Anger and Mysteriessss.
I'm kinda fucking pissed at a variety of things, but it's the kind of anger that isn't at all productive so eh.
Anyway, I wish my mom and my sister would take better care of their computers. I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but in all the years I've had a computer of my own (which is considerable: I'm from the Silicon Valley and have been using computers since I was four), I've never had serious issues. Sure, I've gotten BSODs -- who hasn't? I've gotten adware, spyware, trojans, etc. before the days of Ad-Aware. But I've never just... completely fucked up my computer beyond usage/lost all my files/whatever. (Seriously, I understand intellectually why people don't like Windows, but don't really get it, because I've always gotten along with my computers.) Even my current one, which runs Vista. I've joked around about having killed my previous one, which was also a Dell, but running on XP -- but the truth is, it's 4-5 years old now and still going strong* despite all the abuse I heaped on it (and trust me, I did heap abuse on it, including dropping it multiple times, lugging it around everywhere, 10+ hours of daily use, leaving it on constant stand-by, and heavy gaming). And it's not like I don't check out porn sites/download questionable things, because I do. I'm just smart about it. :P
* though its battery is dead and the keyboard is missing a key, again, and the speakers are dead though you can still use headphones.... as a whole it should still last for another couple of years though
It pisses me off because my mom doesn't know computers at all and my sister thinks she does but doesn't really, and they're possibly even more addicted to their computers than I am to mine, which is saying something -- and every time something happens heads roll they get hysterical. Well, that's maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but close enough. They can't even pinpoint the issues, so I'm always the one getting blamed (by default) while I'm trying to figure stuff out in order to fix shit for them.
That's not the only thing pissing me off -- by now I really ought to know better than trying to share or talk about the things I love and enjoy with anyone in my family, but hell, they're family. I can't help it.
And that's just the start of things, but like I said: not productive. Plus I'm mostly okay now, so I'll deal.
- - -
I do want to post on the three mysteries I finished reading from my library haul this time around though. (I'm a fast reader.)
First, Laura Joh Rowland's The Snow Empress. What intrigued me about this series was the fact that it's historical mystery set in Tokugawa Japan. Only thing I was worried about was accuracy -- I have had baaaaad experiences with writers (especially white writers; Rowland is Chinese-Korean-American if I recall correctly) attempting Asian settings.
As it turns out, she's done her research! The Snow Empress is a later book in the series though, and the bulk of it takes place in Hokkaido, which I'm not as familiar with, so I don't know if this has been the case from the start or even if I'm a trustworthy judge. But I like her careful depiction of Ainu-Japanese relationships (an echo of white/American Indian relationships, which I find interesting and potentially problematic, but am not sure is entirely accurate, but it both works and doesn't work mostly due to the fact that we only ever see them from Japanese POVs). And the way the characters and their motivations are distinctly Japanese, not just white characters with an Asian facade spouting off trite things about honor and zen blah blah blah. Only two things threw me off: one being the occasional (very rare) use of the "-san" honorific when I'm pretty sure something like "-dono" or "-sama" or perhaps a more specific title would have been more appropriate (though who knows, I could be wrong, and this only happened two or three times). The second being the weird depiction of "ki-sensing"/spiritual enlightenment (which actually was palatable, because only the martial arts enthusiast character who's been training under waterfalls does it, and she never actually uses the word ki or makes it an easy way out).
(The minor supernatural aspect that shows up didn't bother me at all, on the other hand, as that was handled in a very "realistic"/believable-within-cultural-context way.)
