November Reading
Since I managed to finish *eight* books this month, I'm going to use cuts.
Children of the Stones by Jeremy Burnham & Trevor Rey ***1/2
The tiny English village of Milbury lies at the center of an enormous ring of standing stones, but that is not its only oddness, as Adam and his young son Matthew quickly learn. Adam has come to the village for a few months to take scientific readings of the stones, and he and Matthew are immediately struck by the strange behaviour of nearly all of Milbury's residents. From their universal greeting of "Happy Day!" to the apparent brilliance of Matthew's classmates, everything feels wrong. The only exceptions are a few other newcomers to the village, an eccentric Welsh poacher named Dai, and Mr. Hendrick, who lives in the old manor house. Gradually, Adam and Matthew realise that the villagers are subject to some sinister power which saps their wills and removes all thought and independence, and their fellow newcomers are falling prey to it before their eyes. How can they fight the danger when they don't know what it is, or how it will come at them? All they know is that they must do something quickly, before they are the only ones left in Milbury with the power of independent thought. All they know is that it's something to do with the stones. A good read, especially for the 9-12 set. The only issue I have with it is a low level of casual misogyny. This book was published in the 1970's, and it seems like, even though Margaret and her daughter Sandra have been in Milbury longer, Adam and Matthew come up with all the good ideas to solve the mystery, while "the girls" [sic] just sit around going, "I never thought of that!"
Holes by Louis Sachar ****
I think this is the first Louis Sachar book I've read since third grade. I've been meaning to pick it up ever since seeing the movie a few years back. Stanley, of the traditionally unlucky Yelnats family, is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. This time his bad luck has seen him unjustly convicted of theft and sent to Camp Greenlake, a prison camp for boys. The lake has long since dried up, and the Warden sets the boys to digging holes every day in the hot sun to "build character". But the truth is, the Warden is searching for something -- something tied up in the history of Greenlake which could change Stanley's luck forever. I was amazed by what a faithful adaptation of the book the movie turned out to be. Bar a little shuffling of details and the order of one or two scenes, everything is recognisably there. I do think the movie did a good job of tightening up a few of the connections, and smoothing out the transitions between the different timelines. It also ramped up the catharsis a good bit, to create a big ol' feel-good happy ending, but it's not too far off the original, so I'll forgive them just this once.
I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression by Erma Bombeck ****
Erma Bombeck is a jewel of humour. She embodies all the casually assumed values of a generation which threw up its hands and wandered into retirement before I ever came along. Though she flourished during the first wave of militant feminism, she makes no apologies for her vocation of wife and mother, while claiming no great skill at either. Her sense of humour is her weapon in the face of the frustrations and vicissitudes of life. She mocks her husband, her children, her mother-in-law, and herself with equanimity. From the daughter who goes off to college to escape her parents' "materialism" (but takes everything in the house with her), to the husband who loves camping too much, to the dog's game of Let-Me-In-Let-Me-Out-Let-Me-In, nothing is safe from her shrewd observations and wit. There's only one rule in the Bombeck household: Take nothing too seriously, including yourself.
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine ***
Another book by the same author as The Wish, which I read last month. Princess Addie and Princess Meryl are sisters and best friends, even though they have very little in common. Meryl wants to be a warrior when she grows up, and slay the monsters that plague their father's kingdom, and find a cure for the plague known as the Gray Death. Addie is afraid of everything, including spiders. She makes her sister promise not to go adventuring until she is safely wed to her true love -- whoever that may be -- so she won't be left alone. But fate takes a hand, and at the age of seventeen, Meryl is struck down by the Gray Death. Her only hope is for sixteen-year-old Addie to find the courage to go on a quest for the cure. I probably would have find the story more interesting and a lot less predictable if I was about ten -- the target audience -- since Addie starts her quest with all kinds of helpful magical gizmos that do exactly what she needs them to at just the right time. The only thing that took my interest was the romantic subplot. Even that sort of strained my suspension of disbelief, but at 31, I have different expectations and ideas about romance than a child would.
Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor *****
I'm probably biased, but I think this is an ace book. I can't believe I haven't read it since high school. "Red Dwarf" (along with Monty Python) was an integral part of my formative years, and was probably at least partly responsible for the distinctly British shape my sense of humour subsequently took. I still have a huge soft spot for the TV show, but in a lot of ways, the book is even better. Plots that are confined to half-hour episodes are here expanded upon, with more detail, more character insight, and more humour sprinkled throughout the narrative than the dialogue and visuals of the show alone could ever convey. One thing I can't believe I never noticed before: Lister is far and away the smartest character. Before, I just thought of him as a lazy, ignorant slob, who was the hero mainly by virtue of being nicer than everyone else. Yes, he is a lazy slob, but he's not stupid. He recognises when something is important, and he knows how to do the research and where to find the answers he needs. Rimmer, with his complex exam timetables, never seems to absorb 1% as much information as Lister does when he puts his mind to it. Rimmer is, of course, image-obsessed as a mask to hide his own self-loathing. The Cat is image-obsessed because of his own innate narcissism. Kryten lacks depth, but he's a mechanoid with few thoughts not about cleaning. Holly, the wonderfully eccentric computer, is good for a few one-liners. But Lister is the Everyman hero with a heart of gold, who never loses hope in the face of overwhelming odds that he will, one day, find his way home.
The Silent Gondoliers by S. Morgenstern (aka William Goldman) ***1/2
This novella, by the author of The Princess Bride, tells the story of Luigi, one of the greatest gondoliers Venice has ever known, and of why the gondoliers -- once universally acclaimed as the best singers in the world -- stopped singing. It is a tale of the irrepressible nature of dreams, and the courage of a man who pursues his in spite of their seeming impossibility. Morgenstern/Goldman, of course, claims exhaustive research and unimpeachable sources for his tale -- a device echoed by Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events". The frequent use of superlatives, and satyrically elaborate descriptions of Luigi's years of training are reminiscent of the style Goldman employed in The Princess Bride. A quick, enjoyable read for ages 12 and up.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman *****
Buttercup, the commoner-turned-princess, loves Wesley, the farmhand-turned-dashing hero, with all her heart, and of course Wesley loves her, too. But when he is killed by pirates while off trying to make his fortune so he can marry her, she agrees to marry the horrible Prince Humperdink. However, all is not as it seems. Humperdink plots to kill Buttercup with the help of his right-hand-man, the sadistic Count Rugen, in order to start a war with the neighbouring country of Guilder, and only the timely resurrection of her darling Wesley can save her. But since this is a satire of fairytales, nothing goes according to plan, and although Wesley and Buttercup are the romantic leads, they are far from being the most interesting characters. Buttercup may be the most beautiful woman alive, but she has all the brains and depth of character of a cardboard cutout. Wesley is just way too perfect, and how can a reader sympathise with that? It is the supporting cast of quirky secondary characters, including my favourite, Inigo Montoya, that makes this story a classic. However, the truly classic work of fiction here is Goldman's introduction, explaining how he didn't write the story, only abridged the "good parts" version from the Florinese original by S. Morgenstern. The story he weaves about his life and his discovery and love of this "timeless classic" -- not to mention his notes interrupting the text to explain what he cut out and why -- has had countless readers searching for years for the Morgenstren "original". Much to my delight, at the end of this edition (25th anniversary), I discovered the "abridgment" of the first chapter of Buttercup's Baby, the putative sequel, prefaced by a 22 page introduction every bit as delightful as that of the original book. This new chapter also included a PG-rated "sex scene" between Buttercup and Wesley that had me giggling all the way through.
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich ****
Last year, I read Ehrenreich's book Bait and Switch, so I was pleased to find a used copy of her first bestselling expose this week. In this book, the author does some old-fashioned under-cover journalism, and spends a year living on and working for minimum wage, to see if it is a truly sustainable lifestyle. It will be no surprise to the reader to discover that it isn't. Even with the author's advantages of good health, ethnicity, and the knowledge that she can escape the system at any time, she is prey to the same depression and frustration which plague an unacceptably large percentage of the population of the richest nation in the world. While this book offers amazing (and terrifying) insight into the world of the working poor, it offers no avenues to change. I lay no blame on the author for this; if these problems were easily solvable, they would hardly be problems. The fact is that many hard-working Americans live under conditions uncomfortably close to slavery. The comfortably middle class often smugly assume that the poor are at fault for their own poverty, but what brave soul would willingly stand up and "make trouble" for an employer at the risk of losing they only income they have? "You check your civil liberties at the door" when you work these jobs, and often even your basic human dignity, because employers hold all the good cards. They can (mis)treat employees badly, even within the limits of the law, comfortable in the fact that there are always more applicants than there are positions available. I sincerely hope that the situation has improved somewhat since this book was published in 2001, but even if it has, it's nowhere near enough. Change is clearly needed, and the only way change can happen is through the actions of individuals. So if you're at a relatively comfortable income level (and I suspect almost anyone reading this is), do what you can to avoid perpetuating a system which abuses and neglects the poor.
