The Handmaid's Tale

After many years of having it on my to read list I finally checked Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale out of the library. There's not much I can add to the volumes of critiques and analysis already written about the novel. It's a wonderfully crafted book and so well written I was so absorbed in the story I didn't notice the writing. The narrator however is very well aware that she is narrating a story and occasionally says things like "I made that up" or "I wish this story were different". As the narrator interjects these reflections the reader gets another glimpse into the narrators mind and heart. The Handmaid's Tale well deserves all the praise bestowed upon it. The Handmaid's Tale takes place in a future, totalitarian theocracy within the borders of what was once the US, Atwood calls this speculative fiction which gives her a means of exploring themes without the restraint of realistic fiction. A lot of people would consider this science fiction, and the book did win the Arthur C. Clarke award in 1987. I thought it notable that in the Oakland library the book was shelved in the Fiction section and not in the Science Fiction section. Speculative fiction by other authors more known for science fiction or fantasy such as Ursula LeGuin or Philip K. Dick are shelved in the Science Fiction area. I think these genre labels are rather nebulous and am glad to see that Margaret Atwood seems to have accomplished the feat of having her non realistic work taken as serious literature.

The Witch of Portobello

Recently I was talking to a friend about Paul Coelho's The Alchemist which I greatly enjoyed reading some years ago. That friend later gave me a copy of Coelho's The Witch of Portobello along with a disclaimer that it was not at all like The Alchemist and I may not like it. I was intrigued by the book in the beginning. It is told as a compilation of stories from people that knew the main character, Athena. Early on the reader find out that Athena was murdered so as the book traced her life I expected clues to the murder to be slowly revealed. However that is not the case, it's just the story of Athena's life which becomes less interesting as it goes on. Athena is a sort of priestess of the Mother Goddess and much of the book lays out the system of beliefs to which Athena ascribes. I found it odd that a book centered on a woman's spirituality to be written by a man. It was too heavy on the hippy spirituality themes for my taste. I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if it had been a murder mystery as Athena started out as a very interesting character. The Witch of Portobello is well written, a fast read and I though having various narrators and interesting technique so it was worth reading but not a book I would recommend.

Death Comes For the Archbishop

In the eighth grade I was entranced by Willa Cather's My Antonia and though I always meant to read more of her works I haven't. Then a few months ago my mother gave me Death Comes For the Archbishop. From the title one might think it is about a man facing death but that is not what this book is at all. It is the life of two priests arriving 1851 New Mexico in 1851. The chapters are like a collection of fictional essays of the priests forty years of living with and learning about the people of the Southwest. It is easy to forget this is a work of fiction as the characters and scenery come to life. I kept expecting there to be some sort of struggle, maybe the priests question their faith or confront some inner demons but none of that happens. It's simply a book chronicling the days of Bishop Latour and Father Vaillant. In spreading their faith throughout the sparsely inhabited land they meet many interesting people and view a wondrous countryside. The writing is some of the most beautiful literature I've read. I felt like I have had my own journey through late nineteenth century New Mexico. It's not a gripping story but it's a book I could see myself reading again a few years down the line and see completely new passages I hadn't noticed before. I highly recommend Death Comes For the Archbishop for a relaxing read and hope to not go so long again before visiting another work by Willa Cather.

One story leads to another

If you've read The Namesake (or seen the movie) you know that the main character is named Gogol because his father is in a train wreck while reading Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat. This sparked some interest in me to read the Russian author's work since I had not heard of Gogol before. Last winter while at my parent's house I discovered on a bookshelf the Progress Russian Classics Series - Nikolai Gogol A Selection which includes the short story The Overcoat, in this edition it is called The Greatcoat. The book includes seven short stories and a play by Gogol. I usually think of Russian authors as heavy reading but this book is quite the opposite. The stories are satirical and provide snapshots of 19th century Russia that border on the absurd. The earlier stories reflect more the Ukranian folktale of Gogol's youth while the later works delve into the social contradiction of life in St. Petersburg where Gogol lived and wrote as an adult.

