Stretch's reading for 2012

CharlasClub Read 2012

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Stretch's reading for 2012

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1stretch
Editado: Dic 2, 2012, 7:57 pm

Currently Reading: Bedrock, Thinking about the Earth: A History of Ideas in Geology, A history of Geology, and Thinking fast and Slow

Fiction:
+ The Stones Cry Out by Hikaru Okuizumi
+ Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
+ Criminal: The Dead and Dying by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips {Graphic Novel}
+ The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
+ Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose {Play}
+ Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe
+ As She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem
+ Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa
+ A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
+ Brummstein by Peter Adolphsen
+ Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson
+ Incognito by Ed Brubaker {Graphic Novel}
+ The Cape by Joe Hill {Graphic Novel}
+ Locke & Key: Clockworks by Joe Hill {Graphic Novel}
+ In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami
+ Machine of Death edited by Ryan North
+ And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
+ In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddy Ratner
+ Flatlanders by Edwin Abbott
+ The Crucible by Arthur Miller {Play}
+ Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
+ Ten Billion Days and Hundred Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse

Nonfiction:
+ Geek Wisdom by Stephen H. Segal
+ In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki
+ Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
+ The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
+ The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People by Alan Brinkley
+ The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
+ The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
+ For the Rock Record: Geologists on Intelligent Design by Jill S. Schneiderman and Warren D. Allmon
+ The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan
+ Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie by Lauren Redniss {Graphic Novel}
+ Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary
+ Science Is Culture by Adam Bly

3stretch
Editado: Dic 31, 2011, 8:19 pm

SHORT WORKS

Excerpt of Hikaru Okuizumi from Bedrock; originally published in The Stones Cry Out (1994)

The narrator, a Japanese veteran of the battle for the Philippine island of Leyte, begins his story by retelling the basic geology lecture he received from a dying man in cave. This lecture and the memories of his battle experience and as prisoner of war will haunt Manse for the remainder of his life, but will also spur a lifelong passion for collecting and learning about rocks. Has one of the most beautiful passages of optical mineralogy I’ve ever come across, I could see the granite like I was looking through the scope myself.

Excerpt of David Leveson's entitled "The innocence of rock" from Bedrock; originally published in A Sense of the Earth (1972)

In this essay David Leveson reflects on the seemingly passive nature of rocks and the silent, invisible role they have in our lives; when in reality the rocks we hold in our hands are not just hard chemical assemblages but are intricately intertwined with our very lives, even our very existence. A humbling piece from geologic perspective that doesn’t use the immensity of time to put us in our place, which is a really nice change from our entire species has only been in existence to what amounts to a blink of the eye in geologic time analogy.

Excerpt of Luci Tapahonso from Bedrock; originally published in "Ode to the Land: A Dine Prespective" (1995)

In a short series of essays Tapahonso relates what the lanscape and mountains mean to the Najavao people, both a spritual and physical sense. Certainly a different prespective of how people not only interact with the land around them, but how the land shapes and guides our lives.

4lilisin
Editado: Dic 13, 2011, 11:03 pm

Your best of 2011 list includes some of my favorite reads ever. Fantastic stuff.
And it's interesting that you've posted an excerpt of Hikaru Okuizumi. I just recently placed his The Stones Cry Out on my wishlist. But I'm confused. Are these works you've read or that you are planning on reading?

And I'm super excited to see that you're reading Taiko.

5stretch
Editado: Dic 31, 2011, 8:18 pm

I'm reading a book Geology called Bedrock that contains excerpts, poems, and essays about geology. That includes fictional works non-fictional works as well. It starts with the first couple of pages of Hikaru Okuizumi's book, which won me over immediately. With The Stones Cry Out and your author themes read this year, January is going to be a great haul. I tried but failed last year to keep track of all the short stuff I read in year, so the above post was an experiment to see how I like working the essays and short stories I read into the body of the thread and not just at the start. So far I think I like it and will help when it comes time to comment on the book once I've actually finished it. Will see if I'm able to stick to it this year.

6dchaikin
Dic 14, 2011, 9:03 am

It's a great idea to keep track of these. I've tried this in various forms (not posted), but it always take more time than I anticipate.

7stretch
Dic 14, 2011, 3:12 pm

I'm going to try to keep track of most it this year. I'll see how long I keep with it though. It's hard to summarizes thoughts on something read so long ago without having to re-read it so this is going to be hit and miss until I establish more of a routine, but it's good excerise.

8stretch
Editado: Dic 30, 2011, 6:03 am

SHORT WORKS

Excerpt of Jaquetta Hawkes entitled "Digression on Rocks, Soils and Men" from Bedrock; originally published in A Land (1951)

An essay about how people have always maintained a spiritual relationship with rocks throughout time. A large part of the essay deals with sculptor and how the rock they use takes on deeper meaning and can add to the finished work in unexpected ways. Even today our gravestones are made of rock instead of metal or wood or some modern material better suited for the weather. There is something ingrained in the human pysche to believe that rocks are forever.

Excerpt of E.M. Foster from Bedrock; originally published in A Passage to India (1924)

A story from Foster's travels through the Himalayas, and how the great mountains history seemingly contradicts its past as piece of the sea floor. What's really interesting here is that Foster hints so eerily close to a plate tectonic explanation of mountain formation it's almost painful.

Excerpt of Loren Eiseley's entitled "The Relic Man" from Bedrock; originally published in The Night Country (1971)

A story of a man gone crazy in the back country of Wyoming/Montana. He believes that an eroded rock in a canyon wall is a woman trapped forever in the rock. I'm not really sure what to make of this or it's inclusion in this particular book. All I took away from this story is that if you are left alone long enough you'll go a bit mad and invent companionship.

Essay by Ann Zwinger entitled "A Question of Conglomerate" from Bedrock; previously unpublished

Zwinger, a naturalist author, laments that so many people find geology a boring and difficult science to grasp, when there are so many interesting stories to be told. A good piece of public advocacy. Her description of the Colorado plateau is worth reading by itself.

Excerpt of James Joyce from Bedrock; originally published in Portrait of a Young Artist (1916)

In this short excerpt Joyce muses on the concept of eternity using a mountain of sand grains and a bird that removes one grain at time. The metaphor examines how the time it takes for the bird to remove all the billions of individual grains of sand that make up this mountain is just the beginning of eternity. Not a bad metaphor for exploring the immensity of time. However, I don't think I'll ever find myself reading the whole book anytime soon.

9stretch
Dic 30, 2011, 6:04 am

Geek Wisdom by Stephen Segal (2011; 224 pages)



Geek Wisdom is full of some of the greatest geek quotes of all time, add the quick philosophical blurbs and this book is certainly more than meets the eye. Truth be told I only requested this book with a train wreck mindset, so I was a bit hesitant when I actually won it. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this book, it's funny, often witty, insightful, and never seems to take itself too seriously. Quite the accomplishment considering all the directions that this book could have gone. Like all book of quotes there is always going to some quibbles over ones left out and may appear dated decades from now, but who really cares when your looking for a fun quick read.

10stretch
Editado: Ene 1, 2012, 4:47 pm

In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki (1933; 54 pages)



In Praise of Shadows is an essay by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki exulting the Japanese aesthetics when it comes to design and functionality. Written at a time when Japan was modernizing and becoming more and more like western countries, Tanizaki pleads with his audience (the Japanese people) to remember their unique sense of design and not to abandon the old ways for the harsher western designs. It was really interesting to read about the role of shadow and how that is incorporated in the design of house or even individual rooms. There are some aspects of Japanese design and art that I can't simply Google and had a hard time telling the difference from Japanese use of natural elements and use of natural light with the American southeast/Spanish design that grew up with and understand, to me they're pretty similar. Either way I think the Japanese aesthetic suits me rather well. I'll have to make it priority to visit Japan and see this aesthetic up close.

As I was reading this I had the good fortune to be in town in Seymour, IN, which has a lot of Japanese industry. The hotel I was at caters to the Japanese clientele when they are in town with Japanese newspapers, Miso soup, and a totally redesigned third floor to be more of eastern feel. Unlike the western rooms the bamboo wallpaper is carried over into the rooms to give the walls a more subdued look, the furniture is lower to the ground, there's a greater affiance on natural woods, there architecturally useless beam and alcoves, and the lighting was different from most western style rooms. Lots of shadow and more serene feel to the room. Grant it all this is a bit westernized for other paying customers, but I got the feeling that the hotel was trying very hard to incorporate as much of the Japanese design elements as possible without going so far as to alienate its base clientele. It's probably the 1st time I have ever really looked at hotel before.

Oh, does anyone know where i can find a subtitled Noh or Kabuki theater production?

11Deskdude
Ene 1, 2012, 1:16 am

I'm sure I never would have come across this title if you hadn't posted it. I've since added it to my wishlist. :) Thanks for sharing!

12stretch
Editado: Ene 1, 2012, 4:45 pm

The Stones Cry Out by Hikaru Okuizumi (1994; 144 pages)



Tsuyoshi Manase, the book's protagonist, is veteran of Japan's campaign on the island of Leyte, who is haunted by what he witnessed in the waning days of Japan's last-ditch effort to defend the island. While hiding from the enemy surrounded unimaginable suffering men of his unit who plagued by hunger, thirst, disease, without arms, and encircled by rotting corpses try vainly to muster the strength to die honorably in one last charge of the enemy. Manase is able to gleams some solace in the dying words of Lance Corporal, who in another lifetime was a geologist, that would impact the rest of his life. After the war Mansae runs s successful book store, marries, and has children. Still haunted by his memories of the war, Mansae turns to stone collecting which quickly turns into an all-encompassing obsession, often taking priority over his family obligations. When tradegy strikes Mansae's favorite son, a budding geologist himself, Mansae begins to lose grip of reality. His family implodes unable to deal with the tragic end of such a young boy; too emotionally weak Mansae himself begins to whether away leaving nothing, but tragedy in the wake of a once promising life.

Okuizumi seamlessly intertwines Manse's memories, reality, and hallucinations into one beautiful and harrowing narrative. The mix of reality and the hallucinations are so well done that by the end of this very short book the reader is left wondering if Manse's entire life is nothing more than an illusion of a dying man in a forgotten cave on island surrounded by the dying and the fear of the unknown. With all the symbolism and the twist and turns that Mansae and his family are put through it's a wonder how Okuizumi is able to keep a coherent story together, but he does and what story he tells. Told in a wonderfully sparse but poetic prose from beginning to end, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this a must read for those interested in Japanese literature.

The book is remarkable, I only hope that they decide to translate more of Okuizumi's work into English soon.

13stretch
Ene 1, 2012, 4:51 pm

>11 Deskdude:. Thanks Deskdude, there a few more Clubbers here better versed in Japanese literature and culture then me, all of whom In Praise of Shadows seems to be a popular book. I'm just a newly minted enthusiast just following the crowd.

14baswood
Ene 1, 2012, 5:11 pm

Excellent review of The stones Cry out and maybe a contender for one of the best book covers as well. At a mere 144 pages this sounds like an excellent afternoon's read.

15stretch
Ene 1, 2012, 8:28 pm

Thanks, it really was a excellent read for such a short book. The cover fits the mood of the perfectly and is one of my favorites. It currently stands on the shelves as the only book whose cover is facing out.

16Poquette
Ene 1, 2012, 10:14 pm

I like your approach to highlighting excerpts, short stories, etc. That is an idea I would like to steal from you this year. This almost approaches the idea of a commonplace book, which appeals to me very much.

17dchaikin
Ene 2, 2012, 10:28 pm

I'm going to add The Stones Cry Out to my wishlist. Interesting first few books.

18stretch
Editado: Ene 5, 2012, 9:31 pm

Poquette: Be my guest, borrow away. It would be great to see more of the day to day reading of others in any format. This way just works better for me visually.

Dan: So far it's been a great start to the year! I could easily see The Stones Cry Out as one of my top reads of the year.

19kidzdoc
Ene 9, 2012, 8:06 am

The Stones Cry Out sounds interesting; I'll add it to my wish list.

20detailmuse
Ene 10, 2012, 10:12 am

I love your mood of geology here. The books and stories/essays are aleady developing into a path of stones and pebbles.

21lilisin
Editado: Ene 10, 2012, 11:32 am

I'm happy to see that your reading of The Stones Cry Out confirms my suspicions of it being a great book. I thought with my TBR pile I would never get around to purchasing it but I just happened to go to a Half Price Books for the first time in my life and a lone copy of the book just happened to be there when I just happened to think of it. Fortune was with me.

22stretch
Ene 10, 2012, 8:05 pm

>20 detailmuse:: Yeah, I seem to be on a geology kick as of late for some reason. I have two books in the pipeline that I want to get to and I have some catching up to do with Bedrock. I'm hoping to get this out of my system in next month or two so I can move on to the history reading I wanted to get to. Oh, best laid plans and all.

>21 lilisin:: Aside from my obvious bias of loving all things geology, I really think that The Stones Cry Out is a pretty fantastic book. I hope you enjoy as much as I did when you get around to reading it. I look forward to your take on the ending that still has me a bit perplexed.

I'm jealous you found it in Half Priced Books, I've never come across any of the Japanese books I want in either of Half Priced books here in Indy, for that matter none of the bookstores in this city carry much in the way of international books.

23stretch
Editado: Ene 22, 2012, 3:31 pm

Short Works

Article by Ta-Nehisi Coates entitled "Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?" published in the Alantic (2011)

I have a strong interest in the history of the American Civil War, and have often wondered why there are so few African American Historians that activily study this period of time in our nation's history. Almost all the books about the civil war, reconstruction, even slavery have been written by white men. There has always been a serious lack of perspective from both women and blacks on these issues. While I find Coates characterization of Shelby Foote to be a bit unfair, I can't help agree with the rest of the article. I hope Coates carries through with his plan to write a book about his experience and recent study of the war.

Letter entitled "Statement by Alabama Clergymen"; April 12, 1963

Read this to get some background on King's letter from jail. With hindsight the letter seems so simple minded and wrong, but I can understand the fear and worries caused by the social changes occurring around them slowly eroding the only way of life they knew. I couldn't help but feel sad for these men of the cloth who couldn't or wouldn't sympathize with a people's desire for freedom and equality when they are suppose to live life according to their holy book and their prophet's teachings which just don't jive with their actions or I should say lack of action.

Letter by Martin Luther King, Jr. entitled "Letter from Birmingham Jail"; August 1963

This was a written response to the Alabama Clergymen who wanted King and other civil rights activist to stop their actions and protests in Alabama. The impassioned plea of King for civil disobedience and non-violent action as causes for social change should be shining examples for all Americans and required reading in school. I was moved by this letter, even with it's religious overtones. King's defence of his actions and argument that his methodology is the only way to affect lasting and peaceful change is so powerful and eloquently put that it's impossible for anyone to with even the remotest amount of logic to disagree. And yet people did and our sad chapter to segregation and racism lives on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I still have much to catch up on from both Bedrock and to comment on Kokoro, I just don't fell like writing today. GO 49ers!

24StevenTX
Ene 22, 2012, 2:14 pm

Regarding the article "Why Do So Few Blacks..." I used to be an amateur historian of the Civil War. I had articles published in several magazines, gave talks at round tables, etc., and was working on a dissertation. But the more I came into contact with my audience, the more I became disgusted with the prevalence of racist attitudes and reactionary politics among Civil War buffs. Not everyone thought this way by any means, but enough of a majority, at least in this part of the country, that it was a community with which I did not wish to be associated. I would imagine that many African Americans would feel the same way.

25stretch
Editado: Ene 22, 2012, 3:24 pm

Being from the west coast, I never really had a chance to interact with many civil war groups or even visit battlefields, maybe that's why I'm more interested in the social and political history than the actual battles. Since moving to the Midwest I've gotten to tour the battlefields and interact a bit more with those that study that particular period of history. I agree there are some very distinct elements of racism and lost cause advocates that honestly disturb me. At the same time I have met many, many folks that share a much more nuanced view of history. I'm curious though as to the regional biases that cloud my judgement? I can imagine the strong and vibrant crowd of Lost Cause apologist make up a lot of the reasons for African Americans to avoid the whole fair altogether. A very uncomfortable situation for sure.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your dissertation about?

