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eorCatching up on a lot of books, most of which are re-reads which I finished a while ago, so I'm not going to be detailed.
20. Zen Cho "Spirits Abroad"
This is the first of Zen's published works I've read. I always knew she was brilliant, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. Pleasantly. It's been quite a while since I finished it, but the impression it leaves is rich, well structured prose allowing characters to fill out. I don't think it's a stretch to say the quality of the writing is better than most of the authors alive today. I'll certainly be reading more of her stuff.
The only downside of this book is that as a monolingual English speaking American I don't think I got out of it all there was in it because I often had to piece together the references and allusions. This wasn't like the authors who use French be pretentious. The non-English words (and thinking) were vital to the stories, even I could understand that. So I could mostly guess at what a word meant, but I felt I was missing at least some context/culture, which would have made the stories even more enjoyable.
21. Roger Zelazny "A Night in Lonesome October"
A re-read in time for the Halloween season. I like the fact he wrote the entire book from the point of view of a dog, albeit a supernaturally intelligent one, but still a dog. This stories roots are pastiche, with characters and cameos from through spooky literature. Quite fun and being Zelazny well written.
22. Anne Frank "The Diary of Anne Frank"
I vaguely recall reading excerpts from "The Diary of Anne Frank" when I was in grade school, but I don't think I've ever read the whole thing. There is so much which is amazing and distressing about the book. How they managed to stay hidden as long as they did (the logistics of keeping that many people in a place, fed, and mostly living normally). That Anne and her sister made it to within about two months of liberation. To live through all that and not live through it.
A timely re-read, though I wish it were irrelevant history at this point.
23. "Call the Midwife"
I bought this book because I had watched I think two episodes of the TV show during a transatlantic flight. I enjoyed reading about London during the 50's. In the past I've read about the Blitz, but this book gives a flavor of the aftermath and the people who lived through it all. It's a quick read, with each chapter being a mostly stand alone story (perfect for making a TV show), but continuing threads here and there.
24 Terry Pratchett "The Color of Magic"
I decided to read the Discworld books in order, so "The Color of Magic" was the place to start.
It has been quite a while since I read "The Color of Magic" and not nearly as long since I saw the movie, so I kept expecting bits which were actually in "Light Fantastic". It's fun to see how Pratchett starts out: a bit uncertain and rough, but with some of the same ideas and themes which would last him though to the end.
25. William Gibson "Count Zero"
26. Ray Bradbury "The Halloween Tree"
Ray Bradbury can write amazing prose, but for me this was one of the least enjoyable works. The recipe just had too much sugar this time, I felt I was fading into a diabetic coma. I liked all the information about the origins of Halloween and Bradbury knows how to spin a web of words. But it was too... too... TOOO... flowery if the flowers were black and flying across a full moon. I was reminded of school when I learned the term Purple Prose. Not. My. Cup. O. Tea.
27. Christopher Moore "Practical Demonkeeping"
Wow, I didn't remember much of this book at all from the last reading. I wonder how many years ago that was.
28. Terry Pratchett "The Light Fantastic"
29. William Gibson "Mona Lisa Overdrive"
30. Terry Pratchett "Equal Rites"
1. Jennifer Worth "Call The Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse"
This installment of the Call the Midwife series is darker than the first. The stories are generally longer and each has some connection to the workhouse.
In the very end, there is a paragraph summing up that while the workhouses were awful in many ways, they were a step up from the people having no safety net at all:
"Poverty was frankly regarded as a moral defect. Social Darwinism (the strong adapt and survive, the weak are crushed) was borrowed and distorted from the Origin Of Species (1858) and applied to human organization. These were the standards of society, accepted by rich and poor alike, and the workhouses merely reflected this."
When I read that, it struck me of how much in common there is with the situation for the lower class in America today. There is no social contract in America, none of the programs which transformed Britain from what is was in 1930 to what it was in 1960. In America there are no councils obligated to provide housing (no matter how bad). There is no NHS obligated to provide care (rationed or not). It is two completely different systems now and I think in the US we often gloss over that and think "market based economies are all the same".
