Reviewing Every Book I Read in 2024
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The prose? Concise.
The narrative? Non-linear.
The central theme of the indescribable absurdity of war? Poignant.
The protagonist? Huge-wanged.
What's not to like here really? Not much, so it goes.
4.5 stars.
True Grit by Charles Portis
Speaking strictly plot-wise, Portis does little to distinguish True Grit from the deluge of other Westerns that were being published nearabouts the same time in the sixties. What does set this book apart (while substantially elevating it at the same time) is the impeccable voice of its narrator protagonist, Mattie Ross.
On paper, many of Mattie's characteristics seem contrary to what a compelling narrative voice 'should' be - she presents as mostly emotionless, she is strictly beholden to describing events as they happened without any sense of embellishment or flair, she offers little insight into her own background or psychological motivations (aside from her desire for 'justice', which even that she approaches more as a stoic duty than a point of emotional catharsis), and she is utterly humorless.
'Not a good hang' as kids today probably don't say. And yet, her voice and her position as an older, unmarried (possibly bitter about it but also probably not) and still seemingly humorless woman looking back on her fourteen-year-old self ends up being the perfect vehicle with which to tell what is otherwise a fairly standard Western story.
4.25 stars.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
You know, sometimes it can be hard to read a book written 100 years ago without filtering it through the parlance and expectations of modern society. With that in mind, this is the frustrating story about a low-value male named Jake who simps endlessly over oatmeal thicc hyper-thot Brett Ashley. Even though she very clearly tells him that because they can't smash (due to his groin-related war injury) she will never be able to settle down with him, he still does everything she asks of him, whether that is catching the next train to meet her a country over, or introducing her to a suave young bull-fighter she wants to bang, he does it unquestioningly. Eventually she bangs her way through pretty much his entire circle of friends and he just kind of sits there and gets drunk through it all.
If I could go back and tell Jake one thing, it would be to remember the two moments in the novel when he seemed genuinely happy - the first during a fishing trip where he does some healthy male bonding (so healthy that the men involved need to drop the 1920s version of a 'no homo' so as to not get the wrong ideas), and the second toward the end of the book when he is alone and enjoying a day swimming on the beach. Both of these moments Brett is nowhere to be seen. See what I'm saying bro? Now go out and there and live your best life you independent king.
3.75 stars.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Not for me, even though I feel like it should be for me. I see the themes, fine. The prose is good, fine. Last part is good, fine. But I don’t know, try a paragraph break sometime pal. I tried.
2.5 stars.
How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama XIV
There’s some sustenance here for those who want it.
3.25 stars.
Pet, Pet, Slap by Andrew Battershill
In the hands of a less capable writer this unlikely and erratic combination of literary and stock characters and genre tropes from detective, noir, and underdog sports stories would likely prove too complex to navigate and depict with any sense of cohesion. Fortunately, Battershill (MARRY, BANG, KILL) demonstrates the skill required to weave these various strands together in a compelling and compulsively readable way.
His chapters are short and punchy, his dialogue witty, and his prose is peppered with creative and oddly engrossing metaphors, similes, and descriptions that result in a unique and entertaining narrative voice.
Full review:
https://thebcreview.ca/2024/06/02/218...
Mr. Big: Exposing Undercover Investigations in Canada by Kouri Keenan & Joan Brockman
Niche read for those interested in Canadian undercover policing techniques (and British Columbian policing in general as this is where a majority of the Mr. Big operations throughout the country occur). The authors are clear about their critical stance re: the moral, legal, and ethical issue surrounding the controversial undercover technique wherein members of law enforcement create a fictional criminal underworld (complete with the ‘Mr. Big’ character, a crime boss who is in actuality an undercover interrogation expert) in order to entice suspects into confessing past crimes in order to enjoy the full benefits offered by their new ‘criminal’ connections.
Despite the technique’s impressively high conviction rating (95% if RCMP stats are to be believed), the authors argue, using relevant cases, that in addition to other ethical issues, the technique can elicit false or coerced confessions and may (and indeed has) lead to false convictions and should therefore be reigned in or otherwise severely limited in use.
It’s a compelling and well-researched argument and a worthwhile read if you happen to be interested in the nitty gritty of Canadian criminology/policing.
3.5 stars.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Clockwork Orange is often described as dystopian, but reading it fundamentally as a work of dystopic literature does a disservice to its inherent value as a work of criminological theory which I think is the far more interesting and valuable angle here. The dystopian qualities are very understated in any case – what we get are only small glimpses of the political landscape of ‘near-future’ Britain but only through the eyes of a protagonist who is not especially interested in such things. What we are able to glean is that levels of street crime are at an unprecedented peak and that the current far-right administration sees the subsequent overcrowding of prisons as apparently a legitimate problem and not, say, as an opportunity for social control or for financial gain through prison privatization or the exploitation of prison labor (as would be the case in Reagan’s America of the 1980s, perhaps a truer dystopia than the one Burgess envisions here). As such, there is interest in inmate ‘reform’ which takes on the form of the experimental and controversial Ludovico Technique whereby violent inmates are conditioned (via a steady regimen of drugs and disturbing images) to associate violence with extreme discomfort, ultimately removing their ability to engage in or even think about such actions.
There’s lots to unpack here through the lens of criminological theory with respect to individual agency, offender rehabilitation, crime surges, prison violence, the ‘born criminal,’ the eventual ‘aging out’ of crime (life course perspectives), and the moral, ethical, and legal role the state should play in such things.
But aside from all that egghead stuff it’s just a pleasure to read what with the hypnotic language and swift pacing.
Someone ought to make a movie out of this.
4.5 stars.