26StevenTX
Ene 22, 2012, 4:50 pm

I was doing a regimental history of the 7th Texas Infantry, but it never got beyond the research phase. The topics I wrote and lectured on included the 11th Mississippi Infantry and its famous company the "University Greys," the Battle of Helena, Arkansas, (because I used to live there), and the career of the Union gunboat Tyler.

Turning from reading military history to literature has broadened my perspectives considerably, and I can't imagine delving into the military minutiæ as I once loved to do. I would now find the social, cultural and political aspects of history more interesting and worthwhile.

27stretch
Ene 22, 2012, 5:51 pm

That sounds like it may have been rather interesting research. I too don't much like the military/battle histories either, to me all the formations and tactics just underline the vast waste of human life.

28dchaikin
Ene 23, 2012, 9:55 am

#23 - ah, Kevin, but the bible supports slavery, and ever prescribes some (rather disturbing) rules. The south preached slavery from the bible.

(sorry about SF. At least they didn't lose because of a missed last second FG.)

#24-27 - Steven, very interesting both about you and these groups... actually I'm disturbed by the groups. Note to self, take heed and stay away from the like here in Houston. (side note - let's not forget that the "Old South" existed for all of 15 years in Texas)

29stretch
Ene 23, 2012, 11:22 am

Very true Dan, it's still sad and pathetic in my estimation.

SF had good run and it was good game all things considered. I can't complain. I do wish they hadn't lost on a special teams mistake. An offensive drive or defensive stop would be a much better way to go out. Hell of year though for being so bad the last decade.

30StevenTX
Ene 23, 2012, 11:41 am

#28 - let's not forget that the "Old South" existed for all of 15 years in Texas

Whether Texas should properly be considered part of the Old South is something I've heard debated all my life. (No, A&M joining the SEC did not resolve the issue!)

A former professor of mine, Randolph Campbell, addresses the issue, at least from a socio-economic perspective, in An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas. He found more similarities between Texas and the Deep South than many Texans would now care to acknowledge. Slavery was thriving and expanding and was critical to the state's economy, so politically and culturally Texas was more Southern than Western even while it was still an independent republic. Of course, immigration has remade the state several times over since the Civil War era, but many of those immigrants, my ancestors included, were Confederate veterans from other Southern states.

31kidzdoc
Ene 24, 2012, 11:48 am

Interesting comments about Ta-Nehisi Coates' article in The Atlantic, Kevin. And thanks for the link to the article; I'll read it later today, and post a comment or two here.

I'm an African American "Yankee" (born in northern NJ, lived from my early teens to early 30s in the Philadelphia area) who has lived in Atlanta for nearly 15 years. I have almost zero interest in the American Civil War, and I certainly do not want to visit any battle or historical sites, not in the South, anyway. I'm quite interested in American history as it relates to African Americans; I'm currently reading The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson's Pulitzer Prize winning look at the Great Migration of blacks away from the Deep South from 1915-1970. However, I'm far less interested in the antebellum South, slavery in the North and South, and the War Between the States. I haven't thought much about this, but hopefully Coates's article will give me some insight into this. I did buy 1861 last year, but never got around to reading it. Have you read it?

I also re-read Letter from Birmingham Jail, and the letter from the white Alabama clergymen that prompted King's reply. It's certainly one of the most inspirational and damning documents of the Civil Rights movement, and IMO it should be read by every U.S. high school student.

32stretch
Editado: Ene 28, 2012, 11:35 am

Kokoro by Natsume Soseki (1914; 240 pages)



Kokoro is a beautifully written story with a deep underlying sadness of a young man who befriends a mysterious mentor with a troubled past, which isn't revealed until after the narrator travel home to care for his dying father. This is a story of relationships and the decisions we make that can forever alter those bonds. This is novel about longing for a past we can't have, even if it causes us so much pain.

It's easy to tell that Natsume Soseki was concerned with themes of isolation, especially loneliness resulting from the rapid social changes during the Meiji Period of Japan, when Japan was rapidly adapting technology and the cultural customs of western countries. It's hard for me to relate to, but I think there are some similarities to today with how the internet has changed the dynamics of how people relate to one another. While being more and more connected in every way we are still interfacing with a screen isolated from the outside, creating a new kind of loneliness.

There's also a lot to take away from this novel as historic piece of work. One being that no western novel of the same period could ever sustain the kind of avoidance and mystery of the past for so long. By applying to the very traditional Japanese custom of discretion Soseki manages to create an atmosphere of suspense in what amounts to a slow plodding character driven novel. The other is that Meiji Period must have been very hard for much of the older and more traditional Japanese to adjust to. Ever society has a period of immense change in its history, but I get a sense that this was especially traumatic for a society like Japan that had been closed to the outside for long. A very worthwhile look at the affects of the Meiji Period.

33dchaikin
Ene 29, 2012, 9:50 am

Enjoying your Japanese books, this sounds interesting.

34Linda92007
Ene 29, 2012, 12:37 pm

Kevin - I'm adding both The Stones Cry Out and Kokoro to my wish list, based on your excellent reviews. I wish that I had more of a general background in Japanese literature to guide me. Is there anything you might recommend of that nature?

35stretch
Ene 29, 2012, 1:31 pm

Hi Linda, I don't know how much help I'm going to be since I still pretty new to Japanese Literature myself. I got started reading Japanese authors when it was recommended that I should read Black Rain and Fires on the Plain which I loved. Then I read Shipwrecks and The Sea and Poison based on the recommendations of a single member lilisin. I highly recommend all these books as well they are all excellent and worthy of being read. So far I haven't had been steered wrong.

One of the things that's really helped me while reading Japanese books was to read a short primer on Japan's history and culture. It is so different from the western cultures that I wanted a deeper understanding of how I should interpret what I'm reading and not from my own cultural bias get in the way. For that I read Japan: Its History and Culture by W. Scott Morton. This was not a detailed history book full of names and dates to memorize, instead it just provided an simplistic overview Japan's very unique history and what influences their art and mindset.

Right now the group Author Theme Reads is having an all Japanese Theme year, featuring authors from Japan writing about Japan. The idea i think is to move from reading some of the earliest "modern" Japanese authors to the contemporary authors working today. The preparing for 2012 thread has a whole list of excellent authors and great books. Also, The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories, which also focuses on the more modern authors from 1890's on. These are probably better sources for information on where to start then me.

36Linda92007
Ene 29, 2012, 8:23 pm

Thank you for taking so much time with my question. Our library system doesn't seem to have much Japanese literature, but they do have the Morton book. Looks like a good place to start.

37stretch
Ene 30, 2012, 8:24 pm

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (2012; 352 pages)



Sometimes it's just plain hard being an introvert in an extravert world. But it doesn't have to be or at least that was the take home message I got from Susan Cain's extremely well researched book on the power of introversion. In a world that has replaced substance with thin gold paint. It's important to remember that there is a sizable portion of the population who may not be able to vocalize their ideas as eloquently and readily as those in leadership positions think they ought to, who all the same should not be ignored. Introverts are passionate, observant, focused, and creative people who are extremely dedicated to the people and things they love the most. Quiet is all about empowering those of us that rather remain silent in group meetings, who work best when left to their own devices, and who'd rather avoid meaningless chatter for deeper one-on-one conversations. Through impeccable research from some the most prominent personality scientists working today, and anecdotal evidence from famous introverts and individual interviews Cain is able to show how some of very traits we are often criticized for can actually be some of our best strengths. Cain shows us that we don't need to fix ourselves to fit what society values, instead we should be seeking out our own bliss. One that satisfies our intellectual curiosities and fulfills our interpersonal needs whether that's work or relationship related. Another important take home lesson from this book is that once we can recognize our inherit weaknesses and anxieties we can work on overcoming those hurtles and still find balance to get the most out of our lives. There's even tips for extraverts to better understand their loved ones and raising children who aren't the social butterfly that they may have been. While no introvert or extravert fits into a neat little box, but Quiet is chalk full of helpful insights into being an introvert and finding the happiest lifestyle possible.

38japaul22
Ene 30, 2012, 8:53 pm

I just heard an interview with the author of this book on NPR. Sounds like a very interesting book. Here's a link to the interview if you'd like to hear it. It was pretty short.

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/30/145930229/quiet-please-unleashing-the-power-of-int...

39stretch
Ene 30, 2012, 9:21 pm

Thanks for the link! She really does interview well an introverted author.

40pamelad
Ene 31, 2012, 2:18 am

Good review. That's a book I'll definitely look out for. In case you haven't come across it, here's a link to the entertaining article Caring for your introvert.

41avaland
Ene 31, 2012, 8:21 am

>23 stretch: Thanks for your notes on these. All very interesting as is the subsequent discussion.

>35 stretch: I just checked to see if Oxford Univ. Press had a "Japanese Literature: A Very Short Introduction", as they do for several other literatures (German, Chinese, French, modern Latin American), but no go. I thought you might find it a nice companion to your reading. They do have one for "Modern Japan," though.

42dchaikin
Feb 1, 2012, 8:05 am

#37 - a book I need to read...although not for raising my kids. It they are introverted in anyway, it's been well-concealed.

43stretch
Editado: Feb 19, 2012, 6:38 pm

Criminal: The Dead and Dying by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips {artist} (2008; 104 pages)



Criminal: The Dead and Dying is told in a three story arc. The first story ("Second Chance in Hell") details the origin of Gnarly, the bartender of the Undertow who appeared in the first two story arcs. We get his backstory as a down-on-his-lukc boxer with a childhood connection to Sebastian Hyde, the man we met in the preceding story as the aged, all-powerful underboss of the city. This may be the strongest of the three stories, though all are quite good (personally, I'd quite like to see a story about Gnarly set in the present day, to see what happened with him and the little girl Angie). The second story ("A Wolf Among Wolves") is about Teeg Lawless, the father of Tracy and Ricky Lawless, both featured in the preceding arc. Lawless is a drug-addicted Vietnam veteran who returns home to find himself indebted to the mob, and, in the course of trying to escape its clutches, may find himself relentlessly pulled in. Tracy is the least sympathetic of the three main characters. Phillips makes effective use of blacked-out panels to communicate Teeg's drug-induced stupor, and the ending has a rather bitter tone mixed with Teeg's parental sacrifice, knowing how his children will turn out. Finally, there is the story of Danica Briggs ("Female of the Species"). Danica is a femme fatale of sorts, but, by the time she gets her solo tale, we already know her beginning (in Gnarly's story) and end (in Teeg's). It lends the finale a morbid poignancy.

Brubaker is a first-rate writer of crime fiction, and "Criminal" features him at the top of his game. The tone is brilliantly 70's noir, with a perfect atmosphere of desperation and sober immorality. The characters aren't very likeable, there few if any redemiable qualities about them, but their qualities are perfectly crafted. Combined with Sean Phillips gritty artwork this is a prefect reproduction of classic crime noir and feels
a bit dirty to read.

44stretch
Editado: Feb 20, 2012, 7:24 pm

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (2011; 400 pages)



I don't know if I can add much that hasn't already been said about this wonderfully imagined circus duel between two wildly imaginative magicians. The Night Circus is entirely enchanting if the reader is willing to suspend disbelief in the supernatural. Beautifully structured, and full of lush imagery and thoroughly-imagined sets, the book tells the story of two young magicians whose love must hurdle impossibly large and mysterious obstacles. The story is primarily about the ability of true love to prevail against all odds. That's a well-worn theme, but in this case it is presented against a unique backdrop, without sentimentality or cliche. It's the throughly imagined backdrop of this melodrama what really stills the show. The tents and atmosphere are pitch prefect for magically enhanced circus, right down to the caramel apple scent in the air. Morgenstern was able construct a living breathing fantasy world that just feels real and as inviting as any world in fiction I've ever come across.

In a lot of ways Morgenstern breaks every rule for a new author that wants to have successful debut, but Morgenstern bends these rules to her will and construct a beautifully written book that just wouldn't be the same if she choice to follow the establishments guidelines for success. However, I did find the use of present tense in the narration that can become distracting, but help establish the overall atmosphere. Also, she doesn't lay out the story in a strict chronological order when jumping from one characters narrative to the next, which is jarring and confusing at times if the reader is not paying close attention the dates at the beginning of each chapter.

I'll be looking forward to Erin Morgenstern's next endeavor.

45stretch
Editado: Feb 20, 2012, 8:43 pm

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose (1957; 96 pages)



I like to read on of my favorite plays about once year, usually Inherit the Wind. This year I went with Twelve Angry Men. I have seen it live in a play, both movie versions, and even the original broadcast; and now I've read it. I still don't know which is my favorite format with each version tweaking the story just a bit here and there, but the 1996 Jack Lemmon movie version is by the far the most memorable for me, maybe because it was the first. I think this is really great drama and wouldn't mind seeing it remade yet again.

I really need another classic play for next year that I haven't seen done to death.

46avidmom
Feb 20, 2012, 9:56 pm

>45 stretch: I didn't even know there was a version of Twelve Angry Men with Jack Lemmon. Definitely on my "to be seen" list.

47Poquette
Feb 21, 2012, 12:49 am

Thoroughly enjoyed your review of The Night Circus. It is at the top of my list at the moment for purchase.

May I suggest a new play for you? How about The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan. It is hard to find in print, but two movie versions exist, both of which are very fine. It is one of my favorites.

48stretch
Feb 21, 2012, 10:42 am

Avidmom: The '96 or maybe the '97 movie isn't bad. George C. Scott (Patton Fame) plays the main protagonist and is also prefect for the role. It's funny that he and Lemmon would play almost the same roles a couple or years later in Inherit the wind. Both are very good movies even if they were made for TV. I miss the days when networks would do at least one decent show/movie with some real production value not locked up in actors salaries.

Suzanne: Thanks, I hope you enjoy Night Circus as much as I did. I'll have to be on the lookoutfor a copy of The Winslow Boy for next year, it sounds exactly like the kind of play l would enjoy.

49dchaikin
Feb 22, 2012, 4:34 am

Great review of The Night Circus. You have made me want to find a book to be enchanted by.

50wildbill
Mar 2, 2012, 7:17 pm

I just put Twelve Angry Men on my wish list. I have been involved in trials as an attorney.

I enjoyed the review of The Night Circus. I felt that the it was well written and conveyed the atmosphere of the book very well.

51stretch
Editado: mayo 18, 2012, 8:36 am

SHORT WORKS

Essay by Loren Eisley entitled "The Slit" from Bedrock; originally published in A Sense of the Earth (1957)

In this essay/story Loren Eisley relates a tale about finding and entering a body wide crack in the sandstone prairie. He describes, in vivid detail what it is like entering a world that is very different from the one he left behind, both physically and across time and space. This is an example of why the act of discovery can be so exhilarating!

Excerpt of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's from Bedrock; originally published in Wind, Sand and Stars (1939)

A short piece about be the 1st person to ever step on a remote desert plateau thanks to the airplane. Where he quickly discovers a fragment of rock that could have only come from an asteroid. Yet another wonderful piece about the wonders of discovery.

Excerpt of James Hutton's from Bedrock; originally published in Theory's of Earth (1795)

Huttons words “no vestige of a beginning, - no prospect of an end,” are without a doubt probably the most famous geologic quote ever. And are profound and interesting to think about. Sadly everything else about Hutton's prose and writing doesn't drip with such eloquence. It is ever thing science writing shouldn't be, dry, long run-on sentences, and totally unorganized. Thankfully, Lyell was able to glim some insight and further the science of geology. Even the quoted line above from the text is butchered by Hutton who manages to drain the life out of everything he has to say

Excerpt of Paul Shepard's from Bedrock; originally published in Man in the Landscape (1967)

This is mostly a history about how Men and Women have transformed the rock outcrops and landmarks into something more human and comforting like tables and steamboats,, or castles. Kind of an interesting social history, but not much else.

