Keep Turning

A Writer's Companion [Richard Marius]

2007-01-29T19:23:00.000-05:00

A reference book that gives hope to any potential writer.

Read: 01/29/2007

'Tis [Frank McCourt]

2007-01-29T19:18:00.000-05:00

I think I'll like this book better when I'm older.

Read: 01/25/2007

The Picture of Dorian Gray [Oscar Wilde]

2007-01-29T19:03:00.000-05:00

Enjoyable. For the most part.

Read: 01/20/2007

Absalom, Absalom! [William Faulkner]

2007-01-29T18:55:00.000-05:00

Best book I've ever read.

Read: 01/16/2007

Wit [Margaret Edson]

2007-01-29T18:41:00.000-05:00

A play concerning itself with the last days of cancer.

Read: 01/13/2007

The Tale Of Genji [Murasaki Shikibu]

2007-01-29T18:29:00.000-05:00

I just read the first part of this 11th century Japanese classic. That's enough for now.

Read: 01/12/2007

Through The Looking Glass [Lewis Carroll]

2007-01-29T18:21:00.000-05:00

Fun.

Read: 01/09/2007

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland [Lewis Carroll]

2007-01-29T18:15:00.000-05:00

Before Monty Python, there was Alice.

Read: 01/08/2007

Pyongyang: A Journey In North Korea [Guy Delisle]

2007-01-29T17:53:00.000-05:00

Delisle created this graphic novel after spending two months in Pyongyang. He is a sensitive observer, and this work is worth reading. North Korea is nutzzz!

Read: 01/08/2007

Murder On The Orient Express [Agatha Christie]

2007-01-08T01:01:00.000-05:00

I know who did it.

Read: 01/07/07

Perdido Street Station [China Mieville]

2007-01-08T00:42:00.000-05:00

I appreciate Mieville's imagination.

Read: 01/07/07

The Awakening [Kate Chopin]

2007-01-07T12:08:00.000-05:00

A classic deserving of a quality post.

Read: 01/01/07

The History of Love [Nicole Krauss]

2006-12-31T17:21:00.000-05:00

Are you sad? That's okay, it just means you're in love.

Read: 12/31/06

300 Miles [Ben Kimball]

2006-12-26T11:31:00.000-05:00

A neat little book describing my friend's partial through hike of the AT. He writes well, and it was an engaging read. The personal account gives a very good idea of what it is really like to hike the trail.

Read: 12/26/06

Earthwalk [Philip Slater]

2006-12-25T23:34:00.000-05:00

Published in 1975, this book is a lament on the state of Western Civilization. Under the banner of progress and change, Philip Slater believes human beings are moving further away from living fulfilling lives. There is a vague sense from Slater that we can make things better, but it seems more likely we'll destroy ourselves. We'll really muck things on Earth in the process, but it will heal itself once we are gone.

I'd like to dismiss this book out of hand, but Slater constructs some very convincing arguments as to why we are on the wrong track. If you are looking for answer on how to correct our course though, this isn't the book. I respect Slater for this, and it is the only indication that he thinks humans are smart. Here are the facts, he seems to be saying, do with them what you will.

Read: 12/25/06

Have Space Suit - Will Travel [Robert A. Heinlein]

2006-12-18T13:18:00.000-05:00

A "gee-whiz!" sort of sci-fi book. It had a nice balance of soft and hard science fiction. Heinlein was interested in telling a compelling story, but didn't mind dedicating explanatory paragraphs to how space suits functions, or how to calculate the distance between stars.

Heinlein had an agenda with this book. He wanted to make sure the reader understood that it is only with passion and hard work that a person achieves their dreams. You'll run into a lot of people who want to block your progress, but pay no attention to them. If you want something, you can get it.

Read: 12/16/06

The Crying Lot Of 49 [Thomas Pynchon]

2006-12-12T16:16:00.000-05:00

The Pynchon book you read, if you only read one Pynchon book in your life. In other words, his shortest by about 500 pages.