Based on a True Story by Norm Macdonald
Those seeking a deeper, personal, or sentimental look into the life and mind of Canada’s greatest contribution to stand-up comedy will not necessarily find it here. There are only small glimmers of sentimentality where it seems as if the ‘real’ Norm shines through (particularly in a chapter toward the very end).
What you will find is a Beat novel cum Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas cum Kafkaesque body horror by the time it’s all said and done. And like Fear and Loathing’s Dr. Gonzo, our friend Norm was perhaps too uniquely singular in his comedy stylings to find mainstream success on the same level of his dear friend Adam Sandler, but simply too talented to fade into obscurity during his post-SNL years. Or however that quote goes.
The ‘Norm’ of this book is based on the Norm than we know and love but is not the same. He is an exaggerated caricature who presents himself as a morphine-addicted hack that is constantly trying to relive his brief moment in the comedy spotlight and to this bit he remains fully committed for the entire novel.
Those familiar with Norm’s material will recognize certain jokes and stories, many of which have been shamelessly recycled here verbatim, and while this would normally be a knock against the book, here it plays perfectly with the hacky character he has created.
4.25 stars.
The Terrorist’s Son by Zak Ebrahim
At a brisk 90 pages (which took about 1.5 hours to read), you won’t find an especially deep treatise here on the nature of radicalization, deradicalization, or commitment to non-violence, nor does Zak Ebrahim elaborate too much on what these processes looked like from his perspective aside from a few brief anecdotes, but I suppose this was not the point of this book. The point of this book is to share the story of one man’s very unique circumstances being raised as the son of the ‘first man to commit an act of Islamist murder on American soil’ and how/why he chose a different path and in this the book largely succeeds.
Ebrahim, who as a young person carried many of the ‘predictors’ of radicalization (radicalized family members, personal grievances, history of abuse/bullying, home instability, questions of identity, etc.), managed to point his life instead in the opposite direction – toward empathy, understanding, and non-violence.
Ebrahim’s ten-minute TED talk (on which the book is based) delivers the broad strokes of his story and is worth a watch to those with a passing interest. For those seeking a bit more about his compelling story (though not too much more), the book will deliver.
4 stars.
This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s Kid A and the Beginning of the 21st Century by Steven Hyde
For as much as I adore Kid A (and adore it I do as it is one of my top five all-time favorite albums) this book unfortunately proves that there probably just isn't 200+ pages worth of things to say about it.
That's not to say I didn't generally enjoy this book, I did, and there were even some tidbits and trivia that were new to me (a diehard fan of this band for nearly 20 years), I just think it could have been trimmed down by a good 50 pages so as to stick a little tighter to its main topic and thesis.
Speaking of, the thesis is a little underdefined here, it's more a series of smaller observations regarding the undeniably significant era in which Radiohead's fourth album was released (the year 2000 - just months after we survived Y2k and just months before 9/11 drastically changed the cultural and political landscape). Some of these side paths Hyden deviates down are entertaining and insightful and offer interesting parallels to other artistic and cultural touchstones of the time, some seem a little forced and not especially relevant to the topic at hand. The end result here is a book too disjointed, meandering, and bloated to be a tight analysis of Kid A specifically yet not detailed enough to serve as an overall analysis of Radiohead's career more generally.
Still, an entertaining enough read for Radiohead fans, or even just for those who happened to remember what it was like to live through the turn of the millennium (crazy time that it was I myself can't help but feel a nostalgic fondness for it as I write this from the Seventh Circle that is 2024).
3.25 stars.
Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom and Waldo Martin
Maybe it’s a side effect of getting older and the related phenomenon of time ‘speeding up’ as I do, but it really seems like the average week of the 1960s had more packed into it than the average year of today. It’s hard, for instance, to fathom that the entire recording career of the Beatles was something like seven and a half years long. That’s longer than the gap between albums of some of my favorite modern groups.
It’s similarly hard to conceptualize that the creation, rise, and fall of the Black Panther Party all happened within a span of about four years, all laid out here in an elaborate and adeptly researched manner.
Less than three years after their humble beginnings as a student activist group inspired by the likes of Malcolm X, Marx, and international revolutionaries, the Black Panther Party had dozens of chapters and thousands of members throughout the country (as well as many foreign supporters around the world from places like Vietnam, Cuba, and China), and was being labelled by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover as, ‘the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.’ Not a bad trajectory.
Yet, within just another year or so, the group had internally fractured and fissured (this in large part due to crackdowns and some underhanded tactics of the FBI as well as some ideological in-fighting) to a point where what public support they once enjoyed has quickly dried up. Bloom and Martin also suggest the popularity of the group (particularly from liberals and moderates) was intrinsically tied to the anti-war movement and its success:
"But liberal readers of the New Yorker and New York magazine were much more apt to embrace ridicule of the Black Panther's anti-imperialism once their children were not likely to be drafted and killed in Vietnam."
The book is thoroughly researched, the arguments fair and unemotional, and the representation of the BPP and its figureheads largely objective, highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The book concludes with a meditation on the legacy of the Black Panthers and the somber assertion that today, some fifty plus years later, we are unlikely to see a movement or group on the same level as the BPP come around again. They don’t say it but the implication, or at least my reading, is that the modern political left is simply too disorganized, their enemies too untouchable, their potential allies too divided, their lives too comfortable, their attention spans too short to ever mobilize to the same degree and impact. One is left with a certain pessimism regarding the current day.
Small wonder we’re stuck staring behind us at a sixty’s sunset through rose-colored sunglasses.
4.25 stars.
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Sometimes you happen across a book where it becomes evident within the first few pages that you are reading something singular and special.
"Man only likes counting his grief, he doesn't count his happiness."
