My year in five Vonnegut novels and some shitty pop-fiction
While not tremendously impressive to most of you, I'm sure, I am proud to announce that I read and completed 12 books this year, not counting some miscellaneous short stuff. I've had more productive reading years, but I've also had much less productive reading years. I'll take it. Short reviews follow.
1. Ender's Game
Decent science fiction. I'd wanted to read it for quite a while. It did the whole "chosen-one kid-hero" thing, like a less plausible Harry Potter. After reading it I discovered that Orson Scott Card is a raving lunatic homophobe and that sort of ruined it for me.
2. The Sirens of Titan
This was the first Vonnegut novel I read in 2012. Full disclosure: I love Vonnegut. So when I say that this was sort of a mediocre Vonnegut novel, I mean it was only marginally earth-shaking for me.
3. Mother Night
I don't know how this one slipped under my radar for so long. It's about a Nazi who spied for the allies during WWII, and it explores the question of whether it's just as damning to pretend to be something awful as it is to actually mean it. Loved the shit out of it.
4. Bluebeard
Everyone who I ever talk to about Vonnegut either loves Cat's Cradl or else they love some random thing much less celebrated. My buddy at the bike shop spoke highly of this one. It was good, and I liked it, but in the wake o Mother Night, it fell just slightly flat. Still, an essential Vonnegut novel with some powerful moments.
5. Deadeye Dick
I had started to read this one years earlier, but circumstances weren't on my side. This one explores in depth a theme that occurs often in Vonnegut's work, being unable to escape the consequences of past wrong-doings. Pretty solid.
6. Black Sabbath's Master of Reality
This was part of the "33 1/3" series of books about classic albums, and this one was written by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. By the end of this book, I almost felt angry. Not because it was bad, but rather because he had taken such a corny premise, and turned it into such a brilliantly devastating story that I wept openly for huge sections of it. Listen guys, it's super short, just fucking read it already.
7. The Hunger Games
8. Catching Fire
9. Mocking Jay
Shit sandwich.
10. Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling
Snarky commentary about bike culture. Funny but unsubstantial.
11. The Enlightened Cyclist
Another entry from BikesnobNYC. It's less funny and snarky, but it's better. Has some good advice for cyclists of all levels, and some good insight on why we ride bikes. There's a really intense chapter about biking through stopped traffic across the bridge into the city on September 11 to get to his wife. I dig it.
12. Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike
Grant Petersen is this polarizing figure in the cycling world who has a lot of crazy ideas about how we all ought to be riding our bikes. Some of them are good, and some of them are insane and weird. He's just one of those guys who you have to pay attention to if you're involved in bike culture, because people can't fucking stop talking about him. This book was basically just his ranting manifesto. I learned a little bit, but if you aren't like, really into bikes, you should probably read something else.
13. Timequake
Turns out I read one more book than I'd previously counted. Sort of the quintessential late-era high-concept Vonnegut novel. Sort of on par with Bluebeard, it didn't inspire me too much on the whole, but it was made up a lot of really good composite parts.
1. Ender's Game
Decent science fiction. I'd wanted to read it for quite a while. It did the whole "chosen-one kid-hero" thing, like a less plausible Harry Potter. After reading it I discovered that Orson Scott Card is a raving lunatic homophobe and that sort of ruined it for me.
2. The Sirens of Titan
This was the first Vonnegut novel I read in 2012. Full disclosure: I love Vonnegut. So when I say that this was sort of a mediocre Vonnegut novel, I mean it was only marginally earth-shaking for me.
3. Mother Night
I don't know how this one slipped under my radar for so long. It's about a Nazi who spied for the allies during WWII, and it explores the question of whether it's just as damning to pretend to be something awful as it is to actually mean it. Loved the shit out of it.
4. Bluebeard
Everyone who I ever talk to about Vonnegut either loves Cat's Cradl or else they love some random thing much less celebrated. My buddy at the bike shop spoke highly of this one. It was good, and I liked it, but in the wake o Mother Night, it fell just slightly flat. Still, an essential Vonnegut novel with some powerful moments.
5. Deadeye Dick
I had started to read this one years earlier, but circumstances weren't on my side. This one explores in depth a theme that occurs often in Vonnegut's work, being unable to escape the consequences of past wrong-doings. Pretty solid.
6. Black Sabbath's Master of Reality
This was part of the "33 1/3" series of books about classic albums, and this one was written by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. By the end of this book, I almost felt angry. Not because it was bad, but rather because he had taken such a corny premise, and turned it into such a brilliantly devastating story that I wept openly for huge sections of it. Listen guys, it's super short, just fucking read it already.
7. The Hunger Games
8. Catching Fire
9. Mocking Jay
Shit sandwich.
10. Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling
Snarky commentary about bike culture. Funny but unsubstantial.
11. The Enlightened Cyclist
Another entry from BikesnobNYC. It's less funny and snarky, but it's better. Has some good advice for cyclists of all levels, and some good insight on why we ride bikes. There's a really intense chapter about biking through stopped traffic across the bridge into the city on September 11 to get to his wife. I dig it.
12. Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike
Grant Petersen is this polarizing figure in the cycling world who has a lot of crazy ideas about how we all ought to be riding our bikes. Some of them are good, and some of them are insane and weird. He's just one of those guys who you have to pay attention to if you're involved in bike culture, because people can't fucking stop talking about him. This book was basically just his ranting manifesto. I learned a little bit, but if you aren't like, really into bikes, you should probably read something else.
13. Timequake
Turns out I read one more book than I'd previously counted. Sort of the quintessential late-era high-concept Vonnegut novel. Sort of on par with Bluebeard, it didn't inspire me too much on the whole, but it was made up a lot of really good composite parts.