Children of the Stones by Jeremy Burnham & Trevor Rey ***1/2
The tiny English village of Milbury lies at the center of an enormous ring of standing stones, but that is not its only oddness, as Adam and his young son Matthew quickly learn. Adam has come to the village for a few months to take scientific readings of the stones, and he and Matthew are immediately struck by the strange behaviour of nearly all of Milbury's residents. From their universal greeting of "Happy Day!" to the apparent brilliance of Matthew's classmates, everything feels wrong. The only exceptions are a few other newcomers to the village, an eccentric Welsh poacher named Dai, and Mr. Hendrick, who lives in the old manor house. Gradually, Adam and Matthew realise that the villagers are subject to some sinister power which saps their wills and removes all thought and independence, and their fellow newcomers are falling prey to it before their eyes. How can they fight the danger when they don't know what it is, or how it will come at them? All they know is that they must do something quickly, before they are the only ones left in Milbury with the power of independent thought. All they know is that it's something to do with the stones. A good read, especially for the 9-12 set. The only issue I have with it is a low level of casual misogyny. This book was published in the 1970's, and it seems like, even though Margaret and her daughter Sandra have been in Milbury longer, Adam and Matthew come up with all the good ideas to solve the mystery, while "the girls" [sic] just sit around going, "I never thought of that!"
Holes by Louis Sachar ****
I think this is the first Louis Sachar book I've read since third grade. I've been meaning to pick it up ever since seeing the movie a few years back. Stanley, of the traditionally unlucky Yelnats family, is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. This time his bad luck has seen him unjustly convicted of theft and sent to Camp Greenlake, a prison camp for boys. The lake has long since dried up, and the Warden sets the boys to digging holes every day in the hot sun to "build character". But the truth is, the Warden is searching for something -- something tied up in the history of Greenlake which could change Stanley's luck forever. I was amazed by what a faithful adaptation of the book the movie turned out to be. Bar a little shuffling of details and the order of one or two scenes, everything is recognisably there. I do think the movie did a good job of tightening up a few of the connections, and smoothing out the transitions between the different timelines. It also ramped up the catharsis a good bit, to create a big ol' feel-good happy ending, but it's not too far off the original, so I'll forgive them just this once.
I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression by Erma Bombeck ****
Erma Bombeck is a jewel of humour. She embodies all the casually assumed values of a generation which threw up its hands and wandered into retirement before I ever came along. Though she flourished during the first wave of militant feminism, she makes no apologies for her vocation of wife and mother, while claiming no great skill at either. Her sense of humour is her weapon in the face of the frustrations and vicissitudes of life. She mocks her husband, her children, her mother-in-law, and herself with equanimity. From the daughter who goes off to college to escape her parents' "materialism" (but takes everything in the house with her), to the husband who loves camping too much, to the dog's game of Let-Me-In-Let-Me-Out-Let-Me-In, nothing is safe from her shrewd observations and wit. There's only one rule in the Bombeck household: Take nothing too seriously, including yourself.
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine ***
Another book by the same author as The Wish, which I read last month. Princess Addie and Princess Meryl are sisters and best friends, even though they have very little in common. Meryl wants to be a warrior when she grows up, and slay the monsters that plague their father's kingdom, and find a cure for the plague known as the Gray Death. Addie is afraid of everything, including spiders. She makes her sister promise not to go adventuring until she is safely wed to her true love -- whoever that may be -- so she won't be left alone. But fate takes a hand, and at the age of seventeen, Meryl is struck down by the Gray Death. Her only hope is for sixteen-year-old Addie to find the courage to go on a quest for the cure. I probably would have find the story more interesting and a lot less predictable if I was about ten -- the target audience -- since Addie starts her quest with all kinds of helpful magical gizmos that do exactly what she needs them to at just the right time. The only thing that took my interest was the romantic subplot. Even that sort of strained my suspension of disbelief, but at 31, I have different expectations and ideas about romance than a child would.
Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor *****
I'm probably biased, but I think this is an ace book. I can't believe I haven't read it since high school. "Red Dwarf" (along with Monty Python) was an integral part of my formative years, and was probably at least partly responsible for the distinctly British shape my sense of humour subsequently took. I still have a huge soft spot for the TV show, but in a lot of ways, the book is even better. Plots that are confined to half-hour episodes are here expanded upon, with more detail, more character insight, and more humour sprinkled throughout the narrative than the dialogue and visuals of the show alone could ever convey. One thing I can't believe I never noticed before: Lister is far and away the smartest character. Before, I just thought of him as a lazy, ignorant slob, who was the hero mainly by virtue of being nicer than everyone else. Yes, he is a lazy slob, but he's not stupid. He recognises when something is important, and he knows how to do the research and where to find the answers he needs. Rimmer, with his complex exam timetables, never seems to absorb 1% as much information as Lister does when he puts his mind to it. Rimmer is, of course, image-obsessed as a mask to hide his own self-loathing. The Cat is image-obsessed because of his own innate narcissism. Kryten lacks depth, but he's a mechanoid with few thoughts not about cleaning. Holly, the wonderfully eccentric computer, is good for a few one-liners. But Lister is the Everyman hero with a heart of gold, who never loses hope in the face of overwhelming odds that he will, one day, find his way home.
The Silent Gondoliers by S. Morgenstern (aka William Goldman) ***1/2
This novella, by the author of The Princess Bride, tells the story of Luigi, one of the greatest gondoliers Venice has ever known, and of why the gondoliers -- once universally acclaimed as the best singers in the world -- stopped singing. It is a tale of the irrepressible nature of dreams, and the courage of a man who pursues his in spite of their seeming impossibility. Morgenstern/Goldman, of course, claims exhaustive research and unimpeachable sources for his tale -- a device echoed by Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events". The frequent use of superlatives, and satyrically elaborate descriptions of Luigi's years of training are reminiscent of the style Goldman employed in The Princess Bride. A quick, enjoyable read for ages 12 and up.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman *****
Buttercup, the commoner-turned-princess, loves Wesley, the farmhand-turned-dashing hero, with all her heart, and of course Wesley loves her, too. But when he is killed by pirates while off trying to make his fortune so he can marry her, she agrees to marry the horrible Prince Humperdink. However, all is not as it seems. Humperdink plots to kill Buttercup with the help of his right-hand-man, the sadistic Count Rugen, in order to start a war with the neighbouring country of Guilder, and only the timely resurrection of her darling Wesley can save her. But since this is a satire of fairytales, nothing goes according to plan, and although Wesley and Buttercup are the romantic leads, they are far from being the most interesting characters. Buttercup may be the most beautiful woman alive, but she has all the brains and depth of character of a cardboard cutout. Wesley is just way too perfect, and how can a reader sympathise with that? It is the supporting cast of quirky secondary characters, including my favourite, Inigo Montoya, that makes this story a classic. However, the truly classic work of fiction here is Goldman's introduction, explaining how he didn't write the story, only abridged the "good parts" version from the Florinese original by S. Morgenstern. The story he weaves about his life and his discovery and love of this "timeless classic" -- not to mention his notes interrupting the text to explain what he cut out and why -- has had countless readers searching for years for the Morgenstren "original". Much to my delight, at the end of this edition (25th anniversary), I discovered the "abridgment" of the first chapter of Buttercup's Baby, the putative sequel, prefaced by a 22 page introduction every bit as delightful as that of the original book. This new chapter also included a PG-rated "sex scene" between Buttercup and Wesley that had me giggling all the way through.
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich ****
Last year, I read Ehrenreich's book Bait and Switch, so I was pleased to find a used copy of her first bestselling expose this week. In this book, the author does some old-fashioned under-cover journalism, and spends a year living on and working for minimum wage, to see if it is a truly sustainable lifestyle. It will be no surprise to the reader to discover that it isn't. Even with the author's advantages of good health, ethnicity, and the knowledge that she can escape the system at any time, she is prey to the same depression and frustration which plague an unacceptably large percentage of the population of the richest nation in the world. While this book offers amazing (and terrifying) insight into the world of the working poor, it offers no avenues to change. I lay no blame on the author for this; if these problems were easily solvable, they would hardly be problems. The fact is that many hard-working Americans live under conditions uncomfortably close to slavery. The comfortably middle class often smugly assume that the poor are at fault for their own poverty, but what brave soul would willingly stand up and "make trouble" for an employer at the risk of losing they only income they have? "You check your civil liberties at the door" when you work these jobs, and often even your basic human dignity, because employers hold all the good cards. They can (mis)treat employees badly, even within the limits of the law, comfortable in the fact that there are always more applicants than there are positions available. I sincerely hope that the situation has improved somewhat since this book was published in 2001, but even if it has, it's nowhere near enough. Change is clearly needed, and the only way change can happen is through the actions of individuals. So if you're at a relatively comfortable income level (and I suspect almost anyone reading this is), do what you can to avoid perpetuating a system which abuses and neglects the poor.