Books 22-26 of 2009
22. The Huge Hunter or, The Steam Man of the Prairies by Edward Ellis (100 pgs)
A 19th century story originally published in sections for young boys - inventors, fighting indians and bears, and steam-powered locomotive man....
23. The Sandman, v. 2 - The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman (232 pgs)
I have given myself over to Neil Gaiman at this point. So easy to become immersed in his world of dreams and stories, and I really liked this volume with the vortex and the dreams and nightmares who become human.
24. Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy (276 pgs)
A narrative of what a perfect future could be, thinly structured with bits of dialogue and plot. My favorite part was Bellamy's postscript where he clearly had to defend his hatred of the current society. I'm not convinced that such an ideal economy and equality-based world system would come from disaster, but the way things are going, maybe I'd better hope so.
25. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (444 pgs)
This entire book was like a trip into the Appalachia of Heightened Senses. I can't decide if I like that aspect of it or not, to be honest. Some of the time it was poetic, others it felt hyper-real in a nauseating way. I learned a lot about moths and coyotes, but some of it was presented in a thinly-veiled didactic way which I am not sure I appreciated. I didn't mind it in her work of non-fiction (the title of which is actually found in the text of this book!) but it took me out of the story. I was hoping for Deanna and Lusa to meet, and I like to believe that they do, eventually, perhaps a few months after the story ends. To be fair, I thought this had more character than The Bean Trees, and didn't put me off immediately like The Poisonwood Bible did, a book I still feel like I should read.
26. The Pesthouse by Jim Crace (255 pgs)
In this post-apocalyptic novel, whatever destroyed modern culture happened so long ago that it is never actually explained. There are vague references to the "old days" when America had factories and machines, but those things are relics and ruins now. Now, people are finding different was to survive, although there seems to be mass emigration to leave the country for the "promised land," where food can be caught without effort and people live in peace. First they have to get there.
This book was simple but confusing at times. Because of something that was said in the first chapter I thought an entire town had fallen into the sea, but that isn't what happened at all, and I had to go back and reread it to try to find a different interpretation. The most interesting parts start around pg. 180 where you start seeing things like the sailors and the Finger Baptists, but that part ends quickly in favor of wandering and questing for a place to call home.
A 19th century story originally published in sections for young boys - inventors, fighting indians and bears, and steam-powered locomotive man....
23. The Sandman, v. 2 - The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman (232 pgs)
I have given myself over to Neil Gaiman at this point. So easy to become immersed in his world of dreams and stories, and I really liked this volume with the vortex and the dreams and nightmares who become human.
24. Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy (276 pgs)
A narrative of what a perfect future could be, thinly structured with bits of dialogue and plot. My favorite part was Bellamy's postscript where he clearly had to defend his hatred of the current society. I'm not convinced that such an ideal economy and equality-based world system would come from disaster, but the way things are going, maybe I'd better hope so.
25. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (444 pgs)
This entire book was like a trip into the Appalachia of Heightened Senses. I can't decide if I like that aspect of it or not, to be honest. Some of the time it was poetic, others it felt hyper-real in a nauseating way. I learned a lot about moths and coyotes, but some of it was presented in a thinly-veiled didactic way which I am not sure I appreciated. I didn't mind it in her work of non-fiction (the title of which is actually found in the text of this book!) but it took me out of the story. I was hoping for Deanna and Lusa to meet, and I like to believe that they do, eventually, perhaps a few months after the story ends. To be fair, I thought this had more character than The Bean Trees, and didn't put me off immediately like The Poisonwood Bible did, a book I still feel like I should read.
26. The Pesthouse by Jim Crace (255 pgs)
In this post-apocalyptic novel, whatever destroyed modern culture happened so long ago that it is never actually explained. There are vague references to the "old days" when America had factories and machines, but those things are relics and ruins now. Now, people are finding different was to survive, although there seems to be mass emigration to leave the country for the "promised land," where food can be caught without effort and people live in peace. First they have to get there.
This book was simple but confusing at times. Because of something that was said in the first chapter I thought an entire town had fallen into the sea, but that isn't what happened at all, and I had to go back and reread it to try to find a different interpretation. The most interesting parts start around pg. 180 where you start seeing things like the sailors and the Finger Baptists, but that part ends quickly in favor of wandering and questing for a place to call home.