Letter from Mark Twain, “Was the World Made for Man?” from Bedrock; originally published in Letters from the Earth

A satirical take down of religion's creation myth and how man is supposedly the one in charge. Funny at times, but a bit mean spirited. Modern atheist cynicism started much later then the “New Atheist” movement.

More of these to come, Next installment will be all about earthquakes tsunamis!

52Poquette
Mar 4, 2012, 3:50 pm

Loren Eisley . . . I have not heard of him for years but read some of his books way back when. He is a wonderful stylist. Your excerpts from Bedrock are so evocative.

53Linda92007
Mar 4, 2012, 4:41 pm

Bedrock sounds wonderful, Kevin. Unfortunately, our library system does not have it, so it may be a long while on the wishlist. Thanks for giving us glimpses of the essays. I'll look forward to more.

54stretch
Mar 4, 2012, 7:15 pm

Thanks Suzanne and Linda, it's nice to know that my esoteric ramblings on as a short stories and essays about geology are being read by someone.

55dchaikin
Mar 6, 2012, 12:39 pm

#54 - :) just getting back here

I haven't tried reading Hutton or Lyell before. As always, interested in you comments from Bedrock - a book I've own for awhile, but haven't cracked open.

56stretch
Editado: Mar 22, 2012, 12:31 pm

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (2000; 301 pages)



In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell has written an incredibly compelling account of how change occurs. And this is not your ordinary cause-and-effect explanation! Sometimes counterintuitive, but well-researched, Gladwell proposes unorthodox explanations for some of the greatest social phenomena of our time. From Sesame Street to teen smoking, from Hush Puppies to the dramatic reduction in New York City crime, Gladwell dives into why and how some trends catch on and others flop.

At times this book made me want to pull my hair out at all of the subjective assertions made but I found the overall thesis engaging (albeit not necessarily all that unique). A lot of this book is not very scientific, instead relying on more of a common sense approach to looking at problems. Looking a crime statistics in New York at the time of decline one could easy come to the conclusion that the "broken windows" approach had little or even nothing to do with the sharp reduction of crime, and that rapid decline wasn't so rapid. But I think the larger message there was that a series of small incremental changes can have profound impacts. Overall, not terribly scientific but very entertaining and sometimes thought provoking pop-psychology. He's idea to reduce smoking is one of the best I think I have ever come across.

57Poquette
Mar 11, 2012, 8:30 pm

I'd like to read The Tipping Point one of these days, but not sure when. Enjoyed your comments, though, Stretch.

58stretch
Editado: Mar 22, 2012, 6:59 pm

Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburo Oe (1958; 189 pages)



Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids is a story about a group of delinquent boys who are sent to a remote village to escape the incessant air raids towards the end of the war. The boy's are despised by the larger Japanese population and are treated with the outmost hostility. While there, a plague is thought to break out and the villagers flee in panic, leaving the boys alone in the village. Ultimately, the villagers realize there is no plague, and they return to find children relatively unharmed.

Nip the Buds is a dark, desolate, straightforward book. There is no mystery about what is happening. Though many comparisons might initially be drawn between it and Lord of the Flies, they are less significant than you might originally imagine. In this case, the children do not resort to savages when left alone. Rather, we come to realize it is the adults who have succumb to panic and forgotten their humanity. It is they who leave a sick girl to die, and ignore the pleas for help from the main character when he sneaks out to their new village and presents himself healthy. Also, it is they who in the end are embarrassed by their behavior and attempt to force the children into pretending like nothing happened so when the leaders of the reformatory school arrive, they do not get punished. It is only the narrator"s refusal to accept these lies that results in his banishment from the village and his life on the run.

An Additional Thought:

Having read some reviews of Kenzaburō Ōe's other works, sexual deviance or sexual acts outside the mainstream seem to be a fairly common plot device throughout his other work. For me the acts of homosexuality and teens exposing themselves seemed out of place. He would inject scenes that just didn't seem to flow with the overall narrative. That's not to say they don't evoke a reaction, but I can't figure out what the intended effect was? The only thing I can come up with is that perhaps, it was a way of shocking socially conservative population at the beginning of Japan's own sexual revolution. Maybe in a different time and place I would have found this innovative and daring, but now I'm just kind of confused by it.

59Linda92007
Mar 23, 2012, 8:52 am

I have to admit that this one does not sound tempting at all, Kevin. I realize that the Oe I recently read and enjoyed (Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age!) may be somewhat atypical of his works, but I think I want to hold that image of this author for awhile.

60stretch
Mar 23, 2012, 10:42 am

It's not that the sexuality makes it a bad book, on the contrary I really liked the story. I just don't understand the metaphor if that's even what it is suppose to be. For me it wouldn't have effected the story if it was just left out altogether. Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age!, however, or maybe A personal Matter will be the next book I try from this particular author.

61dchaikin
Mar 23, 2012, 2:07 pm

#58 Great review.

62stretch
Mar 31, 2012, 8:39 am

As she Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem (1997; 224 pages)



What can I say, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped. It certainly wasn't awful, and there were several strong points in the story. I think the biggest problem (other than the physics) was that the characters seemed so dull and flat, it was hard to sympathize with them. By the end I realized the whole book was just one giant metaphor, which was well written really, it just didn't work for me.

63stretch
Editado: mayo 1, 2012, 8:37 pm

The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People by Alan Brinkley (2006; 1080 pages)



Unfinished Nation to be sure is an excellent survey of American history from our most tentative explorations of this new continent to the War on Terror and invasion of Iraq. Written as a textbook for US History honors and even entry level college courses it's full of impeccable research and clear narrative voice that makes the tread over familiar ground both enjoyable and informative. What sets Unfinished Nation apart from its counterparts is that it's mostly a social and political history, rather than the one great man and time-place histories that we are all so familiar with. As a result the narrative is told through movements and periods rather then a chronological trudge through history from one event to the next, which isn't for everyone. Also, dispersed throughout the chapters are some asides of important events like the civil rights movement, examining different historical perspectives and showing that history isn't something written stone, but is actively debated and altered when new data and ideas become more readily accepted. At the end of each chapter is a summary and an extensive reading list covering the topics mentioned in the chapter, sure to balloon an history buffs wishlist.

I originally picked this book up as a quick and easy way to familiarize myself with the early American history topics I hope to cover soon, but I found myself unable to stop reading into the events I thought I had little or no interest in and to learn more. The one negative I have is that the last chapters cover the last twenty years or so, which isn't as big a problem for the early 90's, but I think it's still too early to tell what the real impacts of the information age and what the 21st century has reaped so far. History too close to the actual event stinks of bias. Other than that I really enjoyed this somewhat extended survey of American history.

64dchaikin
mayo 2, 2012, 8:19 am

Sounds like a nice way to spend a month. For some reason I'm always surprised how interesting America History is.

65baswood
mayo 2, 2012, 6:56 pm

The Unfinished Nation duly noted. Great to see a recommendation for a history book that does more than just run through major events. My knowledge of American History is fairly sketchy and so I will keep this book in mind.

66lilisin
mayo 4, 2012, 12:08 pm

How is Taiko coming along? Musashi keeps staring at me from the bookshelf (it watches me as I sleep) but I keep telling it that it's not time yet.

67stretch
Editado: mayo 5, 2012, 5:17 am

>Dan, I've always found that something about history always surprises me. I was surprised to learn that the insanity of Joe McCarthy and his hearings weren't broadcast to the nation, which totally blew my whole concept of what the Red Scare was like for the average American. And that soon after the public had an actual taste of McCarthy's bully tactics during the army hearings, the public quickly abandoned what they thought as a hero of the American way.

That bad news with being involved with such a book has left LT washed in a sea of blue that I don't think I'll be able to recover from.

>Barry, Unfinished History would be an excellent way to fill in any gaps you may have. It pretty much covers everything in just enough detail.

>Lilisin, I'm now just a little over a hundred pages left in Taiko. Fingers crossed I find the time to finish it this weekend. I have foresaken all other Japanese authors to finish this, but I've been tempted to buy Musashi and never leave feudal Japan many times. It's too funny that Musashi haunts you as you sleep. I keep unread books in the living room.

68stretch
Editado: mayo 14, 2012, 8:12 pm

Finally read Taiko!

Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa (1967; 926 pages)



Taiko is a story set in the middle of the 16th century as the Ashikaga shogunate crumbled. As a consequence Japan came to resemble a huge battlefield as rival warlords vied for dominance. Three very different men emerged seeking to control and unify Japan. Those men were the brutal, rash, and charismatic Oda Nobunaga; the cunning Toyotomi Hideyoshi; and the patient Tokugawa Ieyasu. Their divergent leadership styles are eloquently expressed in the answers to this question presented at the beginning of the book:

`What if the bird will not sing?'

Oda Nobunaga answers `Kill it if it does not want to sing'
Toyotomi Hideyoshi answers `Make it want to sing'
Tokugawa Ieyasu answers `Wait until it sings'


Essentially, this is Toyotomi Hideyoshi's story: how one man rose from obscurity to be the supreme regent of Japan. The novel follows Hideyoshi's life, his development from a peasant to a loyal servant of Oda Nobunaga and his final assumption of leadership after Oda Nobunaga is killed by Akechi Mitsuhide. We see his successes and failures in both love and war, and watch as he ultimately rises (after many struggles), to become Taiko, the supreme ruler of Japan under the Emperor even if it is to be a short lived reign.

I find this book fascinating. Yoshikawa has an excellent way of taking the historical Japan full of political intrigue and bitter rivals and weaving into a simply story of a young man finding his way in a samurai dominated feudal Japan. He has also managed capture the motivations and the bonds of loyalty of the samurai class that enabled them to give their lives so freely to one another. To throw themselves into battle so willing is such a foreign idea, but Yoshikawa has managed to make the warrior code palatable to this westerner without the being too brash and beating the me over the head with it. I still can't imagine that people in a modern society would be so willing to trust their lives to the whims of a single person like that. Or that dying in battle for a master was not just honorable but was your duty. Anyway, Taiko is truly an engrossing epic from start to finish that demands to read again and again. I would even dare to say it is my Don Quixote of this year and that's not just because they are similar in length.

There are quite a few characters that come and go so I strongly suggest drawing a character tree from the start to keep track of them all, it helped me immensely.

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Altered from original.

69Poquette
mayo 13, 2012, 3:27 pm

Taiko sounds to be quite interesting, but it is so far afield of my current reading preoccupations, I wonder if and when I might ever get to it.

Actually, your "side question" caused me to go back and reread your review. It was in fact the only indication that you really loved the book. Your summary was succinct and largely favorable yet not enough to tell us how you felt.

I have the opposite problem. I tend to gush about books that I love and then I become anxious about perhaps having overdone it.

Your comments are certainly not lame, but if you really love a book, maybe you could try just saying so right up front.

70Linda92007
mayo 14, 2012, 9:01 am

>68 stretch: Re: Your side question.

I can sympathize, Kevin. I labor over all of my reviews and they seem to take me forever. But I greatly enjoy your reviews and they have added considerably to my wishlist, particularly in the area of Japanese literature. And after all, it was you who encouraged me to read Black Rain. We are generally our own worst critics and you shouldn't be concerned if now and again things just don't seem to click.

71StevenTX
mayo 14, 2012, 9:49 am

I labor over all of my reviews and they seem to take me forever.

Same here. I probably also have more trouble with books I like than those I don't. It's hard to express feelings, positive or negative, without going overboard. So I usually just try to describe what I read and tone down my personal response to the book.

72The_Hibernator
mayo 14, 2012, 10:02 am

That's an interesting review of Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids, I've been planning on reading it for years. I hadn't realize Oe wrote a lot of graphic sex. I don't mind sex scenes so much, I just feel they ought to have a purpose!

73lilisin
mayo 14, 2012, 3:33 pm

I feel you on the Taiko review. There's a reason I never made my review for it "official"; it was a huge garble of "I loved it, yay! love love love oh yeah there are Japanese people in it soooo goooood!" Some books you just don't know how to express yourself. But I am glad to see you enjoyed it although I also would like to see more of that sentiment in your actual review.

74baswood
mayo 14, 2012, 5:27 pm

Just keep writing the reviews and don't worry about it.

75stretch
Editado: mayo 14, 2012, 8:09 pm

Thanks everyone for the feedback, it's all very helpful. I find that for books I really like it's hard to focus my thoughts into something coherent. I just want to say everything I liked about the book all at once rather than put it in some semblance of order, I suppose that's why a lot of them feel like strict summaries to me rather than actual reviews.

Perhaps, I'll add a few gushy parts to my Taiko review, the 1st few iterations were a bit overboard in praise and didn't add much, but I think I can do a little more tweaking.

>The_Hibernator: Nip the buds, shoot the kids is an excellent story and Oe is a fantastic writer, so I wouldn't hesitate recommending the book to anyone with the slightest interest in that kind of story. The sexual parts of the story weren't overly graphic per se but to me they felt forced rather than a natural outcome of the story and served as a distraction. I'm sure there is larger metaphor that Oe is trying to construct, that has gone completely over my head. None the less Nip the buds, Shoot the kids was avery worthwhile read for me and I hope that my review hasn't completely discouraged you from reading it.

76dchaikin
mayo 15, 2012, 5:33 pm

What side question?

Kevin, I enjoyed your latest review and all your reviews in general. Once I figure out how to write my own, I'll be happy to give you advice. (Currently I try to use Bas's method, with mixed results on the not worrying about it part)

77stretch
mayo 15, 2012, 6:08 pm

Yeah I accidentally deleted but the gist was: Does anyone else have trouble writing reviews for books you love? I did alter the review quite a bit. I never really worry about so much, just the occasional feeling that I really don't know what I'm doing. But thanks and Dan you great reviews. Your bible stuff is really fantastic, I just don't have much to comment on it since I've never read the Bible from the beginning.

78dchaikin
mayo 15, 2012, 8:21 pm

Ah...to answer your (erased) question - I have trouble wherever judgmental adjectives are required. They are much to final and always at least a little incorrect. But if I'm downing a book, who cares. When I like a book, it becomes hard. I feel the need to explain why I liked it, and then I don't know how to explain it. So...short answer is yes.

Thanks for the compliment, by the way.

79stretch
mayo 18, 2012, 8:36 am

SHORT WORK

A short story entitled Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King

Throttle is a short story written by Joe Hill and Stephen King as a piece to pay homage to Richard Matheson and was included in the anthology He Is Legend: Celebrating Richard Matheson, I read it as Kindle single. It's very easy to tell that the story is inspired heavily by Matheson's The Duel, and features faceless truck driver rundowning a helpless bunch of outlaw bikers. Hill and King have managed to really capture the feeling of the 1971 film. Not a bad way to waste a half hour on a Saturday afternoon, but not there are better Hill stories out there than this.

80baswood
mayo 19, 2012, 5:04 am

I am Legend one of the great horror strories.

81stretch
Editado: Jun 9, 2012, 7:46 pm

Hat full of Sky by Terry Pratchett (2004; 406 pages)



Another great addition to Discworld universe. Not as many laugh out loud moments as some novels, but still a very good story none-the-less. To be honest I didn't like the this one nearly as much as The Wee Free Men. I look forward to the next installment.

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The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins (2009; 496 pages)



The Greatest Show on Earth is a fascinating and very, very in depth exploration of the theory of evolution. Often the information is so in-depth and specific that only a science geek could keep up. The level of information is way beyond the typical layman's understanding or even desired to learn, which is the main reason why I think that it is very unlikely to convince any of the die hard creationist apologists. I however found the many examples of evolution a great source of internet and science journal exploration. So I thought it was great, not sure many else will.

