Quick Book Reviews

Death Troopers
As much as I loved all things Star Wars growing up, I never really got into the whole Expanded Universe stuff. I read and enjoyed the Timothy Zahn trilogy back in the early 90s, but that’s about the extent of my exposure. I had heard pretty good things about this one, so I checked it out from the library and a couple of days later returned it with a big grin on my face. It’s silly and not particularly well written, but it’s got a good concept and the little twist halfway through the book brought on a nice nostalgic glow. It is completely disposable, but totally enjoyable.

Fletch
Over the years, I have heard so many people rave about the Fletch books that I worried that this would not live up to expectations. Not to worry, as I enjoyed the hell of out this book. It’s a short, lively book but the characterizations are quite strong and the dialogue extremely sharp. I can understand why the material and tone was tweaked for the movie, but they can co-exist quite nicely. I look forward to tracking down the other books in the series.

Revolutionary Road
Not the best book to read whilst trying to enjoying a romantic vacation with your wife. It is beautifully written, but depressing as hell. It’s sort of like Mad Men without all of the one-liners and where you get to watch souls being crushed. It is as if you are witnessing a slow motion car crash but are powerless to do anything about it. It is quiet and subtle, and yet incredibly powerful.

The Lincoln Lawyer
This book, on the other hand, is complete tripe. That being said, it was strangely compelling and did a pretty good job of cleansing the palate. For some reason, this was selected for my wife’s book club. I don’t know what they can discuss, other than to say that it is a pretty good distraction while sitting on an airplane. I can’t recommend it, but I feel like it does precisely what it is supposed to do.

Quick Book Reviews

The Long Goodbye - Raymond Chandler
This was my first exposure to Chandler and I was very, very impressed. Philip Marlowe really does live up to his iconic status. The mystery is quite convoluted and there are perhaps a few too many moving pieces, but Chandler does a good job keeping the reader engaged throughout. I really liked this Black Lizard Vintage Crime volumes. A local shop has tons of remaindered copies and they are a real bargain. I watched the Altman adaptation a week or so after putting the book down. A strange, and yet quite intriguing companion piece.

Dark Side of the Screen - Foster Hirsch
My parents gave me this for Christmas. It was an 'out of left field' choice, as I don't tend to discuss classic cinema with them. It was, however, a wonderful choice as I absolutely adored this book. Hirsch does an excellent job of organizing the various themes, and I truly appreciated the updated afterword in which he sounds like a giddy fanboy talking about recent noir discoveries. I really appreciated experts who are open minded and who believe their area of expertise to be a living, breathing thing.

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
I am not the world's biggest Margaret Atwood fan. I tend to admire her work more than I enjoy it. This science-fiction tale, which flips between a pre and post-apocalypse North America, is thoroughly enjoyable. Her writing is sharp here, and she does an excellent job of universe building. It is, however, somewhat rudderless in the second half. That lack of coherent vision, along with some soon to be dated pop culture references, hurt the final product. I have a feeling that Atwood has actually looked into the future, and this serves as a warning. My wife has a copy of Year of the Flood, and I will like tackle it within the next few months.

Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett
To me, this book should be admired as literary innovation rather than as a story itself. It meanders and drags in places. The ideas are all there, and the dialogue is very hard boiled in spots but the whole thing does not fit together all that well. Hammett put all of those elements together in The Maltese Falcon. It also inspired somewhere around a million authors and led to a new genre and countless works of pulpy crime fiction.

Quick Book Reviews

Shiloh - Shelby Foote
Although I'm probably a few re-enactments short of being a true Civil War buff, I've always been fascinated by the the War Between the States. I became ware of Shelby Foote via the Ken Burns documentary, but somehow never got around to reading any of his work. I really enjoyed this one, although it did not engage me on the level of a Killer Angels. At first, I was a bit thrown off by the moving narrative, but I got into the groove after a way. He is a talented writer, and brings a very unique style to the conflict. Let me put it this way: If you hate Faulkner, you may want to pass on this book. My wife and I visited the Shiloh Military Park a few years back, and I am actually quite glad that I read the book after having travelled some of those roads.