Sometimes you’re sixteen and you’re watching Taxi Driver for the first time and marveling at the creativity on display and wondering how people could think up such things and it isn’t until an embarrassing amount of years later when you finally realize that all art is built on the art that preceded it.
Speaking of Taxi Driver, if Travis Bickle is one of cinema’s premier Literally Me* characters than surely the Underground Man is literature’s equivalent, perfected by Dostoevsky some one hundred years prior.
"But that is simply because I don't respect myself. How can a man of consciousness have the slightest respect for himself?"
As with The Stranger’s Meursault, I find myself alternating, often several times within the same chapter, between feeling empathy, contempt, respect, sympathy, disdain, and amusement with the Underground Man.
Not boredom though. Never boredom.
5 stars.
The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
I think I read it wrong.
3 stars.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Part of me wishes I never read anything about Toole’s personal life before (finally) getting around to reading this book.
Yes, the book is funny. The dialogue and the characters absurd, the situations amusing, and yes, this is all helmed by one of modern fiction’s most memorable losers in Ignatius J. Reilly, but I couldn’t escape this pervasive feeling of sadness that seemed to undergird everything around this book, whether in its creation and eventual publication, or in the characters themselves.
During the first few chapters I was amazed at the prescience of Toole in essentially creating the perfect prototype of the modern basement-dwelling, 4chan/Reddit frequenting, self-serious pseudointellectual caricature that so abounds our modern age, but as I thought more on that I think I realized that that kind of person has pretty much always existed, they just take on slightly different forms based on the cultural and technology of the day.
Every generation gets the neckbeard that it deserves, it would seem.
Problem is, I’ve known too many of these people in my life to not notice the sadness and self-doubt that emanates from so many of them, and maybe I’m reading too much into this, but it really seemed as if Toole himself were self-inserting himself a bit into the character of Ignatius, which, if true, also extremely sad.
Should have gone into it blind I suppose.
In any event, a hugely entertaining read and Ignatius is one of those rare literary characters that is, for better or worse, unforgettable in the true sense of the word.
4.5 stars.
Buddha Heart, Buddha Mind: Living the Four Noble Truths by the Dalai Lama XIV
It would prove to not be the first time that I struggled with the writing (or in the this case, the oral delivery and later translation from the original French) of the 14th Dalai Lama.
2.5 stars.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
It's like The Alchemist, except admitting that you like this won't ruin your literary street cred.
4 stars.
The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to a true believer in the way that Flannery O’Connor undoubtedly was. At my very best I might be able to convincingly approximate this worldview in my own work, but I simply won’t ever be guided by it in the way that she was. Case in point, in just about any other book (and almost certainly in any book written by an author with more liberal, modern, or urbanite sensibilities) the character of Rayber would invariably end up being the one that heroically ‘saves’ the teenage protagonist Francis Marion Tarwater from his frighteningly evangelist upbringing, ushering him into the more progressive modern world.
Not so in this case and frankly you would be a fool for thinking that someone with O’Connor’s reputation would ever go that route. But hey, that’s why we love her, ain’t it?
O’Connor’s is a worldview that I will never fully understand or authentically relate to, by goodness gracious does it ever lend itself to some harrowing (and enviable) depictions of the human condition that most modern horror writers could only hope to match.
4.25 stars
Stasio: A Novel in 3 Parts by Tamas Dobozy
On two occasions and by two separate characters is southern Ontarian lawman Anthony de Stasio accused of being a “terrible detective” and rhetorically questioned as to whether he can remember actually solving any cases during his career. Harsh, but these charges my have validity given Stasio’s idiosyncratic penchant for overcomplicating cases in ways that, typical of the noir detective genre, often fail to lead to ‘satisfying’ conclusions where law and justice neatly and cleanly prevail over the criminal element.
In Stasio: A Novel in 3 Parts we are made privy to three such cases worked by the titular detective. Each offers us insight into his unique investigative style while also serving as a window into three distinct points of his progressively paranoid and unsustainable personal life.
Full review at the BC Review:
https://thebcreview.ca/2024/07/22/223...
On Palestine by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé
Decent primer on the issue. Not a deep historical accounting of the situation but a good overview and an evergreen appeal for humanity.
4 stars
9-11 by Noam Chomsky
A very brief (and I assume hastily published) collection of Noam Chomsky interviews in the immediate weeks following 9/11. Given that the dust was still settling in the aftermath of the attack, you won’t find a detailed accounting of 9/11 itself, the various reasons leading up to it, or the generation-defining repercussions, but it’s nonetheless interesting to read people’s reactions at the time with the benefit of nearly 25 years of hindsight.
To his credit, Chomsky is quite measured in his answers here – keeping in mind this was a time when people across the political spectrum were generally angry, vengeful, and bloodthirsty – so his calls (completely ignored of course) for a restrained and thoughtful response are quite refreshing. Impressively, he also dispels certain rumors that were kicked around by Western media/politicians at the time (“they hate us because of our freedoms” and so on) which helped generate widescale public support for the disastrous ‘War on Terror’ that followed.
While these interviews may not offer much in the context of the present day, this collection remains an interesting relic from a consequential time from a measured and judicious voice that was unfortunately drowned out at the time.
3.25 stars
The Socialist Awakening by John Judis
Not a deep historical account but a decent quick-and-dirty primer of socialism (and of some of the different types that people often erroneously use interchangeably), its history, and its modern application through the two contemporary case studies of Bernie Sanders in America and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK.