82Linda92007
mayo 30, 2012, 9:31 am

The Greatest Show on Earth sounds very interesting, Kevin. I may give it a try, even though it might go beyond my level of science knowledge.

83stretch
mayo 30, 2012, 7:21 pm

Oh, I don't think you'll have a problem with the science. Dawkins lays it all out in a very easy and accessible way for anyone with the slightest idea or what's going on. My Biology background isn't very strong or as strong as I'd like, but I never felt totally lost. It's more of a problem with the amount of detail that {Dawkins gets sidetracked with, that might bore most readers. Then of course depending on philosophical bent readers might take issue with his typical conservative Christian bashing, that had to be pointed out to me, and his use of the word theorem rather than theory, which drove me nuts.

84wildbill
mayo 31, 2012, 12:49 pm

Last year I read Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory which had some good scientific examples but nothing near what you describe. I learned a lot from the book, Edward Larson is a very good author.

I don't understand why the fundamentalist Christians think that the Bible was written as a science text.

85stretch
mayo 31, 2012, 6:03 pm

I've only ever read Larson's surberb history of the scope trial Summer of the Gods. From that I gather that his books are very well researched, but considering the lack of a biology background it would be tough for him to really get lost in the detials and still keep it tied to a larger narrative. He is a excellent writer but only a scientist can get lost in small and seemingless useless detials for hours on end and still come out the other side in one piece.

Creationist are an enigma, I will never understand.

86stretch
Jun 9, 2012, 6:34 pm

SHORT WORKS

Excerpt by Kamo no Chomei entitled "An Account of my Hut" from Bedrock (1212)

An emotional and powerful account of the an earthquake that struck Japan in 1185. Parts of the account seem to be a bit exaggerated, but it does go into great detail of the death and destruction wrought by a devastating force the author clearly didn't understand. A great way to start a section on earthquakes.

Excerpt by Mark Twain from Bedrock; originally published in Roughing It (1872)

A humorous account of the 1868 earthquake that struck San Fransisco, which triggered the fire that would destroy the city. Twain remained relatively safe by staying across the bay in what is now Berkley. Because of this he didn't experience the worst of the damage. Instead he relates some of the more absurd moments and actions of the victims. This was an odd piece considering the placement right after such a serious account of an earthquake and considering the tone of the rest of the chapter. I think this should have led of the chapter or been left out of the book altogether.

Essay by Grove Karl Gilbert entitled “The Investigation of the California Earthquake of 1906” from Bedrock (1906-7)

Twains essay was then followed by the account of Grove Karl Gilbert of the 1906 earthquake. It was mostly a dry (for most) account of the immediate affects and damage of the earthquake and subsequent fire. In this account though we do get a glimpse of the idea that the earthquake was caused by slippage along the fault and that faults are not just secondary damage.

Essay by Mary Austin entitled “The Temblor: A Personal Account” from Bedrock (1906-7)

This the first hand account of the events of the 1906 earthquake; from the initial quake to the terrible fire. Some the terrible destruction and confusion that Austin describes can be intense and really exemplify the unsettling fear and tragedy felt by victims of disaster.

Excerpt by John McPhee from “Assembling California” from Bedrock: originally published in Annals of a Former World (1998)

In his trademark prose and story telling, McPhee describes some the odd landscape features of the San Andreas fault. Very short selection.

Essay by Susan Kieffer entitled “The Concepts of beauty and creativity: Earth Science Thinking” from Earth and Mind (2006)

Earth and Mind is a special collection of papers exploring the unique ways earth scientists think about and tackle the various problems of their fields. To begin this volume they choice to start with an excellent essay by Susan Kieffer, exploring the concept of beauty and creativity and how that relates to specifically the work of geoscientist. Kieffer is especially well suited for this since by training she is pianist, mathematician, and geologist. Mixing philosophy, anecdotally, and a little bit of history she compares and contrasts the different ways the scientific and art community conceptualizes beauty and creativity. While not a rigorous or through treatment of the subject, she does a pretty good job of showing that C.P. Snow's two cultures don't have to be mutually exclusive, and in my opinion makes a great case for why geology is the most creative of the sciences. Kieffer never over steps and makes too broad of a generalization and readily accepts that this is all pure conjecture on her part, that should not end the conversation.

One of the best parts of the essay for me was when she describes the moment of creative insight a scientist/student has after long hours of toil coming up with a solution and how satisfyingly beautiful it can be when you finally “get it right.”

87Linda92007
Jun 10, 2012, 9:02 am

Kevin, I am enjoying your thoughts on the essays from Bedrock. Thanks to your earlier post, I already have it on my wishlist, but have yet to come across the book.

88baswood
Jun 10, 2012, 9:48 am

Enjoying your thoughts on the essays you are reading

89stretch
Jun 10, 2012, 2:03 pm

Thanks Linda and Bas. I would imagine it is a bit hard to find considering the small audience size. I only came across thanks to my membership with the Geological Society of America.

90stretch
Editado: Jun 12, 2012, 7:30 pm

Brummstein by Peter Adolphsen (2005; 90 pages)



At the heart of Brummstein are the connections that bind complete strangers together. The story begins with a somewhat dry explanation of the Swiss Alps used to set up a metaphor of geologic time compressed into a single calendar year; just remind us how short and insignificant human history is when considering the cosmic stage. A rather dramatic way to start a story about a curious humming stone - the Brummstein - as it passes through the life of one person to the next. Each life the stone touches is tragic or comes to a sudden often tragic close, but the stone lives on as an enigma that begs to be solved. But what Adolphsen really excels at here is packing the full emotional weight of a relationship or a life in just a few short pages. However, there are times when the story breaks down and the events become borderline absurd. Also, the story just comes to the end without really wrapping up the narrative about the stone that ties the story together. The Brummstein has some shortcomings, these are mostly recognizable in comparison to suberb novella Machine. Overall, it is a remarkably creative, unique, and resonant work, which can be read in one satisfying sitting.

91detailmuse
Jun 12, 2012, 7:50 pm

Thanks for this review! I have The Brummstein in the Kindle app on my iPhone and you make me look forward to it.

92stretch
Jun 12, 2012, 9:19 pm

That's a coincidence I actually read it on my Kindle app on my phone this afternoon! I couldn't pass up the price tag today.

93dchaikin
Jun 14, 2012, 1:12 pm

Very interesting on Bedrock in #86. I'm also intrigued by your comments on The Brummstein.

94stretch
Editado: Jun 15, 2012, 5:17 pm

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “Grand Stand-In” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

This is a story about an elderly woman who earns a living by portraying a grandmother to families who need or want to fulfill that nuclear ideal and with the expendable income to afford the prefect surrogate. It's a very twisted world with questionable morals and desperate people trying to take the easy way rather then deal with the reality they are given. Thankfully the stand-in grandmother in question begins to question her conscience and how detached she has become to the world. A really good story about change. I think this is one the short stories that will make my best of all time list.

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “Blowing Up on the Spot” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

Another offbeat short story, about a young man who fears dying in the same manner his parents did and the struggle he has trying to care for an unstable bother. Tied in with all the anxiety he also hates his incredibly tedious job and has to balance his very uneven life, so as not to freak out his love interest. An odd story that has real heart.

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “The Dead Sister Handbook: A Guide for Sensitive Boys” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

Another odd story written as a encyclopedia entry on how to forsee and deal with the sudden death of a sister. Very quirky and gimmicky. Not one of my favorites.

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “Birds in the House” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

Four brothers compete for the rights to a Southern mansion after their mother dies and makes them go through a bizarre ritual of building paper birds to determine who gets the house. Told from the perspective of one of the brother's sons, who has more love for his departed grandmother than any of the warring brothers. Only the young boy seems to understand what's really important.

95detailmuse
Jun 14, 2012, 8:14 pm

>92 stretch: too funny. I haven't acclimated to reading on the phone, it feels so constrained. I do like the ability to mark passages; definitely missing that on all the audiobooks I've been listening to lately.

>94 stretch: "Grand Stand-in"
weird! But your rating makes me want to look it up. And "The Dead Sister Handbook," despite your rating. Intriguing summaries.

96dchaikin
Editado: Jun 15, 2012, 9:33 am

I agree with MJ, I'm very intrigued by "The Dead Sister Handbook".

97stretch
Editado: Jun 16, 2012, 9:40 am

Considering all the decade list going around, I thought I'd add my own. Except I haven't been around long enough to amass more then a decade of meaningful reading so I'll go with periods and what books effected me most, then see how this changes with time.

Early Childhood:

Busy, Busy Town by Richard Scarry (I read this or had my parents read this so many times the cover was shredded to tatters, now there is a second copy)

Late Childhood:

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

High School:

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe by Douglas Adams
Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Ramarque
Hiroshima by John Hersey

College:

Sand County Almanac by Aido Leopold
A River Runs Though It by Norman Maclean
The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert Pirsig
Annals of the Former World by John McPhee

Early to Mid-twenties:

Fires on the Plain by Ooka Shohei
Maps of Time by David Christian
Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse
Maus by Art Spiegelman
The River Why by David James Duncan
Classic Feynman by Richard Feynman
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa

98stretch
Jun 16, 2012, 7:01 am

95: I prefer the Kindle itself. The phone app feels like read a index card, it's hard to tell where the page breaks are or a good stopping point. But nothing beats it when your on the go without a book.

99Linda92007
Jun 16, 2012, 9:11 am

It's fun to see your reading progression from childhood, Kevin. I would have an impossible time trying to reconstruct that far back. It's just as well, as my reading quality fell off in my twenties and I would probably be embarrassed by that decade. I am curious as to what sparked your interest in Japanese literature. There does seem to be a link between Hiroshima in high school and later, Fires on the Plain and Black Rain.

100stretch
Jun 16, 2012, 9:39 am

Actual there is a direct link between Hiroshima and Japanese literature. I'm not sure how it started in my club read 2009 thread we got into a discussion about the atomic bombings. I mentioned that Hiroshima is one of my favorites and member lilisin recommended that I might like Black Rain and Fires on the Plain. Which I more then liked and has influenced my reading selections since then. It was one of the club red spontaneous moments that make this group so awesome.

101baswood
Jun 16, 2012, 5:22 pm

Amazing that people are still reading Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance at college. I re-read it a few years back and discovered I still love it.

102lilisin
Editado: Jun 16, 2012, 9:20 pm

I'm happy I was able to have such an influence on your reading! And nice to see Taiko and Don Quixote on the list there as well. Didn't realize we were about the same age though.

103dchaikin
Jun 17, 2012, 1:22 am

Love your list...and I didn't know you were so young. :) I also loved Where the Red Fern Grows as a child, it was rare book that I read and one I'm anxious to suggest to my daughter, but she is a bit young yet. Also, A River Runs Though It - that's a favorite of mine too. I'm noting Hiroshima, I've never heard of this book.

104StevenTX
Jun 17, 2012, 10:58 am

I enjoyed the list too. I read some of the same books in high school, including Hiroshima, though several on your list were long after my time.

105stretch
Jun 17, 2012, 9:58 pm

Well I'm happy to be an anchor on the median age of the group.

I kind of like the list to see how everything connects and changes.

106detailmuse
Jun 18, 2012, 9:38 am

Hiroshima began as the entire 8/31/1946 New Yorker issue. I'd probably get to it sooner in paperback, but I’m curious to read it alongside the ads of the time.

107stretch
Jun 28, 2012, 11:17 am

Short Works

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “Mortal Kombat” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

Mortal Kombat is a short about two trivia geeks that begin an awkward sexual relationship. One has a genuine romantic interest; the other longs for a physical connection with anyone, but is terribly uncomfortable with the nature of the relationship. With both characters, being so incredibly isolated form friends and family they are unable to resolve the tension this new relationship other than through a fierce game of Mortal Kombat.

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “Tunneling to the Center of the Earth” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

Three newly graduated college students, with humanities degrees, are wasting away the summer at one of their parents house, trying figure out the next step in their lives. On a whim, they decide dig a hole that quickly becomes a series of intricate tunnels. At first, these tunnels are their way of escaping the everyday pressures of their normal lives, but soon the tunnels consume every aspect of their lives and begin to lose grasp of reality. In the end, they each find their unique life path and what makes them happy.

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “The Shooting Man” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

A man obsessed with a carnival gimmick of a man killing himself in front of an audience soon becomes a part of the show. A take on how curiosity killed the cat, very good story.

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “The Choir Director's Affair” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

The friend of a philandering husband worries about the impact his friend's affair will have on the man's new baby, who has an extremely premature set of teeth. Probably the weakest story in the book. It was all just a bit too weird. However, the affair and its outcome would have been a good story on its own.

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “Go, Fight, Win” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

An amazingly good story about two very mixed-up kids. A lonely and shy 16-year-old girl becomes even more isolated when she moves to a new town and her mother insists the best way to make friends is to join the cheerleading squad. She goes through the motions with her team who do make an effort to include her, but she feels no sense of belonging. Her only relief comes from building model cars. The only person the girl manages to connect with is the strange 12-year-old boy who is her neighbor, who goes through his own odd obsessions - recently with trying to fly, and now, more dangerously, with playing with fire. Their relationship is both fascinating and bizarre.

Short story by Kevin Wilson entitled “The Museum of Whatnot” published in Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (2009)

Yet another story of two lonely people connecting over some new oddity. In this case a eccentric millionaire leaves behind a trust and museum for the collections of everyday ordinary things people obsessively collect. It is also, a story of the woman who has cut herself off from all meaningful connections with anything. Her life is about routine and distancing herself from the world, until a doctor, a regular visitor of the spoons display, opens her up to idea of forming connections with something or someone, besides the trivial materials that surround her.



108baswood
Jun 28, 2012, 12:24 pm

enjoying your reviews of the Kevin Wilson short stories.

109stretch
Editado: Jun 29, 2012, 11:33 am

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson (2009; 240 pages)



Kevin Wilson's first collection of short stories certianly highlights this writers wildly quirky imagination. In each story Wilson introduces some impossible scenario that twists a very typical setting into some thought provoking take on people and relationships. The more absurd and outlandsih the idea the more the story sinks home. It may be an outlandish oddity in the story, but it still can shine a light on all the little absurd things that define our own relationships. Plus, each and ever story is polished and well written, making this fantastic collection. This stories are going to stick for a very long time.

110stretch
Jun 29, 2012, 12:08 pm

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey (2010; 175 pages)



I would have never imagined reading 172-page book about a snail. Yet after reading Elisabeth Tova Bailey’s memoir about her mystery illness and her slimy companion, I can unequivocally state that snail’s are fascinating little creatures.

Elizabeth Bailey once enjoyed a bright, vibrant life as an artist and outdoor enthusiast. A debilitating but mysterious disease contracted while overseas has drained her of the energy and stamina necessary to do even the most ordinary tasks, like walking across the room to pick up a piece of paper or sitting up in bed. During a particular bad spell, Bailey is bedridden and taken from her beloved home in the country and moved to a sanitized studio apartment, where she is supervised and her most basic needs met. All that is has to pass the endless hours with are the occasional visits from friends and family, and the hope of future visits. Other than that, Bailey is helpless as she watches the hours of her life slowly drift by. The incredible isolation she must have felt would be utterly devastating to most people. However, things begin to change when her caregiver introduces a solitary snail into her life. With nothing else to do, Bailey begins to take detailed observations of her new companion, from how he explores his surroundings to how he cares for his offspring. This also leads down a seeming less road of research about snails, and all the incredibly fascinating tidbits of trivia about snails that fill the pages of this book. But that’s not really what this book is about. Its about how an individual can bond with a creature so small and insignificant in our daily lives and empathize with a longing to return to the way things were. How the alienation of being taken from the familiar is universal across the animal kingdom. And how to live a fulfilling life even if it is full of physical limitations.

111bragan
Jun 30, 2012, 10:38 am

Sounds like you enjoyed The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating as much as I did. Snails really are way more interesting than I ever would have thought.