The stories themselves were enthralling reading but what I like best about this book is that it is part of the Progress Russian Classics Series. The Progress books were Russian works translated by Russian writers into English. This non-native English allows the book to maintain the feel of the original Russian writing. On the very last page of the book is a "request to readers" to write to the publishing company at 17 Zubovsky Boulevard, Moscow with any opinions of the book, its design, or ideas for future publications. The introduction is written by Professor Sergei Mashinsky, Doctor of Philology and is a work of art itself. The introduction's last lines sum up the collection of Gogol's work perfectly:

These works are a pure font of poetry. Drinking of it the reader absorbs noble moral ideas and in the process he too becomes a purer and better person.

Cadillac Desert

Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert has been sitting on my shelf for several years, since I first moved to California and lived with my brother for a spell. He recommended it as required reading for all Californians. And I have to agree. It seems to me water and its scarcity is not talked about enough in California. Currently in 2009 the California Department of Water Resources declares we are in year three of a drought. And indeed anyone driving by any of the reservoirs can see how low they are. Yet it's up to the individual to find out how to save water, shouldn't there be more of a public service announcement campaign urging people to conserve.

Getting back to the book, the full title of which is Cadillac Desert The American West And Its Disappearing Water. I have the 1993 edition which includes an updated afterward. The book is a very thorough history of how water was brought to the arid west. Much of it discusses the politics of the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corp of Engineers and various water districts. I got a little lost following some of it. The best parts of the book describe the early days of discovering rivers, how a dam is constructed and why it might fail. I also enjoyed reading about the climate and how settlers came to certain areas during years of rain only to find the rains were the exception rather than the norm as weather patterns shift. Another interesting area was the discussion of ancient civilizations built around irrigation and how they almost all fail. The inevitable build up of salts in the soil is one possible reason for the downfall of irrigated societies.

Marc Reisner makes many dire predictions in Cadillac Desert. Some of which, such as the disappearance of Salmon appear to be coming true, others not so much. In his afterward he delves a bit more into America's changing thoughts and values. His book has helped shape those views by being informative and easily readable. It certainly makes one more aware of where our water comes from and wonder how long will it last.

The Time Travelers Wife

Audrey Niffeneggers's The Time Traveler's Wife is the best novel I've read in some time. I believe the book might suffer in popularity from it's title, giving the impression it's a science fiction book. Which it most definitely is not. The Time Traveler's Wife is the story of a man, Henry and his wife Clare. Henry suffers from Chrono Displacement Disorder which causes him to occasionally time travel to other times and places. When Henry time travels he is suddenly gone from the present time and finds himself at some other point in time, totally naked and clueless as to where and when he is. Often in his adult life he visits Clare as a young girl. So in a way they have known each other for a very long time. The couple meets in regular time, marries and attempts to have a normal life. Except that sometimes Henry disappears and Clare has no idea where he is, what he's doing or if he'll come back in once piece. The back in forth through time allows glimpses into both Clare and Henry's lives in an intriguing way. Amazingly it's not a confusing story, as it certainly could be with all the time shifting. The Time Travelers Wife is well written with wonderful characters. The book is certainly going on my list of favorite novels.

The Wildflowers of California

This seems to be a banner year for California wildflowers. Everywhere I go there are govs of poppies, popcorn flowers, fiddlenecks, lupines etc. etc. The poppies seem to be popping up in every nook and cranny and highway median. Over the past few years I've managed to learn the names of many of the most common flowers. Most of this comes from hiking with a Sierra Club leader who is quite knowledgeable. When I'm just walking with friends I usually have to look stuff up. Unfortunately most of the wildflower books I've seen come up short in the usefulness department. Northern California and the SF Bay region in particular has a lot of unique species and variations of species. Most California wildflower books are too broad, and not specific enough to the area. Usually I take a picture of the flower then look it up on the web when I get home. I do have on my shelf an old copy of Spring Wildflowers of the SF Bay Region, which my dad gave me to me. It doesn't have many color pictures, though the pen and ink drawings are good. Once I know a flower I can usually look it up here for more information but I generally have a hard time using it to identify an unknown.