Great female characters too -- the protagonist's wife plays an active role in the proceedings and is such a samurai wife, it's awesome. Though I have to say, after reading Chiang's "Story of Your Life", the depiction of motherly grief here -- while it rang true for the most part as well, did feel a little forced (especially near the beginning). Part of this I think is the fact that I don't know these characters very well at all (which I would have had I started from the beginning). I also wasn't so sure about the other female characters in the sense that although they were very well written, and even sympathetic, I don't think ultimately any of them could be considered one of the "good guys" in a way that is definitely not the case with the male characters (there's some GREAT ambiguity/nuance with a few of the main suspects; however, there are also male characters who are clearly good and those who are clearly bad). As a result, most of the female relationships in the book are fraught with... instability, I should say. I'm not sure how much of this is a deliberate part of one of the thematic arcs of the novel (I have to say, I did like the ending A LOT except for one spoilery aspect: the death of the murder victim's sister -- I feel and felt that a confrontation between the murder victim, who possesses her lover as a spirit throughout the book, and her sister would have been more interesting and definitely more satisfying) and the intrinsic cultural aspect and how much of this is due to lack of interest by the author. I'm inclined to say the former, but I think I'll have to read more to know for sure.
I'll be honest though -- the murder itself I didn't feel was that well crafted. Not complex enough, and just one single character could have unraveled the entire thing at once had anyone just asked. I did love how the various main characters all had their own pet suspect though, but honestly, it felt pretty anticlimactic or disappointing somehow, albeit realistic, to have the murderer turn out to be the smug, bigoted jerk, who actually did have a sympathetic side though -- but it just seemed too easy for it to have turned out to be him, if you know what I mean. Mostly I feel that "justice" wasn't really served, in my modern sensibilities. I mean, it makes sense in the time/cultural context, but still....
What I was more interested in were the hints of political intrigue that show up only in the beginning and the very end. A lot of mystery can be read standalone, but this series is clearly one of those where it's better to read in order, as the novels actually follow the cast through a lot of years. So basically, I want to read more!
I enjoyed the two Walter Mosley books, Fear Itself and Fear of the Dark, a lot more, with much fewer reservations. As I mentioned, they're books 2 and 3 of the series, but I found that it didn't impede my enjoyment at all, because the recurring cast (as well as the case-specific characters) are all very memorable and vibrantly depicted. They're characters I really enjoyed spending time with, and would love to spend more time with, in fact.
The series is set in 1950s LA, though there's some slight indication in the narration that the protagonist, Paris Milton, who is age 29-30ish, is writing these stories down as an old man looking back on his youthful exploits. He's an unusual hero for a noir series, but that just makes him all the more likable. (In contrast, I don't quite like the main character of The Long Fall, though he is also interesting and sympathetic.) Anyway, Paris is the owner of a small bookstore. He loves books, LOVES them. (This even serves as a plot point in Fear Itself. XD) This despite his awareness that they're filled with lies (both well-meaning and not) about black people. He's VERY well read and intelligent despite his lack of a formal education, easily referencing writers like Alexei Tolstoy, Albert Camus, and Mark Twain... He's also totally paranoid. And a complete coward. XD
What really makes this series is Paris's friendship with the titular Fearless Jones, who is one popular, charming, charismatic guy. Fearless is a WWII veteran and a natural fighter/dangerous killer. But he's also probably the kindest and most honest man in all of LA. Intelligent in his own way, but with a sort of innocent directness, living-in-the-present-moment attitude that makes him really stand out. To paraphrase one of Paris's descriptions, he's a natural man in a synthetic city. And like his name implies, he's not afraid of anything... and always wants to do the right thing, which means he tends to get his best friend into as much trouble as he gets Paris out of.
There's a real easy sense of humor alongside all the seediness that makes this a really brisk and enjoyable read. And above all, as in The Long Fall (which was my introduction to Mosley), there's a real, ever-present awareness of race that not only feels completely natural and makes total sense (helloooo 1950s LA), but is so delightful and refreshing to read after so much "colorblind" (read: whitewashed) fiction. Really feels like homecoming, though the era is a completely different one. But, little details like regional origins, the exact shade of skin (i.e. the spectrum of those who can "pass" and those who can't), and code-switching between comfortable "street talk" and "proper" English... The balance of playing to expectations while at the same time not crossing any lines... The tacitly different rules in place for whites and non-whites (innocent until proven guilty vs. guilty until proven innocent is a big one that deeply informs Paris's actions)... The presence of Hispanics and Asians...
