This isn't my favorite Larson book, but it's still worth your time. Very informative and entertaining.
- Laurell K. Hamilton's Danse Macabre
- Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
- Up in Honey's Room - Elmore Leonard
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Isaac's Storm - Erik Larson
Isaac's Storm is the story of the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the early days of hurricane prediction. Like the other works by Erik Larson, Isaac's Storm is the non-fiction that reads like a good mystery. Larson seamlessly weaves the facts and figures of the events into a narrative that keeps the reader engaged. Each of the books that I've read by this guy have been peppered with historical surprises, and this one is no exception. Fascinating tidbits about technologies, companies, and individuals that we think we know are revealed in the context of their time.
This isn't my favorite Larson book, but it's still worth your time. Very informative and entertaining.
This isn't my favorite Larson book, but it's still worth your time. Very informative and entertaining.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
The Foreign Correspondent - Alan Furst
Alan Furst writes historical spy novels, usually set in Europe between 1930 and 1950. He writes from unique perspectives. His protagonists are Polish, Bulgarian, Italian, French, English. He shines a light on aspects of the World War II era that few Americans ever think about.
The Foreign Correspondent is the story of an Italian dissident ex-pat journalist, living in Paris in the months leading up to the start of World War II in Europe. Our hero is an ordinary person, living in extraordinary times. His work for the Reuters News agency takes him from the front lines of Spain's civil war, to Poland during the Blitzkrieg, to Nazi Berlin.
The Foreign Correspondent doesn't have the same amount of action as some of Furst's other novels, but it is no less satisfying.
Next up:
The Foreign Correspondent is the story of an Italian dissident ex-pat journalist, living in Paris in the months leading up to the start of World War II in Europe. Our hero is an ordinary person, living in extraordinary times. His work for the Reuters News agency takes him from the front lines of Spain's civil war, to Poland during the Blitzkrieg, to Nazi Berlin.
The Foreign Correspondent doesn't have the same amount of action as some of Furst's other novels, but it is no less satisfying.
Next up:
- Laurell K. Hamilton's Danse Macabre
- Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
- Up in Honey's Room - Elmore Leonard
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
Yes, I liked Into the Wild enough to plow right into the rest of Krakauer's repertoire. Into Thin Air was written earlier than the Into the Wild. While both works are post mortem examinations of adventures gone wrong, this one hits much closer to home for the author. Krakauer was a participant on an ill fated 1996 expedition to summit Mt. Everest which lost 8 people to the mountain.
Krakauer describes the events in detailed, gripping prose. I did not want to put this book down.
On the bedside table:
Krakauer describes the events in detailed, gripping prose. I did not want to put this book down.
On the bedside table:
- Alan Furst's The Foreign Correspondant
- Laurell K. Hamilton's Danse Macabre
- Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
- Up in Honey's Room - Elmore Leonard
Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
Yeah, it's been forever. I know. I've been too busy reading to write!
After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked across the US, finally arriving in Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. He was later found dead in the wilderness. Into the Wild is the story of McCandless' journey. It examines the possible reasons for McCandless' behavior. As someone who has a bad case of wanderlust, I identified with McCandless. I have read, and admired, some of the same works that influenced this kid.
Into the Wild is a well written account. It will grab your attention, and not let go until the bitter end.
Next up:
After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked across the US, finally arriving in Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. He was later found dead in the wilderness. Into the Wild is the story of McCandless' journey. It examines the possible reasons for McCandless' behavior. As someone who has a bad case of wanderlust, I identified with McCandless. I have read, and admired, some of the same works that influenced this kid.
Into the Wild is a well written account. It will grab your attention, and not let go until the bitter end.
Next up:
- Alan Furst's The Foreign Correspondant
- Laurell K. Hamilton's Danse Macabre
- Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
- Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
- Up in Honey's Room - Elmore Leonard
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Thunderstruck - Erik Larson
When I saw that the author of Devil and the White City, Erik Larson, had written another book, I had to read it.
Thunderstruck is the non-fiction account of two figures who each captured the imagination of the western world at the beginning of the 20th century. Guglielmo Marconi was one of the driving forces behind the invention of wireless telegraphy. Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen was an American doctor of homeopathic medicine, who in 1910, killed his wife. Larson tells the tales of these two fascinating men with the same engrossing style which he brought to Devil and the White City. The reader easily forgets that he is reading a work of non-fiction.
I happen to enjoy reading about the history of science and technology, but Larson's account of Marconi's development of transatlantic wireless telegraphy is accessible, and engrossing. One can't help but draw parallels between the the technological developments of the early 1900's and the early 2000's. The excitement and wonder with which the world embraced wireless is palpable.
I highly recommend Thunderstruck.
Still on the Bedside Table:
Thunderstruck is the non-fiction account of two figures who each captured the imagination of the western world at the beginning of the 20th century. Guglielmo Marconi was one of the driving forces behind the invention of wireless telegraphy. Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen was an American doctor of homeopathic medicine, who in 1910, killed his wife. Larson tells the tales of these two fascinating men with the same engrossing style which he brought to Devil and the White City. The reader easily forgets that he is reading a work of non-fiction.
I happen to enjoy reading about the history of science and technology, but Larson's account of Marconi's development of transatlantic wireless telegraphy is accessible, and engrossing. One can't help but draw parallels between the the technological developments of the early 1900's and the early 2000's. The excitement and wonder with which the world embraced wireless is palpable.
I highly recommend Thunderstruck.
