oddments and observations (part 2)
Mmmkay, let's start by listing all the books I read but said nothing about in 2006, then see what I can remember about them:
23 Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card'; rating: &&&1/2; 382 pages; 24 Xenocide - Orson Scott Card; rating &&&&; 592 pages; 25 Children of the Mind -Orson Scott Card; rating: &&&; 370 pages; 32 Shadow of the Hegemon - Orson Scott Card; rating: &&&; 365 pages genre: all sci-fi
Card's beating a dead horse here and then whipping it for good measure, which is why I stopped writing summaries of these books. By the end the series becomes less sci-fi and more soap opera. Of the whole series, I liked Ender's Game, Xenocide and Children of the Mind the best, and they pretty much told all the main story. The Bean books (the "shadow" books) were interesting, but would have been more so if he'd been a character in his own series. ALL of the Battle School kids were "shadows" in this series, and each of them would have been better in a non-sidekick role that better showed their depth rather than assigning them a one-note character in Ender's story.
The nice thing about the off-earth books (Speaker, Xenocide and Children) was they afforded me an opportunity to learn a smattering of Portuguese. Just enough to get myself in trouble, no doubt, but it amused this language geek. :)
27 Elmer Gantry - Sinclair Lewis - 430 pages; genre: novel; rating: &&&&&
I loved this book for its scathing social critique. Lewis is a capable critic of religion, prejudice, and conformity, and his social conscience shines through competent, if workmanlike, prose.
34-35 Odd John and Sirius - Olaf Stapledon - 309 pages; genre: sci-fi novellas; rating: &&&
Both of these old-school sci-fi stories deal with elitism and the notion of species superiority and purity. Provocative.
41 Indian Killer - Sherman Alexie; genre: contemporary novel; rating: &&&&; 420 pages
Alexie takes on so many social issues in this one - cross-cultural adoption; alienation from one's culture; crime-related prejudice; mental illness; and, of course, serial killers. His racial rage is barely contained in this tale, but somehow, it melds with enough humor to enable him to tell a haunting, sad story that lingers with me months after putting the books down. Brilliant.
46 Reservation Blues - Sherman Alexie; genre: contemporary novel; rating:&&&&; 306 pages
Alexie is more humorous in this book that in Indian Killer, but still his mixed-breed protagonist simmers with alienation in a scathing critique of prejudice in all societies; self-perpetuating poverty; and the American music/pop-culture business that banalizes and objectifies cultural differences in the name of trendiness.
47 Coyote Blue - Christopher Moore; genre: humorous contemporary novel; rating: &&&; 303 pages
This comic take on the Coyote As Trickster legend in contemporary Los Angeles goes well with an Alexie-heavy reading list. Moore manages to surprise a few times with an extraordinary sensitivity to the characters his plotlines manipulate so mercilessly.
48 The Toughest Indian in the World - Sherman Alexie; genre: short stories; rating: &&&&; 238 pages
Can't remember a lot about these, except I liked 'em. Classic Alexie.
49 The Little Country - Charles de Lint; -genre: fantasy novel; rating: &&1/2;529 pages
I went into this novel expecting great things, because so many people I know really like de Lint. Alas, I was disappointed. It seemed so predictable, and so stereotyping of quaint Cornish folkways and speech patterns, and it degenerated into a run-of-the-mill sweet townsfolk vs. corrupt rich outsiders tale when I expected more in the way of music - since the protagonist is a folk musician - and magic from a fantasist.
50 The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova; genre: fantasy/thriller; rating: &&&1/2; 642 pages
This book reminded me a lot of the better aspects of The da Vinci Code, minus the telegraphed drama and blatant reader manipulation of that book. A mad treasure hunt through most of the countries of Europe got a little old after awhile, but Kostova writes good atmosphere, better complex characters, and excellent suspense. She deftly entwines real Eastern European/Ottoman history and political rivalries in the era of Vlad the Impaler with Dracula legend through the ages. An exceptionally well-executed romp.
51 The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula K. LeGuin; genre: sci-fi novel; rating: &&&; 175 pages
I read this book less than a month ago, and damned if I can remember a thing about it other than "okay, but not as revolutionary as I expected for her 'early signature work'". :( I suppose that means I should re-read it when I'm not caught up in a holiday whirl of brain-sucking activity.
