The one line summary of Alas, Babylon reads, "The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the world." I can see why. The book was released in 1959, at...moreThe one line summary of Alas, Babylon reads, "The classic apocalyptic novel that stunned the world." I can see why. The book was released in 1959, at the height of the Cold War. Nuclear war with Russia was a very real possibility. Even reading it now, in 2011, it's a tense and chilling novel.
The story follows several characters but largely revolves around the character of Randy, a Korean War veteran who has settled into his ancestral home and lives a very lackluster life. His brother works in high-level security for the Air Force. When Randy receives a coded message that his brother's wife and kids are coming to stay, one sentence stands out to him: "Alas, Babylon." As boys, they used to sneak down to the African-American church and listen to his hellfire sermons. As adults, the preacher's 'Alas, Babylon' became their code word for the imminent end of the world.
And it happens. Earth is scorched by countless hydrogen bombs. It takes 100 pages to build up to that point. For some readers, that would be too slow. However, I loved it because this is a character-driven story. It was important to see how Randy reacted, with wisdom and stupidity, in the face of a coming cataclysm. The characters around him are just as vivid. I especially appreciated that the minority and females are just as complex, and the racism of the time is portrayed with vividness. After civilization crumbles, it's interesting how some things changed and yet others stayed the same.
An element that sets this book apart is optimism. The subject matter is bleak, no question, but it's encouraging to see how many people become something more in the face of adversity. One of my favorite characters, though very minor, is the town librarian. Before 'the Day,' she was ignored in town funding, couldn't even get air conditioning, and battled over censorship issues. After society collapses, the library becomes the center of the town. Everyone relies on books to teach them how to survive and to fill in hours between back-breaking labor. The librarian gladly bicycles miles to work everyday and feels like she has a noble purpose in life. Many of the other characters experience the same transition.
This is a book I am keeping on my shelf. There are some books that are dubbed "classics" out of habit, and others that earn it because their awe is timeless. Alas, Babylon is definitely the latter.(less)
News stories about Occupy Wall Street and the 99% have dominated the headlines for the past year. These same themes also dominate this century-old boo...moreNews stories about Occupy Wall Street and the 99% have dominated the headlines for the past year. These same themes also dominate this century-old book, which was a bestseller in 1901. Here, the Octopus is the Railroad, its tentacles suffocating and destroying the lives of hardworking ranchers and their families.
This book is also personal for me. It's based on real events that happened around 1880 in central California, only miles away from where I grew up a century later. The Southern Pacific leased land to ranchers, and then after the land was developed and the lease time was at end, the railroad increased the price tenfold and then acted to force the farmers off the land. The end result was the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a shoot-out that killed several men and made the surviving ranchers into local folk heroes.
Norris used those elements to create his drama of the West. He changed many of the facts; in his book, the incident takes place right before 1900, and the real places of Hanford and Grangeville have been altered to Bonneville and Guadalajara, respectively. The latter also has a mission in this telling. The geography is also strangely different with nearby hills and canyons that provide handy places for his characters to look down upon the valley of promise; in reality, the hills are some 40 miles away.
There are some classics that age better than others. The Octopus is very slow to get going. It has a wide cast of characters and changes points of view on a whim. The women are stock characters, either simpering or overly noble; the real protagonists are the men. In Victorian fashion, the descriptions wax eloquent and can go on for pages. Very little happens in the first 2/3 of this 650 page novel. Much of it is building up the tension, slowly, and has a great deal of angst. However, when the end comes it actually moves along at a steady clip. It's a tragedy in a Rocks Fall Everyone Dies sort of way. Most of the main cast is annihilated: the men dead, the women suffering through miscarriage or poverty or prostitution. All of this is the fault of the railroad or their own moral failings.
Those moral failings are heavy-handed in the style of the time, but also are not clear black and white. The most upstanding of the characters suffer because of their poor choices. A character I disliked immensely at the beginning was Annixter; he was creepy and anti-woman, with an angry fixation on his dairymaid. However, by the end of the book he had transformed and became a redemptive figure because of the love of that very dairymaid.
The book is also steeped in the biased attitudes of the time. The head of the railroad is Jewish. The cast of good guys is very Anglo-Saxon. The lesser farmhands, such as the Portuguese, are regarded with disdain (which is amazing to me since the valley's Portuguese population is now so large and integral). The most blatantly racist line of the book is near the end, after a jack rabbit round-up: "The Anglo-Saxon spectators round drew back in disgust, but the hot, degenerated blood of the Portuguese, Mexican, and mixed Spaniard boiled up in excitement at this wholesale slaughter." It makes me wince, but the statement is also a reflection of the time period and must be seen in that context. Also, most of those wincing Anglo-Saxons ended up dead, but the so-called degenerates lived on. Perhaps there's a sort of Darwinism in that.