In a similar vein, another old book from my dad The Wild Flowers of California has no color photos but fantastic line drawings of most but not all the flowers. The edition I have was published in 1966. The book was originally written in 1897, the original plates were destroyed along with most of San Francisco in 1906. The 1966 version is a full reprint of the 1907 edition. With no color pictures and no species introduced or discovered in the last 100 years the book is not one I use primarily for identification. Instead its description of the flower is lyrical in a way that a field guide is not. For example of the baby blue eyes, one of my favorites it is said

When skies are smiling and the earth is already clothed with a luxuriant and tender herbage, we find upon some balmy morning that the baby-eyes have opened in gentle surprise upon the lovely world. The spring breezes blow over no more beautiful and ethereal flower than these.

The entry goes on with the author's personal encounter with baby-blue eyes folding the description of the flower into her story. What a beautiful way to write about flowers. The best way to learn is to enjoy what you're studying and Mary Elizabeth's Parsons book is a joy to read. I'm glad I opened the book rather than just letting it collect dust on my shelf, it's a wonderful discovery of a world of black and white.

Three books by Gore Vidal

My neighbor lent me these three books of essays by Gore Vidal: Imperial America, Dreaming War, and Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. Though short, it took me awhile to get through these books. I find in many essays Vidal goes off on so many tangents I had trouble following what he was saying. I also thought he makes a lot of suppositions and accusations without factual support. I think I would have enjoyed more focused, in depth writing. On the whole though the books are thought provoking, and ask important questions about America, what it stands for and what has been happening to civil liberties in this country over the last decade. I think it's true that Americans on average don't know much about what's going on in their own country much less the rest of the world. And these books, though taking a dim view of America, politicians and corporations makes one think which is always a good thing.

A Big Book of Sci Fi Stories

A friend lent me The Philip K. Dick Reader some time ago, and I've finally finished all 24 short stories it contains. I rather like collections of short stories, they give a good variety of an author's writing, they are easy to put down and pick up again later and because they're short the story doesn't drag.

This collection of science fiction includes four that serve as a basis for movies including the Minority Report and Total Recall. These come at the end of the collection and I actually read them first. I think they are a bit more polished, or maybe less strange and easier to follow is a better way to put it.

I enjoyed all the stories in the Reader. Most are rather gloomy pictures of a future earth destroyed by war or machines. Often there is a hero of sorts who is clever, resourceful and often subverting the establishment. A lot of the stories have a twist ending and are often thought provoking. There are a couple amusing stories in the mix too. I liked one called Shell Game about a planet of ship wrecked paranoids. Maybe not an original idea but the telling of it is so good.

The storytelling is what makes Dick's stories so enjoyable to read. His tales move at a fast pace and are thought provoking without sounding pedantic. One of the things I like about science fiction is reading others views of what the future will hold, both in terms of social concepts and new technology. In one story a person far in the future is taking photographs, though the camera is small and flat it still uses film that needs to be developed which amused me quite a bit.

When you think about it next year will be 2010 why don't we all have flying cars and robots to do the dishes yet?

Lavinia

Ursula LeGuin's Lavinia tells the tale of the second wife of Aeneas, mentioned only briefly by Virgil. Most notably Lavinia is mentioned in an omen "the day before Aeneas lands in Latinum, Lavinia's hair is veiled by a ghost fire, presaging war". LeGuin's story creates a life for Lavinia from when she was the young daughter of King Latinus, until her death many years after her marriage to Aeneas. In the book Lavinia sometimes goes to a sacred spot where a poet talks to her of Aeneas, her forthcoming marriage to him, the war that will ensue and the three years they will have together before his death. This brings an undercurrent to the story of Lavinia knowing that she exists only because the poet created her, which also gave her immortality but only a flicker of life.

I always enjoy Ursula LeGuin's books, and Lavinia is no exception. She care to bring the reader into the world through small details of day to day life and simple rituals. Though an easy read, the book is well written and thoroughly researched. The afterword describes the care taken in mapping out the region southwest of Rome where the story takes place.

