BOOKS THREAD

Of course, they are.




"Who took on the Standard Oil men and whip dey ass?"

 

Has anyone else slogged through Hitchens' latest?

I almost passed after trying to read his debacle of an Orwell book, but was intrigued enough by the subject matter to take it out of the library.

My verdict: He's right and well read and insufferable, all at the same time. The book is worth the read, though.

 

I had someone I trust recommend "World Without Us" to me, too. I think I'll pick that one up. Fantastic title if nothing else.

I haven't read Chabon, but I think he's up the list now as well.

Right now, I'm into "News of a Kidnapping" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I haven't read any of the other Colombian drug books ("Killing Pablo," say), but I'm kinda shocked by the extent of that civil drug war. I mean, I knew about it, but I've never really dug into it. There was one spring when Medellin was averaging twenty murders each day. Commercial planes blown out of the sky to assassinate a single presidential candidate (who turned out not to be on it). Journalists taken hostage -- and this is the story of ten of those hostages -- as a matter of course.

It's bleakly fascinating. It's also neat to read Marquez in his journalist mode. It's instructive how much reporting an old man did when he probably, more than just about anyone else on earth, could have coasted on the writing.

 

I just finished "Born Standing Up," Steve Martin's autobiography. It's pretty short, just over 200 pages, and focuses mainly on his stand-up career and the years leading up to it. I like his writing style and really enjoyed the book.

 

I appreciate the analogy.

(quick side note: I couldn't keep going on Motherless Brooklyn, for whatever reason. It just didn't grab me).

As a fellow idolator of McCarthy, that analogy made perfect sense to me.

Although I think "The Crossing" is McCarthy's best book. Maybe because I've read it more times than "Blood Meridian", which is also unbelievable.

"The Road" is much more accessible.

"No Country" is the quickest, easiest, simplest read.

 

I don't know if this was mentioned as a hardback, but Bill Bryson's childhood memoir "Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" is out in paperback.

I'm a sucker for his writing, but this thing had me laughing out loud often and -- literally -- in tears of laughter at a couple of points.

It's life as a kid in the 50s/60s in a leafy, comfortable part of Des Moines (his Dad was lead baseball writer for the Register.)

Definitely worth picking up, especially if you're older than Gen X.

 

Finally had the pleasure of reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It might be the best book I've ever read.

 

Time for Simon to start making his Christmas lists which means it will include about five books from the last year. So what are the best to come out since about June? I've been too busy reading media sucks and warps our brains books for an english class since then.

The one book I did catch was Steve Friedman's collection. He's appeared in BASW a handful of times and never a dull story. :

 

I just finished Sherman Alexie's Flight. It was a pretty stunning book, though short. It is only 181 pages long, but it was very good. I love me some Alexie.

The last page is a powerful look at love and security and trust and everything a child feels for his parents. Here is the excerpt:

"... A few months from now, you'll be brand new."
That just gets min the soul. Right there, I start to cry. Really. I just weep and wail.
Mary hugs me. She hugs me tightly. It feels great. I haven't been hugged like that since my mother died.
I'm happy.
I'm scared, too. I mean, I know the world is still a cold and cruel place.
I know that people will always go to war against each other.
I know that children will always be targets.
I know that people will always betray each other.
I know that I am a betrayer.
But I'm beginning to think I've been given a chance. I'm beginning to think I might get unlonely. I'm beginning to think I might have an almost real family.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I keep saying.
"It's okay," she says. "You'll be okay."
"Michael," I say. "My real name is Michael. Please, call me Michael."

I doubt it comes across the same way if you haven't read the entire book, but it is some powerful, powerful stuff.

Next up is Julie Alvarez's In the Name of Salome. I became a big Alvarez fan with her amazing book In the Time of Butterflies, which is in the top 10 of my all-time greatest books list.

 

Just finished The Fortress of Solitude. Should have liked it more than I did -- growing up in Brooklyn around the same time as the author. Some passages of the book were just perfect, other parts just wondered to nowhere.