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Three books + two short stories = five reviews = one blog post.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Most biology majors know that HeLa cells not only revolutionized cell culture research, but led to the development of the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. What most people didn’t know for decades was the identity of the person the cells came from: Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer who died of cervical cancer in 1951. This book tells not only Henrietta’s story – and how her cells became vital to science, as well as a multi-billion dollar industry – but the story of her family, who never saw a dime from HeLa and still can’t afford health insurance. Rebecca Skloot covers all the bases here, putting a human face on HeLa, exploring the ethics and racial politics of tissue research, as well as what it was like to be poor and black in 1950s segregated America, and how it felt for the Lacks family to find out 20+ years later that Henrietta’s cells were making millions without their knowledge. This is a fantastic book, exhaustively researched and powerfully written. Even if biology doesn’t interest you, I highly recommend reading it for the historical and sociological aspects alone. Special thanks to the woman in Tennessee who tried to have this book banned from schools last year (for “pornographic” descriptions of cervixes) – otherwise I might never have known it existed, much less been inspired to read it.
ELEKTROGRAD: RUSTED BLOOD by Warren Ellis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Short fiction from Warren Ellis set in the imaginary city of Elektrograd, whose seven districts experiment in new forms of futuristic architecture. That’s the backdrop for a murder mystery in the decaying district of Mekanoplatz, where buildings can walk around and homeless people live in abandoned construction robot shells. Like the best of Ellis’ work, there’s a good balance here between futuristic ideas, storyline and vivid characters you get to know mainly through dialogue – although arguably the most interesting “character” here is the one that doesn’t speak: Mekanoplatz itself. Ellis says in the afterword that Elektrograd was conceived as a possible series, with one episode set in each district. I hope he follows through on that someday. I enjoyed the story and was fascinated by the concepts embodied by Mekanoplatz – I’d like to see what the rest of Elektrograd looks like.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I haven't really read movie novelizations since high school, but when I did, Alan Dean Foster was the master of the genre, and I liked some of his other SF/fantasy writing as well, though I stopped reading him around the time I stopped reading movie novelizations. Anyway, I picked this up mainly because (1) it contained extra scenes and background details that didn’t appear in the film and (2) Foster wrote it. I confess, I remember liking Foster’s writing style better than I like it here, but then it's been over 30 years since I read him last, so I can’t say for sure. And it doesn’t matter because I was really here for the extras. In any case, the result is a version of SW:TFA with somewhat richer characterization and fewer plot holes. It’s not a masterpiece, but I wasn’t expecting it to be – I got what I came for, and I was entertained in the bargain.
A Bad Night for Burglars by Lawrence Block
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Not a book, but rather a short story from 1975 that Lawrence Block wrote before he started his Bernie Rhodenbarr burglar series. Apart from the fact that one of the characters is a talkative burglar, there’s no connection to that series, but Block considers it a precursor of sorts. Anyway, it starts with a simple enough premise – gentleman burglar gets caught by armed house owner and has to think of a way out of the situation. But this being Block, it’s not your conventional resolution. This for me is classic Block: a clever, crisply written and entertaining crime story. Just the thing when you’re stuck in a traffic jam in Kuala Lumpur (which I was when I read it, though I’m sure it would be just as clever, crisply written and entertaining regardless of location).
Shouldn't You Be in School? by Lemony Snicket
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the third installment of Snicket’s “All The Wrong Questions” quartet, in which V.F.D. apprentice Snicket is still in Stain’d-By-The-Sea trying to bring the mysterious villain Hangfire to justice in spite of his inept chaperone. This one involves a series of arson attacks, a framed librarian and a suspicious-looking Department Of Education that arranges for the town’s children to be transferred to a special school outside of town for a top-drawer education. Like the other books, there’s a lot of wordplay and running gags, but despite the generally light tone this one is a little darker as the stakes are raised and people start getting hurt. For all that, it’s been a pretty consistent experience reading this series, and the cast of characters Snicket has built around him are likeable, so I’m in for the final episode.