Lavinia raised in me a lot of questions about Aeneas and makes me think I would like to read the Aeneid. After which I will probably want to read Lavinia again. So this may not be the end of discussing Lavinia and Aeneas on the 880blog.

Object Lessons

Henry Petroski generally writes interesting pieces, some of which I've read in American Scientist. The Evolution of Useful Things is no exception, it's an entertaining and well written account of how a few everyday items came to be. Reading the book is sort of like wandering through a museum of artifacts, stopping to peruse all the little sign cards. Petroski basis his discussions on the premises that each new version of something is invented in order to correct faults of the previous design. Eventually reaching a sort of optimum usefulness. The story of the paper clip and its derivation from the straight pin was a particularly well laid out demonstration of this idea. I found the chapters on silverware and tools to be particularly fascinating. I'm sure a whole book could be written on either subject. Victorian era silverware sets contained as many as 146 different utensils, each the perfect tool for eating its designated epicurious delight. It almost inspires me to study the subject more intensely and write a book about it. Imagine the intrigue in all those unique pieces of silver, all made to be the optimal way of conveying food to your mouth.

Petroski's book written in 1992 does seem a bit dated at the end. He spends a few paragraphs on the change from dial to pushbutton telephone. This probably should be accompanied by an illustration as I bet many of today's readers have never seen a dial telephone! It makes me wonder what he thinks of the evolution of today's technologies. So many things which are designed to make life easier end up sowing more confusion and wasted time. Perhaps the subject for another book?

Leviathan

I picked up Leviathan:the History of Whaling in America from my dad last time I was home and I'm sure glad I did. I've been reading a lot of non-fiction lately and to tell you the truth a lot of it is kind of boring so I was happy to find Leviathan truly engrossing from start to finish. Eric Jay Dollin starts his chronicle at the beginning when early settlers carved up whales found on the beach. The book serves as a very interesting look at the history of early America as seen through the population of whalemen and supporting business. The trials of early settlers, their dealings with Native Americans, the rise of towns in New England and a good discourse on the outbreak of the American Revolution. A particularly liked the fact that Dollin is willing to acknowledge areas where the exact history is in doubt for example he introduces the idea that Native Americans were whalers and gives some evidence that maybe they were but also points out there is no written account confirming the fact.

What amazed me in the telling of the tale of American Whaling is how far these men went to pursue their trade. They sailed around Cape Horn into the Pacific, north to the Bering Strait, traveling for several years on end in quite miserable quarters. Whaling is not a job that sounded like fun, though I can imagine the adventure of seeing far off lands and the thrill of chasing a whale during the hunt would make it appealing to some. The whales were hunted mercilessly and knowingly to near extinction so that Americans could have light in their homes, stays for their corsets and lubrication to grease the gears of the industrial revolution. Petroleum products in the end replaced whale oil and the whaling industry died out at the start of the twentieth century.

Leviathan is so well written and informative I would recommend everyone to read it. The multidisciplinary chronicle appeals to the historian, the scientist, the businessperson, the engineer, the environmentalist and anyone who enjoys a tale of adventure.

Out Of Our Minds

About a year ago I heard a podcast of Ken Robinson's brilliant TED Talk on creativity. Robinson makes the observation that education systems worldwide are based on academic subjects such as history, math, science etc. But suppose you were to base a curriculum on art? Not just studying art but doing art, dance, music etc. as the basis of learning. How would that change society? It's an interesting concept and Robinson never suggests that we should actually do that but he does make good arguments that art should be a bigger part of education. Unless they show immediate talent when they are young most people's art education stops when they are in middle school. Many people have to take art requirements in college but those are fulfilled reading and writing about art in such subjects as art history without producing anything artistic. That's sort of how my art education went until I discovered water colors as an adult and found a previously unknown joy in being creative. I still don't have much talent in painting but I have learned a lot about the value of creativity. So I was really excited to read Robinson's book expounding on the themes in his TED Talk.