It's not a fun read, but I found it fascinating to read a dramatization of events that happened a few miles away from my home, and I'm glad I finally trudged through the tome. Sometimes it's good to read a classic just to be able to say, "I read that." (less)
This classic novel by Frank Norris is a rather complex one to review. I read it for research purposes, as I'm writing a novel set in 1906 in San Franc...moreThis classic novel by Frank Norris is a rather complex one to review. I read it for research purposes, as I'm writing a novel set in 1906 in San Francisco, and McTeague takes place there in 1900. In that regard, it was an invaluable resource on the details of the day--what people did for fun, what they drank (steam beer!), the structure of a full-day picnic outing, the racial demographics on a common street, etc. The book is also highly readable. It's smooth and very straightforward, much more so than Norris's The Octopus which I read last year.
The back cover description notes this is a work of "American realism," and the introduction by Kevin Starr goes into greater detail on that subject. This book was highly controversial when it was released. At heart, it's a story revolving around the American dream and its corruption by greed. The main characters are the dentist, McTeague, and his wife, Trina. By "realism," it means the characters are mostly unlikeable, and are designed to be so. From the start, McTeague is described as rather dense, a big man with few brains. In the course of the book, he becomes a depressed, abusive drunk. The scenes of domestic abuse are disturbing even by today's standards, as McTeague bites his wife's fingers to the point of infection and amputation, even as he steals her horde of money and abandons her.
Gold is really the theme of the book. McTeague in his younger days mined in the Sierras, and in middle age is a non-licensed dentist in San Francisco. He yearns for a massive gold tooth for his sign. His fiancee, Trina, wins $5,000 in a lottery jackpot, and is a complete miser about the winnings. Trina is really a likeable character until she becomes more twisted as the book goes on and her frugality turns to avarice. By the end, she's lost many of her fingers, is abandoned by her lout of a husband, and lives in abject poverty, but finally pulls all of her gold coins from the bank and strips down naked to sleep with her money pressed to her skin.
Many of the other residents described on Polk Street are also obsessed with money, including the stereotypical Jew obsessed with finding gold. The book is very much a product of its time period, and even includes a reference to a stove shining like a Negro's skin. Starr's introduction notes, though, that the biggest controversy when the book came out wasn't the horrid abuses committed by McTeague, but a small scene towards the beginning where a little boy wets his pants in public. This was regarded as so outrageous that it was removed in later editions, though the Penguin Classics version stays with the original text.
So on one hand, the book was very useful for my purposes, and on the other it's filled with foul characters and period racism that makes me wince. It's not a book I ever want to read again--and I'm relieved to be done with it! It will stay on my shelf for period references only.(less)
I've been making an effort to read more classic science fiction, so my brother lent this book to me. It includes three books within, though the short...moreI've been making an effort to read more classic science fiction, so my brother lent this book to me. It includes three books within, though the short story contents are spread out to make everything chronological within Niven's Known Universe. The two novels are WORLD OF PTAVVS and A GIFT FROM EARTH, with the stories from TALES OF KNOWN SPACE.[return][return]I had some difficulties with Niven's style. It's abrupt and dated--you can tell they were written in the 1960s and '70s. His leads are all men of certain personality types, and certain stylistic crutches emerge, such as the men entering a social setting and falling for a woman who then betrays them in some way. The women all felt very flat or negative in type; at one point, a rebel woman who portrayed strength entered a home and immediately began preparing supper for the men. It's also funny how the technology is very advanced in many regards, such as fission drives and organ harvesting, yet everyone still uses typewriters.[return][return]As a modern reader and writer, I also found it bothersome how the point of view might change several times within a scene. Whiplash![return][return]The work I enjoyed the most was A GIFT FROM EARTH. It contained very unique plot twists and focused on an unusual form of telepathy, and did a good job of portraying complex good and bad guys.[return][return]In all, I'm glad I read the volumes, if no other reason than that I can say I read them. My brother has told me that I'd probably like some of Niven's other work more, but I'm not in any rush to read him anytime soon. I appreciate that these books are classics, but I'm very glad that stylistic elements and female characters have evolved a great deal in the past forty years.(less)