To be concluded,
This is dF
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Most biology majors know that HeLa cells not only revolutionized cell culture research, but led to the development of the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. What most people didn’t know for decades was the identity of the person the cells came from: Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer who died of cervical cancer in 1951. This book tells not only Henrietta’s story – and how her cells became vital to science, as well as a multi-billion dollar industry – but the story of her family, who never saw a dime from HeLa and still can’t afford health insurance. Rebecca Skloot covers all the bases here, putting a human face on HeLa, exploring the ethics and racial politics of tissue research, as well as what it was like to be poor and black in 1950s segregated America, and how it felt for the Lacks family to find out 20+ years later that Henrietta’s cells were making millions without their knowledge. This is a fantastic book, exhaustively researched and powerfully written. Even if biology doesn’t interest you, I highly recommend reading it for the historical and sociological aspects alone. Special thanks to the woman in Tennessee who tried to have this book banned from schools last year (for “pornographic” descriptions of cervixes) – otherwise I might never have known it existed, much less been inspired to read it.
ELEKTROGRAD: RUSTED BLOOD by Warren EllisMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Short fiction from Warren Ellis set in the imaginary city of Elektrograd, whose seven districts experiment in new forms of futuristic architecture. That’s the backdrop for a murder mystery in the decaying district of Mekanoplatz, where buildings can walk around and homeless people live in abandoned construction robot shells. Like the best of Ellis’ work, there’s a good balance here between futuristic ideas, storyline and vivid characters you get to know mainly through dialogue – although arguably the most interesting “character” here is the one that doesn’t speak: Mekanoplatz itself. Ellis says in the afterword that Elektrograd was conceived as a possible series, with one episode set in each district. I hope he follows through on that someday. I enjoyed the story and was fascinated by the concepts embodied by Mekanoplatz – I’d like to see what the rest of Elektrograd looks like.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean FosterMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I haven't really read movie novelizations since high school, but when I did, Alan Dean Foster was the master of the genre, and I liked some of his other SF/fantasy writing as well, though I stopped reading him around the time I stopped reading movie novelizations. Anyway, I picked this up mainly because (1) it contained extra scenes and background details that didn’t appear in the film and (2) Foster wrote it. I confess, I remember liking Foster’s writing style better than I like it here, but then it's been over 30 years since I read him last, so I can’t say for sure. And it doesn’t matter because I was really here for the extras. In any case, the result is a version of SW:TFA with somewhat richer characterization and fewer plot holes. It’s not a masterpiece, but I wasn’t expecting it to be – I got what I came for, and I was entertained in the bargain.
A Bad Night for Burglars by Lawrence BlockMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Not a book, but rather a short story from 1975 that Lawrence Block wrote before he started his Bernie Rhodenbarr burglar series. Apart from the fact that one of the characters is a talkative burglar, there’s no connection to that series, but Block considers it a precursor of sorts. Anyway, it starts with a simple enough premise – gentleman burglar gets caught by armed house owner and has to think of a way out of the situation. But this being Block, it’s not your conventional resolution. This for me is classic Block: a clever, crisply written and entertaining crime story. Just the thing when you’re stuck in a traffic jam in Kuala Lumpur (which I was when I read it, though I’m sure it would be just as clever, crisply written and entertaining regardless of location).
Shouldn't You Be in School? by Lemony SnicketMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the third installment of Snicket’s “All The Wrong Questions” quartet, in which V.F.D. apprentice Snicket is still in Stain’d-By-The-Sea trying to bring the mysterious villain Hangfire to justice in spite of his inept chaperone. This one involves a series of arson attacks, a framed librarian and a suspicious-looking Department Of Education that arranges for the town’s children to be transferred to a special school outside of town for a top-drawer education. Like the other books, there’s a lot of wordplay and running gags, but despite the generally light tone this one is a little darker as the stakes are raised and people start getting hurt. For all that, it’s been a pretty consistent experience reading this series, and the cast of characters Snicket has built around him are likeable, so I’m in for the final episode.
To be concluded,
This is dF