Unfortunately I was disappointed in this book. As a speaker Robinson in extremely entertaining but as a writer he's rather dull. Early on in the book he writes about how businesses are suffering from a dearth of creative talent. Creativity is essential to developing new ideas,solving problems and adapting to today's ever changing workplace. I was disappointed that Robinson did not develop this idea of creativity in the workplace further or give suggestions of how to introduce creativity as a value in the organization. One of my favorite employees was someone who was maybe not the best worker but boy did he have loads of ideas for making the company better. Even if we could only use one of one hundred of his ideas it was so refreshing as a manager to have someone come in and offer up suggestions for new ways of doing things.

Although the book is titled Out of Our Minds:Learning to be Creative, it doesn't offer much in the way of suggestions for becoming more creative. It does interesting ideas and make good arguments for the importance of practicing art whether it be drama, music, painting, drawing etc. So it's a book I'm glad I read I just had hoped for a little bit more.

Puzzling

My mom gave me this book of New York Times Sunday Crosswords last Christmas. There are 53, one for each calendar week of the year (it is afterall a calendar). At first I tried to pace them out to one a week, but I soon gave up on that idea and finished the last one sometime in June. Crosswords are way too addictive. This book is the perfect bed time reader, it's hard backed so you don't need a table, and spiral bound so it lays flat. As you're starting to get sleepy you can skip the hard clues and just write in the easy answers. Though the need to always get just one more word kept me up hours after sleepy time many nights. Progressing through the book, I got better at doing the puzzles though there were few that I finished in entirety. I usually missed a word or two, but the answers are in the back of the book so I could find out where I went wrong. Each publication or editor has it's own style of crossword. These from the New York Times are very different from the ones I do in the Wall Street Journal, it's hard to say how exactly but they're different. I like the play on words of crossword puzzles, they're clever and beautiful in their own way. Spending hour after hour looking at interlocking words has also made me a better Scrabble player. Oh and for a while I also used it as my calendar!

Bad Dirt

Annie Proulx is best known for The Shipping News her novel set in small town Newfoundland. However she also spends half her time living in Wyoming and has written a good number of short stories set there. Bad Dirt is Proulx second collection of Wyoming stories. Most of them deal with the townsfolk's troubled lives and the grit it takes to get through day to day. Each story details just a few short days or years and display quirky characters living the fast disappearing life of rural America. Proulx's stories of Wyoming also appear in the New Yorker from time to time and run along the same lines as Bad Dirt. I always enjoy reading them for the deep characters and vast scenery. I read Bad Dirt over the last several months in between other books. Collections of short stories are nice that way, I really enjoyed this group of Wyoming Stories and look forward to reading more from time to time.

Uncommon Carriers

Ever wonder what it's like to drive a tanker full of WD-40, park a container ship, UPS a lobster from Canada to Montana, load up a mile long coal train? I certainly have and so John McPhee's Uncommon Carriers is right up my alley. It's a fascinating look at one small slice of the inner workings of the world that we all rely on but very few people actually understand. The chapter on UPS operations hub in Louisville is the both the most well written and interesting. The scale of the operation is unimaginably huge but McPhee does a good job of putting the reader in the midst of things. Who knew UPS has a warehouse full of every last Bentely part, its employees fix laptops you think are going to the manufacturer, endowed a college? Every chapter is fascinating in its own way. Seeing the freight trains go by in my neighborhood made me particularly interested in the section on coal trains which included a lot of information pertaining to freight trains in general. Sometimes McPhee's writing tends to wonder and jumps around the time continuum a bit which I found confusing. There was one incongruous chapter on a canoe ride up the Merrimack river which would have been better inserted into one of his other books. Each chapter stands on its own as an essay, and I actually read a couple other books at the same time as this one. I imagine McPhee had a grand time riding trains, boats and trucks while doing the research. It's a short enough read to never get boring, yet detailed enough to put the reader in the heart of the action. Truly a fascinating collection I would recommend to just about everybody!