52 War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning - Chris Hedges; genre: essay/memoir/sociology of war; rating: &&&; 199 pages
Hedges attempts to elucidate humankind's obsession with war, and the psychological ramifications and pressures of being part of the populace of a country at war, in a way that might cross barriers and spark understanding between those who are militarist and those who are more peace-oriented. I'm not sure he succeeds, despite his own "confessions" of falling into reflexive wartime ways of thinking as a war correspondent, because everything in the book seemed pretty obvious to me, which I suspect means that despite Hedges attempts at saying "I did these things and thought this way too, i understand where it comes from", he's coming from a left-wing slant that the right wing dismisses (and probably views as condescending. I can't say it doesn't strike me as such.) So this book preaches to the anti-war choir, as it were, although it does provide some understanding of the individual psychology of political conformity or dissent, particularly in the line of fire.
53 World's End - T.C. Boyle; genre: contemporary novel; rating: &&&1/2; 456 pages
A weird novel of generations, set in New York's Hudson Valley in the late 16th century and then in the mid-to-late 20th century. Boyle follows the intertwining of several local families of dramatically different means through the years, from Dutch land tenants to the patroon on whose domain they toil to the local Native Americans; down to their modern-day descendants - the scion of the patroon's family, his slutty hippie daughter, the land-tenants' alcohol-addled and accident-prone heir, and the local counterculture scene (which includes the persecution of a mid-20th-century socialist enclave, and later a detailed homage to Pete Seeger's environmental efforts with the sloop Clearwater.) This tale is dense, painstakingly accurate in landscape details of the mid-Hudson region, and altogether enjoyable even though most of the characters are thoroughly unpleasant people I wouldn't want to share a table or a bus seat with, much less a stint cleaning up the Hudson on the Clearwater.
54 T.C. Boyle Stories - T.C. Boyle; genre: short story collection; rating: &&&&1/2; 691 pages
A beautiful compendium of ~70 of Boyle's gems, spanning his writing career. This guy is one of the most inventive - and sarcastic - storytellers alive, and this book is ample evidence.
55 Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories - Annie Proulx; genre: short story collection; rating: &&&&&;- 219 pages
This small collection of stories is luminous and atmospheric while utterly down-to-earth and no-nonsense, much as you'd expect Wyomingans to be.
56 The Ice Museum - Joanna Kavenna; genre: cultural anthropology, geology, sociology, arctic exploration; rating: &&&; 294 pages
This book is beautifully ambitious in its desire to explore the fascination many (including me) have had, from the earliest times of exploration with the farthest unknown north, i.e. "Thule". Unfortunately, Kavenna bogs down overmuch in recent political detail and wrong-turns of philosophy (such as the Nazi fascination with the "purity" of Northern peoples) at the expense of writing about the real land and the real lives of the real people who have lived there, past and present. I'd have liked it better if she'd stuck to describing the treks of Arctic explorers, or the contemporary isolation of the small communities in Svalbard or Greenland or northernmost Norway, instead of focusing so much on critiquing a weird Nazi obsession.
Although it may not apply precisely to historical notions of Thule, this nordic-phile also would have been game for more coverage of the land, peoples, and exploration of the Siberian and Canadian Arctic, the Alaska coast, and/or Hokkaido and surrounding islands.
and 2 little cozy-cat books
57 Twelve Cats for Christmas - Martin LeMan (juvenile, 32 "pages" but mostly illustration, rating &&&& for artwork)
58 Chicken Soup for the Soul Celebrates Cats - Jack Canfield with Mark Victor Hansen and Sharon J. Wohlmuth ; genre: pop-schlock; rating &&& for coziness (minus 1/2 or so for a certain smug mediocrity); 90 pages
total: 19,215 pages, plus a couple of books I've started but not finished yet. Not as much reading as in past years. Not sure what I was busy doing instead, but it must have been something.
This past year I read a lot more books by male authors than female (43 vs. 17, with 2 books co-written by a man and a woman.) I think partly this was due to the fact that I tried to acquaint myself with "American classic" authors I'd previously neglected, and partly because of an emphasis on sci-fi and fantasy. I'd like to achieve a little more balance in 2007. I'd also like to keep up a little better with making notes on what I read.