This was my first time reading this classic work of science fiction. Genly Ai is an Earth-bore ambassador for a confederacy of planets called the Ekum...moreThis was my first time reading this classic work of science fiction. Genly Ai is an Earth-bore ambassador for a confederacy of planets called the Ekumen. He is on the planet Gethen, which is locked in a persistant Ice Age, in order to introduce himself to the governments and hopefully open the way for trade and cultural exchange. The people on Gethen are androgynous without any sexual urges except for the one time each month they enter kemmer; for that time, they can turn either male or female and cause or be impregnated. Genly is indeed very alien to them being in constant kemmer, and thus is labeled a pervert. Even worse are the politics within the countries, where no one is willing to openly accept such a bizarre creature from another world.[return][return]I admit, I hard a hard time getting into the book. The first half is all world-building, and almost nothing happens. After that, it becomes a deeper tale of survival and all of that earlier world-building pulls together. In hindsight, it forms a cohesive book that comments on how people perceive each other and what it means to be human despite great differences. I'm a fast reader, but those first 100 pages were slow and painful. If this hadn't been a classic, I might not have read it through. However, I'm glad I did.(less)
Despite being fairly well read in science fiction and fantasy, I had not read Butler before, and I had specifically avoided this book. In many ways, i...moreDespite being fairly well read in science fiction and fantasy, I had not read Butler before, and I had specifically avoided this book. In many ways, it's the perfect read for me: a strong female protagonist, historical fiction that feels genuine and accurate, a time travel conceit, etc. But I also knew this book would make me uncomfortable and angry. Over the years, I read the summary more than once, considered buying the book, and put it down again. I didn't want to face the ugly racism in those pages.
But when Kindred was selected as a book club read, I decided it was time to overcome my fears. In part, it's because I'm writing a novel that also delves heavily into historical fiction and racism and gender roles. I figured that if I'm going to write on the subject, I could learn more from a grand dame of the science fiction field.
Kindred was everything I expected and feared. It's beautifully done. Every character is complicated and genuine and sympathetic, even in their awfulness. A lot of people write historical fiction that touches on slavery. Butler, however, made this work shine because she puts everything in proper context. Slave owning is shown as despicable and awful, but she also manages to show how the mentality of a slave owner is created from childhood on up. This is done through Rufus, the little red-haired boy who Dana is pulled through time to save again and again. The moral situations in the book are dire and terrible and very real in their complications. Beatings, rape, and death are all very present.
When I finished reading, I realized I had just finished a horror book. Real horror. About the dark potential of humanity and how easily we can accept things like slavery and ownership.
This is a book I will keep on my shelf because it's a classic and it's a masterpiece, but I don't think I ever want to sit down and read it again.(less)
I am ashamed to say that I'm a writer of scifi and fantasy and I had never read this classic before.[return][return]Ender Wiggin isn't simply a recrui...moreI am ashamed to say that I'm a writer of scifi and fantasy and I had never read this classic before.[return][return]Ender Wiggin isn't simply a recruit in the Earth's battle against the buggers. He's the chosen one, monitored before he was even born with one specific task in mind: save humankind. At age six, he's sent to begin his training amongst other brilliant children. His coursework isn't merely academics; it's psychological manipulation at the highest, with the goal of isolating Ender and forcing him to be the best soldier ever produced... whether he wants to be or not.[return][return]I was hooked within the first chapter. It's a disturbing story on many levels, but a gripping one because of the fast pace and ease of reading. It flows (at least, up till the ending when it kind of info dumps). Card made Ender a sympathetic character with a supporting cast that felt just as real.(less)
The Willows is an early example of American horror, published in 1907, and cited as a favorite story of H.P. Lovecraft. I don't read much horror, but...moreThe Willows is an early example of American horror, published in 1907, and cited as a favorite story of H.P. Lovecraft. I don't read much horror, but this was selected as an October book club read and a Kindle copy was free on Amazon, so I was game.
To modern tastes, the book has a very slow start. The descriptions are excessive. Blackwood creates a menace in the very atmosphere of a place: a small island in a swampy area off the Danube, where two friends are stranded during a high flood. The two are never named--the companion is simply called "the Swede"--but that doesn't detract from the story at all. Despite the slow start, this novel is still compelling and tense as it builds towards the conclusion. The trees, the wind, the water, the sounds--everything has a terrible, dark sense about it, and yes, it's creepy as all get out. It's not a book to read while you're camping in the wilderness or you'll never be able to sleep.
I found this classic to be highly enjoyable. I zoomed through the last half, anxious to see what would happen. If you're up for a very Halloween-appropriate read that's creepy without any gore, grab this free download from Amazon.(less)
Loading...
