The characters, setting, plot, all of it comes together in a well-wrapped tale in which a man fights the truth of his own identity under the pressing weight of the author's imposed moral law that states you are what you pretend to be. In Mother Night, the story of an American spy working undercover within Germany during WWII as a Nazi propagandist, Vonnegut intentionally portrays his main character with so much ambivalence that by the end you're not sure whether to root for or against him.
Vonnegut's oft used theme, the struggle within, is at its strongest here where the main character is pitted against a real monster of an antagonist: the preponderance of evidence against himself. In other Vonnegut books I understand and sympathized with the self doubt his characters felt, but in some cases their struggles felt light to me. I should add that I read most of the author's works when I was a fresh-faced twenty year old with few cares in the world, so I don't think I understood his subject matter, that of the life-wearied, often middle-aged person whose accumulated weight of stress, daily concerns and self doubt brought on by crises endured through a life rife with experiences with horror, love, hate and, worst of all, ennui. So perhaps one day, maybe when I turn 50, I will reread Player Piano and it will rocket from my least favorite to most favorite of all of Kurt Vonnegut's wonderful novels, but for right now Mother Night stays there. (less)
People label this sci-fi? Odd. I took all that to be just the main character's necessary escapism, mainly brought on by his traumatic war experiences,...morePeople label this sci-fi? Odd. I took all that to be just the main character's necessary escapism, mainly brought on by his traumatic war experiences, as silly as some of them are portrayed.(less)
Hands down my favorite Dickens' I've read yet! It's got love, sacrifice, revenge, revolt and other exciting verbs! I'm a big fan of a solid marriage b...moreHands down my favorite Dickens' I've read yet! It's got love, sacrifice, revenge, revolt and other exciting verbs! I'm a big fan of a solid marriage between character development and action. A Tale of Two Cities is well-wed. Some criticize Dickens for his trite stories and overblown caricature-esque characters. Yes, the man wrote some less-than-perfect books. He wrote them for a wide-ranging public and he wrote for money. High-minded prose eloquently crafted may garner praise, but it doesn't always pay the bills. But here you get the author at his finest, plotting a riveting tale and creating sympathetic characters with empathy up the wazoo. The great descriptions of the rebellion are interesting, but it's the dual nature of the revolutionaries that I really love. Dickens makes you feel for their plight and then twists it around, so that the tortured become the tyrants and your fondness turns to loathing as you witness their despicable deeds. "Feel" is the operative word there. Dickens put a lot of feeling into A Tale of Two Cities.
My favorite of the first three novels and perhaps of the entire series! HMS Surprise deftly combines the best aspects of the first two books. Love, fr...moreMy favorite of the first three novels and perhaps of the entire series! HMS Surprise deftly combines the best aspects of the first two books. Love, friendship and war. Frankly, there's so much going on it's hard to believe O'Brian fits it all in comfortably!
The amazing thing about this book is how it takes you on a ride around the world, touching base in England, the Mediterranean, Africa, South America, India and the South Pacific islands. All of this lush scenery is a joy to behold in O'Brian's capable hands. So much of it describes the natural world that reading HMS Surprise is often like watching an episode of Plant Earth.
This epic series set during the Napoleonic Wars, ostensibly written with Captain Jack Aubrey as the solo heroic figure, can no longer pretend to be anything but a duet. Aubrey's friend, sometimes surgeon and sometimes (view spoiler)[spy (hide spoiler)], Stephen Maturin really comes into his own in HMS Surprise, which includes one of the saddest, most touching scenes, not to mention others both harrowing and heroic. Torture and duels, written with a touch of Impressionism that needs your attention, thrust and parry through out the book in a way that makes you wonder if O'Brian wrote it just to see how much one man can plausibly endure.
O'Brian is knocked on for providing too much information about naval matters, but here he puts it to poignant use. Around page 50 Aubrey is writing to his beloved Sophie back home. Much of what we know today about life at sea and warfare during this period (early 1800s) is what's made available to us through just such letters. They are often vague, elusive or downright bland when it comes to the description of battles. Certainly they could've described the gore and extreme peril the sailors put themselves in, but why worry and expose loved ones to the horrors they might otherwise remain blissfully unaware of? Aubrey pauses in the midst of his chatty letter and reflects upon one of his recent and particularly violent battles - oddly inhuman in it's unusually calm, calculated butchery. Forcing our eyes open Clockwork Orange-style , O'Brian shows a scene few have or should see, and then has Aubrey continue on with his letter, dashing off a colorless, dispassionate summary line about the fight that his loved one might readied swallow none the wiser. So you get the scene and the subterfuge all in one brilliant bit of real life in a fiction full of truths.
Dancing bears and loons that fancy themselves teapots? No, number two in the series is not a typical Aubrey/Maturin adventure, yet it is perhaps bette...more Dancing bears and loons that fancy themselves teapots? No, number two in the series is not a typical Aubrey/Maturin adventure, yet it is perhaps better than the first!
While book one, Master & Commander, was about war and friendship, the second book, Post Captain enters the love arena, and friendship is put to the test. Of course war is not forgotten, this is a historical fiction series set during the Napoleonic Wars after all. The career of our hero Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy intertwines with his unlikely friend's, an Irish/Catalan surgeon, natural philosopher and (view spoiler)[spy (hide spoiler)] named Stephen Maturin. In this volume, containing one of the most ludicrous episodes in their adventures, the two must navigate the dangerous waters of the Peace of Amiens, which ceases hostilities for all of Europe...just not for Aubrey and Maturin.
If you survived book one's interminable explanations of naval terminology and are willing to give Patrick O'Brian a second chance, you'll be rewarded by the second book's smoother, more balanced plotting. The man's writing is worth your effort (and patience if you're not into the subject matter). He's been called the Jane Austen of his genre and that complimentary comparison is no more apparent than in Post Captain. With the Peace, Aubrey and Maturin find themselves back on land and prey to debt collectors and a predatory woman trying to find suitable victims husbands for her very Bennet-esque family of all marriage-aged young women. A love triangle ensues that would be at home in any of Austen's Something and Something novels.
Woman do not play a huge role in the series, but a much larger one than might be assumed in books about naval warfare. Often they are in the background, off-stage if you will, influencing the actions of the principle characters, but when women do take the stage, they know their lines. O'Brian fleshes them out well, imbuing them with spines and brains, or a lack thereof when appropriate. They come alive and stand as well-rounded as the men.
If you've migrated to this series for its entertaining action, sea battles, technically correct descriptions of sailing, worry not! Some of the subject matter (even Aubrey's ship itself!) is a touch unorthodox, but there's still enough of what you came for and I doubt you'll be disappointed in continuing on with this very satisfying series.
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