That's as much of a resolution as anyone's likely to get from me, on any topic.
23 Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card'; rating: &&&1/2; 382 pages; 24 Xenocide - Orson Scott Card; rating &&&&; 592 pages; 25 Children of the Mind -Orson Scott Card; rating: &&&; 370 pages; 32 Shadow of the Hegemon - Orson Scott Card; rating: &&&; 365 pages genre: all sci-fi
Card's beating a dead horse here and then whipping it for good measure, which is why I stopped writing summaries of these books. By the end the series becomes less sci-fi and more soap opera. Of the whole series, I liked Ender's Game, Xenocide and Children of the Mind the best, and they pretty much told all the main story. The Bean books (the "shadow" books) were interesting, but would have been more so if he'd been a character in his own series. ALL of the Battle School kids were "shadows" in this series, and each of them would have been better in a non-sidekick role that better showed their depth rather than assigning them a one-note character in Ender's story.
The nice thing about the off-earth books (Speaker, Xenocide and Children) was they afforded me an opportunity to learn a smattering of Portuguese. Just enough to get myself in trouble, no doubt, but it amused this language geek. :)
27 Elmer Gantry - Sinclair Lewis - 430 pages; genre: novel; rating: &&&&&
I loved this book for its scathing social critique. Lewis is a capable critic of religion, prejudice, and conformity, and his social conscience shines through competent, if workmanlike, prose.
34-35 Odd John and Sirius - Olaf Stapledon - 309 pages; genre: sci-fi novellas; rating: &&&
Both of these old-school sci-fi stories deal with elitism and the notion of species superiority and purity. Provocative.
41 Indian Killer - Sherman Alexie; genre: contemporary novel; rating: &&&&; 420 pages
Alexie takes on so many social issues in this one - cross-cultural adoption; alienation from one's culture; crime-related prejudice; mental illness; and, of course, serial killers. His racial rage is barely contained in this tale, but somehow, it melds with enough humor to enable him to tell a haunting, sad story that lingers with me months after putting the books down. Brilliant.
46 Reservation Blues - Sherman Alexie; genre: contemporary novel; rating:&&&&; 306 pages
Alexie is more humorous in this book that in Indian Killer, but still his mixed-breed protagonist simmers with alienation in a scathing critique of prejudice in all societies; self-perpetuating poverty; and the American music/pop-culture business that banalizes and objectifies cultural differences in the name of trendiness.
47 Coyote Blue - Christopher Moore; genre: humorous contemporary novel; rating: &&&; 303 pages
This comic take on the Coyote As Trickster legend in contemporary Los Angeles goes well with an Alexie-heavy reading list. Moore manages to surprise a few times with an extraordinary sensitivity to the characters his plotlines manipulate so mercilessly.
48 The Toughest Indian in the World - Sherman Alexie; genre: short stories; rating: &&&&; 238 pages
Can't remember a lot about these, except I liked 'em. Classic Alexie.
49 The Little Country - Charles de Lint; -genre: fantasy novel; rating: &&1/2;529 pages
I went into this novel expecting great things, because so many people I know really like de Lint. Alas, I was disappointed. It seemed so predictable, and so stereotyping of quaint Cornish folkways and speech patterns, and it degenerated into a run-of-the-mill sweet townsfolk vs. corrupt rich outsiders tale when I expected more in the way of music - since the protagonist is a folk musician - and magic from a fantasist.
50 The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova; genre: fantasy/thriller; rating: &&&1/2; 642 pages
This book reminded me a lot of the better aspects of The da Vinci Code, minus the telegraphed drama and blatant reader manipulation of that book. A mad treasure hunt through most of the countries of Europe got a little old after awhile, but Kostova writes good atmosphere, better complex characters, and excellent suspense. She deftly entwines real Eastern European/Ottoman history and political rivalries in the era of Vlad the Impaler with Dracula legend through the ages. An exceptionally well-executed romp.
51 The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula K. LeGuin; genre: sci-fi novel; rating: &&&; 175 pages
I read this book less than a month ago, and damned if I can remember a thing about it other than "okay, but not as revolutionary as I expected for her 'early signature work'". :( I suppose that means I should re-read it when I'm not caught up in a holiday whirl of brain-sucking activity.