And Tunneling to the Center of the Earth sounds like a pretty cool collection. I think that one's heading onto my wishlist.

112stretch
Jun 30, 2012, 8:26 pm

Yeah I was really surprised that I would like The Sound as much as I did, considering I've never even really thought of snails much before. Also, Wilson's stories are bit twisted in that Shirley Jackson, Southern Gothic kind of way, and of are of very high quality.

113stretch
Jul 1, 2012, 9:17 am

Incognito by Ed Brubaker (2009; 176 pages)



Incognito is defiantly a unique take on the typical superhero comic. Zach Overkill a former super villain turned witness is living in the witness protection program in a mid-size city, where he has to live as an ordinary citizen working the typical nine to five office drone kind of job. With no powers, no thrill of the chase, no action, Zach is struggling to adjust to this new life. One night he stops taking the meds that keep his powers in check and deals out some vigilante justice. A hero who really doesn't care about the people he's saving. Zach is more interested in the power and rush that he gets with cracking skulls. Reactivating his power have some severe consequences from his old life, and Zach is thrusted into a role he once fought, that of the masked hero.

This is with out a doubt not the typical tale of a superhero, or even an anti-hero. Zach is still a bad guy in the end who chooses is targets more carefully. There's still nothing redeemable about Zach. He is still a stone-cold killer with nothing to lose. The mix of reality and the surreal superhero stuff makes this story much grittier and more like an old noir detective movie. With a solid story, consistent artwork, and a believable character in Zach this had the potential to be something really good, however, the remaining cast is wooden and the end is too tidy, too convenient that it sort of becomes what it was trying so hard to avoid; the stereotypical superhero comic. So, I give it props for trying something different, but failing to achieve that sense of realism the author was after.

114Linda92007
Jul 1, 2012, 9:31 am

Wilson's stories are bit twisted in that Shirley Jackson, Southern Gothic kind of way, and of are of very high quality. That does it for me, Kevin. Onto the wishlist it goes!

115bragan
Jul 1, 2012, 10:16 am

Pity Incognito didn't quite work for you. It sounds like a really interesting premise, but maybe one that's a little hard to pull off well.

116dchaikin
Jul 2, 2012, 12:19 pm

Very nice review of The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating and I love all your short takes on Wilson's stories in post #107. You have certainly made Wilson sound intriguing.

117avidmom
Jul 5, 2012, 3:06 pm

118stretch
Editado: Jul 11, 2012, 10:22 am

For the Rock Record: Geologist on Intelligent Design by Jill S. Schneiderman and Warren D. Allmon (2009; 272 pages)



I have a somewhat sick fascination with creationist beliefs that needs to be feed at least once year. For the Rock Record was just the nourishment I needed. In this volume Jill Schneiderman and Warren Allmon have collected essays and papers written by practicing earth scientists about the Intelligent Design movement and creationism in general and have tried to dismantle many of these movements claims about geology. From the onset though you can tell that scientist had a difficult to really critique the Intelligent Design movement from a geological perspective, since it hasn’t taken much of a stance on geology, or the fossil record. This might be because those in the ID movement aren’t very concerned at the moment with the geologic ramifications of their ideas or they known that they can’t remain neutral if they begin to speculate about an “unknown” intelligent creator and its handy work with rocks, and actively avoid all discussion of geology whenever possible (I suspect the latter). So really, this is more of critique of the creationist movement in general and the philosophical underpinnings of intelligent design from the perspective of working geologist.

Most of the earlier essays deal with paleontology and the fossil record exemplifies the theory of evolution; and how IDers manipulate the public into a misunderstanding about what the record shows and how the evolutionary tree unfolds. For me though the best early chapter was one that summarized all the various conjectures presented by creationist to explain the earth’s structure within their narrow view of the Old Testament. That chapter only was worth the cover price. Most of the other chapters sort out philosophical, political, and religious issues in the debates about intelligent design. It is important to remember that these are written more from experience then any formally training in philosophy of science or theology. Which I think makes them accessible rather the all too academic speech that so often characterizes these kinds of debates. Warren Allmon ends the book with a chapter on how scientist approaches the religion-science debate. He gets a few geologists to speak candidly about their belief systems.

There are a couple of flaws with this book that should be mentioned. Since, the Intelligent Design movement has been rather mum about geology; some of the authors have taken it upon themselves to fill in the logical conclusions of an Intelligent Design. Not an easy task and I don’t think those involved would characterize the geologist conclusions in quite the same manner. The other flaw is that since this was a collection of essays written independently of one another, there is a lot of rehashing of the same introduction of the Intelligent Design movement and how it’s not science, which can grow tiresome, but the meat of each essay is different and fascinating in its own right that reading the same intro over and over again is well worth it.

On the whole this is a solid book that treads over much of the same ground that so many other books have showing the weaknesses of the various creationist movements. The only real difference form all those other books is that geologist and paleontologist wrote it from their perspective. Thus giving it a much narrower focus.

119stretch
Jul 11, 2012, 9:52 am

>114 Linda92007:: Linda, I do hope you enjoy Wilson's stories as much as I did if you ever get around to it.

>115 bragan:: Bragan, if only they had choosen to go a few hundred pages longer, I think they could of had something pretty outsanding.

>116 dchaikin:: Thanks, Dan.

>117 avidmom:: Avidmom, I would recommend The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating to just about anyone with an interest in the natural world.

120bragan
Jul 11, 2012, 11:37 am

>118 stretch:: That reminds me that I've got this huge, thick book of essays called Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics that I've had on the TBR pile for years and years, and really need to get around to one of these days. I'm just not entirely sure how well I can stomach that much reading on the subject all at once...

121stretch
Jul 11, 2012, 12:35 pm

>119 stretch:: Luckily, For the rock Record wasn't too long. It was just about the right size for a book on this topic. I do have to admit I frequent NCSE's website and trip over to a couple of creationist message boards from time to time. I don't know why I like to inflict myself with such pain.

122dchaikin
Jul 11, 2012, 11:59 pm

I had some discussions on LT with IDers in the (distant) past, and took a geology tilt with my arguments. I seem to remember feeling I had completely thrashed the IDers, even if I didn't convince anyone. Now, however, I avoid the discussions.

123stretch
Jul 12, 2012, 9:10 am

Yeah I don't think most IDers are really willing to truly compormise their motives for accepting ID, so geology I think is probably the best way to get them to trip over themselves. I do have to admit that I enjoy watching creationist jump through self made hoops to explain the simpliest of geological observations. Wins debates but doesn't change anything. It's depressing to see those polls were nothing has changes or reading the ignorance about science that passes for acceptable. We need to better communicate with the general public better, just not sure how to do that.

124SassyLassy
Jul 12, 2012, 9:27 am

Earlier this week, hundreds of scientists in lab coats marched on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in a funeral procession, mourning the "Death of Evidence" and cuts to scientific and technical programmes by the federal government. They were trying to call attention to the need not only for evidence based decision making, but also to the need for a better educated public when it comes to science, so that funding cuts and policy making would not go unnoticed by the very people they will affect most.

125dchaikin
Jul 12, 2012, 10:59 am

#123 - ID is a non-scientific attempt to give scientific justification to (any particular) religious view. In other words, it isn't actually about science. So a scientific discussion is actually out of the context. The conclusion comes before the argument. (What you can do is try to get an IDer to fully explain themselves, until they reach the point where they contradict themselves. )

So (now addressing SassyLassy's comment too), when we say we want to "communicate better with the general public" or get a "better educated public", we don't mean that there is a population that simply doesn't know any better, IDers are perfectly intelligent. It's willful ignorance. We want to convince them that their willful ignorance is wrong...that's quite different than the standard ideas of education.

126stretch
Jul 12, 2012, 11:51 am

>124 SassyLassy:: That is an interesting form of protest for sure. Although I would be hard press even locating a lab coat. Custom store maybe?

>125 dchaikin:: I totally agree with you, Dan. That the ID movement is manipulating the facts to suit their own agenda. Starting with a conclusion and hunting for the evidence is obviously invalid and why they are rejected by the scientific community at large and luckily in the courts as well. What I'm getting at is there seems to me and I think polls have shown that there exists a fundamental misunderstanding of how scientist, especially historical scientist go about our jobs. The public have an incomplete understanding of the scientific method, and a lose grasp of the scientific terminology, that has allowed IDers to exploit and legitimize themselves in the general public.

We can scream forever that the ID is not a legitimate form of science and has no place in our classrooms until we’re blue in the face. That doesn’t mean the PR machine that is intelligent design won’t be able to exploit the same perceived weaknesses the public’s mind. The willful ignorance of those informed and active in the debate is deplorable. But I think a lot of this ignorance stems from people that are more concerned about budget meetings and where they are going to eat lunch then how the folks who developed the technologies and infrastructure around them go about making the discoveries that enrich all our lives. There is no excuse for the ignorance true, but it still persists no matter how much we try to ignore it.

What I want to know is how to reach the people that don’t understand that they have to compromise their faith entirely. Somewhere along the line the communication has broken down and no matter what we try the message still isn’t getting transmitted; that science and religion are not at war.

I guess what I’m saying is the PR department for Intelligent Design and Creationist is doing a much better job than the PR department for science. How do we go about shifting that paradigm?

127dchaikin
Jul 12, 2012, 12:52 pm

Your last paragraph sums it up nicely.

128detailmuse
Jul 12, 2012, 1:21 pm

they can’t remain neutral if they begin to speculate about an “unknown” intelligent creator and its handy work with rocks

geology I think is probably the best way to get them to trip over themselves. {...} to explain the simpliest of geological observations


I've come very late to an interest in earth sciences and you've captured me with these seeming geological keystones! Onto the wishlist.

P.S. on the biological sciences side, I too recommend The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating.

129The_Hibernator
Editado: Jul 12, 2012, 2:28 pm

I've come a little late to this discussion and may have missed something in my skimming. But I have to say that IDers have never really bothered me as much as Creationists. (Not that I spend much time worrying about Creationists, either.) As far as I know, IDers believe that the science happened just as the scientists say it did, only God was guiding that design. Or is that something different? I don't see anything wrong with believing that God had a plan.

I DO understand the frustration with people who use science to try to prove that God exists, or who think that Intelligent Design needs to be taught in the classroom, but do all IDers misuse science like that?

130dchaikin
Editado: Jul 12, 2012, 2:37 pm

"As far as I know, IDers believe that the science happened just as the scientists say it did, only God was guiding that design. "

This could lead to a long discussion... In simplest form, the complaint is that IDers don't use science to back up their belief. Instead, they try to find "science" that matches, or at least fails to contradict their belief. That is painfully unscientific. I won't argue, but the complaint is entirely accurate. ;)

131The_Hibernator
Jul 12, 2012, 2:47 pm

The point I was trying to make is that not ALL IDers try to use science to prove the existence of God. I believe that's a HUGE generalization. Certainly, there are IDers who do that, but I'd say most just simply believe that there is no contradiction between God and science.

It is JUST as unscientific (and more worthy of complaint) when scientists try to use science to prove God doesn't exist. At least the non-scientists aren't rigorously trained in the scientific method. Anybody who has a college degree in science and tries to use physical evidence to PROVE that a metaphysical entity doesn't exist should be ashamed.

132stretch
Jul 12, 2012, 2:59 pm

I’m probably not going to summarize this in the best possible way, but ID goes beyond the notion that God merely guided the creation of the universe through scientific means. They claim that they can detect that God played an active role in the design and function of the world. They’re basically starting with the premise that God created the universe as it is and trying to find evidence to support their religious conclusion (hence they label creationist). Whenever they feel that natural explanations aren’t adequate enough to explain their observations they fall back on the old stand by that God or in their case a vague non-religious designer did it. In essence they are trying to change the definition of science to include the supernatural and restore what they see as the destructive force of philosophical naturalism/materialism that has permitted modern culture. As it stands now science uses natural explanations to explain natural phenomena. The realm of ethics and morals are not within the preview of the current definition of science. IDers are intent on mixing the two, which just muddies the water and weakens both science and religion.

Believing that there is/was a ultimate prime mover (God set the universe in motion) is perfectly reasonable and untestable by science. I don't necessarily follow this view, but I can't prove otherwise. And it's not my place to say a person of faith is wrong in this way, however, I will fight to keep untestable supernatural explanations out of science.

133bragan
Editado: Jul 12, 2012, 3:09 pm

>129 The_Hibernator:: Yeah, what dchaikin said. Whatever it is they're doing, it ain't science, no matter how much they insist it is. It also doesn't involve evolution happening the way scientists think it happened, because ID posits that it couldn't have happened without intervention by God, something that is nowhere in the science. It really is just a slightly more complicated form of creationism. But it sounds reasonable and science-y, so it's much easier to get into classrooms or to open people up to a creationist kind of mindset, and this is something that creationists have very deliberately taken advantage of.

The so-called "Wedge Document" from the creationist Discovery Institute is enlightening on this issue. I quote:

The social consequences of materialism have been devastating. As symptoms, those consequences are certainly worth treating. However, we are convinced that in order to defeat materialism, we must cut it off at its source. That source is scientific materialism. This is precisely our strategy. If we view the predominant materialistic science as a giant tree, our strategy is intended to function as a "wedge" that, while relatively small, can split the trunk when applied at its weakest points. The very beginning of this strategy, the "thin edge of the wedge," was Phillip Johnson's critique of Darwinism begun in 1991 in Darwinism on Trial, and continued in Reason in the Balance and Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds. Michael Behe's highly successful Darwin's Black Box followed Johnson's work. We are building on this momentum, broadening the wedge with a positive scientific alternative to materialistic scientific theories, which has come to be called the theory of intelligent design (ID). Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions.

In other words, it's a strategy to replace scientific thinking with religion by pretending to be science! It's pretty insidious, really. And it takes a lot of advantage of the fact that the average person -- even the average schoolteacher! -- doesn't actually understand evolution very well at all and it likely to not really get why ID isn't scientific.

(ETA: And, yes, stretch is absolutely right. ID goes way beyond just saying, "I believe in God, and I think belief in God is completely compatible with evolution." Nothing wrong with that. The issue is, basically, teaching that God is a valid part of science, rather than a purely religious issue.)

134stretch
Editado: Jul 12, 2012, 3:20 pm

Also, I believe Hibernator you are referring to what is called the Theistic Evolution position in these sort of debates. Where science, specifically evolution and geology, took it's course, but that God had a guiding hand in it all.

Again a position that can't be disproven by science.

135The_Hibernator
Jul 12, 2012, 3:28 pm

Hmmm, I suppose I'm just not familiar with the terminology. I see that you're right now that I Wikipedia'd the terms. :)

136stretch
Jul 16, 2012, 10:04 am

The Cape by Joe Hill, Jason Ciaramella, and Zack Howard (2012; 132 pages)



The Cape is a graphic novel, adapted from a short story of the same name by Joe Hill, about a superhero given powers after a tragic accident that happened to him as a little boy. As an adult who's failed at pretty much everything he's tried, Eric the protagonist, becomes sullen and depressed about his life. Discovering the cape that gives him his source of power, Eric sets out to destory all the people that have let him down and stopped him from reaching his perceieved full potential. It's a dark twisted take on the darkside of anti-heroes and how easy it would be for someone with like abilities to expliot them for evil rather than good. A very good story coupled with the gritty artwork makes this a very compelling graphic novel.

I really need to get 20th Century Ghost Stores and perhaps one of Hill's longer works. He is quickly becomig one of my favorite dark fiction authors.

137stretch
Editado: Jul 17, 2012, 9:34 pm

Locke & Key: Clockworks by Joe Hill (2012; pages 142)



Clockworks is yet another great edition to the Locke & Key family. This time the kids find a key to allows them to explore the past and the keys origins. Taking place in mostly alternate timelines we are introduced to whole new host of characters and how the evil affects everything it touches. Even Dodge was a very personable young man who wasn't a complete ass until the demons locked away in the drowning cave. It fills in gaps in the story that I didn't know needed to be filled. For once a prequel didn't suck. The story and art are impeccable as always. Now just another year till this thing comes to a glorious end.

