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John's Picks
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Jensen, Carsten We, The Drowned Fiction |
| Hailed as a modern-day classic in Europe, We, The Drowned is the story of ships, the sea, and a Danish port town. Marstal is a place where the seven seas form, frame, and define the very essence of its citizens. Commerce by ship rules, and from an early age men are hardened to spend years away at sea, the women steeled for a life alone. The tale stretches from the 1850s to the 1940s, from the golden age of sail, to the advent of steam, to modern ships of the twentieth century. Three succeeding characters steer the action, Laurids Madsen, his son Albert, and Albert's protégé, Knud Eric. Laurids, after a near death experience, becomes rather eccentric and sails to the South Pacific never to return. After years of searching, Albert discovers him, drunk, naked, climbing up and down a coconut tree. Realizing that his father is not only eccentric but insane, Albert looks windward and rises from shipmate to ship captain to ship owner/builder. Knud Eric carries the Marstal town banner, as well as the story, into the Second World War. All the major characters have common as well as unique experiences, including shrunken heads, sea battles, hurricanes, exotic locales, bravery, treachery, lovers, cannibals, murderers, Nazis, but thank Neptune—no pirates! Also, a lot of people drown. We, The Drowned is a wonderful, memorable book that deserves a place alongside the splendid seafaring tales of yore. Recommended August 2011 |
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Auster, Paul Man in the Dark Fiction |
| A retired book critic, dealing with major physical problems as well as serious insomnia, creates a bedtime story or story-within-a-story to pass the time, all to great effect.
Recommended November 2010 |
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Banville, John The Infinities Fiction |
| First of all, this is one of the most beautifully written
novels ever to see the light of day. Breathtakingly so. Now for the
story. The great mathematician Adam Godley lies dying in his country
home recounting the pluses and minuses of his extraordinary life.
Swirling about is his extremely eccentric family, doing a bit of soul
searching themselves. Add to the mix the classical gods Zeus, Pan
and Hermes (our narrator) and you have the makings for sophisticated
mayhem. Recommended October 2010 |
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Baxter, Stephen Flood Fiction |
| Better bring an umbrella. It's going to be wet. Stephen
Baxter creates an apocalyptic tale like no other. Endless rain, rising
oceans and surging rivers put an end to dry land on earth between
the years 2013-2055. As always, the human spirit survives, as a few
characters escape waterworld aboard earth's last spaceship, headed
for . . . Recommended June 2010 |
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Robinson, Kim Stanley Galileo's Dream Science Fiction |
| In 1609, an enigmatic stranger inspires Galileo to create
a magnifying glass like no other. The telescope brings Galileo great
notoriety & fame but little fortune. It also brings powerful enemies.
The stranger soon whisks the great man far into the future, physically
placing him on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, where a battle
is going on between various scientific factions, each one hoping to
gain Galileo's wisdom, blessing and favor. Back on Earth Galileo is
wanted as well, by the Inquisition! Seems his heliocentric views have
upset the Pope so much that he's threatened with imprisonment and/or
death. In essence, Galileo is fighting two battles, one in outer space
and one in Italy. Which one is weirder is left up to the reader. Galileo's
Dream serves not only as a wonderfully imaginative tale, but
as a superb biography of Galileo. It is one of KSR's finest creations,
which is really saying something. May 2010 |
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Ackroyd, Peter The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein Fiction |
| Peter Ackroyd's latest is a retelling of the unforgettable
legend of Frankenstein. This time the story, which takes place mostly
in England, offers a unique twist, and contains characters both fictional
and actual. The Casebook opens with a still callow Victor
Frankenstein (fictional) enrolling at Oxford University where he meets
the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (actual), who helps Victor select his
first class, "Anatomical Experimentation in order to Reanimate the
Dead."* Shelley hopes his new pal will do for science what he hopes
to do for politics and literature, i.e. "liberate it." While Shelley
woos his first wife Harriet (actual), Victor builds a laboratory in
an old pottery barn and begins to purchase corpses from a grave robbing
band known as the "sack-em-up-men." He then stitches the cadavers
together and jolts them with electricity, thus attempting to create
a new kind of being. After much failure comes great success and The
Monster (fictional) comes alive. However, he soon goes berserk, bumping
off Londoners left & right, including Shelley's wife Harriet. An innocent
man is executed for the crimes leaving Victor distraught and in need
of a vacation. Young Frankenstein, along with a grieving Shelley,
head for the Continent where they hook up with Lord Byron (actual)
and the soon to be second Mrs. Shelley, Mary Godwin (whom readers
will recall as the actual creator of both Victor and The Monster).
Unfortunately, poor Victor can run but he can't hide. The Monster
follows him and dead people begin to turn up in Austria as well. Victor
heads back to England in order to devise a way to destroy what he
has created. * see CMU Spring Schedule Recommended December 2009 |
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Haldeman, Joe The Accidental Time Machine Fiction |
| One particular afternoon, unknowingly, unwittingly, lab
assistant Matt Fuller invents a time machine. For Matt, this fortuitous
event could not have been (forgive me) more timely. Our hero had no
money, had just lost his girlfriend and was about to lose his job.
