Bitty Book Reviews
I’ve been reading more in the past eight months or so than I have since I started working where I’m at. It’s been very nice. I still do most of my reading on vacations, but I’m getting to enjoy books a little more in “real life” time, too.
With some books, I’ve got a post or two worth of things to talk about. But there are others that are worth mentioning, even if I don’t have enough to justify a whole post. This is the first of those mini-review round-up posts...
Flatland, by “A Square” (pseudonym of Edwin Abbott Abbott (and yes, that’s his real name))
This is a classic that I’ve always meant to read, and I’m glad I did. If you haven’t heard of it, Flatland is the story of a Square who lives in Flatland, a land of only two dimensions, to whom is revealed the wonders of the Third Dimension. The other Flatlanders think Square is nuts, and the three-dimensional characters think Square is nuts for suggesting there could be more than three dimensions. Square also describes the niceties of Flatland society (which is strikingly similar to Victorian England), including the hierarchy of lines, triangles, squares, and more multi-sided figures.
The social satire is really nice and biting, but my favorite part is the way it demonstrates so clearly how hard it is to think outside of your paradigm, and how our powers of perception limit the ways we can interpret the world. For a fairly short book, there are parts that are a bit of a slog just because of the writing style-it was written in the 1880s, after all-but at least the part on dimensions is definitely worth the read.
Schrödinger’s Gat, by Robert Kroese
Not a bad book, but not quite as good as I’d hoped, either. Paul, a bit of a sad sack, is standing next to train tracks, a coin in his hand. He’s decided, heads, he jumps in front of the train; tails, he continues to grind away at his crummy life. But a strange young woman and her strange machine interfere with Paul leaving his life to chance...maybe.
It’s a great, geeky hook, and an awesome concept. But, it’s one of those books where the execution doesn’t quite live up to the concept. My main criticism is it takes way too much time explaining quantum mechanics principles. I mean, if you’re reading a book called Schrödinger’s Gat, chances are you picked it up because you recognized the “Schrödinger’s Cat” pun, right?
Science aside, the plot is a lot like “Person of Interest,” plus some philosophy, which is all right. The ending is a pretty nice way to wrap things up, though, and I do appreciate it when authors stick the landing. Leaves a better taste in your mouth, so to speak.
Death Has Come Up to Our Windows, by Stant Litore
Better than Schrödinger’s Gat, but doesn’t quite live up to the concept-which is admittedly fantastic: the Bible, with Zombies. And not in a “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” way, but a mostly realistic, how would the ancient Hebrews have understood and dealt with zombies way.
This story is about Yermiyahu (probably known to you as Jeremiah), who railed against the sins of the Hebrews and no one listened. Yermiyahu has been thrown into a well for his trouble, and soldiers toss zombies into the pit with him for sport now and again. While he’s in the pit, Yermiyahu remembers the events that led him there and tries to reconcile his understanding of God with his current situation. (Interestingly, God is referred to as female throughout the book. Not sure why, but I get the feeling there’s a reason.)
I felt like there was a deeper meaning to this book that I kept almost grasping, but it slipped away as soon as I got my fingertips on it. It was also unrelentingly grim, which...yeah, Jeremiah is grim even by Bible standards, and adding zombies to that mix isn’t going to make it any sunnier, but I struggled to make what I thought were the themes of the book fit with that grimness, particularly the end. This is part of a series, and I did like this one enough to probably read one of the other Zombie Bible books.
With some books, I’ve got a post or two worth of things to talk about. But there are others that are worth mentioning, even if I don’t have enough to justify a whole post. This is the first of those mini-review round-up posts...
Flatland, by “A Square” (pseudonym of Edwin Abbott Abbott (and yes, that’s his real name))
This is a classic that I’ve always meant to read, and I’m glad I did. If you haven’t heard of it, Flatland is the story of a Square who lives in Flatland, a land of only two dimensions, to whom is revealed the wonders of the Third Dimension. The other Flatlanders think Square is nuts, and the three-dimensional characters think Square is nuts for suggesting there could be more than three dimensions. Square also describes the niceties of Flatland society (which is strikingly similar to Victorian England), including the hierarchy of lines, triangles, squares, and more multi-sided figures.
The social satire is really nice and biting, but my favorite part is the way it demonstrates so clearly how hard it is to think outside of your paradigm, and how our powers of perception limit the ways we can interpret the world. For a fairly short book, there are parts that are a bit of a slog just because of the writing style-it was written in the 1880s, after all-but at least the part on dimensions is definitely worth the read.
Schrödinger’s Gat, by Robert Kroese
Not a bad book, but not quite as good as I’d hoped, either. Paul, a bit of a sad sack, is standing next to train tracks, a coin in his hand. He’s decided, heads, he jumps in front of the train; tails, he continues to grind away at his crummy life. But a strange young woman and her strange machine interfere with Paul leaving his life to chance...maybe.
It’s a great, geeky hook, and an awesome concept. But, it’s one of those books where the execution doesn’t quite live up to the concept. My main criticism is it takes way too much time explaining quantum mechanics principles. I mean, if you’re reading a book called Schrödinger’s Gat, chances are you picked it up because you recognized the “Schrödinger’s Cat” pun, right?
Science aside, the plot is a lot like “Person of Interest,” plus some philosophy, which is all right. The ending is a pretty nice way to wrap things up, though, and I do appreciate it when authors stick the landing. Leaves a better taste in your mouth, so to speak.
Death Has Come Up to Our Windows, by Stant Litore
Better than Schrödinger’s Gat, but doesn’t quite live up to the concept-which is admittedly fantastic: the Bible, with Zombies. And not in a “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” way, but a mostly realistic, how would the ancient Hebrews have understood and dealt with zombies way.
This story is about Yermiyahu (probably known to you as Jeremiah), who railed against the sins of the Hebrews and no one listened. Yermiyahu has been thrown into a well for his trouble, and soldiers toss zombies into the pit with him for sport now and again. While he’s in the pit, Yermiyahu remembers the events that led him there and tries to reconcile his understanding of God with his current situation. (Interestingly, God is referred to as female throughout the book. Not sure why, but I get the feeling there’s a reason.)
I felt like there was a deeper meaning to this book that I kept almost grasping, but it slipped away as soon as I got my fingertips on it. It was also unrelentingly grim, which...yeah, Jeremiah is grim even by Bible standards, and adding zombies to that mix isn’t going to make it any sunnier, but I struggled to make what I thought were the themes of the book fit with that grimness, particularly the end. This is part of a series, and I did like this one enough to probably read one of the other Zombie Bible books.