Interesting points re: the modern left’s doubling down on extreme cultural war positions in ways that alienate working class voters (the base of any socialist movement), the feasibility of ‘socialism within capitalism’ (one that goes against orthodox Marxist determinism and may not sit well with some hardliners but is perhaps the most realistic solution we have to stopping the forces of capital), and the ‘dirtiness’ of the word socialism being washed away as younger generations grow without the context of the Cold War shaping such definitions.
3.75 stars
Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, The United States, and the Making of an Imperial Republic by Greg Grandin
Just as thoroughly sourced as the typical Chomsky joint, but with a bit more flair in the presentation.
The main central argument of the book – that Latin America has throughout much of the 1900s and beyond acted as a ‘low stakes’ and ‘low visibility’ region wherein the United States has been able to test out its various appendages of empire largely removed from the eyes of the international community – is connivingly and comprehensively made here.
Occasionally rushes over some of the most interesting bits, but understandable considering Grandin is truncating a century’s worth of history involving dozens of nations into a tight ~300 pages.
Good stuff.
4 stars
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin
'A clout in in the ear' is surely the Westeros version of Red Forman's infamous 'foot in your ass' threats.
Good stories in any case for those wanting to dip their toes into the ASOIAF world or for seasoned travelers looking for a bit of dessert.
4.25 stars.
The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky
That this is considered one of Daddy D’s lesser works that he infamously scrambled to write within a month is, I think, indicative of his genius.
“Do you know that one day I'll kill you? I won't do it because I'm no longer in love with you, or because I'm jealous, I’ll kill you for no better reason that I sometimes long to devour you.”
The titular gambler is a man prone to obsessive extremes and whether describing his romantic pursuits or his unbridled fervency on the roulette tables, Dostoevsky articulates these feelings with an authenticity that simply cannot be faked.
“Sometimes it happens that the most insane thought, the most impossible notion, will become so fixed in one’s head that at length one believes the thought or the notion to be reality.”
While lacking the scope and perhaps the depth of his more well-known masterworks, this short novel is proof positive that even a ‘lesser’ Dostoevsky offering still invites consideration and admiration.
4.5 stars.
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
There's nothing insightful or interesting I can say that hasn't already been said by the 60k+ other people who have reviewed this book, but it was good eh?
4.25 stars.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
I never used to think I was stupid though I am now questioning that as apparently I’m incapable of seeing the genius of a book that 900 billion other people can readily witness.
Anyway, my low rating is not indicative of the book’s quality, but only of my own endless ignorance.
It’s back to Hop on Pop for me.
2 stars.
Classic Tales of Horror by Edgar Allan Poe
I remember being 14 years old and sitting on my bedroom floor late at night trying to memorize a new stanza of The Raven or Annabel Lee each day. This was the result of, beyond just being that kind of kind, being assigned to read in my high school English class a collection of Poe stories, whose dark and torturous sensibilities resonated quite obviously with me being that kind of kid. I enjoyed the archaic and unfamiliar words that he would use, I would write down the more egregious examples and look them up in the dictionary and then use them myself to come off as orotund as possible.
All this to say that after finally revisiting these stories some 20 years later (in addition to many I had never read before), I was surprised to learn how much they, and Poe’s style in general, were still embedded in my psyche (and have subconsciously influenced my own style) as well as being woven into the fabric of so many other artists whose work I have appreciated over the years (from Davey Havok to Robert Eggers).
This is a selected collection of Poe’s short stories, not comprehensive by any means as it only includes those that fall under the ‘horror’ umbrella (and even then there are some notable omissions) and not all the entries here are winners (in fact, a couple of them are downright clunkers), but even at his ‘worst’ his command and highly idiosyncratic, often-imitated use of language shines bright.
For my money, the undisputed bangers in this collection:
King Pest, The Oval Portrait, The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Oblong Box, The Cask of Amontillado, Hop-Frog
4 stars.
Grassroots Zen by Manfred B. Steger and Perle Besserman
I like that the first and last page were made to resemble grass.
In any case, possibly too secular and permissive for the more ardent-minded and possibly too vague for newcomers testing the waters, but just right for an uncommitted journeyman like myself.
No star rating here as YMMV.
Technological Slavery by Theodore John Kaczynski
To my FBI caseworker - I think murder and political violence are bad, I only bought this for research.
That said, parts of this book, particularly the essay ISAIF (which remains the centerpiece of this collection), are prescient and hard to find fault with at face value. Deep down I think anyone who reads this will know and likely agree to some extent with what Uncle Ted is saying re: the alienating and dehumanizing impacts of technology, though it's one of those things that most people tend to be good at pushing to the back of their minds and ignoring (no doubt modern technology/media actually helps with this process). This is why Ted K was largely made out to be some dangerous, rambling lunatic, as it's far less uncomfortable to dismiss his ideas outright than it is to confront them.
He sure didn't like leftists, though it seems to me that he's often conflating garden-variety liberalism with 'legitimate' Marxist and/or class-centric leftism. In fact, he seems to have much more in common with Marx and Marxists that he would care to admit - they both see modern society as alienating, they both see modern humans as separated from their fundamental essence (that being the capacity to engage in meaningful labor), they both see the Industrial Revolution as perhaps the most significant occurrence in modern history, and so on. I wonder what the alternate reality would have looked like where he went down that path instead of that other one.
In any case, a good read but no star rating here so as to avoid discourse re: stars = endorsements, separating the art from the artist, etc. etc.
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
“What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless?”
It took me over a month to read this book that could technically be read in about an hour or so and not that there is a ‘correct’ way to read a book, but between you and me, that probably is the correct way to read this book. It benefits from being read slowly in a way that allows the language of the individual fables to echo and their intent to be duly considered.
“If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.”
Got that right pal.
4.25 stars.
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
Review pending.
4 stars.