The Sign of the Four - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I'm not sure where this one ranks among Holmes aficionados, but I liked it quite a bit less than A Study in Scarlet. I cannot quite put my finger on the precise reasons, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that this one actually appeared to feature a bit less actual detective work. The plot line is typical Victoria era 'mystery from a colonial outpost' and some disbelief certainly must be suspended, but that's all in good fun. I think I left feeling a little cold by the boat chase sequence, as well as by the flashback sequence towards the end. Good, but not great. I look forward to reading more Holmes adventures.


Freedom - Jonathan Franzen
Let me get this out of the way. I haven't read The Corrections, so I am not in a position to compare and contrast the two books. I've now got a copy of The Corrections, and I'm 80 pages in. What I can say with great certainty is that Franzen is a terrific writer with a good handle on dialogue. He also excels at establishing a setting, and creating a believable world. On the other hand, his characterizations come up short, and this prevented me from being fully invested in the lives of the various members and associates of the Berglund family. I found myself not caring if any of them ever found happiness. Perhaps that was the intent of the author, but I only wish he could have chopped off 250 pages so that I didn't feel as though I was spinning my wheels for eternity.

Quick Book Reviews

God Save the Mark - Donald E. Westlake
This was my first visit into the world of Donald Westlake (aside from Darwyn Cooke’s graphic novel). It is a very engaging romp through the streets of New York City. I love a good con, and it was particularly entertaining to see so many from the victim's perspective. The mark in question, Fred Fitch, is one of the most entertaining characters I've come across in years. Westlake's NYC of the 60s is full of dames, goons and grifters and it is fun to go along for the ride. I'm surprised this one was never optioned by a movie studio, as it would have made for a helluva movie circa 1968.

The Postman Always Rings Twice - James Cain
This was my second Cain book (after Double Indemnity) and I think I liked this one even better. It’s full of sweat, lust and dust and Cain’s prose is wonderfully economical. His California is a seedy place, unlike anything we’d imagine today. He does a very good job of building suspense, especially in the first, flubbed attempted murder. It’s a solid piece of crime fiction, and I can understand why the subtle mixture of sex and violence might have ruffled a few feathers back in the 30s.

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said - Philip K. Dick
I am making my way through the Philip K. Dick catalogue and felt as though I was spinning my wheels until I got into this one. There are definitely two groups of Dick books. The first have good ideas, but are lacking both in terms of execution and characterization (Eye in the Sky, Counter Clock World). The second group is much smaller, and I would place this one in it along side Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and The Man in the High Castle. It is an engaging tale of lost identity, past sins and the role of both celebrity and authority. It is thought provoking and intelligent but completely accessible.

Paris: The Secret History - Andrew Hussey
Andrew Hussey’s street level history of the City of Lights through the ages shines a light on some of the city’s darker alleyways. It moves along at a breakneck clip, but never feels rushed. From revolution to disease, it is impressive to see how a sense of civic identity can allow a city to thrive under terrible conditions. I do wish he’d spent a bit more time focused on the post-WW2 years, especially how the city came to terms with its collaborationist element, but at least he touched on it. I highly recommend this one to fans of social history.

Consolation - Michael Redhill
As a Torontonian, it was wonderful to see the city come to life as a character in this novel. The downtown streets I walk on a daily basis were alive with the struggles of people trying to make it in this fledgling town more than 150 years ago. The problem is that Redhill is not able to infuse the human characters with the same degree of life. The story flips between the present day and the 1850s, and the Victorian portion is much more interesting. The present day characters are not sufficiently fleshed out, and their sequences seem to interrupt the narrative rather than enhance it. The descriptions of old Toronto are fascinating, but I can’t imagine they would be of interest to anyone outside the 416 area code.

Quick Book Reviews

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao- Junot Diaz
I loved this one as it deftly jumped around in time and gave me my first real look into the history of the Dominican Republic. As a part-time geek, I sometimes cringe at stories too steeped in superheroes and twelve-sided die, but Diaz manages to make it work here. The main problem with a story with multiples characters and story lines is that some are ultimately more interesting than others. As such, the story does meander in spots and I found the ending to be all too predictable. That being said, it was quite enjoyable.

Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut
As I may have mentioned previously, I’m a pretty big fan of Kurt Vonnegut. The man had a real knack for spinning gold out of straw. He can take a seemingly simple premise and use that as a building block to tell a much larger tale. There’s plenty of absurdist humour here and some keen observations about people, trust and truth. In the end, however, I don’t think I was ever fully sold on the protagonist. Maybe I was always supposed to feel slightly detached from him. With Vonnegut, you never really know.

Counterclock World - Philip K. Dick
This is a lesser work by Dick. Like so many of his books and stories, the concept is interesting, but the execution falls short. Here, time has begun moving backwards and the recent dead return to life. All of this occurs amidst great political and religious turmoil in future America. Unfortunately, the main characters are never fully fleshed out and Dick fails to truly harness the rules of the time in reverse concept. There are just too many times the ‘rules’ are broken, and that kept me from buying into the premise. A good springboard for a movie, but that’s about it.

A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
While I had seen a lot of his work in various formats (film, comics, radio), I had never read any of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle source material. My wife has this on her book club road map, so I dove into during a train ride. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and Doyle writing style holds up quite well. I did find the change in location and time to Utah to be more than a little jarring, and I wish there had been a bit more explanation behind the transition. I find it quite fascinating that a late 19th book has such a ‘modern’ twist involving religion and global revenge. I look forward to more Holmes & Watson.

Quick Book Reviews

The Third Man – Graham Greene
The film certainly has a very memorable screenplay, so I thought it was worth checking out the source material. We have a bit of a quirk here, as the screenplay pre-dated the book – but Greene certainly handled the transition well. Over the years, I’ve run pretty hot and cold with Greene’s work. Some of it is very engaging, while others leave me with a real sense of detachment. To be frank, The Power and the Glory falls into the latter category. Much like the movie, Harry Lime is a spirit moving throughout the story. What I liked about the book is that, while Rollo Martins is certainly interested in getting to the bottom of the mystery, he remains even more morally ambiguous than he did in the movie.


Being There – Jerzy Kozinski
Again, I’ve seen the movie but never got around to reading this book (novella?). The only other Kozinski book I’ve read is The Painted Bird, and this one is certainly less intense. I liked it, but it really does feel like a minor work. I can understand how people really enjoyed the satirical look at Washington back in 1971, but it comes off as a bit dated these days. All in all, it seems a bit thin and I actually think things were better fleshed out in Ashby’s film.

Yiddish Policeman’s Union – Michael Chabon
Get ready for a little comic book geek heresy. I quite preferred this book to Kavalier & Clay. Like his earlier work, Chabon does an incredible job of establishing a setting. With this book, however, rather than worrying about historical detail – he allows himself to create his own universe. By the end of the book, it is hard to believe that Sitka, Alaska isn’t actually a giant metropolis. To me, K&K meandered a bit too much, and falls apart in the second half. A bit of the same thing occurs in YPU, but Chabon keeps it from unraveling completely and his work developing characters improved immensely as our hero, Meyer Landsman is a wonderfully complex and multi-dimensional character. It is almost as if Chabon was channeling Richler here.

Run - Anne Patchett
This book came highly recommend by my parents. I was immensely underwhelmed. It is lovely and polite, but it is also unbelievably bland. The plot is relatively simple, and I would be surprised if someone could not correctly guess where it was headed. Patchett makes the mistake of hinting at elements of racism and corruption but never addresses them. Her characters are also very wooden, and this leads to a drama-free dramatic novel. I get the sense the Patchett is trying to say something with this book, but she fell far short.

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
While The Third Man is a good book that was commissioned as a screenplay, this feels like a book written with the intention of being optioned for a movie. I have no idea how this one became such a phenomenon. As a mystery, it really isn’t very mysterious. As a thriller, the thrilling moments are few and far between. I felt as it I was treading water, turning page after page. It was overly sensationalistic at times, while coming up short in the suspense department at other times. I also think it is a shame that the title was changed from Men Who Hate Women. This one is certainly about misogyny, if nothing else – I only wish that a bit more substance could have been inserted somewhere into the 800 pages. I won’t be reading the sequels.