And oh gosh, the Asian characters. Make me so happy. For one, there's Loretta, a recurring character, who's a Japanese American 40-year-old hotty and totally awesome. (According to Paris, she hangs around in black circles because she feels more of a kinship with them, and with their underlying anger -- she hates whites for the Japanese concentration camps, though we are only ever told this and never witness to it. In one brief flashback Paris asks her why her hate runs so deeply when his people have been downtrodden for hundreds of years; she responds that it's because she feels betrayed, as she had thought she was a citizen and an equal until the camps. Which is just... yes.)
In Fear of the Dark there's also a Chinese restaurant owner (who is hilariously awesome, and according to Paris hates whites for the subjugation of China -- i.e. the Opium War and everything surrounding that -- he draws comparisons to the American Indians), and a younger Chinese waitress Paris sleeps with who hates the Japanese for their war atrocities, and was actually an intellectual who studied classical texts both Eastern and Western at one point before she had to escape the war (she and Paris bond somewhat over Greek philosophers)... and Paris wonders idly if she would hate Loretta if they met... and it's just.... again, yes. :D
Lest this comes across as a hatefest against white people, I should clarify that none of this hate is ever shown on the surface, and in fact there is no active hatred in the two books at all except for personal vendettas (which have mostly nothing to do with race, but with the conspiracies/crimes). It's not like these characters can afford it! But it's more an underlying anger, as I've said, that informs their choices and actions, a silent disrespect and distrust of authority and of white society, and a sense of camaraderie in the face of that overwhelmingly white America in which none of them can truly belong in, despite the troubles even within the non-white community itself.
Speaking of the women -- the women in both books are confident in their sexuality without necessarily being out to get Paris (who, without ever being annoying about it, has self-esteem issues over his height and his cowardice and weakness but takes solace in his... other endowments XD, thus making his weakness for women totally believable)... and they don't get killed left and right like in most noir, which is another plus. Also, there's a good variety of strength and intelligence and individuality in all of them, which is just mmmm yeah.
All I have to say is, I reaaaally want to read Easy Rawlins now. And the first Fearless Jones book.
Also want to watch the Devil in a Blue Dress movie. I love period stuff, I love noir, and Denzel Washington rocks.
Anyway, I wish my mom and my sister would take better care of their computers. I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but in all the years I've had a computer of my own (which is considerable: I'm from the Silicon Valley and have been using computers since I was four), I've never had serious issues. Sure, I've gotten BSODs -- who hasn't? I've gotten adware, spyware, trojans, etc. before the days of Ad-Aware. But I've never just... completely fucked up my computer beyond usage/lost all my files/whatever. (Seriously, I understand intellectually why people don't like Windows, but don't really get it, because I've always gotten along with my computers.) Even my current one, which runs Vista. I've joked around about having killed my previous one, which was also a Dell, but running on XP -- but the truth is, it's 4-5 years old now and still going strong* despite all the abuse I heaped on it (and trust me, I did heap abuse on it, including dropping it multiple times, lugging it around everywhere, 10+ hours of daily use, leaving it on constant stand-by, and heavy gaming). And it's not like I don't check out porn sites/download questionable things, because I do. I'm just smart about it. :P
* though its battery is dead and the keyboard is missing a key, again, and the speakers are dead though you can still use headphones.... as a whole it should still last for another couple of years though
It pisses me off because my mom doesn't know computers at all and my sister thinks she does but doesn't really, and they're possibly even more addicted to their computers than I am to mine, which is saying something -- and every time something happens heads roll they get hysterical. Well, that's maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but close enough. They can't even pinpoint the issues, so I'm always the one getting blamed (by default) while I'm trying to figure stuff out in order to fix shit for them.
That's not the only thing pissing me off -- by now I really ought to know better than trying to share or talk about the things I love and enjoy with anyone in my family, but hell, they're family. I can't help it.
And that's just the start of things, but like I said: not productive. Plus I'm mostly okay now, so I'll deal.
- - -
I do want to post on the three mysteries I finished reading from my library haul this time around though. (I'm a fast reader.)
