Nov 23, 2023The Master
By Colm TóibínA sweet and thoughtful novel, a little bit lonely, Henry James looking back on an interesting and humane life and set of relationships, father and sister and artist friends. Contemplative but never (terribly, I suppose it is in the eye of the beholder) dry, James's life makes for an interesting platform for exploration of life, death, friends and family. I should probably read more of James's work, and I guess Tóibín's while I'm at it.
Nov 11, 2023The Rise And Fall Of The Dinosaurs
By Steve BrusatteBrusatte takes you through an excellent history of both the dinosaurs themselves and the field of paleontology, from a few crazy pioneers (I could stand to learn a bit more about Baron Nopsca, scientist, swashbuckler and spy) to the high-tech science with computers and lasers it is today. What I found most amazing in this book is the particular way it seemed to anticipate precisely what I was curious about - whenever I started to wonder a bit about X, or how Y works, it would jump in with an excellent explanation, about how we know what the dinosaurs were eating or what color they were or how carbon dating works. Excellent, entertaining and informative, I just kinda wish I was a bit more of a Dinosaur Nerd growing up - which would have made this all the more mind-blowing.
Nov 9, 2023China In Ten Words
By Yu HuaI worry sometimes about my Education. I always thought it was like, pretty good, I got good grades in a wide variety of subjects, but then something like The Cultural Revolution comes to the fore and I am just astonishingly ignorant. A thing that something like a 10th of the current world population lived under, and I just have no idea what life was like, no anecdotes or stories, maybe I read a paragraph or two in high school and wrote a sentence answer on an exam some time.
Nov 5, 2023The Aeneid
By VirgilPretty good for self-insert fanfic. Better then the Iliad, better in parts and pieces than the Odyssey.
Nov 1, 2023The Name Of The Rose
By Umberto EcoI've been keeping a little inventory of books that misuse and abuse the word palimpsest. It is, in my opinion, a bit of a trap of a word - arcane yet evocative, strange sounding with a compelling meaning that is particularly so for authors; what is more authorial than burying one layer of meaning behind another? And so it seems extraordinarily common for authors to shoe in the word where it is not appropriate, either through blatant misuse (I'm looking at you, The Traitor Baru Cormorant) or just like a bit of a stretch (it is not necessary to refer to dirty whiteboards as palimpsests, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow). Also, to Homi K Bhabha, palimpsetical is most definitely not a word that needs to exist.
Oct 25, 2023Treasure Island
By Robert Louis StevensonFor a boy named Hawkins growing up by the (fresh, decidedly not pirate-infested) water, Treasure Island was a formative and exciting read about a boy named Hawkins traveling the world, finding pirates and treasure and friends. Rereading it to get in the proper headspace for dressing as a pirate for a costumed wedding - it holds up. Excellent swordfights and intrigue, and Long John Silver is to be sure a character for the ages.
Oct 23, 2023Pirate Enlightenment
By David GraeberThis book is a fascinating little history of Madagascar and the kingdoms and societies during the golden age of piracy. I (and I imagine I am not unique here) know little of this corner of the world and corner of history, and enjoyed learning about the unique cultural mixture driven by the intersection of Arabs, pirates, slavers, colonists, and Madagascar people. Graeber's writing is as always entertaining and educational, although there is not much here of his usual grand claims of historiographical reinterpretation and generalization - it is a more focused anthropology that I think likely has a less wide interest than the exciting title and Graeber's name might otherwise incur.
Oct 21, 2023The Drawing Of The Three
By Stephen KingThe second book in The Gunslinger series is less engaging. It is more ambitious than the previous, with King filling out his patchwork universe with connections to times, places and trends from Our World, that are ultimately not particularly poorly handled - but I don't find King to be the best writer for wading into issues of addiction, racism, criminal psychology. He can write a good cereal-box thriller, and the characters are somewhat fun, but it mostly just feels overstretched.
Oct 19, 2023Rosshalde
By Hermann HesseI recently reread Rosshalde because I was curious about an alternative to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - an author exploring what it means to live as and pursue art in a non-linguistic medium. I found what feels more authentic, more meaningful and a bit more depressing. Hesse continues in my opinion after a few decades of reading him, to be Very Good...although this reads as maybe a bit more personal, a bit less generated towards a general audience. It is a quick read, a bit fraught, good stuff but probably would not be my first recommended book by Hesse for anyone.