Buy This Book: Was Superman a Spy?

Full disclosure here folks. I 'intermet' Brian Cronin years ago and dined with him last Saturday. He's a wonderful guy, so I'm thrilled to say that I absolutely loved his recently published book. For years, Brian has been debunking and bunking(?) various myths and legends of the comic book world for years at his fantastic blog Comics Should Be Good (more disclosure - I also contribute there). With Was Superman A Spy... And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed, Cronin has been able to move his work from the web to bookstore shelves. It is a wonderfully designed paperback. Cronin hasn't just rehash his various blog pieces here, but smoothly linked them together, organizing by company and character. He's provided additional background, making it much more readable for people new to the comic book world. Inside these pages, Cronin investigates everything from Batman's initial color scheme to the reason you've never seen Black Lightning in a JLA cartoon. I consider myself to be pretty up on most comic book stuff - but I must admit that I never knew that the Fantastic Four almost work masks. This is a must have for any comic book fan - a wonderfully entertaining read.

http://www.amazon.com/Was-Superman-Spy-Legends-Revealed/dp/0452295327

Quick Book Reviews

Yes, sometimes I read books without word balloons. Here's a quick look at some recent reads.

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain. You've seen the movie, now read the book! It won't take you very long, as it is 120 pages of taut storytelling with very crisp dialogue. I wouldn't put Cain up there with Hammet and Chandler, but he's not that far behind. Although first published as a serial - it doesn't have those awkward stops and starts from which many serialized books suffer. It's the cynicism that permeates this book that makes it so engaging. Who knew insurance could be so fascinating?

Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith. Tom Ripley is a wonderful literary character. He's that charming sociopath that we root for and hate ourselves for it later. The is a far more slowly paced story that the first two Ripley adventures - perhaps in keeping with his comfortable middle age existence. The slow build up to the denouement actually allows the reader to forgive Highsmith for some of the gaps in believability (I thought Trevanny was a little too easily convinced to take on his 'project'). Although part of a series, it can truly be enjoyed as a standalone piece.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. This is early Vonnegut and it shows.While his signature characters are all present, the plot meanders and it lacks the warmth that he'd bring to his later work. The our is still there, but it's less subtle and quite cold at times. He tackles too many themes at once here, and while he certainly gives the reader a taste of what will inhabit his later works, it just doesn't add up here. It's a good read, but only after you've finished with his true classics.

The Art of Ray Harryhausen by Tony Dalton and Ray Harryhausen is an absolute must have for any fan of the Harryhausen films. It's a beautifully designed coffee table book with plenty of never before seen documents that show just how much work Harryhausen put into each and everyone one of his projects. I particularly enjoyed the discussions of the various artists that he found inspiring and I'm in awe of the man's drawings and sketches. The photographs of the monster models in varying states of decay were interesting, but a little sad. These things should be in a museum somewhere. I was quite surprised to discover just how many great projects never too flight. So many missed opportunities. Highly recommended

Quick Book Reviews

Yup - every now and then I read stuff that isn't in comic book format. Here are a few recent reads:

The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America - Walter Borneman
This is an excellent example of what I'll call 'popular history'. It manages to be informative but doesn't get too tied down in certain trappings that make so many academic works inaccessible to many. Borneman's writing style is lively with a very light but enlightening editorial voice. This is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in this fascinating period in North American history.

A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
For my money, there are not many writers as consistently entertaining as Nick Hornby. This, however, stands as one of his lesser works as it does not come close to engage the reader in the same was a About a Boy or High Fidelity. This may be partially due to the multi-narrator structure, as that only really allowed for a superficial look at the characters. Personally, I could have lived with 300 pages of pure Martin. It's ok - but I just the story was spinning it's wheels in the second half.