138bragan
Jul 17, 2012, 10:01 pm

Sigh, I ordered the new Locke & Key collection ages ago, and got nothing but a notice saying it was "currently unavailable." Looks like it finally just shipped today. Does every volume in this series end up getting delayed? Ah, well, I'm looking forward to reading it when I finally get my hands on it!

139stretch
Jul 18, 2012, 6:11 am

Actually I got mine earlier than I expected. 1st delivery date wasn't scheduled until July 27th. One of the nice parts about living in Indiana though is that I live literally right down the street from one their largest distro. centers in the midwest so I can get new stuff earlier than their scheduled dates.

140dmsteyn
Jul 18, 2012, 12:54 pm

I'm a bit behind on Locke & Key, but maybe that's because, after reading the first volume, I decided to wait for the complete series to come out. I read Heart-Shaped Box, and, although it wasn't as great as I expected, I enjoyed it enough to buy Horns, which I am yet to read.

141stretch
Jul 18, 2012, 6:24 pm

I've only ever read the Locke & Key series and a few short stories, but all of them have been pretty good, so I hoping I'll like his longer books as well.

142stretch
Editado: Jul 26, 2012, 11:22 am

In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami (2006; 224 pages)



In the Miso Soup is a gruesome and biting social commentary of the Japanese sex trade; and the men and women who buy and sell sex. It’s a nasty tale of a 20-year old guide whose chosen occupation is to show tourists around this seemingly disgusting, but socially acceptable underworld. Where high school girls sell it and businessmen pay to drive the loneliness of modern society away. Kenji, the tourist guide, is not particular proud of his line of work, seeing as an end to means, but remains non-judgmental of the people and the business of sex for sale, until he meets an American with a deadly streak.

The book itself is divided to three parts. The first part serves as an introduction to the sex underworld and this scary, enigmatic American, who is also a pathological liar. The second part deals with confirmation of Kenji’s worst fears and shows the true character of the foreigner. It also shows growing disgust with the sex industry and the people who support the industry. The third and final part of the story is more of a physiological analysis of behavior, full of strained metaphors.

A very good, very disturbing little book. By no means is it for everyone.

143lilisin
Editado: Jul 26, 2012, 12:28 pm

I wasn't actually aware of the plot to this one but I'm sure I'd be interested. The Japanese sex trade is something I find very interesting as I don't understand it. Most of the times I'm completely disgusted by it, especially when some of my friends admit to have gone (as young as high school) and tell me it's common for men to go. Then, there is a rare sliver of time where I understand the necessity of it. There is a great documentary called "The Great Happiness Place" which tackles the world of hosts and their female clients. I highly recommend watching it and for those who have a Netflix account, it is available there.

144stretch
Jul 26, 2012, 12:58 pm

After reading Miso, I've got a lot of questions about the whole industry and the kind of people who frequent those parts of town. Ryu Murakami does make a distinction between the women who sell their bodies (mostly foreign women) who do it for survival and a way to earn an income for their families and the women who do it to fill the void of loneliness or boredom, the latter are judged harsher here. The book although fictional was an eye opener for me, shining a light on a part of Japanese culture that I knew existed but didn't know anything about it really. I'll be adding "The Great Happiness place" to the queue, because now I'm curious. It's hard for me to imagine anything about the sex trade could come off as anything but sleazy, so it's really hard to fathom how someone with a seemingly normal lifestyle (especially the young high schoolers) would even want any part of that trade. The seldom spoken about sex trade is a global phenomena, this book just re-enforces my impression that there is nothing sexy or glamorous about it.

145dchaikin
Jul 26, 2012, 8:10 pm

I'm guessing Ryu Murakami likes strange and disturbing...Regardless, that's a fascinating review of In the Miso Soup.

146stretch
Jul 26, 2012, 9:52 pm

I wouldn't call what Ryu Murakami writes as strange (at least not in that shock for shocking sake kind of strange, this kind of strange has a purpose), but he does take nihilistic attitudes to the utmost extreme. However, disturbing themes seem to be in his wheel house. Unlike the typical horror (big fan of none the less) the strange and disturbing are there just for shock value, the events in this novel have a purpose, a purpose I may not fully understand, but a purpose none-the-less. The more I think about this book the more I seem be getting out of it.

General observation:

I'm finding that Japanese authors in general manage to pack a lot of substance in just a few short pages that a lot of western writers would stretch into hundreds more. Not sure if this has some correlation to fact that only the best of the best are translated into English or if this is a cultural artifact. I really wish I was better at learning languages so I might be able to read something its native language and could test this hypothesis more throughly.

147Linda92007
Jul 27, 2012, 10:19 am

Interesting observation on Japanese authors, Kevin. Unfortunately, it does seem that the Japanese writing system, which combines ideograms (borrowed from the Chinese, who had a writing system several centuries before the Japanese) with phonetics, would be a particularly challenging language to learn.

I attended a talk on the development of the Japanese written language last spring that was fascinating. The instructor spoke briefly about the complexity of the sentence order, with long dependent clauses, and the added "layers" that reflect the formality and honorifics of the culture. She also said that most of the earliest classics were written almost entirely by women in phonetics, which was considered to be inferior, while the early male scholars wrote in Chinese (akin to western scholars writing in Latin and Greek). Only a woman could get away with writing in their own language and it was actually considered unseemly for a Japanese woman to learn Chinese.

I also attended a talk on Japanese music, where it was emphasized that traditional music is predominantly aural. Often what is played is not what is written down and there is no single system of theory or notation. Yet despite this, the result is not improvisation. Rather, the relationship between teacher and student is essential, with the student expected to do exactly as the teacher does.

Sorry for rambling on, but how Japan's culture impacts its literature and music would be a fascinating area to explore.

148stretch
Jul 27, 2012, 12:24 pm

DOn't worry I think all this cultural info is incredibly interesting. From what little reading I have done of Japanese history/culture the language seems to be a very complex mixture. It is interesting how the scholars wrote and Chinese and that Women were the ones to do most of the dirty work of transcription. Every now and then it's a bit strange to see how western cultures parallel those of the East, even though they take very different trajectories.

In college we had a roommate from India who played a drum, which incidently drove me nuts, (can't remember the name of, but sounded like a coffee can) but they too didn't play from a written piece of music. There system relied on a measured numbered of beats per minute and having to stay in that time signature for a lack of a better word. Like you said it's not improvisation. I would equate their style of playing with that of jam band. We would spend hours trying explain how our musical theory was different from his and how we didn't know how to play within his. The eastern system is so different that we could rarely ever get them to sync with one another and make something other than noise. Not to say it is impossible, after all we all had stopped play our respect instruments after high school. So, it's interesting to hear that traditional Japanese music is similar.

149stretch
Ago 9, 2012, 10:54 am

Sorry, i'm a nature apologist and what follows is not really a review but more of a summary of the book.

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan (2010; 352 pages)



Over 3-million acres burned to the ground over a 2-day period in August 1910. It’s mind boggling to think about a fire so hot and intense that an area the size of Connecticut could go up in smoke over a long weekend. A once in a century fire that caught the country by surprise. By late August of 1910, the drought stricken national forests spanning Washington, Idaho, and Montana were a tinderbox ready to burn. With only a hand full of underfunded forest rangers of the newly minted United States Forest Service and guided by a wrongheaded philosophy standing in the way of firestorm of unimaginable scope.

The Big Burn is an account of the formation of the National Forest Service and the experiences of this untested group of men charged with fighting the largest wildfire in American history. At the turn of 20th century, America and American industry were expanding into the west at an unpressecentdated rate. It was also, a time of progressive policies to curb the power of industrial trusts and the promotion of fair and safe labor laws. Two forces in almost constant tension with one another. At the head of this progressive era was the ever-enigmatic Theodore Roosevelt, whose personality and toughness was a force of nature in itself, and seemed unstoppable when it came to pushing his progressive agenda through congress. Early on in his political career Roosevelt a great lover nature befriended a young and equally enthusiastic Yale forester by the name of Gifford Pinchot, along with the influential works of John Muir, they hatched a plan to save as much of the natural west as possible for generations to come. (The birth of the conservation movement is anti-climatic, but its ramifications have helped define America’s legacy in a way that will outlast our contributions to democracy.) Once taking the highest office in the land, Roosevelt and Pinchot wasted no time in using executive power to carve huge tracks of land in the still coming of age west for conservation. Over the next 7.5 years, the president and the country’s first forester were able to set aside an additional 16 million acres to the already large 45 million acre National Forest System and form the United States Forest Service to manage this new experiment. In the process, Roosevelt and Pinchot created lifelong enemies that would do anything and everything in their power to undermine the National Forests. On one hand the preservationist, like John Muir, were disappointed in the new organization whose mission was not to preserve the forest as they are, but to manage the forest in way that allows for reasonable commercial exploitation and saving they’re wild nature as much as possible (the early days of conservation was full of high-minded idealism, short on practicality). At the same time there was industry and its bought members of congress who opposed all forms of conservation.

The first rangers of the forestry service were all graduates of Yale, and were influenced by the good and bad optimistic philosophies of the early 20th century, especially the idea that with enough knowledge humans could control nature. With that came the false notion that a handful of determined men armed with the latest scientific knowledge could go up against any size wildfire and win. Gifford Pinchot became so enamored with this idea that he made absolute fire suppression one of the primary missions of the forestry service. The little GP’s (the rangers nicknamed for their hero worship of the 1st ranger) didn’t question Pinchot mission and set off into some the most hostile terrain of the west, the towns of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and did their best to manage the vast amount of land that made up the 1st national forests. By 1910, underfunded, hated, and stretched to the breaking point forced the forestry service dealing with serve drought conditions and an outbreak of fire in the Bitterroots into one of the toughest battles in its hundred year history.

What started out as hundreds of small fires started by an electoral storm on August 19, 1910 turned into a massive firestorm when strong winds blew in form the west. Exhausted after months of fire the duty the little GP’s could not contain the smaller fires fast enough before it turned into beast that would consume anything in its path. At this point in the season the rangers were paying for supplies and the wages of volunteer firefighters, mostly immigrants and out of work mine laborers, out of their own meager salaries. Demoralized and running out of cash all they had were empty promises and guts to fight the coming nightmare.

On August 20th, the rangers were clearly losing the fight, desperate for a work force the rangers tried and mostly failed to enlist the townspeople living in the forest to stay and fight for their own homes. Most migrants to the region were only looking to turn a quick buck from the abundant resources and the railroad; they had no intention of saving the very thing they wanted to exploit. So, it was left up to a hand full of rangers, forge in immigrants, broken and used mine/timber labor, and a division of black buffalo soldiers to fight a monster of a fire. They lost. The night of August 10th was a night of shear panic, some heroic moments, but mostly it was a night of destruction.

Once the fire had burned itself out on August 21st, what was left was utter destruction. Eighty-seven people were dead or dying, many missing, hundreds of firefighters disabled from the flames, and whole towns burnt to the ground. Sadly, little to no government support was offered to the now scarred and disabled firefighters. It was left to the rangers to continue paying for the medical bills for themselves and their crews. It would be decades before sacrifices of these crews were formally recognized. Many men and their families were left dissolute and broken.

Death and destruction were not the only lasting effects of the “the Big Burn.” The fire galvanized the public and with the help of some political stumping by Teddy and Pinchot, the national forest system and the United States Forestry Service was not only saved but was expanded into the east, many more millions acres were to be conserved. The enemies of the forestry service were soundly defeated and routed from the public sphere. Thanks to the men that braved the fire of 1910 and some dramatic changes in the timber market we now have a growing national forest system, much of it set aside as nature preserves. The conservation and preservation of nature is now firmly a part of national identity. However, we are still practicing an absolute fire suppression methodology resulting in larger and hotter fires that continue to threaten large population centers. The US Forestry Service still has the uphill battle of striking a balance between conservation and commercial interests that aren’t always in sync with the smart thing to do.

150janemarieprice
Ago 9, 2012, 3:10 pm

149 - Great summary!

151baswood
Ago 9, 2012, 4:54 pm

Fascinating stuff on The Big Burn stretch. Could it happen again if conditions were right?

152stretch
Ago 9, 2012, 6:21 pm

Oh sure. Because of the philosophy of suppressing all fires, even small ones that don't threaten human life, the forest of the west is full of fuel. In 2006 Texas lost 3.8 million acres to fire, the 90's were full of devastating fires in California at one point burning parts of Yosemite valley, and Colorado and New Mexico just went through some of the worst wildfires in their history. Big fires are not a thing of the past. Today we fight them with more technology and through the air (with dated and in bad need of repair aircraft) so the cost of life and panic that characterized the Big Burn would probably be significantly less. Even with our slightly updated tactics, I don't think anything we tried to do would stop a firestorm like the one of 1910 if the conditions were right. In a lot people's estimation it's time to change our paradigm fighting these kinds of fire. Small fires that consume the available fuel are cooler and far less damaging. We've created tinderboxes that are no more in our control than they were hundred years. Over half of the United States Forestry Services budget goes to fire suppression and the fires have only gotten bigger and more frequent.

153stretch
Editado: Ago 14, 2012, 8:55 am

Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie by Lauren Redniss (2011, 208 pages)



Having been reviewed so many times by so many other people at this point, I don't know what I can add except for my praise for a truly outstanding graphic novel. The pages are so beautiful, they are to me at least a work of art. Add a well written, but short biography of the Curies' and their scientific work, plus short pieces of the fallout of that work, make for a great reading experience during the quit hours of the evening. My one and only compliant is that Redniss became a bit choppy with the timeline of events surrounding the Curie's lives, which upset the overflow of the biographical aspect of the book, not enough to detract from my overall enjoyment however. Great graphic novel and shows what can be done in the genre.

154stretch
Ago 14, 2012, 8:54 am

Machine of Death by Ryan North (2010; 464 pages)



Machine of Death is a short story anthology about a singe premise, a machine that could tell a person how they were going to die. Each author puts thier own unique spin on the idea, some stories are vaque in the details and some are direct and to the point. There is quite a bit of variety in this collection and quite a bit of varitey in quality with only a few stand out stories. I've read this very slowly over the last year, mostly because it's hard to read story after story about the same topic and keep it all sraight. To me a large portion of the book is just a blur of very similar sotires run one after the other with no real distinguishing features.

155detailmuse
Editado: Ago 14, 2012, 5:17 pm

>154 stretch: I have Machine of Death and your comments give me pause, I can see how they'll likely be true for me too. Especially since I have it as an ebook to read on my iPhone app. My first exposure was from audio podcasts of several stories, which were creative and surprising and hooked me.

156edwinbcn
Ago 14, 2012, 10:20 pm

Thanks for the enticing review of The Big Burn.

157stretch
Editado: Sep 3, 2012, 11:21 am

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939; 224 pages)



I never been much of a fan of mysteries outside of Sherlock and a few Poe stories. I thought I would give one of the master's of the genre a try and I wasn't impressed by this story. It's not my kind of suspense. To slow a drawn out. Plus, it was pretty easy to match the nursery rhyme with the characters and their demises once the first death occurred. Maybe I'll give mystery another shot, for now I'll stick with sci-fi and horror for my genre fixes.