People with silly names - and probably significant ones, if you are smart - run around finding out silly things. For instance, there is a vast conspiracy having to do with an underground mail delivery service.

I suppose one reads Pynchon not for the plot and character development, but for his eccentric style. Hidden within the chaos are some truly unique and inspiring thoughts.

Read: 12/11/06

One Man's Meat [E.B. White]

2006-12-12T15:59:00.000-05:00

This is a set of essays White wrote over the course of four years while on his "salt water farm" in Maine. Sure, they get "farmy" every once and awhile, but he mainly sticks to larger topics. WWII, for instance, begins shortly after her moves there. He is an astute observer, and I believe his thoughts on many topics are still relevant today.

He sure is gloomy, though.

Read: 12/10/06

Out Of Control [Kevin Kelly]

2006-12-12T15:40:00.000-05:00

"The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the Economic World." Don't ask, because I don't know. I can tell you this, Kevin Kelly is an extremely inquisitive person. Ultimately he wants to find out what makes life tick, and how humans - both in biological and intellectual forms - will evolve in the years to come.

This book, like Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything," embraces huge ideas. When the goal is to explain everything, anything is fair game. The reader encounters the expected (Darwin's theory of evolution) and the unexpected (a verse of Brownian poetry). Kevin Kelly wants to get at answers, and he'll use both scientific and metaphysical tools to get there.

Read: 12/03/06

Salamandastron [Brian Jacques]

2006-11-15T11:42:00.000-05:00

The sixth book in the Redwall series. I guess the good news is you know exactly what you are getting into when you pick up one of Brian Jacques's books. If you are in the mood for absolutely clear cut moral storytelling, pick up one of the 2,541 books in the Redwall series!

Read: 11/14/06

Trumpet of the Swan [E.B. White]

2006-10-28T15:47:00.000-04:00

I was on an E.B. White kick, so I read this book too. I found it a lot more whimsical then "Charlotte's Web."

Good god, that's all I got.

Read: 10/26/06

Charlotte's Web [E.B. White]

2006-10-24T13:46:00.000-04:00

I managed, somehow, to not read this book for the first 26 years of my life. I don't even think I saw the whole animated film.

I picked it up for a couple reasons, one of them being White's involvement with "The Elements of Style." You can see how Strunk influenced his writing. White's economy of language isn't simply due to this being a children's book, but because he really believes that it is the best way to present your writing.

The story itself, like many great kids books, is surprisingly dark. I was left feeling that life will always be, to a great extent, uncertain. It is not in our power to hold onto the things we love and cherish. These things come to you quite by accident, and it takes a great amount of caring and skill to keep them close by.

Read: 10/24/06

The Elements of Style [William Strunk and E.B. White]

2006-10-21T00:53:00.000-04:00

A concise reference book on how to write well. Simple rules emphasize the importance of mastering the basics of the English language. Less is always more for Strunk, and his case is convincing.

Read: 10/21/06

City of Saints and Madmen [Jeff Vandermeer]

2006-10-17T23:33:00.000-04:00

I'd write a long review, but Mr. Vandermeer used up most of the words. This thing had a 70 page glossary.

Read: 10/17/06

Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World [Haruki Murakami]

2006-10-05T12:34:00.000-04:00

Murakami is too cool for school.

I'll write a better post if someone comments.

Read: 10/05/06

July, July [Tim O'Brien]

2006-10-01T17:12:00.000-04:00

The class of '69 "enjoys" its 30th reunion. This is O'Brien's exploration on how his generation was effected by the era of Free Love and Vietnam.

Characters are developed primarily through dialogue, rather then O'Brien describing in detail their histories. This allows each story to take on the positive and negative aspects of each character. This way editorial judgment is held at bay as the past is explored.