2. Terry Pratchett "Mort"
Just finished up "Mort" the other day.
20. Zen Cho "Spirits Abroad"
This is the first of Zen's published works I've read. I always knew she was brilliant, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. Pleasantly. It's been quite a while since I finished it, but the impression it leaves is rich, well structured prose allowing characters to fill out. I don't think it's a stretch to say the quality of the writing is better than most of the authors alive today. I'll certainly be reading more of her stuff.
The only downside of this book is that as a monolingual English speaking American I don't think I got out of it all there was in it because I often had to piece together the references and allusions. This wasn't like the authors who use French be pretentious. The non-English words (and thinking) were vital to the stories, even I could understand that. So I could mostly guess at what a word meant, but I felt I was missing at least some context/culture, which would have made the stories even more enjoyable.
21. Roger Zelazny "A Night in Lonesome October"
A re-read in time for the Halloween season. I like the fact he wrote the entire book from the point of view of a dog, albeit a supernaturally intelligent one, but still a dog. This stories roots are pastiche, with characters and cameos from through spooky literature. Quite fun and being Zelazny well written.
22. Anne Frank "The Diary of Anne Frank"
I vaguely recall reading excerpts from "The Diary of Anne Frank" when I was in grade school, but I don't think I've ever read the whole thing. There is so much which is amazing and distressing about the book. How they managed to stay hidden as long as they did (the logistics of keeping that many people in a place, fed, and mostly living normally). That Anne and her sister made it to within about two months of liberation. To live through all that and not live through it.
A timely re-read, though I wish it were irrelevant history at this point.
23. "Call the Midwife"
I bought this book because I had watched I think two episodes of the TV show during a transatlantic flight. I enjoyed reading about London during the 50's. In the past I've read about the Blitz, but this book gives a flavor of the aftermath and the people who lived through it all. It's a quick read, with each chapter being a mostly stand alone story (perfect for making a TV show), but continuing threads here and there.
24 Terry Pratchett "The Color of Magic"
I decided to read the Discworld books in order, so "The Color of Magic" was the place to start.
It has been quite a while since I read "The Color of Magic" and not nearly as long since I saw the movie, so I kept expecting bits which were actually in "Light Fantastic". It's fun to see how Pratchett starts out: a bit uncertain and rough, but with some of the same ideas and themes which would last him though to the end.
25. William Gibson "Count Zero"
26. Ray Bradbury "The Halloween Tree"
Ray Bradbury can write amazing prose, but for me this was one of the least enjoyable works. The recipe just had too much sugar this time, I felt I was fading into a diabetic coma. I liked all the information about the origins of Halloween and Bradbury knows how to spin a web of words. But it was too... too... TOOO... flowery if the flowers were black and flying across a full moon. I was reminded of school when I learned the term Purple Prose. Not. My. Cup. O. Tea.
27. Christopher Moore "Practical Demonkeeping"
Wow, I didn't remember much of this book at all from the last reading. I wonder how many years ago that was.
28. Terry Pratchett "The Light Fantastic"
29. William Gibson "Mona Lisa Overdrive"
30. Terry Pratchett "Equal Rites"
1. Jennifer Worth "Call The Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse"
This installment of the Call the Midwife series is darker than the first. The stories are generally longer and each has some connection to the workhouse.
In the very end, there is a paragraph summing up that while the workhouses were awful in many ways, they were a step up from the people having no safety net at all:
"Poverty was frankly regarded as a moral defect. Social Darwinism (the strong adapt and survive, the weak are crushed) was borrowed and distorted from the Origin Of Species (1858) and applied to human organization. These were the standards of society, accepted by rich and poor alike, and the workhouses merely reflected this."
When I read that, it struck me of how much in common there is with the situation for the lower class in America today. There is no social contract in America, none of the programs which transformed Britain from what is was in 1930 to what it was in 1960. In America there are no councils obligated to provide housing (no matter how bad). There is no NHS obligated to provide care (rationed or not). It is two completely different systems now and I think in the US we often gloss over that and think "market based economies are all the same".
2. Terry Pratchett "Mort"
Just finished up "Mort" the other day.