In a word, Matt's present, like that of so many of his contemporaries----sucked!
Matt's only dilemma was whether to go backward or forward in time.
He knew how horrible the past was (although if he went back to the
2nd Tuesday of the month he would have $50.00 in his account). Certainly
the future, any future, must be better. Well, maybe yes-maybe no.
The Accidental Time Machine is such a cogent, rollicksome,
and intelligent novel, that it inspired me to reread Professor Haldeman's
The Forever War, (1974). In that classic tale, earthlings
battle a species known as the Taurans across space and through time
for so long that no one can remember the purpose of the war. Intended
to parallel The Vietnam Conflict (in which Haldeman served), the novel
resounds once again. Best of luck to time-travelers everywhere. Recommended by John, October 2007 |
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Friedlander, Saul Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 Nonfiction |
| In the continuation and conclusion to Volume #1, Years
of Persecution, 1933-1939, Friedlander, Chair of Holocaust Studies
at U.C.L.A., presents the definitive record of Nazi Germany's implacable
malevolence against the Jews of Europe. Using the diaries of the dead
and previously unreleased documents, the author paints a general as
well as personal account of a historical blight that will forever
defy human logic and civilization. Recommended by John, August 2007 |
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Stewart, Rory The Places in Between Nonfiction |
| In January 2002, Scottish author/diplomat/historian/explorer
Rory Stewart decided to walk across Afghanistan. Walking was the rational
part of his decision, for he had already traversed India, Pakistan,
Iraq, and Nepal. Afghanistan was the irrational part. Recently invaded
by the United States, at war with internal and external foes for over
twenty-five years, the place was considered unsafe even by the foolhardy.
Rory (anything but a fool) persuaded the newly formed government (it
had been in power less than two weeks) to give it a go and off he
went, leaving Herat heading east for Kabul in the dead of winter.
All our hero took with him were two knapsacks, some tribal garb, and
a stout, steel-tipped walking stick that would later come in handy
beating off wolves and wild dogs. As Stewart makes his way into the
interior, it doesn't take long to discover that Afghanistan is not
one, but many countries. Villages only a few miles apart differ in
religion, ancestry, tribal loyalty, custom and even race. Afghanistan
is also a very backward and incredibly remote country. Most of its
rural inhabitants live in mud huts with only blankets to cover the
floor. There is a scarcity of everything (most importantly food and
medicine) and the only sort of education is religious in nature. There
is little contact with the outside world. Yet there is no lack of
hospitality. Almost every night, after a hard day of beating feet,
the author would stagger into a new village and begin pounding on
doors, seeking food and shelter. Only once or twice was he reluctantly
asked to move on. One can only imagine, what would happen if he tried
the same thing--in say, Cleveland. Stewart meets many memorable characters
on his journey, none more noteworthy than Babur, a giant mastiff hound
with a clipped off tail. Babur is given to Stewart halfway through
his trek and walks with him the rest of the way to Kabul. By the way,
Babur is a wild dog magnet and his favorite food is bread. Lots of
bread. He really likes it. Babur also saves the author's life after
being collapsed in a snowdrift. Stewart suffers other hardships as
well during his expedition, altitude sickness, dysentery, and an injured
leg to name a few. However, he is never attacked by a human being
until he enters Kabul and a guard punches him in the face. Ah, Civilization!
After reading The Places in Between, it is hard to determine
which is more admirable, Rory Stewart or the book he has written.
Together they make a helluva pair. Oh, and Babur too! Recommended by John, April 2007 |
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Polajnar, Gojmir Don't Kill Anyone, I Love You Fiction |
| The novel's principals are Dot, a dolled up, middle aged
night club singer and Jurij, a bisexual student, soon to be diplomat.
Dot's vocation is singing, her avocation is the pursuit of every attractive
young man in town. Jurij is engaged to Aga and there is talk of a
baby. However, Jurij is also quite taken with Peter, a football playing
ecstasy dealer. No wallflower, Jurij is also on and off again with
Dot. More about Dot. Around chapter three, a bulb illuminated in my
head, enabling me to realize that Dot was no lady. At least, in the
anatomical sense. Dot is in fact two characters--he is somebody by
day and she is someone else by night. Jurij, soon after his first
foreign posting succumbs to AIDS, leaves in his wake a trio of broken
hearts. Goymir Polajnar, has created a novel of vivid characters.