Still on the Bedside Table:
- W. Sommerset Maughm's Of Human Bondage
- Alan Furst's The Foreign Correspondant
- Laurell K. Hamilton's Danse Macabre
- Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Bag of Bones - Stephen King
I give up! Not on reading, or even my less than faithful blogging. I've been trying to get interested in Stephen King's Bag of Bones, and I just can't do it. The book is bloated. I read about 125 of the book's 752. I've read plenty of books that are 1000+ pages that feel less ponderous than this one.
Perhaps I didn't give it a fair shake, but there are too many other books by great authors waiting on the bedside table. Maybe I'll pick this one up later.
Perhaps I didn't give it a fair shake, but there are too many other books by great authors waiting on the bedside table. Maybe I'll pick this one up later.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
the average american male - Chad Kultgen
My friends Doris and Rob got me a gift card to my favorite bookstore for my birthday recently. It's my favorite gift. Anyone out there who reads this and wants to make my day, get me a gift card to a bookstore or an outdoor equipment store. One of the books that I bought yesterday was the average american male, the first book by Chad Kultgen. This book is a little like a bad wreck on the highway. You don't want to look, but you can quite bring yourself to keep your eyes away.
The book is a first person narrative from the viewpoint of a 28 year old guy living in the LA area. The guy is college educated. He has what we can only guess by virtue of his shopping and eating habits is a decent paying job. He also has no soul. I'm a little frightened that I identify with him a little.
This guy has spewed onto paper every evil, insensitive thought that has ever come into my head about women. He's also found a few of his own that I'm proud to say, had never entered my head until last night when I read this book. Thats right. It's a fast and easy read. The author routinely refers to women as bitches in the book. This is something that, even in my own head, I do not do. He views women almost exclusively as sex objects. I'm not proud to say that I've been guilty of that on occasion.
In spite of the ugliness, read this book. It's a frightening and enlightening view into the mind of an average suburban, white, heterosexual American male. The particular male portrayed happens to be more cold hearted and emotionally immature than most of us were at 28. I don't think I've ever been as unfeeling for as long an amount of time as the narrator, but I've been as immature, and as meatheaded.
What I really identified with is the portrayal of some of the thoughts that pop into this guys brain while he moves through life. Some of these things are obvious, some serendipitous. He checks out attractive women. He gets annoyed by what he sees as th silliness of some of the more estrogen laden situations in which he finds himself. The chapter about waiting in line at a Marie Osmond book signing with his girlfriend while surrounded by women who are chattering on about Oprah, Dr. Phil, and such is laugh out loud funny. He spends time finding old video games that he's never had a chance to finish.
The narrator also captures the laziness, fear, and emotional ineptitude which so many of us bring to our relationships. The guy actually manages to accidentally get engaged because he just goes along with his girlfriend, and never has the guts to tell her how he really feels. I know quite a few guys who have ended up in some very strange places solely because they have a relationship, and are either too lazy to work at it, too afraid to leave it, or to blind to see it for what it is.
Anyway, I've rambled on. Read this book. It's funny, irritating, oversimple, and a million other things. But read it anyway. Know that it does not represent all of all of us men. It DOES represent a little in most of us.
Currently on the Bedside Table or in the queue:
The book is a first person narrative from the viewpoint of a 28 year old guy living in the LA area. The guy is college educated. He has what we can only guess by virtue of his shopping and eating habits is a decent paying job. He also has no soul. I'm a little frightened that I identify with him a little.
This guy has spewed onto paper every evil, insensitive thought that has ever come into my head about women. He's also found a few of his own that I'm proud to say, had never entered my head until last night when I read this book. Thats right. It's a fast and easy read. The author routinely refers to women as bitches in the book. This is something that, even in my own head, I do not do. He views women almost exclusively as sex objects. I'm not proud to say that I've been guilty of that on occasion.
In spite of the ugliness, read this book. It's a frightening and enlightening view into the mind of an average suburban, white, heterosexual American male. The particular male portrayed happens to be more cold hearted and emotionally immature than most of us were at 28. I don't think I've ever been as unfeeling for as long an amount of time as the narrator, but I've been as immature, and as meatheaded.
What I really identified with is the portrayal of some of the thoughts that pop into this guys brain while he moves through life. Some of these things are obvious, some serendipitous. He checks out attractive women. He gets annoyed by what he sees as th silliness of some of the more estrogen laden situations in which he finds himself. The chapter about waiting in line at a Marie Osmond book signing with his girlfriend while surrounded by women who are chattering on about Oprah, Dr. Phil, and such is laugh out loud funny. He spends time finding old video games that he's never had a chance to finish.
The narrator also captures the laziness, fear, and emotional ineptitude which so many of us bring to our relationships. The guy actually manages to accidentally get engaged because he just goes along with his girlfriend, and never has the guts to tell her how he really feels. I know quite a few guys who have ended up in some very strange places solely because they have a relationship, and are either too lazy to work at it, too afraid to leave it, or to blind to see it for what it is.
Anyway, I've rambled on. Read this book. It's funny, irritating, oversimple, and a million other things. But read it anyway. Know that it does not represent all of all of us men. It DOES represent a little in most of us.
Currently on the Bedside Table or in the queue:
- Stephen King's Bag of Bones
- W. Sommerset Maughm's Of Human Bondage
- Alan Furst's The Foreign Correspondant
- Laurell K. Hamilton's Danse Macabre and Micah
- Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five
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