Re-read: 06/14/06

The Blind Assassin [Margaret Atwood]

2006-09-29T23:37:00.000-04:00

While "The Blind Assassin" kept the pages turning with its share of intrigue, Atwood keeps the reader truly engaged with her insights into the aging process and how humans interact with one another. Her use of the fantastic - she takes the reader to alien planets - is not designed to escape our mundane reality, but to highlight its possibilities. The aging narrator, Iris, makes this clear by sharing her often disappointing past.

The end result, surprising, is not entirely depressing. One gets the impression that an enjoyable and meaningful life is attainable, as long as risks are taken.

Read: 09/26/06

The Giver [Lois Lowry]

2006-09-13T20:58:00.000-04:00

Nothing says "kids book" like a nice dystopia! Lowry's goal is to express the importance of individuality, love, inquisitiveness, diversity, and hope in society. To remove these things, in the hopes of creating a safer and more stable community, is to cut out what it means to be human. In this environment unethical and inhumane actions can be justified.

Read: 06/17/06

An Invisible Sign Of My Own [Aimee Bender]

2006-09-05T22:51:00.000-04:00

I think a writer creates an extremely quirky character hoping to explore, in depth, one aspect of human nature. The exaggerated trait is put through its paces, allowed to interact where it would normally be restrained. The results, in theory, are enlightening. Or so horribly contrived that the reader wonders why they don't just put the book down.

Read: 09/04/06

The Girls Who Went Away [Ann Fessler]

2006-08-30T23:51:00.000-04:00

Mothers forced to give up children for adoption often measure their lives in decades. Ten years to decide whether or not to contact the child. Ten more years before they actually send the letter. Ten more waiting for a response.

It is that fact, above any other in this book, that made me realize how intense an experience being separated from your child is.

Read: 08/30/06

Cat's Cradle [Kurt Vonnegut]

2006-08-29T18:39:00.000-04:00

Kurt Vonnegut thinks humans are so stupid that we will destroy the world very soon. Kurt Vonnegut thinks humans are so smart that we'll save it in the nick of time.

Read: Sometime in '04

One Hundred Years Of Solitude [Gabriel Garcia Marquez]

2006-08-26T22:59:00.000-04:00

I blame the author.

Read: 06/24/06

The Story Of Lucy Gault [William Trevor]

2006-08-25T23:46:00.000-04:00

I've got to start reading some more uplifting material!

Due to unlikely circumstances, Lucy is separated from her parents at a very early age. Without giving too much away, this is a story dealing with separation and loss. The overwhelming feeling Trevor conveys is that certain events transpire in your life that fundamentally change you. The foundation of your thoughts and feelings become altered, and anything built upon them has to necessarily take a particular shape.

Read: 06/25/06

The Greedy Bastard Diary: A Comic Tour Of America [Eric Idle]

2006-08-24T17:46:00.000-04:00

This is a road journal documenting Eric Idle's Greedy Bastard tour. He is a very good writer, which saved the book for me. The dirty jokes and randy song lyrics weren't the highlights (Idle, least funny Python?), but rather the often touching stories from his life. He is madly in love with his wife and daughter, cared for his mother until the bitter end, and described the great loss he felt when George Harrison passed away.

Read: 06/28/06

Tender Is The Night [F. Scott Fitzgerald]

2006-08-22T23:22:00.000-04:00

I'd like to think that Fitzgerald's characters are an anomaly - a group of people separated from the average person by wealth and eccentric lifestyles. That way the particular brand of love they suffer from would be somehow different then what everyone else experiences. But they aren't, and we do.

Read: 07/13/06

O Pioneers! [Willa Cather]

2006-08-21T20:26:00.000-04:00

Cather describes her characters, and the land they live on, with the same amount of care and passion. It is surprising to me, having now read two of her books, how distinctly separate these aspects of her writing are. The land should shape her characters, but their actions seem removed from the its influence. This is particularly noticeable when the reader encounters an unkind or malicious character. Cather very rarely talks about nature's destructive side, and then in only the most poetic manner. Are humans so unique as to be the only animals that can perform terrible acts?

