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May 03
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Stephen
marked as to-read:
The Origin of Species (paper)
by
Charles Darwin
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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Stephen
marked as to-read:
The Diversity of Life (Paperback)
by
Edward O. Wilson
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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Stephen
marked as to-read:
The Moor's Last Sigh (Paperback)
by
Salman Rushdie
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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Stephen
marked as to-read:
Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Paperback)
by
Salman Rushdie
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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Stephen
is currently reading:
Gormenghast (Book Two of the Gormenghast Trilogy)
by
Mervyn Peake
bookshelves:
currently-reading,
fantasy-sci-fi
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my rating:
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Stephen
gave  to:
My Name Is Red (Vintage International)
by
Orhan Pamuk
bookshelves:
modern
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my rating:
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read in March, 2009
Stephen said:
"Read while not yet having finished Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, I cannot help but compare My Name Is Red to the former work.
Red was more difficult to get into. Although set in a time and place far distant from the author (16th? c...more
Read while not yet having finished Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, I cannot help but compare My Name Is Red to the former work.
Red was more difficult to get into. Although set in a time and place far distant from the author (16th? century Constantinople), credit the author for giving the work a voice and setting that feel completely foreign. Orhan Pamuk works as diligently as the miniaturists he portrays to put us into the scene, but like them only putting enough detail to let our imaginations roam. He does not dwell on surroundings, but does given sufficient attention to make them real.
Both authors are non-linear and used first-person throughout. Whereas Rushdie's narrator remains at is task through the entirety, Pamuk's changes every few pages. This constant change of perspective was alternately brilliant and annoying: brilliant because the reader see hints and shadows the the mystery unfold, coming to know something of both the inner and outer being of each character: annoying because he never develops truly independent voices for these characters. That is to say, their inflections, their syntax, felt invariant. In this case it could be an issue of translation, since the original is in Turkish.
Perhaps a third of the way through I suddenly overcame this feeling of annoyance and found myself engrossed in a first rate murder mystery. Equally engrossing as the plot was the exploration of the notions of style and individuality, through the lens of an empire that was born out of Central Asia, conquered the Near east, lived in the shadow of the west, and was at the nexus of trade between Renaissance Europe and the Far East.
Along with the murder mystery, we encounter the clash of civilizations: will Ottoman painting remain a subtle art that reveal's God's own horses (or man or tree etc.)? Or will Ottoman painters begin adopting the realism of Europe, of the "Franks?" Or perhaps, having been challenged by the sword of perspective and the main gauche of personality, will they simply take umbrage and fade away?(less)
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Stephen
gave to:
Midnight's Children (Everyman's Library Classics)
by
Salman Rushdie
bookshelves:
modern
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my rating:
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read in March, 2009
Stephen said:
"In February I began reading Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children -- a strange sort of historical fiction -- but a trip in early March inserted Orhan Pamuk's My Name Is Red before I could finish. Two things I've loved about Rushdie, at least in the tw...more
In February I began reading Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children -- a strange sort of historical fiction -- but a trip in early March inserted Orhan Pamuk's My Name Is Red before I could finish. Two things I've loved about Rushdie, at least in the two novels I've read: his use of the English language, and his ability to credibly, smoothly bend reality into an absurd yet moving other world. In these he is master. These are so clear that I won't dwell on them (ok, that's actually because my wife has the book up at work so I can't refer to it for examples).
Midnight's Children is the story of India -- that is, of the modern state of India -- seen through the rise and fall of four generations, and narrated by the third. It is a large and ancient land; naturally he cannot encompass it in even a long novel. Yet he does seem to touch on all the major developments. But then again, what do I know? I'm a Westerner. And so is he.
I wonder how that influences him? I wonder what this book would have become had it been written by someone directly living India's birth into modernity? Perhaps such a person could not exist. Perhaps no one from inside could have created such a story. Perhaps if someone did, it would have been too foreign for Western readers to appreciate. Maybe such a work exists, but the Western selection bias has precluded the possibility for it to be recognized as a masterwork.
Midnight's Children was an incredibly journey, well worth the time, but would have been better served had I not interrupted 80% through. It is large; it is challenging; it is beautiful. Ground Beneath Her Feet was the better novel of the two (hence I could not give this 5 stars). Midnight's Children was more grand and magical, but less philosophical and less likely to send me to the dictionary. But Midnight's Children does not elicit from me the praise I gave to that other tale.(less)
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Stephen
gave to:
xUnit Test Patterns: Refactoring Test Code (The Addison-Wesley Signature Series)
by
Gerard Meszaros
bookshelves:
non-fiction,
software
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my rating:
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Stephen said:
"Big. It will take you a while. But if you want to go from novice to expert in unit test writing -- and learn more about practical application of design patterns along the way -- then read nearly every page, from cover to cover.
Periodical...more
Big. It will take you a while. But if you want to go from novice to expert in unit test writing -- and learn more about practical application of design patterns along the way -- then read nearly every page, from cover to cover.
Periodically he seems to repeat himself, but it does serve a useful reinforcement purpose. Also seems to serve the purpose of further justifying the price. Along with no effort to prevent pages with three lines of text, these two function to add perhaps another 10% to the size of the book. But even without that it would be big.
Read it. Enjoy. Simple, direct, thought-provoking, and immensely useful.(less)
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Stephen
gave  to:
Babylon Revisited and Other Stories (paper)
by
F. Scott Fitzgerald
bookshelves:
classic,
short-stories
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my rating:
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read in May, 2009
Stephen said:
"Fitzgerald is an incredibly writer; I love his similitudes and rich evocations of his adjectives. But on this, my third time through, it felt as if there were a rich and annoying uncle in the room. He might speak well, and have insight on the deepest...more
Fitzgerald is an incredibly writer; I love his similitudes and rich evocations of his adjectives. But on this, my third time through, it felt as if there were a rich and annoying uncle in the room. He might speak well, and have insight on the deepest topics of life, but sooner or later he becomes simply too obnoxious to bear. So you just leave the room.
Those who see through the magical veil of Ivy do not have much tolerance for relating everything to golf and tailored suits, to highballs and ne'er-do-wells. Back on the shelf it went; a star has fallen (from 4 to 3).(less)
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April 20
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Stephen
gave to:
Leading a Software Development Team: A Developer's Guide to Successfully Leading People and Projects (Paperback)
by
Richard Whitehead
bookshelves:
software
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my rating:
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