158stretch
Ago 25, 2012, 7:02 pm

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner (2012; 336 pages)



In the Shadow of the Banyan is a heartbreaking story of a minor royal Cambodian family caught up the disastrous social engineering of the Khmer Rogue in the mid 1970's. Based partially on the experiences of Ratner, herself being only five years old at the time when the Khmer Rogue came to power, this fictionalized account of the aristocracies and utter devastation of the Cambodian people have suffered through is beyond understanding. Ratner has done a wonderful job of breathing life into a period of Cambodia's darkest period. Chronicled from the perspective of a seven year old girl, whose family is violently uprooted from their city home and forced to work in the country as part of the idealized agrarian society the regime believes will return Cambodia back onto the right path, she gives first hand account of the struggle to adapt to ever changing whims of “Organization,” the lose of a beloved father, the separation of families, starvation, forced labor, and what it's like living knowing that one step out of line the Organization's ever changing rules results in torture in death. The tension knowing that at any moment the life you have built and rebuilt could be destroyed because you are today's enemy must have been overwhelming. And for much of the story there isn't a way out for this girl's family dark corrupt reality where death is all around them, but the overwhelming will to survive for her and her mother, if not for themselves than for all that they lost, gives them a chance a to triumph over extreme adversity and make their escape.

Ratner uses lines of poetry and flowery prose to create a serene atmosphere that is completely counter to devastation of the events taking place in the story. This gives the story a real sense of Buddhism; a peacefulness that's hard to describe concerting the topic. It can be surreal at times. Another thing I liked is the narrator, a child, is not the typical precocious child wise bound her years, instead her account reads like that of a child forced to grow up by her circumstances. It is a more adult like voice, but I think this only adds to her lose of innocence and her childhood. This is a beautifully written and heartbreaking account of the ugliness we humans can inflict on one another.

159edwinbcn
Ago 25, 2012, 9:21 pm

Nice review. From your review I gather it is dissimilar from much of Chinese scar literature, in which personal suffering is fore-fronted to the degree of making the book a pain to read.

160stretch
Ago 25, 2012, 10:00 pm

Thanks! I had to look up Scar literature, since I haven't read much of anything from China (I def. want to explore more Asian literature so I need to work on this). From what little I was able to learn In the Shadow of the Banyan is very different from Scar literature. The pain and evil certainly drive the story, but it's more about transcending the pain and suffering. It's through stories a parables that allow the girl to momentarily escape her surroundings, that gives her the power to endure. In a weired personal way it's uplifting.

161baswood
Ago 26, 2012, 9:26 am

162Linda92007
Ago 26, 2012, 9:39 am

Great review of In the Shadow of the Banyan, Kevin. This is one that is already sitting on my wishlist.

163avidmom
Ago 27, 2012, 7:39 pm

>158 stretch: Sounds like a beautiful book. What a beautiful cover too.

164stretch
Sep 7, 2012, 11:22 am

Flatland by Edwin Abbott (1884; 96 pages)



Flatland is primarily a geometric exploration of dimensional realities explored by an intrepid square from the two dimensional world called Flatland. In Flatland all things are shapes defined only by there perimeters with no volume, everything in their world is in a single two dimensional plane. Throughout this short novel the square explains to the reader how a two dimensional figure such as himself views and relates to the world around him. There is quite a lot of math and some spacial re-thinking to do, to get a clear understanding of these odd two dimensional landscapes. But the whole explanation of the two dimensional world is built up so that the square can tell the story is of his adventures exploring three dimensional space (Spaceland), one dimensional lines of Lineland, and even the single inhabitant of Pointland (no dimensions at all). All these explorations are exercises in geometric theory and all are a setup to the philosophical question of what the fourth dimensional would be like looking down on all the other sub-dimensional planes. A very out there concept for someone writing in the 1880's. Another out there concept for Abbot to expose was the classicism and sexism of Victorian England. Through a subtle satire (class in Flatland is determined by number of sides Circle highest – women portrayed as single lines the lowest) we see the ugliness of the Victorian class system and the that time periods view of women. There's even some discussion on the topic of eugenics/isolation for anyone who deviates from the rigid norm of society. From the social commentary you get the idea that Victorian England was all about status and climbing the social ladder; not a lot of room for original thinking.

It's all very inventive and fun if you're into math and geometry. If you aren't I would stay from this particular book, although small it is not an easy read.

165The_Hibernator
Sep 7, 2012, 1:41 pm

Funny. I just bought Flatland the other day because someone in my Coursera Fantasy and Science fiction course suggested that it was a similar concept to the one in H. G. Wells' story "The Country of the blind." I talked about it on my 75ers thread http://www.librarything.com/topic/141071#3575350

I'm not a mathematician, but I'm an engineer, so I imagine I'll be able to get through the book well enough. :)

166stretch
Sep 7, 2012, 2:00 pm

I haven't read the H. G. Wells story yet, but that is a interesting observation about Flatland and Plato's cave. One that I didn't put together why reading it, but fits well especially when the square asks questions about higher orders of dimsnsions greater than the third.

The math isn't too difficult even for a geologist. Being familar with geometry adoes help to be able to visualize spacially the various images and configurations Abbot has dreamed up.

167detailmuse
Sep 7, 2012, 3:39 pm

>164 stretch: I love the premise! I acquired the annotated edition several years ago; haven't read it yet. I love geometry but with the math and the social satire I'll probably appreciate the notes. Great review.

168dchaikin
Sep 8, 2012, 4:16 pm

Plato's Allegory of the Cave came to my mind while reading your review and about what the next level dimension might be like...but I haven't actually ever read Plato, just read brief summaries. Flatland sounds like a curious work.

169stretch
Editado: Sep 14, 2012, 1:04 pm

Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansar (2010; 416 pages)



Destiny Disrupted is not an academic history of the Islamic culture through the ages and Tamim Ansary doesn’t pretend to be to be Islamic Scholar. What Destiny Disrupted is, is a very readable collection of the core stories that make up the Islamic history from its earliest beginnings to right through September 11 attack and the subsequent wars. A narrative of world history that is so different from our own, but as complex and intricate as anything the west as has to offer. Any survey of world history would be incomplete without the Islamic perspective, and Ansary is able to give the Muslim people a context and explains the reasoning behind the shape of their culture without becoming distant and cold to the subject matter demanded from a scholarly work.

What Ansary argues isn’t the classic ‘clash of cultures’ that has been taught in the West dating back to the crusades, in fact for much of world history the west had so little to do with the middle world it would be hard to describe much of anything besides the 1st crusade and the current wars as a clash (at least from a wider view of World History). Instead Ansary presents a rather compelling thesis that Islamic history and Western history are two very different world histories trajectories that have only recently collided and are trying to work themselves out. Ansary doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable implications of his thesis: "The argument between Christian and Muslim 'fundamentalists' comes down to: Is there only one God or is Jesus Christ our savior? Again, that's not a point-counterpoint; that's two people talking to themselves in separate rooms." The real disappoint with this book is that once he builds his argument to a final crescendo, he leaves it there with no satisfactory answer. An impossible task I realize and something that is going to have to play itself out on a larger stage.

{Note: Given recent events in the Middle East over the crudely done and offensive trailer for “movie” about Mohammad, and all the destruction it has wrought, Destiny Disrupted was timely read. I can now see why so many of the Muslim leaders and clerics can’t understand why America could allow such a movie to be made. Can’t seem to articulate what I mean probably, but it certainly has shined a light on the issues that wasn’t there before.}

170dchaikin
Sep 14, 2012, 1:34 pm

I still think about this one 2.5 years after I read it. Glad you enjoyed it.

171StevenTX
Sep 14, 2012, 2:37 pm

How interesting that your two latest reviews are of books essentially about seeing the world from a new perspective. I read Flatland many years ago, but still think back on it as a superb and entertaining lesson on applying logic to questions of attitude and understanding. Plato's cave allegory is a good comparison.

I've been wanting to learn more about the Muslim world, and Destiny Disrupted sounds like a great place to start. I just added it to the wishlist.

172baswood
Sep 14, 2012, 6:54 pm

It's on my wish list too. Good review stretch, of a very interesting sounding book

173Linda92007
Sep 15, 2012, 8:34 am

I had added a comment yesterday on your very interesting review of Destiny Disrupted, Kevin, but it seems to have disappeared. This has been happening off and on to me lately. Is anyone else experiencing this? Maybe I'm just losing it...

174stretch
Sep 15, 2012, 11:30 am

>170 dchaikin:: The more I think about the more I liked the book, I'm glad I picked up from one your recommendations.

>171 StevenTX:: Steven, it's funny I didn't make that connection between Flatland and Destiny Disrupted until I posted that review. I've seem to have struck a theme of some sorts since the other now three books I have going are also about thinking from different perspectives.

>172 baswood:: Thanks Barry, I certainly found it to be enlightening.

>173 Linda92007:: Linda, I've always had trouble with my work computer and it's Internet Explore, things don't always post for some reason. Luckily I'm such a bad speller that being forced to use a word processor has saved some of my longer posts from oblivion.

175stretch
Sep 18, 2012, 7:46 pm

The Crucible by Arthur Miller (1953; 145 pages)



This classic play is an examination of the kind of hysteria that surrounds witch hunts, or in Miller's case the Red Scare and McCarthyism of the 1950's. This play does read as a critique of that era and not really a dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials. Miller does try to drown it in dialogue from the Puritan age, but it seems more like a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent his own modern witch hunt and still bring attention to the wrong headness of the whole affair. Maybe the two events were very similar and I'm making the wrong connection, but it didn't feel natural to me; felt more like he was jamming his critique of his society into one of the past. The first and second acts were hard to get through because it felt out of place. The last two acts were much better and feel more like a senate hearing showdown.

176dchaikin
Sep 19, 2012, 8:28 am

An interesting piece of history, regardless of it's success as a play. The Wikipedia claims the play got bad initial reviews, maybe consistent with your reaction.

177Linda92007
Sep 19, 2012, 9:21 am

Your thoughts on The Crucible are very interesting, Kevin. I just saw the movie with Daniel Day-Lewis and thought it was well done, but I did not make the connection with McCarthyism.

178stretch
Sep 20, 2012, 8:17 am

>176 dchaikin:: It is an incredibly interesting time, just from the internet sources it looks to be a very complex and dramatic event not only for the victims, but also for the townspeople that went through the trials and fears associated with being named. I really want to find a comprehensive history of the not only Salem trials but all the trials/prosecutions of the Mass. Bay Colony.

>177 Linda92007:: Perhaps the play is more authentic in live action with a few tweaks. I didn't know it was adapted to film. I'll have to see if I can find a copy of that.

179deebee1
Sep 21, 2012, 6:14 am

> 169 I'm on a mini Arab-themed reading right now, and this book looks like something that I'd be interested to look into. I've never bought into the idea that this is all about a "clash of cultures", so it would be interesting to see how he argues his thesis of it being about two very different histories trajectories. Thanks for the review, Destiny Disrupted is now on my wishlist.

180bragan
Sep 21, 2012, 10:03 am

I liked The Crucible (despite a niggle or two) when I read it recently, but I do think it works much better as a commentary on Miller's own time than it does as any kind of historical fiction. Fortunately, I didn't have any trouble taking it on those terms. I do agree that it gets better as it goes along, though.

181SassyLassy
Sep 21, 2012, 12:43 pm

Intriguing review of Flatland and I love the cover on your edition. I will have to look for this and read it with the subtitle in mind.

182edwinbcn
Sep 23, 2012, 5:23 am

I finished reading Flatland towards the end of August, but haven't had time to review it. I did not particularly like it. The geometrical allegory is too dense to see the criticism of Victorian society.

183detailmuse
Sep 23, 2012, 3:10 pm

Good timing: NPR’s Science Friday chose Flatland as its book club pick for September and discussed it last Friday.

184stretch
Sep 24, 2012, 2:00 pm

>183 detailmuse:: MJ, that is such an interesting discussion. They bring up so many valid points and add a lot of depth to the book I haven't quite articulated yet. I can't wait for the local NPR schedule change coming up in October so that I can listen of Sci-Friday more regularly, I forgot that they do monthly book discussions.

>182 edwinbcn:: The geometry is very dense at times for sure. I didn't have as big of problem seeing the satire from the limits of our imagination of the unknown worlds. While read the book I kept two boxes in my head; one to put all the culturally commentary (esp. the harsh treatment of the one-dimensional women) and one for the limit expanding ideas of the geometric explorations. Still at times it was a bit too much world building\details.

185stretch
Editado: Oct 5, 2012, 10:13 pm

American Creation by Joesph Ellis (2008, 304 pages)



Joesph Ellis asks an interesting question to begin the American Creation, how did a group of otherwise unremarkable men of a largely unremarkable colonial outpost forge a republican nation-state that has thrived and fulfilled many of its Founders unrealized ideals?

From the start the Founders faced long odds to create a government from a handful of untried concepts. First there was the matter of winning a war with the most powerful empire on the planet. Then there was the formation of a government that is to represent the people and their special interests. Our advantages were few. The passion of the men and women and space were what we had and a willingness to give their lives for something they big then themselves. Most historians emphasize the importance of the Enlightenment and the burgeoning idea of the individual as way of explaining this very unique period of political creativity. Ellis certainly acknowledges that the Enlightenment, but argues that an equally important factor was the immediate circumstances that surrounded the crucial decisions of the early nation. To answer his own question, Ellis makes the case that the Founders abilities to compromise and improvise to achieve their common goals and incidentally build a legacy that still inspires the masses today. According to Ellis the 1st 20 years of America's history was not the great debate that older history books would have us believe. Instead those early days were full of frantic improvisation, constant reconfiguration of plans, and groups of Founders conspiring with and against each other to create an imperfect republic that is as much a process for governing a nation as it is a structure. A combination of events pushing our early nation to a brink of disaster and a willingness of a group of remarkably ordinary men to see past what divides them, to what unites them; to create an ongoing, never ending conversation. A conversation about the realm of the federal and state governments, the role of the judiciary branch, and finally how best to represent that every shifting temperament that is known as the “people”. A conversation that makes Founders of every generation. A conversation that both divides and unities us as a people. This was the greatest gift the Founders left for future generations to mold a government to best fit their circumstances.

What was created was a triumph of human imagination; it was also a monumental failure. The founders failed to dissolve slavery. They failed to come to a fair and equable deal with the Native Americans. They failed to grant the rights they so cherished to their wives and daughters. It was left to future generations of men and women to solve the inadequacies and inequalities of the Founders. We would fight a bloody civil war to wash our nation of the terrible stain of human bondage. Only to cause the suffering a segment of our own people nearly a century of Jim Crow before they achieved legal equality. Native American tribes would be devastated and their lives turned upside down, we still haven't accounted for those ills. Women would have to fight for their rights and liberties. Labor unrest and a bias towards immigrants are nothing new to us. Our past is full of the kind of ugliness that most would like to overlook and its clear our work to achieve that elusive goal of a more prefect union still isn't done. In the face of all our problems for the republic to continue to last for as long as it has, is a testament to the genius of conversation started in the late 1790s. I can't recommend Joesph Ellis' the American Creation enough.

186avidmom
Oct 5, 2012, 11:38 pm

Loved your review of American Creation. On to the wishlist it goes!

187Linda92007
Oct 6, 2012, 9:17 am

Fabulous review of American Creation, Kevin.

188baswood
Oct 6, 2012, 5:56 pm

Excellent review of American Creation

189dchaikin
Oct 8, 2012, 12:52 am

Interesting. I think I might have trouble seeing things the ways Ellis does, though. For one thing, I think the founders were anything but unremarkable.

190wildbill
Editado: Oct 21, 2012, 12:01 pm

I enjoyed reading your review of American Creation. This has become one of my favorite periods for study in American history and I will have to put this book on my wish list.
I disagree with characterizing the founders of the Republic as "remarkably ordinary men". I think that a good percentage of this group were men of exceptional ability and the fact that they were able to see past what divided them and work for the good of all separates them from our present political leadership.
I do think it is important to recognize the great failures in their efforts. The racism that led to inhuman treatment of Native Americans and African-Americans is still a significant component of American society. The failure to pass the ERA and grant equal rights to women shows we still have a long way to go to realize the ideals of equality for all.
People today seem to have forgotten their role in the conversation on continuing efforts to improve our government and society to carry forward the ideals that were the impetus for the experiment of republican government. This book shows how valuable the study of history is for present and future generations.