To be fair, both this book and "My Antonia" both span a long period of time. It's easy to see why the incredible aspects of nature should win out over the more negative ones. Yet, it would be nice to leave that up to the reader to decide.

Read: 08/21/06

Franny and Zooey [J.D. Salinger]

2006-08-19T11:50:00.000-04:00

I find that many authors lose their characters to religion. A spiritual awakening often dispenses with the most interesting aspects of the individuals, with the assumption that anything being replaced was inferior.

Salinger avoids this completely with "Franny and Zooey," and the result is a religious exploration firmly rooted in the practicality of everyday living. With this approach the ethereal ideas take root, rather then simply float away.

Read: 08/19/06

The Book Of Embraces [Eduardo Galeano]

2006-08-16T23:13:00.000-04:00

Magical realism, it seems to me, searches for the meaning behind even the most mundane aspect of our lives. Authors like Galeano have an urgent need to express all the wonders in the world, even those brought about by tragedy. It is overwhelming at times, with each crush becoming a flirtation with an abyss and each death forcing a slowing of the cosmos.

"The Book Of Embraces" really boils down to one man's musings on life. Many passages are cryptic, but I found these to be the most rewarding parts of the book. The reader is forced to bring their own experiences into the fold if they hope to suss out any meaning.

Read: 07/19/06

Not Without Laughter [Langston Hughes]

2006-08-15T22:19:00.000-04:00

Regardless of color or their parent's income, all little girls spin and all little boys pinch. When does that all change? At what point do adults come in and mess everything up?

I'm the pessimist here, not the novel. Hughes' faith in the African American character is too strong to have his main character defeated by the real world. The reader is lifted by success in the face of terrible opposition, and never allowed to accept self pity as a means to an end.

Read: 08/15/06

Hocus Pocus [Kurt Vonnegut]

2006-08-14T22:42:00.000-04:00

I'm convinced Kurt Vonnegut has only written one book. It seems to me any one of his characters or ideas would transition comfortably into any of his other works. "Hocus Pocus" is no different, with Vonnegut once again telling us why life is terrible, but that he wouldn't trade a second of it for anything.

Go figure.

Read: 07/29/06

Going To Meet The Man [James Baldwin]

2006-08-13T23:54:00.000-04:00

A collection of Baldwin's short stories, including the incredible "Sonny's Blues." A friend sent me one of Balwin's quotes, which summarizes his writing much better than I can:

"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you can't but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world ... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way ... people look at reality, then you can change it."

Read: 07/30/06

Rich Dad, Poor Dad [Robert T. Kiyosaki]

2006-08-13T23:43:00.000-04:00

Mr. Kiyosaki believes that the average American is not taught "financial literacy." This hinders them from escaping the rat race that is Capitalism. While this book laments the fact that so many people are in a poor financial position, it does very little to actually help the situation. His idea of a lesson is to tell the reader, "to buy assets." These include stocks, bonds, real estate, IOUs, music copyright... You know, the stuff you buy with the extra quarters in your couch.

I am in complete agreement about the average person's lack of financial knowledge, but this is the wrong book to shed light on the subject. When I run across the right one I'll let you know.

Read: 08/03/06

My Antonia [Willa Cather]

2006-08-13T10:59:00.000-04:00

Willa Cather is well known for her ability to capture the lifestyle of early American pioneers. While she does describe the perils of traveling West to begin a new life, she seems equally concerned in relating the personal and emotional landscape of her characters.

"My Antonia" is like a knowing sigh. The reader is exposed to amazing characters, but forced to watch their lives unfold in such typical ways. Other people's ignorance, hatred, or stupidity hinders their growth and happiness. Yet defeat is not the overriding theme of this book, but rather limitless potential. To explore nature and the human condition will provide endless happiness and sorrow.

Read:08/08/06