The Road - Cormac McCarthy
This is the book that nearly killed me. I'd been putting off reading it for months as so many people told me about the sheer intensity. As a father of two kids under 3, I had totally psyched myself out. I finally worked up the courage and cracked it open. It's a brilliant book but I don't think I can recommend it to the majority of people in my life because of that intensity, the never ending sense of dread and horror. I plowed through it in 3 hours - the literary equivalent to ripping off an bandage. It is great, but I don't think I'll ever read it again.

A Month of Pure Dick

I’m not exactly the world’s greatest expert on science-fiction but I decided to dive headfirst into a rather unsettling experiment. I would read four books by Philip K. Dick back to back to back to back. By the end of the month, my brain hurt, but I think that’s because it expanded a good deal. I’m still a little unsure out what to make of some of the themes and ideas in Dick’s books, but I always say that's a good sign. Here's a quick overview of the 4 novels I tackled.

The Man in the High Castle
As I understand, this is seen by many to be Dick’s masterpiece. It is both epic and approachable (did I just use wine terminology?). The comic book fan will enjoy the What If?/Elseworlds feel to it as Dick does paint a pretty convincing picture of how WW2 might have ended. The book brought Stephen King’s The Stand to mind, as they both deals with macro issues trickling down to a micro level. I am still fascinated by the Japanese obsession with Americana that Dick so vividly described. It is hard not to see him as being quite prescient. A fine read that I’d recommend to anyone, not just nerds.

Dr. Futurity
As I understand this is a fairly minor work by Dick, but I enjoy it immensely. The complexities of time travel and its impact on the future (or present, as it were) are explored here and I was left contemplating some pretty big issues. It’s not as grand or sweeping as some of his other books, but it is an enjoyable read and left me quite satisfied.

Dr. Bloodmoney
This is a rambling epic with certain similarities to The Man in the High Castle, as people contend with a very uncomfortable post-apocalyptic future. Survivalism and anarchy are two of the major themes here, but the main thread that runs through the book is greed, or is it jealousy? Or is it bigotry? Or is it genetic & ethics? What I am getting at is that the one shortfall of this book is that too many major themes are explored, and none are resolved in a satisfying way. The whole time I was reading it, I thought ‘this would have made a great movie in the 70s’, but I’m guess I would have been disappointed with the ending. The concept is great, and the execution is good but somewhat flawed.

The Eye in the Sky
After reading this mind-bender, I had to take a break from Dick. It is perhaps the most challenging of his books that I’ve read. The challenge is that the narrative is somewhat obtuse and the ideas being explored here (mostly question of perception of realities) are doomed to leave the reader search for more satisfying answers. I am glad that it made my brain expand a little bit, but I kind of wish I has read it as an undergrad. My streetcar commute and solipsism do not mix well.

Quick Book Reviews

Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammet
OK, OK – I’ve heard a million times how wonderful Hammet’s books are, and I’ve certainly been a big fan of his work translated to screen, but for one reason or another I just never got around to reading any of them. I finally rectified that situation and picked up a copy of Maltese Falcon at a used bookstore. I’ve seen the movie a half dozen times and was worried that it would interfere with my enjoyment of the book. Actually, the reverse was true – somehow, my knowledge of the movie and the various actors helped the prose bounce along beautifully. What a great read – wonderful dialogue and a great cast of characters. Of course, I kept hearing the voices of Bogart, Greenstreet and Lorre in my head but that was more than fine by me. I think whomever cast the film should be given an Oscar. Next stop – the Thin Man.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
What kind of a nerd am I? I've never read a book by this legend. I bought a stack of 'em from a used bookstore and figured I'd start in familiar territory. Much like the Maltese Falcon, I was worried that my repeated viewings of Blade Runner would much up my enjoyment. It didn't at all. The book is soooo different in scope, setting and overall vibe. I really enjoyed the sense of despair mixed with practicality in Dick's future - somehow people are both nihilistic and optimistic. Mercerism is really quite an ingenious shallow creation, and I was constantly reminded of the great reveal in the Wizard of Oz. His terse, economic prose took some getting used to but ultimately I got into the flow of things.