The Pearl

There's a vague memory somewhere in my mind of reading Steinbeck's The Pearl back in high school. Mostly what I remember is I didn't like it very much and it was one of the stories that put me off Steinbeck for a long time. Since then I've read Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, Tortilla Flat, Cannery Row all of which I enjoyed immensely. When I tell people about my kayaking trip near La Paz many of them say "oh, that's the setting for The Pearl, good book". So I thought I should give it another chance. And now I must report I still don't like the book very much. The heart of it is the characters which I didn't like or admire or find at all interesting. To be fair Steinbeck is retelling an old Mexican tale, and maybe something gets lost in the retelling. Not everyone is going to like every book and at least I was able to confirm my vague feelings about the story so next time someone mention The Pearl to me I can say with confidence, not my favorite story.

The Golden Compass

This book was left by my brother last time he was at my house and figuring it would be a good vacation read I took it on my recent trip to Mexico. I was right The Golden Compass is the perfect easy reading fantasy book that doubles as a conversation piece as a lot of people have some opinion about the movie. The first half of the book which focuses on Lyra's childhood days in Oxford sets out the world of humans and daemons. The reader gets completely drawn in as Lyra learns more about the powers and politics going on outside the college where she lives. However the story starts to become more fantastical and less interesting once Lyra starts her adventures in the world at large. The book gets more predictable, less suspenseful and you almost wish the tale could have stayed in Oxford and learned more about the scholars and less about the wanderings of a child. On the whole, if you like fantasy The Golden Compass is worth reading as it creates an interesting humanity and I'm sure it's much better than the movie.

Pillars of the Earth

Ken Follett's epic tome about the constructing of a cathedral in twelfth century England swept me most completely into it's tale. Due to the book's all vastness you can't help but be carried into the world of the characters. The building of the cathedral is told through the stories of the mason constructing it, the prior who will be its head, the bishop and earl who oppose it and the many villagers whose lives are affected. I liked the way Follett provides a lot of detail about how the plans are drawn, the arches made, the stones cut etc. Detail not only about the cathedral but about the lives of the villagers, their markets, their homes. At nearly 1,000 pages it takes so long to read you I felt like I was living there in Kingsbridge with the characters. The political intrigue intertwining of the church and state keeps one from getting bored of the more mundane minutia. It took a lot to build a cathedral - tools, stone, workers, money, food, clothing, the will to get it done and so to tell the tale from start to finish it does take a big book or a TV miniseries. As much as is written about the characters they come off as rather one dimensional. You can always predict what they're going to do, they never seem to grow or learn from the many tragedies that befall them. The characters also seem rather twentieth century but I think that's excusable in popular fiction, it's not written on the level of a piece of great literature so I give the author some leeway. But even as a piece of pop lit the gratuitous sex and violence seemed unnecessary. Yes it was a violent time but that can be conveyed without the graphic murder and rape descriptions. Pillars of the Earth is definitely worth reading for a sense of the period and the details of twelfth century life. Follet is known as a thriller writer and I haven't read any of his other works so can't comment as to how this compares. I do believe he must have spent years laboring over the research and writing and really put his heart into this novel.

Got Game

The subtitle of this book says it all Got Game: How the gamer generation is reshaping business forever. I'm a gamer, have been on and off since the days of Atari. I know plenty of adults my age who play games and who grew up playing them and plenty who have barely touched a joystick. A person a ten years younger than me most likely wouldn't know anyone who hadn't grown up around video games. The author's make a good point, this is a huge generation gaps, people entering the business world today they've all gamed rich or poor, black or white, American or not gaming crosses most boundaries. And maybe it's a good idea to start recognizing how that has shaped the new up and comers. It's hard to think the Gen Y'ers are going to be running things some days, us Gen X'ers are still just getting started. Beck and Wade make a good case for the valuable lessons learned from video games, too good a case really I would have liked to learn more about what skills the gamers are lacking and how to help them fill in the gaps. It's an interesting read though it starts to drag as the same basic points are made over and over. In terms of business books Got Game is worth at least reading the first chapter just to get your brain thinking hey these kids coming up maybe they're not quite just like me.