52 War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning - Chris Hedges; genre: essay/memoir/sociology of war; rating: &&&; 199 pages
Hedges attempts to elucidate humankind's obsession with war, and the psychological ramifications and pressures of being part of the populace of a country at war, in a way that might cross barriers and spark understanding between those who are militarist and those who are more peace-oriented. I'm not sure he succeeds, despite his own "confessions" of falling into reflexive wartime ways of thinking as a war correspondent, because everything in the book seemed pretty obvious to me, which I suspect means that despite Hedges attempts at saying "I did these things and thought this way too, i understand where it comes from", he's coming from a left-wing slant that the right wing dismisses (and probably views as condescending. I can't say it doesn't strike me as such.) So this book preaches to the anti-war choir, as it were, although it does provide some understanding of the individual psychology of political conformity or dissent, particularly in the line of fire.
53 World's End - T.C. Boyle; genre: contemporary novel; rating: &&&1/2; 456 pages
A weird novel of generations, set in New York's Hudson Valley in the late 16th century and then in the mid-to-late 20th century. Boyle follows the intertwining of several local families of dramatically different means through the years, from Dutch land tenants to the patroon on whose domain they toil to the local Native Americans; down to their modern-day descendants - the scion of the patroon's family, his slutty hippie daughter, the land-tenants' alcohol-addled and accident-prone heir, and the local counterculture scene (which includes the persecution of a mid-20th-century socialist enclave, and later a detailed homage to Pete Seeger's environmental efforts with the sloop Clearwater.) This tale is dense, painstakingly accurate in landscape details of the mid-Hudson region, and altogether enjoyable even though most of the characters are thoroughly unpleasant people I wouldn't want to share a table or a bus seat with, much less a stint cleaning up the Hudson on the Clearwater.
54 T.C. Boyle Stories - T.C. Boyle; genre: short story collection; rating: &&&&1/2; 691 pages
A beautiful compendium of ~70 of Boyle's gems, spanning his writing career. This guy is one of the most inventive - and sarcastic - storytellers alive, and this book is ample evidence.
55 Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories - Annie Proulx; genre: short story collection; rating: &&&&&;- 219 pages
This small collection of stories is luminous and atmospheric while utterly down-to-earth and no-nonsense, much as you'd expect Wyomingans to be.
56 The Ice Museum - Joanna Kavenna; genre: cultural anthropology, geology, sociology, arctic exploration; rating: &&&; 294 pages
This book is beautifully ambitious in its desire to explore the fascination many (including me) have had, from the earliest times of exploration with the farthest unknown north, i.e. "Thule". Unfortunately, Kavenna bogs down overmuch in recent political detail and wrong-turns of philosophy (such as the Nazi fascination with the "purity" of Northern peoples) at the expense of writing about the real land and the real lives of the real people who have lived there, past and present. I'd have liked it better if she'd stuck to describing the treks of Arctic explorers, or the contemporary isolation of the small communities in Svalbard or Greenland or northernmost Norway, instead of focusing so much on critiquing a weird Nazi obsession.
Although it may not apply precisely to historical notions of Thule, this nordic-phile also would have been game for more coverage of the land, peoples, and exploration of the Siberian and Canadian Arctic, the Alaska coast, and/or Hokkaido and surrounding islands.
and 2 little cozy-cat books
57 Twelve Cats for Christmas - Martin LeMan (juvenile, 32 "pages" but mostly illustration, rating &&&& for artwork)
58 Chicken Soup for the Soul Celebrates Cats - Jack Canfield with Mark Victor Hansen and Sharon J. Wohlmuth ; genre: pop-schlock; rating &&& for coziness (minus 1/2 or so for a certain smug mediocrity); 90 pages
total: 19,215 pages, plus a couple of books I've started but not finished yet. Not as much reading as in past years. Not sure what I was busy doing instead, but it must have been something.
This past year I read a lot more books by male authors than female (43 vs. 17, with 2 books co-written by a man and a woman.) I think partly this was due to the fact that I tried to acquaint myself with "American classic" authors I'd previously neglected, and partly because of an emphasis on sci-fi and fantasy. I'd like to achieve a little more balance in 2007. I'd also like to keep up a little better with making notes on what I read.
That's as much of a resolution as anyone's likely to get from me, on any topic.