The prose? Concise.
The narrative? Non-linear.
The central theme of the indescribable absurdity of war? Poignant.
The protagonist? Huge-wanged.
What's not to like here really? Not much, so it goes.
4.5 stars.
True Grit by Charles Portis
Speaking strictly plot-wise, Portis does little to distinguish True Grit from the deluge of other Westerns that were being published nearabouts the same time in the sixties. What does set this book apart (while substantially elevating it at the same time) is the impeccable voice of its narrator protagonist, Mattie Ross.
On paper, many of Mattie's characteristics seem contrary to what a compelling narrative voice 'should' be - she presents as mostly emotionless, she is strictly beholden to describing events as they happened without any sense of embellishment or flair, she offers little insight into her own background or psychological motivations (aside from her desire for 'justice', which even that she approaches more as a stoic duty than a point of emotional catharsis), and she is utterly humorless.
'Not a good hang' as kids today probably don't say. And yet, her voice and her position as an older, unmarried (possibly bitter about it but also probably not) and still seemingly humorless woman looking back on her fourteen-year-old self ends up being the perfect vehicle with which to tell what is otherwise a fairly standard Western story.
4.25 stars.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
You know, sometimes it can be hard to read a book written 100 years ago without filtering it through the parlance and expectations of modern society. With that in mind, this is the frustrating story about a low-value male named Jake who simps endlessly over oatmeal thicc hyper-thot Brett Ashley. Even though she very clearly tells him that because they can't smash (due to his groin-related war injury) she will never be able to settle down with him, he still does everything she asks of him, whether that is catching the next train to meet her a country over, or introducing her to a suave young bull-fighter she wants to bang, he does it unquestioningly. Eventually she bangs her way through pretty much his entire circle of friends and he just kind of sits there and gets drunk through it all.
If I could go back and tell Jake one thing, it would be to remember the two moments in the novel when he seemed genuinely happy - the first during a fishing trip where he does some healthy male bonding (so healthy that the men involved need to drop the 1920s version of a 'no homo' so as to not get the wrong ideas), and the second toward the end of the book when he is alone and enjoying a day swimming on the beach. Both of these moments Brett is nowhere to be seen. See what I'm saying bro? Now go out and there and live your best life you independent king.
3.75 stars.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Not for me, even though I feel like it should be for me. I see the themes, fine. The prose is good, fine. Last part is good, fine. But I don’t know, try a paragraph break sometime pal. I tried.
2.5 stars.
How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama XIV
There’s some sustenance here for those who want it.
3.25 stars.
Pet, Pet, Slap by Andrew Battershill
In the hands of a less capable writer this unlikely and erratic combination of literary and stock characters and genre tropes from detective, noir, and underdog sports stories would likely prove too complex to navigate and depict with any sense of cohesion. Fortunately, Battershill (MARRY, BANG, KILL) demonstrates the skill required to weave these various strands together in a compelling and compulsively readable way.
His chapters are short and punchy, his dialogue witty, and his prose is peppered with creative and oddly engrossing metaphors, similes, and descriptions that result in a unique and entertaining narrative voice.
Full review:
https://thebcreview.ca/2024/06/02/218...
Mr. Big: Exposing Undercover Investigations in Canada by Kouri Keenan & Joan Brockman
Niche read for those interested in Canadian undercover policing techniques (and British Columbian policing in general as this is where a majority of the Mr. Big operations throughout the country occur). The authors are clear about their critical stance re: the moral, legal, and ethical issue surrounding the controversial undercover technique wherein members of law enforcement create a fictional criminal underworld (complete with the ‘Mr. Big’ character, a crime boss who is in actuality an undercover interrogation expert) in order to entice suspects into confessing past crimes in order to enjoy the full benefits offered by their new ‘criminal’ connections.
Despite the technique’s impressively high conviction rating (95% if RCMP stats are to be believed), the authors argue, using relevant cases, that in addition to other ethical issues, the technique can elicit false or coerced confessions and may (and indeed has) lead to false convictions and should therefore be reigned in or otherwise severely limited in use.
It’s a compelling and well-researched argument and a worthwhile read if you happen to be interested in the nitty gritty of Canadian criminology/policing.
3.5 stars.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Clockwork Orange is often described as dystopian, but reading it fundamentally as a work of dystopic literature does a disservice to its inherent value as a work of criminological theory which I think is the far more interesting and valuable angle here. The dystopian qualities are very understated in any case – what we get are only small glimpses of the political landscape of ‘near-future’ Britain but only through the eyes of a protagonist who is not especially interested in such things. What we are able to glean is that levels of street crime are at an unprecedented peak and that the current far-right administration sees the subsequent overcrowding of prisons as apparently a legitimate problem and not, say, as an opportunity for social control or for financial gain through prison privatization or the exploitation of prison labor (as would be the case in Reagan’s America of the 1980s, perhaps a truer dystopia than the one Burgess envisions here). As such, there is interest in inmate ‘reform’ which takes on the form of the experimental and controversial Ludovico Technique whereby violent inmates are conditioned (via a steady regimen of drugs and disturbing images) to associate violence with extreme discomfort, ultimately removing their ability to engage in or even think about such actions.
There’s lots to unpack here through the lens of criminological theory with respect to individual agency, offender rehabilitation, crime surges, prison violence, the ‘born criminal,’ the eventual ‘aging out’ of crime (life course perspectives), and the moral, ethical, and legal role the state should play in such things.
But aside from all that egghead stuff it’s just a pleasure to read what with the hypnotic language and swift pacing.
Someone ought to make a movie out of this.
4.5 stars.