191stretch
Oct 20, 2012, 4:44 pm

I think I should probably address the "remarkably ordinary" comment. Today the framers are a group that accomplished something extraordinary all-be-it far from prefect system of government, I won't argue that and neither does Ellis. We have as a country come to mythologize these men, so much so, that its hard to see them for who they really were and how difficult it was to forge a nation from scratch. We sometimes imagine that these were men with a hidden genius and of high standing, that luckily for us all came together at just the right time and place to give birth to a fully formed nation. Once you strip the myth way, this notion is simply not true. Most of the radical framers (i.e. Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, etc.) we know by name were lawyers, tradesmen, merchants, shippers, farmers, and plantation owners (almost all of whom died broke). Most of the lawyers were self taught, few of the framers had a formal higher education, the ones who did were moderates or even loyalists. Washington, arguably one of the greatest military leaders, would have considered himself lucky to have risen to the rank of Major as British regular. This weren't men of the upper echelon of society, not even a colonial society. To the civilized world of Europe the colonist were down right backwards even the well off. These were self-made men of courage and idealistic in the extreme (for their time period) that dared to defy the status quo. So perhaps ordinary is the wrong word. If the moderates and loyalist had there way, the men we hold in such high regard would little more than footnotes in history. But things weren't different and as it turns out this particular collection of men were great and had individual genius that helped forge a nation based on the republican model for government. For instance Washington wasn't the greatest strategist in the world, but he had a knack for see past what man was and seeing what he could do. In other words he was a naturally born leader. His army was full of amateurs like Knox and Greene, mountain men, immigrants, and Prussian/French officers of fairly low standing that were able to form an army that could hardly be called rag tagged. He was flawed and made mistakes, that doesn't mean he wasn't the right choice. And that is the argument Ellis makes, these were men with flaws, but had individual genius that when pushed by the circumstances that were facing at that very specific moment and forced to come together and form a not so prefect nation-state that is still a work in progress. We have so much more to learn from the framers than what the myth that surrounds them can provide. The most important lesson I took from the book is that the founding of this nation still isn't done, that we collectively have the ability to achieve the ideals the framers weren't.

192stretch
Oct 20, 2012, 5:18 pm

Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata (1996, 147 pages)



This isn't so much a review, as I'm struggling with the significance of this very short novel. (The note I wrote down immediatley after reading the novel)

This is a slow, plodding story of a young man of recentish dead parents of some wealth in post war Japan. His background and life are never very clear. It's a story of dealing with family dynamics and the legacies of ones parents all revolving around the traditional tea ceremony. And like the tea ceremony every word, gesture, and detail has a deeper meaning (or at least I think it does otherwise it would be too simple of novel).

The main thrust of the story is that this young man must deal with the meddlesome misstresses of his father. One that is trying to worm her way into his life as go between for a marriage proposal, and the other the he falls in love with the idea of her as a woman. When the one he falls in love with suddenly dies he transfers those feelings to her daughter. At first the love is superficial and attached to the deceased mother later it deepens for as a person. The daughter of this mistress is trying to right the wrong of her mother. Lots of passive drama going on in this book. All a bit too passive for my taste. No character ever really steps up and takes charge of the situation they find themselves in. The accept their fates to some degree and don't fight until it's possibly too late. I'm missing something here and I can't figure it out.

Things I took from this novel that might be helpful:

The children can't escape the fate of their respective parents.
Grace and precision of the tea ceremony reflects in the way the characters interact with one another.
The tea ceremony like the lives of the main characters have become corrupt.
Aesthetics are important in the novel => both the actual utensils used in the ceremony and the people.

193lilisin
Editado: Oct 20, 2012, 5:47 pm

I read Thousand Cranes back in high school and remember having trouble with it. Perhaps if I were to read it now that I'm more versed in Japanese lit it would be easier.

But in general I find Kawabata difficult to read although he seems like a simple writer.

194dchaikin
Oct 21, 2012, 10:13 pm

An interesting struggle with Thousand Cranes.

About those founding Americans, your post #191 makes better sense to me. In general, this crowd was composed of people who wouldn't have been all the remarkable in England. But in American colonies somehow the right chemistry developed and they were propelled on to pursue their experiment...

195stretch
Editado: Nov 17, 2012, 8:41 pm

Science Is Culture by Adam Bly (2010; 368 pages)



Science Is Culture is the first culmination of the on-line magazine Seed's project to bring together scientists and non-scientists to talk about the cultural interface of science and the humanities. In this collection 22 scientist and 22 non-scientist from diverse backgrounds sit down to talk about what they have in common and how what they do effects the larger culture. Most of the participates have previously worked together on projects or have crossed paths before. So most of the conversations come off as quite amiable and carefree, but there is never really any tension and nothing new about the science, culture divide comes about. These are conversations among friends, who already agree about much of what they discuss and are reluctant to push the sticker points that come up from time to time. The format of the conversation is free form with the participates driving the conversation which was both good and bad. Some conversations led to interesting points and new insights, while others drifted off topic and became something of a political rant or grip for their cause. Which is too bad because the conversations that devolved quickly where on some the most controversial and interesting topics like self-deceit and the climate politics. Only a couple of the conversations stand out as being substantive, but not earth shattering. And only one were post-modernism thinking reared its head and then quickly back itself into a corner, but the post-modern poet did come up with a way to better involve children and non-scientist in the act of science like thinking. In the end I would sum up this book as the start of a good idea, but needs more bite to really do something of interest. Actually, that's how I would sum up Seed magazine as well.

196Linda92007
Nov 18, 2012, 9:15 am

A thought-provoking review, Kevin. The premise of Science is Culture is one that interests me and while I am sorry to hear that the conversations included did not fully work, I may look for it anyway. One of our local and quite excellent colleges, Union College, presents its undergraduate educational philosophy as "integrating the humanities and social sciences with sciences and engineering". We need more of this type of thinking and dialogue, starting at a much younger age, if we are to successfully address the challenges we face globally.

Do you plan to post your review on the book's work page? I think others would be interested.

197stretch
Nov 18, 2012, 9:49 am

Thanks Linda, and I'll happily post the review on the work page.

I've really become interested in the way science and culture meet up. I think it's important that these two spheres learn to interact better. It's really neat that Union College is taking the lead in this kind of dialogue. I wasn't aware of any such programs, other then things like TED talks.

198dchaikin
Nov 19, 2012, 11:16 am

I agree with Linda, while the book sounds only OK, your review is interesting.

And Linda, I completely agree with your last comment in your first paragraph - I think it's a very important issue.

199stretch
Editado: Dic 4, 2012, 8:24 am

Ten Billion Days and Hundred Billion Nights by Ryu Mitsuse (1973; 256 pages)



If our universe is defined by the limits of time since the Big Bang, then what lies beyond that boundary?

To try to answer that question Mitsuse has mixed hard science fiction, heavy on cosmology, and the three of humanities great philosophical traditions. And by mixing, I mean pitting against one another in a battle for supremacy and to save humanity from destruction at the hands of some not so benevolent beings. Ten Billion Days and Hundred Billion Nights also covers a tremendous amount of ground starting at the very beginning of the universe to its final death from entropy.

Without going into too much detail, the novel tells a story of an alien influence on the growth and development of humanity, and how it has manifested itself in different religions and philosophies throughout history. These are the parts of the novel in which Mitsuse is at his best. The writing for each time period resembles the religious and philosophical texts of the time, and the science fiction elements of the plot and battle scenes are worked into the story line seamlessly. But the most compelling part of the story for me though was the insights into Buddhism and that outlook compares with the Christian worldview. At times I didn't fully understand what was going on, and at times the constant descriptions of the characters every thought process got to be a bit tedious; but I'm still amazed at how Mitsuse was able to work so much into one science fiction story and still write something compelling.

Ten Billion Days and Hundred Billion Nights was an ambitious undertaking, and I believe the Mitsuse pretty much pulled it off. It assumes quite a lot of prior knowledge about both physics and metaphysics, and it moves so quickly it can sometimes be confusing, but in my opinion it was well worth the effort to read. I very much enjoyed my first foray into Japanese science fiction.

200dmsteyn
Dic 3, 2012, 4:29 am

Enticing review, Kevin. I enjoy challenging science fiction (from time to time), and have seen this one in the shops. You might just have sold me on it.

201baswood
Dic 3, 2012, 7:49 pm

Very interesting review of your foray into Japanese Science Fiction.

202bragan
Dic 3, 2012, 9:29 pm

That sounds really interesting. It suddenly occurs to me that I've never read any Japanese science fiction, or really even encountered any Japanese SF novels, which seems strange to me now that I think about. Japan certainly has a tradition of TV and movie SF; surely they must have produced some interesting literary output. Have I just not come across it, or is there just not much of it available in English?

203stretch
Editado: Dic 3, 2012, 10:00 pm

A lot of it seems to be locked up in Manga or is simply not translated into English, at least to my limited knowledge that seems to be the case. Ten Billion Days and a Hundred Billion Nights is considered a masterwork for that genre there. Yet it's Mitsuse's only translated work and he was a fairly prolific writer. They're some other works mentioned in the afterword that might be worth persuing. The thing about Japanese Science Fiction is that it is so diffrerent from the typical writing style in the genre, I would imagine it be a hard sell for English speaking fans of the genre. So I think the selection for science fiction from Japan might pretty limited which is a shame because I think they have a lot to add to genre.

204dchaikin
Dic 4, 2012, 11:57 pm

Mitsuse is on the wishlist now.

205StevenTX
Dic 5, 2012, 12:39 am

Mine too. Sounds fascinating.

206stretch
Editado: Dic 17, 2012, 1:57 pm

Finished this sometime in late Novemeber as part of a group read and have finally finished the review. Surprisingly hard to write something without all those spoilers.

The Druid’s Son by G. R. Grove (2012; 297 pages)



The early 1st century Celts are an incredibly mysterious bunch. They left no written record for themselves, and what little archeological evidence that can be found only provides the slimmest of glimpse into these people’s daily lives. What little has been recorded comes from foreigner invaders or was passed down through oral tradition. This to me seems like the perfect environment for an imaginative writer to thrive in, and G. R. Grove does with her fourth novel The Druid’s Son.

At its heart, The Druid’s Son is the coming of age story of a young man during the turbulent early years of Roman occupation. Togi, the protagonist of this story, is a member of the proud Ordovices a not yet totally defeated tribe of the Anglesey (Wales). Togi unlike most boys his age is not only taught the ways of warfare and sheep herding, but he is also taught the rituals and the spirituality of the Druids by his stepfather one of the last remaining Druid priest of the Anglesey. The result is that Togi is a well balanced character with all the necessary skills to transition from a skirmish with a Roman Legion to the politics of the King’s court, making his story all that more compelling. Togi’s ability to go from warrior to priest, combined with a natural intelligence/intuition, gives him a serious edge in the ever exalting battle to save his people and religion from destruction. For Rome the Ordovices are pain that must be dealt with swiftly so they can get back to expanding the empire. But for the Ordovices it’s a matter of survival and the preservation of a way of life not accepted by their new rulers. Togi’s destiny is closely aligned with fate of his people and slow building tension culminates in a final showdown with the Romans that test Togi to his limits.

What makes The Druid’s Son special is Grove’s sense of history. She manages to fill in the gaps of our knowledge with the something that not only seems plausible, but with something that rings true with the time and place. Another great aspect of her writing style is that the reader is able to decide if the Druidic magic is tangibly real or just a matter of perception. At no point is the reader asked to take the stories religious and magical aspects to be literally true, instead, we are left just enough space to draw our own conclusions. Another real treat is that Grove has a real eye for geography, and her descriptions of the lush landscape and topography make the scenes in the novel feel like real places and are a physical part of Wales and Ireland. A really terrific historical novel for a time period we know so little about.

207stretch
Editado: Dic 19, 2012, 6:02 pm

Vitals:

Total Number of Books = 36 (Pace = 3.00)
Fiction = 17
Non-Fiction = 13
Other = 6
Total Number of Pages = 10,300 (Average = 286)
TBR Status = 3.2 % increase (95 books last year)

Author Demographics:
Male = 25
Female = 6
Mixed = 2
New to Me = 28
More than 1 book: Joe Hill (3), Ed Brubaker (2)

Country of Origin:
U.S. = 18
Japan = 8
U.K. = 4
Cambodia = 1
Afganistan = 1
Denmark = 1
Publication Year:
2010+ = 14
2000-2010 = 11
1990-2000 = 3
1980-1990 = 0
Pre-1980 = 8
Ratings:

5 = 3
4.5 = 3
4 = 9
3.5 = 5
3 = 6
2.5 = 4
2 = 3
1.5 = 1

Average = 3.40
42.9 % Rated 4 stars or higher
31.4 % Rated between 3 & 4 stare
22.9 % Rated below 3 stars

Favorites of 2012:

The Stones Cry Out by Hikaru Okuizumi
Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner

Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary
Radioactive by Lauren Redniss

208stretch
Dic 18, 2012, 8:00 pm

I decided to post my end of the year stats wrap early, because I'm tired of looking at it and it's time to start another sheet for 2013. Besides the books I'm currently reading won't be finished until well into next year, like March. So I figured there isn't much point on sitting for a week and half especially with the holidays and all.

I went back and built a spreadsheet for all the years I've been logging what I read. All the way back to 2009! I joined Club Read in 2010, so my conclusions aren't scientific, but what I can draw from the trends is that while I have read fewer and fewer pages and the average length has decreased the quality has sharply increased (I attribute most of the decrease to Japanese fiction which on average is only about 200 pages long). So thanks Club Read members.

However nice it is to see in quality, it is still dismal to see the ratio of female to male authors. Not to mention the lack authors from other regions of the world. Which is ironic sense my favorites list is dominated by female and foreign authors. That needs to change, so I making 2013 a year in which the only books bought and read off the wishlist will be graphic novels, works by Japanese authors, and works by female authors. I'll work on populating my selfs with foreigners some other time. Another goal of mine is to see a 5% reduction in the TBR pile next year, which as it turns out would be about 5 books. Not exactly a lofty goal, but see as how the pile only stopped growing the last two months of this year it may not be that easy for me (considering by the 1st I'll already be three books in the red, this goal just maybe impossible).

209lilisin
Dic 18, 2012, 8:38 pm

I am also ready for my 2013 thread. Right now I'm just reading short stories to fill out the rest of this year and Musashi won't be finished till January so there is really nothing left for me to post. Although I read some good books in 2012, as a whole I felt the year was lackluster. I'm hoping 2013 will be better.

Though if your thread continues to be populated with those Japanese authors, I will be looking forward greatly to the new year. Maybe our reads will coincide.

210detailmuse
Dic 19, 2012, 5:53 pm

>the quality has sharply increased
What a great comment to be able to write!

I enjoy reading your drilled-down data. I suspect I'll also have a large proportion of authors new-to-me in this year's books, and it makes me think about putting more attention on my favorites.

211stretch
Dic 19, 2012, 6:29 pm

>Lilisin: Oh, there's going to be more Japanese Lit. next year that's for sure. I'm totally addicted now. I'm thinking On Parole will be my next purchase in fact.

>MJ: Yeah, before Club Read there was mostly noise with a few stand outs and now it's flipped.

I look forward to your stats. I don't know why I never kept them before I saw your version last year, it's interesting what they relieve when you sit down and pluck in the actual numbers. I wonder what else can be pulled out from them?

212lilisin
Dic 19, 2012, 8:25 pm

Addicted, yes! I also have On Parole on my wishlist. I'm jealous as you'll probably read it before me. But I do have some good Japanese books lined up on my TBR.

213dchaikin
Dic 20, 2012, 11:55 pm

Enjoyed your review of The Druid's Son, well done. I love that you start your reading stats with "Vitals".