The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
I did this one if the wrong order, too. I read Independence Day several years ago and was just blown away by Ford's writing. Hauting, raw and beautiful are the words that come to mind. In the interim, I read a couple of other of Ford's non-Bascombe books and they just didn't measure up (I wonder if anything could). I finally tracked down a used copy of the Sportwriter and got to explore Frank Bascombe's first mid-life crisis. Of course, these books invite immediate comparison to Updike's Rabbit series, but that's really only at a superficial level. Ford's writing is slow, dense and deliberate - flowing like a lazy river. I cannot think of a book that I've enjoyed more in the last few years.

Quick Book Reviews

The Grand Slave Emporium: Cape Coast Castle and the British Slave Trade
William St. Clair

This fine and concise book by William St. Clair focuses on the life of one specific building; Ghana’s Cape Coast Castle, which I was fortunate enough to visit back in 2000. St. Clair examines all facets of the Castle and debunks many myths. The focus is, of course, on the role of the Castle as a facilitator for the slave trade and St. Clair paints a vivid picture of all of those involved, from the ships’ Captains to the local tribal Chiefs to the slaves working in the Castle itself. The most striking aspect of the trade and life at the Castle, as portrayed by St. Clair, is the sheer normalcy of it all. Overall, it is an impressive piece of work and St. Clair’s writing style has a sufficiently loose feel to it that will engage most readers.

There are some problems, though. First of all, the discussion of the outgoing slaves and their life at the Castle is only briefly discussed. I certainly would have expected more, but this is perhaps because most of St. Clair research is based on the Castle’s archival documents and very little about the slaves was likely recorded. I would have also have liked to see more discussion of the Castle’s history post-1850 or so as that is only briefly touched upon. It would have also been helpful to provide a brief overview of local tribes and geography to provide context. Related to that point, some political context was needed to makes sense of certain events such as the Asante War of the 1870s. All in all, it is an excellent work and highly recommended for anyone interested in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The Inheritance of Loss
Kiran Desai

The 2006 Mann Booker Prize winner. This novel has a dreamlike feel to it, as the reader is transported to northern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. We are introduced to each character slowly and their personalities and motivations are revealed as certain political events transpire around them. All of the is counterbalanced by a subplot involved one character searching for the American dream in a series of below minimum wage kitchen jobs. Many big issues are raised in these pages, including the clash between colonial sensibilities and the modern Indian identity is ever present, but ultimately no resolution is reached. It’s lovely but a little rudderless – a collection of arias rather than a full opera.

Quick Book Reviews

I got a few books for Christmas, but with a newborn at home I didn't exactly plow through them. If it weren't for my streetcar ride to and from work, I don't know when I'd find the time.

The March - E.L. Doctorow

To me, Doctorow is the Terence Malick of American fiction. His writing has a dream-like quality, and the words wash over you like a wave. Although ostensibly about Sherman's march through Georgia, this book is really about how people respond to anarchy. The cast of characters is varied, and each one finds a way to survive amidst the chaos. The best and worst of people can be seen. What I found most amazing, was the sense of calm Doctorow is able to instill. You can almost hear the birds chirping as the exhausted soldiers drag their feet along a dirt road. This is great stuff, and I recommend it to anyone looking to anyone looking to take a langurous stroll through a well written novel.


Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves - Adam Hochschild

This wonderful book by the author of the great King Leopold's Ghost sets out to examine the fight for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. I have read a great deal on slavery and the slave trade, but I don't recall coming across any books dealing with the grassroots movement to first end the slave trade and then abolish slavery altogether. What Hoschchild is able to convey very early on in this book is that while history has seen many men fight for their own right, it was truly revolutionary to see men fighting for the rights of others. The author takes us from the shores of West Africa to English shipping towns to the plantations of the West Indies. He covers an incredible amount of ground in a mere 370 pages and manages to point out interesting details without ever getting bogged down by tagential discussion. When we think of the end of the slave trade and emancipation, we tend to think of fixed dates, and never really comtemplate just how long the journey it was for those fighting for the cause. Hoschchild demonstrates that is was the almost endless stream of petitions, boycotts and slave revolts (both failed and successful) that ultimately led to the Emancipation of British slaves. For anyone interested in learning more about this little known facet of history that touches Africa, Europe and America - I strongly recommend this book.