Based on a True Story by Norm Macdonald
Those seeking a deeper, personal, or sentimental look into the life and mind of Canada’s greatest contribution to stand-up comedy will not necessarily find it here. There are only small glimmers of sentimentality where it seems as if the ‘real’ Norm shines through (particularly in a chapter toward the very end).
What you will find is a Beat novel cum Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas cum Kafkaesque body horror by the time it’s all said and done. And like Fear and Loathing’s Dr. Gonzo, our friend Norm was perhaps too uniquely singular in his comedy stylings to find mainstream success on the same level of his dear friend Adam Sandler, but simply too talented to fade into obscurity during his post-SNL years. Or however that quote goes.
The ‘Norm’ of this book is based on the Norm than we know and love but is not the same. He is an exaggerated caricature who presents himself as a morphine-addicted hack that is constantly trying to relive his brief moment in the comedy spotlight and to this bit he remains fully committed for the entire novel.
Those familiar with Norm’s material will recognize certain jokes and stories, many of which have been shamelessly recycled here verbatim, and while this would normally be a knock against the book, here it plays perfectly with the hacky character he has created.
4.25 stars.
The Terrorist’s Son by Zak Ebrahim
At a brisk 90 pages (which took about 1.5 hours to read), you won’t find an especially deep treatise here on the nature of radicalization, deradicalization, or commitment to non-violence, nor does Zak Ebrahim elaborate too much on what these processes looked like from his perspective aside from a few brief anecdotes, but I suppose this was not the point of this book. The point of this book is to share the story of one man’s very unique circumstances being raised as the son of the ‘first man to commit an act of Islamist murder on American soil’ and how/why he chose a different path and in this the book largely succeeds.
Ebrahim, who as a young person carried many of the ‘predictors’ of radicalization (radicalized family members, personal grievances, history of abuse/bullying, home instability, questions of identity, etc.), managed to point his life instead in the opposite direction – toward empathy, understanding, and non-violence.
Ebrahim’s ten-minute TED talk (on which the book is based) delivers the broad strokes of his story and is worth a watch to those with a passing interest. For those seeking a bit more about his compelling story (though not too much more), the book will deliver.
4 stars.
This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s Kid A and the Beginning of the 21st Century by Steven Hyde
For as much as I adore Kid A (and adore it I do as it is one of my top five all-time favorite albums) this book unfortunately proves that there probably just isn't 200+ pages worth of things to say about it.
That's not to say I didn't generally enjoy this book, I did, and there were even some tidbits and trivia that were new to me (a diehard fan of this band for nearly 20 years), I just think it could have been trimmed down by a good 50 pages so as to stick a little tighter to its main topic and thesis.
Speaking of, the thesis is a little underdefined here, it's more a series of smaller observations regarding the undeniably significant era in which Radiohead's fourth album was released (the year 2000 - just months after we survived Y2k and just months before 9/11 drastically changed the cultural and political landscape). Some of these side paths Hyden deviates down are entertaining and insightful and offer interesting parallels to other artistic and cultural touchstones of the time, some seem a little forced and not especially relevant to the topic at hand. The end result here is a book too disjointed, meandering, and bloated to be a tight analysis of Kid A specifically yet not detailed enough to serve as an overall analysis of Radiohead's career more generally.
Still, an entertaining enough read for Radiohead fans, or even just for those who happened to remember what it was like to live through the turn of the millennium (crazy time that it was I myself can't help but feel a nostalgic fondness for it as I write this from the Seventh Circle that is 2024).
3.25 stars.
Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party by Joshua Bloom and Waldo Martin
Maybe it’s a side effect of getting older and the related phenomenon of time ‘speeding up’ as I do, but it really seems like the average week of the 1960s had more packed into it than the average year of today. It’s hard, for instance, to fathom that the entire recording career of the Beatles was something like seven and a half years long. That’s longer than the gap between albums of some of my favorite modern groups.
It’s similarly hard to conceptualize that the creation, rise, and fall of the Black Panther Party all happened within a span of about four years, all laid out here in an elaborate and adeptly researched manner.
Less than three years after their humble beginnings as a student activist group inspired by the likes of Malcolm X, Marx, and international revolutionaries, the Black Panther Party had dozens of chapters and thousands of members throughout the country (as well as many foreign supporters around the world from places like Vietnam, Cuba, and China), and was being labelled by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover as, ‘the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.’ Not a bad trajectory.
Yet, within just another year or so, the group had internally fractured and fissured (this in large part due to crackdowns and some underhanded tactics of the FBI as well as some ideological in-fighting) to a point where what public support they once enjoyed has quickly dried up. Bloom and Martin also suggest the popularity of the group (particularly from liberals and moderates) was intrinsically tied to the anti-war movement and its success:
"But liberal readers of the New Yorker and New York magazine were much more apt to embrace ridicule of the Black Panther's anti-imperialism once their children were not likely to be drafted and killed in Vietnam."
The book is thoroughly researched, the arguments fair and unemotional, and the representation of the BPP and its figureheads largely objective, highlighting the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The book concludes with a meditation on the legacy of the Black Panthers and the somber assertion that today, some fifty plus years later, we are unlikely to see a movement or group on the same level as the BPP come around again. They don’t say it but the implication, or at least my reading, is that the modern political left is simply too disorganized, their enemies too untouchable, their potential allies too divided, their lives too comfortable, their attention spans too short to ever mobilize to the same degree and impact. One is left with a certain pessimism regarding the current day.
Small wonder we’re stuck staring behind us at a sixty’s sunset through rose-colored sunglasses.
4.25 stars.
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Sometimes you happen across a book where it becomes evident within the first few pages that you are reading something singular and special.
"Man only likes counting his grief, he doesn't count his happiness."
