I’M READING AS FAST AS I CAN: NOVEMBER 2009 EDITION

[defrog]

I read books. You read book reports. Nuff said.

JUST FINISHED

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Post-apocalyptic fiction in which the apparent sole human survivor, left in charge of a group of genetically engineered people, recalls the events leading up to the catastrophe, from his life growing up within the sealed-off multinational corporation compounds to the love triangle between himself, his best friend Crake and a woman named Oryx. In some ways the flashbacks read like a typical dysfunctional family drama, only set in a dystopian future where yr only as useful as the multinationals see fit, but it’s a pretty rich imagining of what would happen if corporate power, especially in the biotech sector, was left unchecked. The bits about kiddie porn are too much of a stretch for me, though. Apart from that, it’s pretty convincing.

JUST STARTED

Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
I’ve only read a few short stories of O’Connor’s (in high school, yes), and I admit I only considered this because I found out Ministry sampled dialogue from the film version (which I haven’t seen) for “Jesus Built My Hot Rod”. But the synopsis about a man determined to start a church that doesn’t believe in Jesus (and another zealot determined to get him a new one) sounds like the kind of thing I should be reading in these weird times. So why not?

RECENT TITLES

Maigret and the Idle Burglar by Georges Simenon
In which Maigret is assigned to catch a gang of armed robbers but spends his spare time investigating the murder of a burglar he knew well enough to know his death wasn’t the gangland vendetta the Public Prosecutor suggests. I tend to like the Maigret books partly because they’re French (which annoys people I like to annoy) but mainly because they’re brilliant, concise, low-key escapism. This one is no different.

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
The sequel to Old Man’s War, in which the Colonial Union discovers that one of its top scientists has betrayed humanity and organized three alien races into an alliance to defeat the Union. To find out his plan, they upload his consciousness into a clone of his body. It doesn’t work – at first. Not quite as good as Old Man’s War, but still a breezy entertaining read. Points to Scalzi for writing a sequel that works as a standalone novel. There are far too few of them in SF, and I’ve been known to pass on any book that makes it known from the start that I’m committing to one in a series of anywhere from three to seven books.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
An interesting and well-researched thought experiment that reverses the question of man’s impact on the environment by asking how would Nature reclaim the Earth if humans were suddenly to disappear all at once – and how long would it take for every last trace of evidence of humanity’s existence would disappear? It occasionally drifts into tangents, but it’s a pretty illuminating view of just how much of our advanced infrastructure relies on constant daily maintenance, and how quickly it would fall apart without us.

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
Never read Cain before, so I thought I’d start with this classic noir tale of a scheming insurance salesman seduced by a woman into killing her husband. Strangely topical, given all the current angst over insurance “rationing”, but also a great example of economic storytelling. Cain compresses tons of tension and suspense into less than 140 pages.

Mort by Terry Pratchett
In which Death takes an apprentice, who does all right until he falls in love with a princess and prevents her assassination. Hilarious consequences ensue. Like with a lot of Discworld books, it’s entertaining and funny, but doesn’t make me feel obliged to read the entire series.

Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs
I’ve read it before, but that was ages ago when I was just getting into the Beats and wasn’t quite accustomed to Burroughs’ style. Plus, this is the “restored text” edition, so I figured it would be like reading it fresh. I was more or less right. It’s as demented as I remember – most distasteful thing I ever stand still for. In a good way..

I need lunch,

This is dF

Comments

[bedsitter23.livejournal.com]

I've always thought about trying out Atwood but haven't. Maybe, one day...

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

If you ever do, personally I'd recommend The Handmaid's Tale, in which America becomes a dystopian totalitarian patriarchal theocracy. Not that that could ever possibly happen, of course.

[jasonfranks.livejournal.com]

DOUBLE INDEMNITY is the perfect noir book. The film version is great, too. POSTMAN ALSO RINGS TWICE, also by Cain, is almost as good and has an equally good film version.

I admit that it's a long time since I was a big Pratchett reader, but in the days when I was a fanboy MORT was always one of my favourites. Pratchett's Death character has been ripped off so many times and by so many people it's hard to count (Course, Terry's version is prefigured by the Monty Python skit, but Pratchett extends the idea rather than just stealing it).

I still want to read some Atwood and I'm still put off by her snobbery.

-- JF