His prose is at times poignant and poetic. Yet, Recommended by John, September 2006 |
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Mark Stevens and Analyn Swann de Kooning: An American Master Biography |
| Willem de Kooning (1903-1997) was born on the waterfront,
in Rotterdam, Holland. An absent father, an abusive mother and a great
deal of poverty, made for a less than ideal childhood. Chance provided
a seat at one of Holland's most illustrious academy's of art. Soon
after graduation, leaving his fellow Rotterdammers behind (had to
work in Rotterdammers) de Kooning stowed away on an ocean liner and
disembarked, circ 1926, in the U.S.A. Settling in New York City, the
young Dutchman first found work as a carpenter and then as a commerical
artist. However the 9-5 life was not for him (by a long shot) and
he gave it up to become a serious painter. Paint he did. de Kooning
became the prototypical "starving artist" ambling around town in his
paint splattered coveralls searching for a bite to eat, a drink, or
a helping hand, for nearly twenty years! His dedication paid off.
In the late 1940's "abstract expressionism" became the rage of the
art world and it's two brightest lights, de Kooning and the madcap
drip-artist Jackson Pollack became famous. Fame would suit neither
of them. de Kooning would seek seclusion on Long Island, ending thirty
years in the big apple. The dripper would drunkenly drive into a tree,
ending his life. Once on Long Island de Kooning fell in and out of
favor. When the world wanted figures, he painted abstracts, when the
world wanted abstracts, he painted figures (he has been called the
greatest painter of the human figure since Picasso). Yet, in the 1970's
one of his paintings sold for $ 1.2 million, at the time the highest
fee ever paid for the work of a living artist. de kooning's personal
life was just as fascinating as his work. He was extremely handsome,
incredibly personable and everyone liked him (excepting the critic
Clement Greenburg, whom he punched in the face). He had one wife (Elaine, who taught at C.M.U. in the 70's) various loves and many, many, girlfriends. He also suffered from an alcoholism so acute and evil that it is difficult to comprehend. de Kooning was stricken with Alzheimer's in his mid seventies and lived in a near vegetative state until his death at 93. He outlived his friend/rival Jackson Pollack by over 40 years. He also seemed to outlive himself. Notwithstanding, de Kooning deserves to be remembered as the "genius in the garrett" standing and staring for hours at a blank, white canvas, fighting through blocks, starting a painting up, then tearing it down, over and over--seeking perfection. Yeah, thats him! Stevens and Swann's wonderful book should be the standard account of the artist's life for years to come. Recommended by John, January 2006 |
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Charles Dickens The Adventures of Oliver Twist Classic Fiction |
| Excluding Shakespeare, Charles Dickens has given form
and significance, to more characters that populate our imagination
than any other writer. Oliver Twist, Fagin, the Artful Dodger, Bill
Sykes and the exquisite Mr/Mrs Bumble are members of the honored club.
Extremely entertaining characters make for an extremely entertaining
novel. Yet, Oliver Twist is most important as the jumping
off point for Mr. Dickens life long assault upon the hypocrisy and
cold, cold, heartedness of Victorian England. An England where children
of the poor were bought/sold and used, like, what the Romans referred
to as "living tools." Oliver Twist is one of these children, as was
the author himself. Charles Dicken's "social consciousness" his capacity
to effect change and his gift to delight like no other are what make
him one of the divinities of world literature. "Please, Sir, I want
some more." Recommended by John, January 2006 |
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Samura, Hiroaki Blade of the Immortal: Blood of a Thousand, Vol. 1 Graphic Novel |
| Manji, a ronin warrior of feudal Japan has killed over
100 men in his role as Lord Horii's enforcer. Once he learns that
many of his victims were innocent farmers--brave or naive enough to
question Lord H's tax plan, he slays his master and becomes the most
notorious outlaw in Japan. A chance (?) encounter with the witch Yaobikuni
and Manji becomes immortal. In order to recover his mortality and
his soul, Manji must use his sword to slay 1,000 evil doers. Blade
is a classic tale of redemption through suffering and altruistic acts
and of the futile cycle of revenge. Although Blade contains
a significant amount of slicing and dicing, the violence never seems
gratuitous and Samura's artwork is, in a word, fabulous. The Blade
Series is more than worthy of the many awards it has received. Just
checking in on Blade, On Silent Wings, Vol. 5. Manji has
now clipped 11 of the worst of the worst. Rock on Manji. Recommended by John, August 2005 |
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Posner, Gerald Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Saudi-U.S. Connection NonFiction |
| Posner, author of the acclaimed post-9/11 bestseller
Why
America Slept, here turns a critical eye towards the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia and its royal "House of Saud". He provides an excellent
history of-- Ah Heck! I had a review in my head but I cannot put it
to paper. Everyone in this book makes me sick! The Saudi Royals are
amoral, immoral, dissolute, dishonest, vicious, umprincipled and greedy
to an almost incredible degree, many still believe the earth to be
flat. The Americans are exactly the same--they just dress differently
and know the earth to be round, like Charlie Brown's head. Petro-dollars
talk and the commonweal walks should be the sub-title of this book.
Highly recommended. Recommended by John, July 2005 |
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