Sometimes you’re sixteen and you’re watching Taxi Driver for the first time and marveling at the creativity on display and wondering how people could think up such things and it isn’t until an embarrassing amount of years later when you finally realize that all art is built on the art that preceded it.
Speaking of Taxi Driver, if Travis Bickle is one of cinema’s premier Literally Me* characters than surely the Underground Man is literature’s equivalent, perfected by Dostoevsky some one hundred years prior.
"But that is simply because I don't respect myself. How can a man of consciousness have the slightest respect for himself?"
As with The Stranger’s Meursault, I find myself alternating, often several times within the same chapter, between feeling empathy, contempt, respect, sympathy, disdain, and amusement with the Underground Man.
Not boredom though. Never boredom.
5 stars.
The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
I think I read it wrong.
3 stars.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Part of me wishes I never read anything about Toole’s personal life before (finally) getting around to reading this book.
Yes, the book is funny. The dialogue and the characters absurd, the situations amusing, and yes, this is all helmed by one of modern fiction’s most memorable losers in Ignatius J. Reilly, but I couldn’t escape this pervasive feeling of sadness that seemed to undergird everything around this book, whether in its creation and eventual publication, or in the characters themselves.
During the first few chapters I was amazed at the prescience of Toole in essentially creating the perfect prototype of the modern basement-dwelling, 4chan/Reddit frequenting, self-serious pseudointellectual caricature that so abounds our modern age, but as I thought more on that I think I realized that that kind of person has pretty much always existed, they just take on slightly different forms based on the cultural and technology of the day.
Every generation gets the neckbeard that it deserves, it would seem.
Problem is, I’ve known too many of these people in my life to not notice the sadness and self-doubt that emanates from so many of them, and maybe I’m reading too much into this, but it really seemed as if Toole himself were self-inserting himself a bit into the character of Ignatius, which, if true, also extremely sad.
Should have gone into it blind I suppose.
In any event, a hugely entertaining read and Ignatius is one of those rare literary characters that is, for better or worse, unforgettable in the true sense of the word.
4.5 stars.
Buddha Heart, Buddha Mind: Living the Four Noble Truths by the Dalai Lama XIV
It would prove to not be the first time that I struggled with the writing (or in the this case, the oral delivery and later translation from the original French) of the 14th Dalai Lama.
2.5 stars.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
It's like The Alchemist, except admitting that you like this won't ruin your literary street cred.
4 stars.
The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O’Connor
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to a true believer in the way that Flannery O’Connor undoubtedly was. At my very best I might be able to convincingly approximate this worldview in my own work, but I simply won’t ever be guided by it in the way that she was. Case in point, in just about any other book (and almost certainly in any book written by an author with more liberal, modern, or urbanite sensibilities) the character of Rayber would invariably end up being the one that heroically ‘saves’ the teenage protagonist Francis Marion Tarwater from his frighteningly evangelist upbringing, ushering him into the more progressive modern world.
Not so in this case and frankly you would be a fool for thinking that someone with O’Connor’s reputation would ever go that route. But hey, that’s why we love her, ain’t it?
O’Connor’s is a worldview that I will never fully understand or authentically relate to, by goodness gracious does it ever lend itself to some harrowing (and enviable) depictions of the human condition that most modern horror writers could only hope to match.
4.25 stars
Stasio: A Novel in 3 Parts by Tamas Dobozy
On two occasions and by two separate characters is southern Ontarian lawman Anthony de Stasio accused of being a “terrible detective” and rhetorically questioned as to whether he can remember actually solving any cases during his career. Harsh, but these charges my have validity given Stasio’s idiosyncratic penchant for overcomplicating cases in ways that, typical of the noir detective genre, often fail to lead to ‘satisfying’ conclusions where law and justice neatly and cleanly prevail over the criminal element.
In Stasio: A Novel in 3 Parts we are made privy to three such cases worked by the titular detective. Each offers us insight into his unique investigative style while also serving as a window into three distinct points of his progressively paranoid and unsustainable personal life.
Full review at the BC Review:
https://thebcreview.ca/2024/07/22/223...
On Palestine by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappé
Decent primer on the issue. Not a deep historical accounting of the situation but a good overview and an evergreen appeal for humanity.
4 stars
9-11 by Noam Chomsky
A very brief (and I assume hastily published) collection of Noam Chomsky interviews in the immediate weeks following 9/11. Given that the dust was still settling in the aftermath of the attack, you won’t find a detailed accounting of 9/11 itself, the various reasons leading up to it, or the generation-defining repercussions, but it’s nonetheless interesting to read people’s reactions at the time with the benefit of nearly 25 years of hindsight.
To his credit, Chomsky is quite measured in his answers here – keeping in mind this was a time when people across the political spectrum were generally angry, vengeful, and bloodthirsty – so his calls (completely ignored of course) for a restrained and thoughtful response are quite refreshing. Impressively, he also dispels certain rumors that were kicked around by Western media/politicians at the time (“they hate us because of our freedoms” and so on) which helped generate widescale public support for the disastrous ‘War on Terror’ that followed.
While these interviews may not offer much in the context of the present day, this collection remains an interesting relic from a consequential time from a measured and judicious voice that was unfortunately drowned out at the time.
3.25 stars
The Socialist Awakening by John Judis
Not a deep historical account but a decent quick-and-dirty primer of socialism (and of some of the different types that people often erroneously use interchangeably), its history, and its modern application through the two contemporary case studies of Bernie Sanders in America and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK.