First, Laura Joh Rowland's The Snow Empress. What intrigued me about this series was the fact that it's historical mystery set in Tokugawa Japan. Only thing I was worried about was accuracy -- I have had baaaaad experiences with writers (especially white writers; Rowland is Chinese-Korean-American if I recall correctly) attempting Asian settings.
As it turns out, she's done her research! The Snow Empress is a later book in the series though, and the bulk of it takes place in Hokkaido, which I'm not as familiar with, so I don't know if this has been the case from the start or even if I'm a trustworthy judge. But I like her careful depiction of Ainu-Japanese relationships (an echo of white/American Indian relationships, which I find interesting and potentially problematic, but am not sure is entirely accurate, but it both works and doesn't work mostly due to the fact that we only ever see them from Japanese POVs). And the way the characters and their motivations are distinctly Japanese, not just white characters with an Asian facade spouting off trite things about honor and zen blah blah blah. Only two things threw me off: one being the occasional (very rare) use of the "-san" honorific when I'm pretty sure something like "-dono" or "-sama" or perhaps a more specific title would have been more appropriate (though who knows, I could be wrong, and this only happened two or three times). The second being the weird depiction of "ki-sensing"/spiritual enlightenment (which actually was palatable, because only the martial arts enthusiast character who's been training under waterfalls does it, and she never actually uses the word ki or makes it an easy way out).
(The minor supernatural aspect that shows up didn't bother me at all, on the other hand, as that was handled in a very "realistic"/believable-within-cultural-context way.)
Great female characters too -- the protagonist's wife plays an active role in the proceedings and is such a samurai wife, it's awesome. Though I have to say, after reading Chiang's "Story of Your Life", the depiction of motherly grief here -- while it rang true for the most part as well, did feel a little forced (especially near the beginning). Part of this I think is the fact that I don't know these characters very well at all (which I would have had I started from the beginning). I also wasn't so sure about the other female characters in the sense that although they were very well written, and even sympathetic, I don't think ultimately any of them could be considered one of the "good guys" in a way that is definitely not the case with the male characters (there's some GREAT ambiguity/nuance with a few of the main suspects; however, there are also male characters who are clearly good and those who are clearly bad). As a result, most of the female relationships in the book are fraught with... instability, I should say. I'm not sure how much of this is a deliberate part of one of the thematic arcs of the novel (I have to say, I did like the ending A LOT except for one spoilery aspect: the death of the murder victim's sister -- I feel and felt that a confrontation between the murder victim, who possesses her lover as a spirit throughout the book, and her sister would have been more interesting and definitely more satisfying) and the intrinsic cultural aspect and how much of this is due to lack of interest by the author. I'm inclined to say the former, but I think I'll have to read more to know for sure.
I'll be honest though -- the murder itself I didn't feel was that well crafted. Not complex enough, and just one single character could have unraveled the entire thing at once had anyone just asked. I did love how the various main characters all had their own pet suspect though, but honestly, it felt pretty anticlimactic or disappointing somehow, albeit realistic, to have the murderer turn out to be the smug, bigoted jerk, who actually did have a sympathetic side though -- but it just seemed too easy for it to have turned out to be him, if you know what I mean. Mostly I feel that "justice" wasn't really served, in my modern sensibilities. I mean, it makes sense in the time/cultural context, but still....
What I was more interested in were the hints of political intrigue that show up only in the beginning and the very end. A lot of mystery can be read standalone, but this series is clearly one of those where it's better to read in order, as the novels actually follow the cast through a lot of years. So basically, I want to read more!
I enjoyed the two Walter Mosley books, Fear Itself and Fear of the Dark, a lot more, with much fewer reservations. As I mentioned, they're books 2 and 3 of the series, but I found that it didn't impede my enjoyment at all, because the recurring cast (as well as the case-specific characters) are all very memorable and vibrantly depicted. They're characters I really enjoyed spending time with, and would love to spend more time with, in fact.