Interesting points re: the modern left’s doubling down on extreme cultural war positions in ways that alienate working class voters (the base of any socialist movement), the feasibility of ‘socialism within capitalism’ (one that goes against orthodox Marxist determinism and may not sit well with some hardliners but is perhaps the most realistic solution we have to stopping the forces of capital), and the ‘dirtiness’ of the word socialism being washed away as younger generations grow without the context of the Cold War shaping such definitions.
3.75 stars
Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, The United States, and the Making of an Imperial Republic by Greg Grandin
Just as thoroughly sourced as the typical Chomsky joint, but with a bit more flair in the presentation.
The main central argument of the book – that Latin America has throughout much of the 1900s and beyond acted as a ‘low stakes’ and ‘low visibility’ region wherein the United States has been able to test out its various appendages of empire largely removed from the eyes of the international community – is connivingly and comprehensively made here.
Occasionally rushes over some of the most interesting bits, but understandable considering Grandin is truncating a century’s worth of history involving dozens of nations into a tight ~300 pages.
Good stuff.
4 stars
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin
'A clout in in the ear' is surely the Westeros version of Red Forman's infamous 'foot in your ass' threats.
Good stories in any case for those wanting to dip their toes into the ASOIAF world or for seasoned travelers looking for a bit of dessert.
4.25 stars.
The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky
That this is considered one of Daddy D’s lesser works that he infamously scrambled to write within a month is, I think, indicative of his genius.
“Do you know that one day I'll kill you? I won't do it because I'm no longer in love with you, or because I'm jealous, I’ll kill you for no better reason that I sometimes long to devour you.”
The titular gambler is a man prone to obsessive extremes and whether describing his romantic pursuits or his unbridled fervency on the roulette tables, Dostoevsky articulates these feelings with an authenticity that simply cannot be faked.
“Sometimes it happens that the most insane thought, the most impossible notion, will become so fixed in one’s head that at length one believes the thought or the notion to be reality.”
While lacking the scope and perhaps the depth of his more well-known masterworks, this short novel is proof positive that even a ‘lesser’ Dostoevsky offering still invites consideration and admiration.
4.5 stars.
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
There's nothing insightful or interesting I can say that hasn't already been said by the 60k+ other people who have reviewed this book, but it was good eh?
4.25 stars.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
I never used to think I was stupid though I am now questioning that as apparently I’m incapable of seeing the genius of a book that 900 billion other people can readily witness.
Anyway, my low rating is not indicative of the book’s quality, but only of my own endless ignorance.
It’s back to Hop on Pop for me.
2 stars.
Classic Tales of Horror by Edgar Allan Poe
I remember being 14 years old and sitting on my bedroom floor late at night trying to memorize a new stanza of The Raven or Annabel Lee each day. This was the result of, beyond just being that kind of kind, being assigned to read in my high school English class a collection of Poe stories, whose dark and torturous sensibilities resonated quite obviously with me being that kind of kid. I enjoyed the archaic and unfamiliar words that he would use, I would write down the more egregious examples and look them up in the dictionary and then use them myself to come off as orotund as possible.
All this to say that after finally revisiting these stories some 20 years later (in addition to many I had never read before), I was surprised to learn how much they, and Poe’s style in general, were still embedded in my psyche (and have subconsciously influenced my own style) as well as being woven into the fabric of so many other artists whose work I have appreciated over the years (from Davey Havok to Robert Eggers).
This is a selected collection of Poe’s short stories, not comprehensive by any means as it only includes those that fall under the ‘horror’ umbrella (and even then there are some notable omissions) and not all the entries here are winners (in fact, a couple of them are downright clunkers), but even at his ‘worst’ his command and highly idiosyncratic, often-imitated use of language shines bright.
For my money, the undisputed bangers in this collection:
King Pest, The Oval Portrait, The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Oblong Box, The Cask of Amontillado, Hop-Frog
4 stars.
Grassroots Zen by Manfred B. Steger and Perle Besserman
I like that the first and last page were made to resemble grass.
In any case, possibly too secular and permissive for the more ardent-minded and possibly too vague for newcomers testing the waters, but just right for an uncommitted journeyman like myself.
No star rating here as YMMV.
Technological Slavery by Theodore John Kaczynski
To my FBI caseworker - I think murder and political violence are bad, I only bought this for research.
That said, parts of this book, particularly the essay ISAIF (which remains the centerpiece of this collection), are prescient and hard to find fault with at face value. Deep down I think anyone who reads this will know and likely agree to some extent with what Uncle Ted is saying re: the alienating and dehumanizing impacts of technology, though it's one of those things that most people tend to be good at pushing to the back of their minds and ignoring (no doubt modern technology/media actually helps with this process). This is why Ted K was largely made out to be some dangerous, rambling lunatic, as it's far less uncomfortable to dismiss his ideas outright than it is to confront them.
He sure didn't like leftists, though it seems to me that he's often conflating garden-variety liberalism with 'legitimate' Marxist and/or class-centric leftism. In fact, he seems to have much more in common with Marx and Marxists that he would care to admit - they both see modern society as alienating, they both see modern humans as separated from their fundamental essence (that being the capacity to engage in meaningful labor), they both see the Industrial Revolution as perhaps the most significant occurrence in modern history, and so on. I wonder what the alternate reality would have looked like where he went down that path instead of that other one.
In any case, a good read but no star rating here so as to avoid discourse re: stars = endorsements, separating the art from the artist, etc. etc.
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
“What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless?”
It took me over a month to read this book that could technically be read in about an hour or so and not that there is a ‘correct’ way to read a book, but between you and me, that probably is the correct way to read this book. It benefits from being read slowly in a way that allows the language of the individual fables to echo and their intent to be duly considered.
“If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.”
Got that right pal.
4.25 stars.
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
Review pending.
4 stars.
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