The series is set in 1950s LA, though there's some slight indication in the narration that the protagonist, Paris Milton, who is age 29-30ish, is writing these stories down as an old man looking back on his youthful exploits. He's an unusual hero for a noir series, but that just makes him all the more likable. (In contrast, I don't quite like the main character of The Long Fall, though he is also interesting and sympathetic.) Anyway, Paris is the owner of a small bookstore. He loves books, LOVES them. (This even serves as a plot point in Fear Itself. XD) This despite his awareness that they're filled with lies (both well-meaning and not) about black people. He's VERY well read and intelligent despite his lack of a formal education, easily referencing writers like Alexei Tolstoy, Albert Camus, and Mark Twain... He's also totally paranoid. And a complete coward. XD
What really makes this series is Paris's friendship with the titular Fearless Jones, who is one popular, charming, charismatic guy. Fearless is a WWII veteran and a natural fighter/dangerous killer. But he's also probably the kindest and most honest man in all of LA. Intelligent in his own way, but with a sort of innocent directness, living-in-the-present-moment attitude that makes him really stand out. To paraphrase one of Paris's descriptions, he's a natural man in a synthetic city. And like his name implies, he's not afraid of anything... and always wants to do the right thing, which means he tends to get his best friend into as much trouble as he gets Paris out of.
There's a real easy sense of humor alongside all the seediness that makes this a really brisk and enjoyable read. And above all, as in The Long Fall (which was my introduction to Mosley), there's a real, ever-present awareness of race that not only feels completely natural and makes total sense (helloooo 1950s LA), but is so delightful and refreshing to read after so much "colorblind" (read: whitewashed) fiction. Really feels like homecoming, though the era is a completely different one. But, little details like regional origins, the exact shade of skin (i.e. the spectrum of those who can "pass" and those who can't), and code-switching between comfortable "street talk" and "proper" English... The balance of playing to expectations while at the same time not crossing any lines... The tacitly different rules in place for whites and non-whites (innocent until proven guilty vs. guilty until proven innocent is a big one that deeply informs Paris's actions)... The presence of Hispanics and Asians...
And oh gosh, the Asian characters. Make me so happy. For one, there's Loretta, a recurring character, who's a Japanese American 40-year-old hotty and totally awesome. (According to Paris, she hangs around in black circles because she feels more of a kinship with them, and with their underlying anger -- she hates whites for the Japanese concentration camps, though we are only ever told this and never witness to it. In one brief flashback Paris asks her why her hate runs so deeply when his people have been downtrodden for hundreds of years; she responds that it's because she feels betrayed, as she had thought she was a citizen and an equal until the camps. Which is just... yes.)
In Fear of the Dark there's also a Chinese restaurant owner (who is hilariously awesome, and according to Paris hates whites for the subjugation of China -- i.e. the Opium War and everything surrounding that -- he draws comparisons to the American Indians), and a younger Chinese waitress Paris sleeps with who hates the Japanese for their war atrocities, and was actually an intellectual who studied classical texts both Eastern and Western at one point before she had to escape the war (she and Paris bond somewhat over Greek philosophers)... and Paris wonders idly if she would hate Loretta if they met... and it's just.... again, yes. :D
Lest this comes across as a hatefest against white people, I should clarify that none of this hate is ever shown on the surface, and in fact there is no active hatred in the two books at all except for personal vendettas (which have mostly nothing to do with race, but with the conspiracies/crimes). It's not like these characters can afford it! But it's more an underlying anger, as I've said, that informs their choices and actions, a silent disrespect and distrust of authority and of white society, and a sense of camaraderie in the face of that overwhelmingly white America in which none of them can truly belong in, despite the troubles even within the non-white community itself.
Speaking of the women -- the women in both books are confident in their sexuality without necessarily being out to get Paris (who, without ever being annoying about it, has self-esteem issues over his height and his cowardice and weakness but takes solace in his... other endowments XD, thus making his weakness for women totally believable)... and they don't get killed left and right like in most noir, which is another plus. Also, there's a good variety of strength and intelligence and individuality in all of them, which is just mmmm yeah.
All I have to say is, I reaaaally want to read Easy Rawlins now. And the first Fearless Jones book.
Also want to watch the Devil in a Blue Dress movie. I love period stuff, I love noir, and Denzel Washington rocks.